Nature (Short Story)

~Air~

The barren waste lay ahead. Just to the North. Thorns creating an invisible wall between us. I had never ventured past too far, only to pick berries and holly for father. He told me Nature had a funny way of taking all and leaving none. I should trust him. Yet the call. The pull. It stabs its claws in my chest trying to pull me back. I stood there a while just watching the snow settle and the trees rustle and push gently together beckoning me closer. I turned to leave back homeward. I had everything he asked for. Yet just for a moment. For a second I looked back. I don't know what kept me there, I guess you could say it was my fate. But in that moment, barely a second, a glimpse of something moving in the thorns. My eyes and ears fixed on it immediately. I was always wary, but I had never been this intrigued. I glided over the light sheet of snow forming, not making a sound as I moved right to the edge of the spines. The trees stopped there whispering, no animal stalked around. It stopped moving as I approached. Impossible for it to see me let alone hear me. I was crouched slightly knees bent just enough for me to see the centre of the thorns. Blood moved in my ears as my heartbeat quickened. I leaned to see in a gap between the bush. As my eyes met this black dark mass. It ran. Or flew I suppose, all I know is it darted faster than anything I have ever seen, it was barely a figure more a blur of darkness. There one moment, one second. Gone the next. Nature gave the feeling of intrigue and left without ever satisfying it hunger.

The walk home I remember, I tried to rationalize what had happened. I kept replaying it in my mind. Again, and again. It never made sense. The trees clustered closer together as I drew nearer the cabin. The snow was scarce here, the floor was mainly moss and water that had ran down from the mountains. She always had this calming effect on me. Mother nature at the heart of everything to ever exist... The sunlight hunted plants through the leaves above looking for its prey. The sun was rising, and I needed to hurry. My pace quickened careful not to step on rocks slippery from algae. My mind raced still but I had to get back before the sun rose higher. The cabin appeared in between the arms of the trees which hid home from my view. They spread apart when I came nearer opening wide in an embrace. The hint of smoke in the air. I knew he was awake. He was waiting. The chipped heavy wooden door I had opened so many times before felt different today. In fact, the air felt different not good nor bad. I entered the firelit room. It was empty. I lay my spear and bow down and walked into my father's workshop.

Water dripped down onto the wooden floors slightly broken in one space because of time and neglect. One single plant had started to grow there. Nature always found a way of seeing through the cracks in the surface and breaking through. My father sat at his dark wood desk. Broken and cracked but still marvellous. Maybe just like him... His old friend, Steinn made him the table for defending the settlements near the south. He is long gone now. Back to the start. He lays with nature now. The table was scattered with tools, herbs and strange gems. His mere pawns playing a game in his kingdom. He sat upon his throne; crown held low over a spear he was trying to repair. His hair was shoulder length and dark grey. He had his hyde on, he probably would go out hunting soon. His wolf head coat was draped across the chair. Staring endlessly into nothing. I disagreed with what he had done. Kept it as a coat. Dishonouring the dead. Nature should always reclaim its denizens. I passed him the berries without saying a word. He was so focused on his work he didn't thank me just made a low growl which reminded me of the corpse that lay across his chair. I saw no reason to watch any longer.

The outside air had got warmer and almost the entire forest surrounding home was lit up by sunlight. I was still confused about the early hours of the day, so I avoided the north and headed south. We live in the outskirts of the settlement but not too far away. Enough to get peace and quiet. I had walked this path many times. This time the air. The air felt different....