Day 85 Writing Short Stories

Women to Bear

Limited to the sorrows and madness of a mortal, trapped by a noble spirit and an open mind, knowing that there is more to the land of the living than the boundaries of the natural world. She had always been gifted with vision, with thought, with wind and animal kind. In her vision, the two eagles who carried her being with them soared through the lands, seeing and knowing it all.

There on the border of her home, of her people, new men walked with their fiery sticks, cutting down the forest that had been there before she and her people came. The forest that was meant to last beyond her time.

The eagles circled the men and their wagons, and returned to her, when the fire was turned on them.

She spoke softly to her warriors about the ways of the strange men and the greed in their hearts. She told them not to trust the words spoken, not by them nor by those who were spellbound by the magic of their fiery sticks.

Some listened. Others saw the future.

She commanded the warriors to go. She let the bears and the wolves, and her eagles, go with them. Her men rode in discomfort as the animals they had once hunted now served the needs of the human realm.

The eagle eyes reported to her sorrow, death, and retreat. Her heart ached for every fallen creature and man.

The monster that had taken her land was bigger than the monsters she could create. But there was one thing that had might more than she did. She prayed to the gods, to nature, to claim their own. She would sacrifice herself for the future as the price to be paid.

She stood up, both her eagles by her side. She gently kissed their heads and released them from her bond. They refused to go, but when she abandoned them with her gaze and love, they shot to the sky and were gone. But she knew they would watch her until the end.

She disrobed herself of her crimson robes, letting them fall to the ground. She took off her crown of flowers and left it for the stories to be told. She walked to the sea, and let the waves swallow her, and her to pay the price for monsters to exist. That has always been the price women have to bear. But now the children would be spared.

The sea took her, and it raised its might. It roared over the land, grasping its talons to those made of greed and fire, and dragged them back to the deep.

—

My mind feels scattered. I had a hard time concentrating today. All the thoughts were swirling inside my head, and I was sure I couldn’t write a single word. I’m glad I got something down. Again, I couldn’t write in the style I got: period. I’m not sure I got the genre right either. I got fantasy today. But the protagonist overcame a monster, and the point of view was limited third-person.

Now I will go and vacuum the entire house. See you next week. I will take the weekend off as I have my trip. Actually, I will take the next three weekends off, as I have planned trips for each. This is going to be a busy September. I’m glad, though, that I will spend all of them in nature: climbing and hiking. I love this time of year. I love autumn.

Thank you for reading! Have a day in nature ❤