Chapter Five

CAD EYED THE MAN THAT LAY ON THE GROUND. His hair was reddish blonde, his face bruised from the fall and a small cut on the side of his right cheek. His ax lay several yards away, lying in the muddied banks of the creek.

The man pushed Cad forward, making his knees land in mud. Cad turned his head slightly to the left and saw his kidnapper grabbed the other man by his hand and brought him to his feet.

Chapter Three

CAD BOLTED THROUGH THE FOREST, GLANCED BACK ONE OR TWICE. Good, Beck was still there. The arrows in Cad’s quiver jiggled and his arms ached from carrying his bow. Twice he’d tripped and fallen; the first time he had scraped his head from a holly tree and the bruised his hand on the bark of a sycamore.

Chapter Two

AFTER THE MARKET AND CAD LEAVING EMBER WITH ARIA, the boys went to go visit Alfrick. Alfrick was a dwarf that lived in a small cottage outside the village. Most of the villagers said he was a “crazy hermit” that practiced sorcery and other forms of magic.

But Cad knew better. Back when Cad had first moved in with Beck’s family, he had ran away from their home after, supposedly, speaking to a bird. He’d ran deep, deep into the forest which he had named the Sanctuary.

Chapter One

A YOUNG BOY WATCHED FROM BEHIND A TREE. He eyed his prey with skill and knowledge. To him, these two went together hand-in-hand as a bow and an arrow. The prey, a beautiful snow stag, was standing between two oak trees. It rubbed its antlers against one of the trees and then shook its head.

Forest Song
Flowers down the mountainside,
Fire on the horizon.
Lupines thick as a waterfall,
Clouds as hued as heaven.

Purple clouds of majesty,
Yellow laughing levity,
Orange streaks of bubbling exuberance,
Pink puffs of winsome effulgence,
And a deep blue sky reaching overhead,
Softly putting the sun to bed.

Lupines in the moonlight,
Pale as snow.
On a new moon night,
The stars are aglow
In clusters made of a million gems
That wink at the rising of the sun again.

A Contemplation
I haven't the faintest notion
Why some people live in the snow.
I can't, in my wildest dreams,
Imagine life without trails to go.

But then, I suppose it is fair
To never of others demand
Comprehension, when I am unhappy
With no pencil in my hand.

Art of Nature
branches of willow leaves brush the water
disturbing the pristine reflection
the ripples swirl
watercolors into motion
that settle into a mirror of glass

Dawn breaks Night’s long reign
Of sky and sea and in every plain

The Moon is the Queen
Her crown on her head
Shining in the darkness
While children sleep in bed.

The Stars are her squires and knights
Who fight valiantly through the night
And protect the little children
As they sleep tight

So the Sun comes up, its rays so bright
To awake the flowers and birds in their flight

Oh children, oh children, wake up sleepy heads
Slip on your clothes
And get up from bed.

I. Overexposed
Lying exposed in the fluorescent box
Surgical paper crinkles against my back
Impersonal hands press soft tissue
Those intimate parts of me no one is supposed to touch
Inhale, she says, I breathe in hand sanitizer aroma
Exhale, she says, I breathe out the sterile remains
Removes the ice metal from my ribs, the signal of the end
Put on my shirt and I'm no longer a lab specimen
They call a "patient".

I. Shrew
how much depends
on an apologetic
shrew
how much can you
say
how much can you
do

II. It's Complicated
airily, you said that
I had told you a lie
I have done no such thing
I said
you just rolled your eyes

I did this story/essay when I was twelve, so excuse me if it isn't the best I've ever done.

~* * * *~

This story happened when I was ten years old. My friends, Bree, Avery, Ben, Isaac, Sarah, my older brother Zay and I all went on a hike. Our guide was Isaac and Sarah’s great-aunt Martha. When we first started, we all picked out our own staffs (walking sticks) to help us along the way. I picked one about 5.1 because I was only about 5 feet back then. (Uh huh, you heard me right.)