The Seventh Kingdom

i.

When she sleeps, her soul, I know,
Goes a wanderer on the air,
Wings where I may never go,
Leaves her lying, still and fair,
Waiting, empty, laid aside,
Like a dress upon a chair...
This I know, and yet I know
Doubts that will not be denied.

Doubts – Rupert Brooke, 1913

・*・

The minute she heard the chirps of lively birds singing above her head and felt the rays of the early sun peeking through the window of the barn, was the minute she almost tripped down the ladder as she quickly jumped out of the haystack she laid out as her bed on nights she would prefer to sleep in the barn when the snoring in the house was far too much to tolerate with. The sound of her tripping and fumbling brought alarm to the cows, but by now they were all too used to it. She immediately opened the little wooden doors of the window to cast her gaze towards the sunrise, where her eyes searched frantically for the familiar white clouds strapped down by wood and rope. Docking in from a distant were ships of all kind. She beamed in delight, the smile in sync with her eyes that sparkled in excitement. Today was finally the day; he was coming home.

Realizing there was so much to do and lost in thoughts of where to start, she didn't notice the gaping hole in the attic where she took a step through. She suddenly caught the attention of the cows, who ran to check on the girl, only to be relieved once they found her in a pile of hay. The girl shrugged out of the hay, smiling sheepishly at her animal friends, giggling at her clumsiness and the way the cows would roll their eyes at her usual behaviour. As soon as she got herself out of the hay pile and got rid of unnecessary hay and debris, she quickly ran out of the barn. The cool breeze kissed her "good morning" as soon as she made it outside. If the cool air hadn't woken her up, the refreshing smell of dew and grass certainly did the trick.

She heard the lovely chirps from the birds once more above her, singing a lovely tune to greet the morning and the all too familiar girl who would run with them into the forest as she picks out herbs and berries every morning. Speaking of, it was about that time now. Her flying friends reminded her of her duties with a specific tune, as if to say, "we'll meet you there". Although the girl didn't need to go down to pick out herbs and berries every morning, being reminded by Moyun that they always had plenty, the girl took it upon herself to do this duty for herself. She found the forest to be the most beautiful at the crack of dawn as much as she finds it exciting at the sign of dusk. And when you have a special place like hers, of course anyone would use any excuse to enter the forest and just be free for a little while.

Quietly, she crept into the house from the backdoor that would take her to the kitchen. She grabbed the woven basket from the wooden table and quickly (and quietly) made it out the same way she got in. As soon as she was outside again, she didn't waste anymore time to run into the forest, the birds flying along as soon as they saw her figure coming closer. They all knew where to go from there. As soon as she caught up to her feathered friends, she began to walk in her own pace. All the while, the birds started to chirp an ubpeat tune. Smiling happily, the girl decided to sing along with words of her own.

Sing little hummingbird
Hum no more
You have the ears of the flowers in bloom

The birds, intrigued, decided to pick up the tempo and changed the notes. Smirking to her friends, the girl followed along without missing a beat.

Aーah〜, aーah〜
Bloom, bloom, bloom