poemtry and prose

Kaylee paced and attempted to get comfortable in her home. But the wind and the nagging doubt seeded in her by Bobcat would not let her feel secure. She turned the Sphene over in her hand and looked at it closely with the light of the fireplace. It was indeed a pretty stone. She set it down in front of her and focused her attention on the stone. The room felt warm against her skin and she closed her eyes and yawned.

Her mind wandered and every time she brought it back to stillness, something else would cause it to wander off. Feeling a bit frusterated, Kaylee gave in to sleep and decided that she would use the nap and her dreams to figure out what exactly she wanted to get from this experience. She was scared and only wanted to make her Gran happy. But the question was, would she be happy taking on all that her gran did for the community when she was gone? This was something Kaylee needed to answer and soon.

Nighttime soon came and the winds died down once more to a restful calm. It was still dark out when Kaylee woke up from her long slumber. Her body felt rested but her mind did not. She had not dreamt and it was troubling her. She carefully climbed down the steps of the ladder and made her way by touch to the door. She wanted to see what the night looked like in Vellum Hollow before she left.

It was chilly out and she pulled the sleeves of her robe over her hands. The sky was painted a dark and deep black. There were no lights from any town or city to disturb and miscolor it. Kaylee saw a bizillion stars twinkling overhead. Each one seemed to unfold into another dozen or so stars and Kaylee soon started seeing patterns in them.

"That is the bear constellation, and there is the man with the bow," she said pointing her finger high into the sky to trace them. "It must be getting close to the hunting moon. For those two never come this close unless it was fall, for that is when the hunter goes out to hunt and feed his family."

Kaylee climbed the outer stairs and sat on top of the roof for a bit, allowing the beauty of the world and the stars and the colors they brought to her cheer her mood up a bit. Soon after, the cold and the stillness made her sleepy again and she went back into the cottage to attempt to sleep some more.

Once again the sun was shinning brightly when it rose to greet her. Kaylee rose slowly out from the bed, her mood still colored by the words that Bobcat had spoken to her only hours earlier. She knew that she was not the best or the optimistic person but the words that the spirit spoke cut deep into her and she could not shake off the feeling that she was not going to be worthy of the right to be a shaman.

"Why did I agree to do this so quickly?" she asked to the silent room, "I am totally not qualified to do this. After all, I am just some runaway to my tribe. I abandoned the lessons and the knowledge years ago."

She then looked down at the sphene sitting on the spirial matress and at her pouch. "But on the other hand, I have come so far and the gifts I was given from the corners have been helpful and powerful. So in that regards I have also come pretty far. I guess I am just tired and want to go back to the familiar."

She inhaled deeply, "However, I am here now and I might as well finish this thing while I have the chance. Not that many people can say that they have been asked to do something as I have and lived long enough to tell tales about it. I guess this is my turn to speak and experience the majickal world that my gran participates in on a daily basis."

She pulled on her pants and moccasins. "Okay Kaylee you can do this. Now get down there, eat your gruel and then go out and see what connects in the West."

After she finished eating, Kaylee found herself throwing the stones for what she hoped was one final time. She already knew the final direction to move herself in but wanted to attempt to prepare herself for whatever awaited her this day. She shook the smooth, white stones in her hands and then let them drop once again onto the table.

This time her answer came in the form of the Earth, Air, and Fire stones. She closed her eyes and though about the reaction that fire and wind had on the earth. "Fanned by the Wind, the Fire makes its way across a scorched earth. What does this mean?"

The message was somehow lost on Kaylee but she could not help feeling a deep sense of feeling tricked. She felt as if she could not trust her mind that all her answers to the powerful stones were weak and not right. Doubt hit her had and she fought to regain her sense of balance.

"Okay then," she said standing up, "I guess I just fumble through the rest of this as I head West today. Perhaps the next guardian can tell me what I have done wrong."

She left the safety and comfort of the cottage and headed in the opposite direction of the rising sun. From what she could tell, she had indeed slept a long time and it was mid to late morning here in Vellum Hollow. She sighed, stretched her back out and then looked out towards the west. Once again, she saw the familiar sights of forest just beyond the grassy grounds.

Large redwood trees stood proud and tall at the edge of the forest. The strong scent of dew mixed with pine flooded the air and Kaylee felt her shoulders relax a bit as she entered the dead quiet forest. It was strangely silent, and Kaylee was not sure whether or not it was the fact that she was entering the forest that caused the silence or if the silence had always been there to begin with.

She made her way slowly through the forest, taking her time to look around at each tree and each bush. She was learning to see the minute details that seperated each tree from one another. One of them had split roots and was growing from two trunks instead of one. It was a large enough tunnel that Kaylee could walk straight under the tree and see all the innards and markings of animals that once attempted to make the tree home. She was amazed and dazzled by the variety of things that Vellum Hollow had for flora and fauna and she partially wished that she had more time to spend in the place understanding where it all came from. For that was still all a mystery to her.

She continued her trek west and finally stumbled upon a small clearing in the middle of a grove of redwoods. The ground got swampy and Kaylee had to make her way over several felled trees. She wondered if they had fallen during yesterday's storm but had no way of telling a freshly dead tree from a tree that had been laying dead for years. The muck and grime left on the trees slowed her progress to a crawl and she wanted to get up close and personal to the pond that she could now see jutting out just past a few more of the fallen logs.

Finally she reached the edge by creeping along the last log in her path. Glorious blue water peered up at her as her reflection appeared in the water. Her face was dirty and almost unrecognizeable. For the first time since entering Vellum Hollow, she saw the face painting her Gran marked her with. Five fingers painted in a brownish red crossed over her left eye, while the small palm outline crossed over the bridge of her nose and down her right cheek. It appeared more like a faint case of henna rather than a deep mask of gunk.

Her eyes were wild and blazed with weariness and doubt. They appeared more green than the deep brown that got captured on her badge. Even her long black hair looked more red and warn than the Ser'lapham black that she was used to.

She reached out her hand to touch the image. Then the croaking started. For the first time since arriving in the Western forest, Kaylee was hearing the sounds of frogs. Or rather, a singular frog. It was loud and seemed very close to where she now sat, straddling the log and scanning the horizon with her eyes.

Strange five petaled flowers grew from the forest floor at this area and she glanced over at the nearest batch. A small blossom of purple sat a top of five deep green fronds. The flowers were no bigger than the palm of her hand. Kaylee though they were very pretty and wanted a closer look. The sun appered out from a cloud and caught something sparkling on a petal of one of the nearest flowers to her right. It glistened in the light as if it were a small drop of dew refusing to evaporate into the air.

"That is strange," Kaylee pondered. "Especially seeing that the morning dew has burned off from the rest of the flowers in this area."

She bent over to her side and leaned as far out as she could on the log without falling off. Soon her face came within centimeters of the strange purple bud that sat almost as if it were floating on the five pointed petals. A strange scent of lavendar, vetivert, clove, and pumpkin rose from the bud and Kaylee smiled. The scent was intoxicating and nothing like she ever smelled before.

She pulled one hand free from the log and tested out the grip her legs and the other hand and arm had at keeping her steady. She waved the free arm around a few times and nothing happened. Feeling that her grasp on the log was still secure she stretched her arm out over her head and felt the petal. It felt leathery and sticky to the touch. But it also felt smooth as if it were covered with hair. She extened her fingers out to their farthest reach and carfully but bobbingly attempted to touch the dew that was on the leaf.

It was not water, at least not the sense of what she figured water sitting on a leaf was going to be like. It was hard, solid, but warm to the touch, so it was not ice. She gently peeled the small item off the deep green petal and allowed the weight of her body to pull herself straight back onto the log. She stared at the small item now sitting in her hand. It was a translucent color and she could see her palm magnified weirdly on the other side.

It felt like a small stone and was shaped more like a small tear drop, as if someone from the sky cried stone tears and left them on the tops of the strange purple flowers. The croaking grew louder but Kaylee did not notice it at all. She was staring intently into the stone sitting in her hand.

Something hopped onto the log that she was sitting on. Kaylee glanced outsover her outstretched palm to see a small, light green bellied frog staring at her.

It blinked at her. "Ribbit," it said. A long tongue flickered out at the two-legged as Frog tried to get a feeling for what this girl was like. The air around her was sweet and sticky and Frog determined that she was mostly harmless and would not attempt any devious acts. Satisfied with how the girl got to hir pond, Frog sat up and spoke in a hoarse and throaty voice that seemed to come from deep within his chest.

"That be a Dew Drop crystal you got there. Thems very rare here in Vellum Hollow," hir said to the young girl. "You best be puttin it in hir pouch now before you lose it."

Kaylee looked down at the small frog with three fingers on each arm and nodded. Frog watched her carefully undo the clasp of the black bag around her neck and then slide the dew drop crysal into it. He watched her tie it up nicely and drape it around her neck again.

"It be seemin like you no happy here. Is this be true," Frog croaked at her.

"Yes. No. Er, I dunno," she said looking away from him. "I am confused. I am not sure I am right for this. I am doing the best I can but the past two days have been hard on me. I feel as if I might be doing more disservice to my Gran and to the tribe than I would be had I gone home."

Frog puffed hir chest out until it grew thin and white instead of the pale greenish yellow it normally was. Hir let it out slowly and a small croak came out of hir mouth.

"I see," Frog began. "And do you not trust in things that they will work out for the greater good? "

Kaylee cocked her head and thought about the question, "I guess I sometimes am quick to judge and think that everything will go to Hell if I do not attempt to do something about it first."

Frog belched more air from hir chest, "You need to let it all go. Trust that things be happenin for a reason. Express what you feel but do not be a clingin onto it. You know? Doing that will bring more downfall and sadness to you and right now me be thinkin that you have it pretty good right now. You have completed the four tasks of the elements. Now you get to go back and contemplate what each one of us be sayin to you.

WIthin the next day or two you must decide which one of us seems to carry the same blood as you to walk with you as you dedicate your path to helpin the world and your tribe heal. You need to think hard on what gifts you have been given and what direction you feel most aligned in and who of us you be feelin comfortable bein around. And when you are ready open the cabinent and use the items to create a ritual of your own choosing. Then we will come and discuss what all this means for you."

Kaylee nodded, "And then that is it? I am free to return and go home?"

Frog nodded but said no more.

"Huh, I thought there was going to be more to this. I know my gran seems to have a lot more power than I do. All I have done here is just wander out into a direction and collect things. And talk to you all, of course. But I know nothing about ritual making or powers. How is this ritual going to help me become like my Gran is?"

Frog hopped back towards the edge of the log. "That be somethin for you to uncover. Time is for you to be a goin now. Another storm is abrewin and comin. We be seein ya real soon now."

And with that, Frog hopped off the log and hit the water with a large splash. Water from the pond sprayed up and over the edge of the log. Kalyee looked over the edge of the log but did not see any signs of the water spirit. She looked up towards the sky and the clouds overhead did appear dark and overcast.

Not wanting to be caught in a terrible autumn storm, Kaylee quickly worked her way back to solid ground. Then she darted off and rushed her body as fast as it could to get back to the safety of her cottage in the middle of the grassy landscape.

The rains started to fall just as she came to the porch of the cottage. A flash of lightening darted over head and broke the happy silence of the past few days. Kaylee shuddered and quickly entered the cottage. She was safe but somehow felt as if the storm was just starting.