You followed me into the sunflowers.
It was late morning and the snow glittered beneath the sun’s sleepy touch. Even though we could not have been the first horses to walk the bridge that day, the path appeared to be untouched. Only after I crossed the bridge did I turn to look behind me, convinced that my trail would vanish by some strange magic. But my hoofprints remained; little half moons in a determined line straight across the bridge. The first mystery of the day.
Did you follow me on purpose? Or were you drawn to them too?
The sunflowers were in a snowy clearing. I don’t remember how far I walked until I found them-- I was distracted by the trees, and the way beams of sunlight seemed to float in the cold air, and the immense quiet of it all. I knew there were birds on the island, for they left little forking tracks in the snow and tiny nests far above my reach. But the groves were completely silent except for the quiet crunch underfoot. On more than one occasion I stopped and held my breath and felt the perfect stillness of the world around me. I wished sister was with me. I also wished to be completely alone. It was one of those strange still places where I could be two things at once.
But the sunflowers. I did not realize that was my destination until I saw them, bright yellow through the trees like a beacon. The way they swayed in the winter wind, it almost looked like they were waving me closer. And the nature of my magic was such that I could not be sure they weren’t.
I approached slow and steady, as was my way. When I brought my lips to the boldly colored flowers, a tittering laughter filled the clearing. High-pitched and bright. I felt it ringing in my bones like a bell. Then I laughed too, for the sound was infectious. Deep belly laughs, like laughter was the most important thing in the world. Furfur bristled at my side, uncertain.
And then you were there, and the sunflowers and I stopped laughing at the same time.
But it was no longer silent. The birds had returned, and their warm song filled the space between us. I smiled with my lips still pressed to the golden flower.
“Can you hear them too?”
I wanted to hear your voice before I turned to face you. I wanted to paint a picture of you without seeing what you looked like, and then compare my imagination to reality to see which prevailed. It was a childish game, one I could only lose (for reality would never prevail), but I didn’t care. I was a bored and lonely girl, and I had to get my entertainment somewhere.
Open to any! The fairies are appearing to Aspara as a patch of sunflowers <3
