Post by Viktor Pendragon on Mar 18, 2011 17:20:03 GMT -5
Out in the woods, the cricket song filled the night. Sliver moon, sitting low on the horizon just over the treetops, lighting up the clearing. Here and there, wisps darted in and out of the leaves, leaving little trails of light behind them. The sky was dark and cloudy, the moon shining through a small crack in the clouds. A slight breeze rustled through the woods making the leaves slide and shuffle.
The sound was lost in the soft crackle of our fire. A few good sized logs fed it, the amber flames dancing and gnawing on the soft rotting wood. Fire has always reminded me of a living creature that feasts on anything it can fit into its insatiable maw. Something to be tended and cared for lovingly and almost tenderly like a pet...and then allowed to die in its own time. But unlike a pet, no one can truly tame a flame. It devours what it will, and goes where it likes if you take your eyes off of it. It is a wild and untamed thing even in the most secure of pits.
This night reminded me of so many nights spent lying around a fire as a boy, out in the woods back home. We would take a few linens out and tie them to the trees like thin tents. Usually it was just us guys, trying to act like rugged mountain men, chopping at sticks with our daggers, climbing trees and digging holes. Didn't take long though for us to start gaining girls that liked to hang around us.
At first we fought against them coming out to our spot, but pretty soon, it was unavoidable, especially after Luci came to live with my family. I had to take her everywhere with me, or mom would fuss.
Sometimes dad would come with us out into the woods, especially after we started having girls hang around. He used to tell us all kinds of ghost stories and stuff. My favorite were always stories about pirates and treasure. But the one that always got the biggest rise out of my friends was the story of The Wolf. He told it better and better as we got older, but the story was still the same at heart...
Long long ago, there was a small village in the middle of a deep wood. The people were always happy, and the children would frolic and play all day long. Everything was good in the village, and lives were prosperous.
Every boy and girl in the village were taught to behave from the time they were very small. They all knew that if they stepped out of line, He would come. And He would be hungry....and angry.
Every once in a while, you could hear the howls of a bad boy or girl being dragged off by Him into the woods, the consequence of telling lies or cheating on a test at school or hitting a sibling. He always found out...and if the boys and girls of our village weren't careful, He would come and take them too!
At this point dad would jump at someone and yell "Beware the Wolf!" and of course, the girls would always scream and hide in the arms of the nearest guy.
Course, back at home, he tried to send the fear of god into Luci and myself, telling us the wolf was not just a fancy story to have a good laugh at, that he really would get us if we put one foot out of line, so don't get any ideas...especially ones involving being too near each other. I never bought into his stories much.
That is...until the night Luci fell asleep on me at the circle.
I was so scared that some big old wolf was going to come busting out of the trees and drag us both off screaming into the night, I was shaking. I sat by the fire all night with her snoring lightly on my shoulder, staring into the woods. I was so sure every little noise was Him, come to get me. I was so relieved when dawn finally broke and we were both still in one peice.
Propped up on my elbow, I watched her sleep in the soft light from the slowly dying fire. Smiling, I laid on my back, folding my arms behind my head. Tonight, there would be no worrying about any old wolf coming out of the woods to eat us.
The sound was lost in the soft crackle of our fire. A few good sized logs fed it, the amber flames dancing and gnawing on the soft rotting wood. Fire has always reminded me of a living creature that feasts on anything it can fit into its insatiable maw. Something to be tended and cared for lovingly and almost tenderly like a pet...and then allowed to die in its own time. But unlike a pet, no one can truly tame a flame. It devours what it will, and goes where it likes if you take your eyes off of it. It is a wild and untamed thing even in the most secure of pits.
This night reminded me of so many nights spent lying around a fire as a boy, out in the woods back home. We would take a few linens out and tie them to the trees like thin tents. Usually it was just us guys, trying to act like rugged mountain men, chopping at sticks with our daggers, climbing trees and digging holes. Didn't take long though for us to start gaining girls that liked to hang around us.
At first we fought against them coming out to our spot, but pretty soon, it was unavoidable, especially after Luci came to live with my family. I had to take her everywhere with me, or mom would fuss.
Sometimes dad would come with us out into the woods, especially after we started having girls hang around. He used to tell us all kinds of ghost stories and stuff. My favorite were always stories about pirates and treasure. But the one that always got the biggest rise out of my friends was the story of The Wolf. He told it better and better as we got older, but the story was still the same at heart...
Long long ago, there was a small village in the middle of a deep wood. The people were always happy, and the children would frolic and play all day long. Everything was good in the village, and lives were prosperous.
Every boy and girl in the village were taught to behave from the time they were very small. They all knew that if they stepped out of line, He would come. And He would be hungry....and angry.
Every once in a while, you could hear the howls of a bad boy or girl being dragged off by Him into the woods, the consequence of telling lies or cheating on a test at school or hitting a sibling. He always found out...and if the boys and girls of our village weren't careful, He would come and take them too!
At this point dad would jump at someone and yell "Beware the Wolf!" and of course, the girls would always scream and hide in the arms of the nearest guy.
Course, back at home, he tried to send the fear of god into Luci and myself, telling us the wolf was not just a fancy story to have a good laugh at, that he really would get us if we put one foot out of line, so don't get any ideas...especially ones involving being too near each other. I never bought into his stories much.
That is...until the night Luci fell asleep on me at the circle.
I was so scared that some big old wolf was going to come busting out of the trees and drag us both off screaming into the night, I was shaking. I sat by the fire all night with her snoring lightly on my shoulder, staring into the woods. I was so sure every little noise was Him, come to get me. I was so relieved when dawn finally broke and we were both still in one peice.
Propped up on my elbow, I watched her sleep in the soft light from the slowly dying fire. Smiling, I laid on my back, folding my arms behind my head. Tonight, there would be no worrying about any old wolf coming out of the woods to eat us.