Under the Willow Tree

This setting is actually from my mind, it's where I go when I want to see my spirit animals, and sometimes certain people appear, for their sake I'm going to change their names.

An eagle soared high above the gray painted snow capped mountains which over looked the adjacent forest and meadow.

The meadow was a field of wild flowers and grasses springing up in jubilation of the Sun herself. Shades of green mixed with blues, golds, and browns to create a menagerie of different plants that some men would call weeds.

Above this fair meadow flew a red-tailed hawk. She was gliding so low to the ground that the wildflowers seemed to jump up and giggle, rubbing themselves across the feathers of her belly, attempting to tickle her. When it seemed that the grasses and flowers would succeed in touching her feathers, the hawk gave a great flap of her wings and up she soared once more into the sky. Heading on towards the forest.

The forest directly below the mountains was thick and green. Full of life from the tiny new fallen acorn, to the giant willow tree. Deer, foxes, birds, and wolves roamed the calm forest; only taking what they needed from each other to survive, as it should be.

As the hawk passed over the meadow and came to the outskirts of the forest, she noticed a gray wolf standing by one of the monolithic cedar trees guarding the entrance to the forest. Flying lower she teasingly tried to grab his ear and laughed with a kree-eee-ar when he tried to grab one of her legs. 

Flying deeper into the forest, dodging cedars, oaks, and pine trees, she noticed that the wolf was following her just as he did everyday she flew to the center of the wood. In the center of the forest was a massive clearing. The surrounding trees had formed a protective nest-like wall around it, giving anyone or anything that came there the feeling that they were eternally safe.

In the center of the clearing stood the largest tree in all the forest, Welig, the weeping willow. Her branches were bent and bowed as if she were kneeling before a king in gratitude for all eternity.

As the two creatures approached Welig, they heard the sounds of singing coming from under Welig's branches.

"Blow, blow thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
As man's ingratitude...

Thy tooth is not so keen
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly."

The voice which sang this lonesome song was that of an angel, clear and resonate like a crystal bell, ringing and singing on the air as if it had wings to fly. The hawk after hearing this gave a kree ar! in applause and flew between Welig's leaves as if she were a ghost passing through a curtain. After coming under the willow tree, the red-tail flew over and landed on one of the first split branches near the trunk.

Welig's trunk was five times bigger than a bear's width, and leaning up against it sitting on the ground was a girl. Her name was Sera, and her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite, her very face made one think that she was an angel that had fallen from heaven. Her skin was a fair olive tone, and her lips were a soft shade of pink. Though she seemed very feminine, her eyes said otherwise.

Sera's eyes were electric hazel, as if lightning had struck her as a child and stayed within her for the rest of her life, never returning to the sky. And they were then accented by the hawk feather that was braided into her waist length dark brown hair.

When she saw the hawk fly in, a smile made it's way to her face, lightening her eyes once more now that she knew her forest friends had arrived. Looking up, she saw the red-tail hawk sitting on the branch above her, preening her feathers.

"Hello, Shikoba. Have a nice flight today?"

Sera was answered by the sound of more feathers being preened and a slight bob of recognition from Shikoba. Giggling, Sera looked back at Welig's leaves and saw the wolf approaching, wagging his tail and holding his head and ears upright.

Smiling, she walked over to the wolf and gave him a hug. "Morning, Citali, nice to see you too."
Citali yipped in reply and both of them walked back over to Welig's trunk, where Sera sat down and Citali lay beside her. A few moments passed before a feather fell right onto Sera's lap, laying comfortably on top of the short skirt that she wore.

"Huh?" She said before she looked up, remembering that Shikoba was still preening her feathers. Laughing to herself, Sera picked up the hawk feather and braided it into her hair next to the other one.

When she finished she turned toward Citali and asked him what he thought, nodding and giving his silent approval, Sera rubbed his head and snuggled up next to him.

After a minute more of calming silence, Sera sighed and closed her eyes. Thinking about too many things at once, she finally gave up and began to sing.

"Who can say where the road goes,
Where the day flows, only time?
And who can say if your love grows,
As your hearth chose, only time.

Who can say why your heart sighs,
As your live flies, only time.
And who can say why your heart cries
when your love lies, only time.

Who can say when the roads meet,
That love might be, in your heart?
and who can say when the day sleeps,
if the night keeps all your heart?
Night keeps all your heart.....

Who can say if your love groves,
As your heart chose, only time.
And who can say where the road goes
Where the day flows, only time.

Who knows? Only time.
Who knows? Only time."

As she sang, her voice seemed to carry up into the air and away from the clearing. Out into the sky, flying above the meadow and the rolling plains nearby where the wild horses stopped running, turning their heads toward the forest hearing her sing. Even the Sun seemed to set to the rhythm of her song.

When she finished, the sun had almost fully set and Citali and Shikoba were fast asleep. Giving off a sigh of relaxation, Sera snuggled back into Citali's fur and drifted off to sleep.

~ ~ ~ 

Citali awoke to the sound of light footsteps approaching the entrance to Welig's leaves. He snapped his head up and as he heard the rustling of the leaves, shikoba awoke and gave a kree of annoyance and warning. The rustling stopped and after hearing Shikoba's cry, Sera groggily woke up.

"What's the matter? Is it a deer again?" Sera stopped short when she turned and looked toward the entrance of the leaves.

There standing before her was a man about six foot, two, dressed in a black t-shirt and dark navy blue jeans. He had dirty blonde hair down to the nape of his neck which shone like gold in the setting sun. As he took a step forward the rest of his face was revealed. He had fair skin, and blue gray eyes with a touch of hazel in them, like a stormy sea at sunset.He was well built and stood up straight. A soft smile was on his face while he looked at Sera the entire time.

"I heard you sing," he said, his voice like a melody in the moonlight on a cold winter's night.

Sera stood up in surprise, her back up against the tree. Thousands of thoughts were running through her head at that exact moment, and there was only one thing that she could open her mouth to say. And even that was in a whisper.

"Simion."

His smiled widened at the sound of her saying his name, and he began to walk towards her once more. When he reached her he leaned against Welig with one hand on her trunk and continued to smile down at Sera.

"Did you miss me?"

Sera nodded and finally found her voice, "Yes, yes I did." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I didn't know if you would come back."

Simion's smile faded and his face became overun with concern. "You didn't think I'd come back?"

Sera looked down at the ground, rubbing a tree root with her toe. "I always thought that you might come back, it's just...." She paused and took a breath, getting the courage to look Simion in the eyes. "You were gone for so long, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Sera, now at the point of tears, gasped and spun around placing her face on her arm and leaning against Welig for support. Trying to hold back the tears that were now silently streaming down her face she clenched her jaw, determined not to cry.

Simion sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making up his mind, he grabbed Sera and spun her around to face him. Startled by his actions, Sera slipped on the giant tree root they were standing on and fell straight into Simion's chest. Luckily, he caught her and held her close, rubbing her back soothingly and whispering to her.

"I promise I'll never leave you again."

Sera hiccuped and looked up at him. "Promise?"

Simion nodded, "Promise. I'll stay with you here, forever."

Sera smiled and wiped away a few more tears that decided to fall at that precise moment, then chuckling softly, she pulled herself back into his embrace. As he held her, Simion leaned down and kissed her hair, petting her gently, never leaving her alone again.


The End.

Author's Note

Blow, Blow thou winter wind is indeed a poem that Shakespeare wrote. It was also made into a song that I sang with my voice class in our Winter Concert last year. There's a solo for a soprano in it and I was the one who had it. It's eerily beautiful and If I actually see you in my lifetime and you ask me to sing it, I will.

And also if you'd like to read this while listening to some music I highly recommend Enya Memory of Trees and Only Time. And anything else that she's composed.

Reviews

[Nicholas Hagenschneider]

very well written