Tales From Talimara

The Resthouse

This piece was inspired by a scene from a movie I saw a while ago. I wrote this ten months- actually nine months and three weeks- ago, but chose not to include it in this book. Here it is now. Enjoy!

 Lira Stallion gazed open-eyed as Jinarvah walked up the lane. The wind was a lovely autumn breeze, and she thought he looked so handsome in his silver sweater. Printed on the left side of its chest was the word "Jinarvee", in bright azure blue. Lira could not help but grin.

Even from far off she could see him turn red. Lira skipped to meet him, laughing. "Don't be shy, Jinarvee. You look cute."

Jinarvah sighed. "Must you call me that?"

Lira blinked at him. "Jinarvee, or cute?"

That didn't help the blush. "Jinarvee."

Lira blinked once more. "That's what it says on your sweater."

"Kamia insisted I wear it when I told her I was coming to meet you," Jinarvah explained.

"Oh? Did she buy this for you?"

"She did," Jinarvah replied.

Lira beckoned towards Stallion Manor's gate. "Then you should be happy."

"I love it," Jinarvah blurted in agreement. "But that doesn't mean I don't get embarrassed."

Lira ignored him. "Gabriel!" She called loudly. "Tell the others that Jinarvah's here."

One of the fifteen-foot statues by the gate nodded its head. For monoliths they were incredibly lifelike, inorganic lifeforms created by the science of history. "You got it," the statue called Gabriel replied.

Jinarvah perked up his ears. Michael, the other statue, saluted the boy as the gates opened. "How are you, Michael?" Jinarvah asked.

"Stone cold," the fifteen-foot archangel responded wittily.

Lira chuckled merrily as the children walked on.

"Someone's happy," Jinarvah quipped. "Tell me."

"You, silly," Lira said in a teasing tone.

"By the way," said Jinarvah, "what did you mean by the others?"

Again, Lira didn't answer. "Follow me, Jinarvah Maltek. You won't be disappointed."

The children, contrary to Jinarvah's expectation, didn't head to the manor house. Instead Lira led him by the low paths towards the edge of the property. Jinarvah didn't know how large Stallion Manor was; most of it seemed to be freegrown forest and greenery through which Lira would ride her horse on breezy afternoons. Lira's home was surrounded by gravel paths that pattered in the rain, crunched underfoot and weaved through the landscaping like dancers' hands.

The two of them headed down one such path, talking occasionally, with Lira pointing out the butterflies that lived in the flower growths. They were pretty gardens, Jinarvah thought, and once he stopped to pick Lira a rosepetal nova.

"Picking me flowers from my own Daddy's garden," Lira said to herself as she sniffed the petals. "You're a kind boy, Jinarvah Maltek."

Their walk took them into the Stallion woods. "You can't lose your way here, Jinarvah," Lira reassured him. "Trust me. You can always find your way back to the house. Just pick a direction and start walking. No matter where you go you will wind up back where you started."

The woods here seemed different from those on the other side of Alexandra Lane. They were quiet in a different sense. On the Lane the woods were teeming with hushed life- birds chirping and squirrels clawing their way up the trunks and along the branches. Here there were none. There was a mystifying feel about the place, and the further Lira and Jinarvah went the more comforting it grew. There were times when Jinarvah felt happy all of a sudden; at other times he thought he heard music playing.