superjars
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A Beautiful Birth
All life begins with birth.
All life ends with death.
If only this was true for all;
Then we may have not had to bear
The Great Cataclysm.
~Philosophical Musings about The Great Cataclysm,
Cassius Forlane, First Knight of Ravenshreich
The sun came peeking slowly over the horizon, transforming the black of night into the pleasant glow of a new spring morning. A gentle breeze from the north floated through the valley, rustling through the grass, caressing the new leaves as it moved through the branches they held onto so dearly. It wound its way towards new destinations, pushing to go as far as it could before losing its strength. Voices and sounds of the village slowly waking up rode on the same breeze, faintly echoing from the other end of the valley where the village sat nestled between two small, rocky hills. Several dozen sheep dotted the bottom of the valley, bleating contentedly and wandering around, happily chewing on the newly grown spring grass.
Sirlinias, squatting beneath a tall oak whose branches swayed in the breeze, turned up his collar to stave off the cool air, his shivering body huddling beneath the folds of his over sized shirt. He yawned, long and loud, pulling the cold morning air uncomfortably into his lungs. He slid his skinny arm out from the sleeve where it was hiding to rub at his tired eyes, attempting to push back the urge to sleep which made it hard for him to keep focused on the task at hand. His shepherd's nook lay on the grass several feet to his right, easily within his grasp if he spotted danger to himself or the sheep grazing in the valley below.
“Sirlinias!”
A voice floated up from behind him, gruff and hard to his ears. Instinctively, he reached out to grab for the nook, but stopped when he realized it originated from his father; he was probably checking to make sure that his son was doing his chores, and not sleeping up on the hill. Sirlinias' hand moved to his back instead, his body remembering the whipping he had gotten when he had fallen asleep watching the sheep a few months ago and a wolf had gotten away with one of their ewes.
“Sirlinias! You had better not be sleepin' up there again!”
The voice was louder and closer, meaning his father would not carry on with what he had to say without a response from Sirlinias.
“I'm here, father. And awake. Whadya want?” Sirlinias growled, trying to force the annoyance from his voice, but an undertone slipped through. He grimaced at hearing his own voice, small and weak compared to his father's, and knew his father would catch the slip. He braced himself for the response, closing his eyes and clenching his jaw, his back giving a quick twinge of remembered pain.
“Now, don't you be takin' that tone with me, boy! Your mother sent me up here with some breakfast for you, but if you're gonna talk like that, I ain't gonna give it to you!”
Sirlinias cringed, his father's voice loud and clear. His father must have reached the top of the hill. He turned his head slightly and slowly until he could just see his father out of the corner of his eye. His face was flushed red with anger, a prominent vein pulsing on his bald head and breath steaming out of his mouth in small puffs of vapor. Sirlinias' father was a large man, tall and muscular. He had worked his entire life on his family's farm, and it showed in his tanned skin, calloused hands and rough demeanor. In contradiction, Sirlinias was short for his age and little more than flesh and bone. Seeing the look on his father's face, Sirlinias knew that now was not a good time to push him.
“Sorry, father. I didn't mean nothing by it,” Sirlinias said quickly and quietly, returning his gaze quickly to the valley, slowly pushing himself up from the squatting position to stand, stretching his hands into the air to ease his tired muscles. Stifling a yawn, he turned around and walked slowly to meet his father, taking the offered bowl in both hands, staring down at some bland, colorless gruel. He picked up the wooden spoon and forced a spoonful into his mouth, turning to stand beside his father and continuing to keep his eyes focused down towards the sheep, grazing in the valley below. The two of them were silent for quite some time as Sirlinias pushed spoonfuls of his breakfast into his mouth, the two of them standing side by side, the air heavy and uncomfortable between them. Sirlinias knew from previous encounters with his father that it was better for him to remain quiet and wait for his father to break the silence, no matter how uncomfortable it was for him.
“Well, the labor's done. You've a sister. I was hoping it'd be a real man this time,” Sirlinias' father said bluntly, abruptly ending the silence. He then turned and walked quickly away, heading back to the house. Sirlinias stood frozen, his spoon halfway to his mouth, a surprised look creeping onto his features. He had been up all night, helping the mid-wife with his mother's labor, and had had to leave before it was finished to go and do his chores and look over the sheep for his father. He turned towards his father, but he was already at the bottom of the hill and hurrying his way back to the house. Sirlinias set the spoon back into the bowl.
A sister. After fifteen years of being the only child, he now had a sister. Sirlinias slowly closed his mouth and sat down on the hill, setting the bowl down in the grass beside him. He let his gaze wander, his mind struggling with the news. He would not be an only child any more, but he'd have a sister. A small smile slowly formed on his face, his mind imagining all of the things he and his sister would be able to do together. He was the older brother, and that meant he would have to protect her and teach her about the world. Sirlinias interlocked his hands behind his head and lay down on the grass, staring up into the sky, watching clouds float by, continuing to think about the new arrival, the sheep and his breakfast quickly forgotten.
In his mind, Sirlinias began to imagine what having a sister might be like. Many scenes rushed into his head. Lazy days in the summer, spent fishing and catching worms and frogs. Rainy spring days spent inside with mother reading stories of the adventures of heroic knights and beautiful maidens. Cold, winter days spent running around in the snow, using it to build forts and statues and for throwing at each other. And calm, autumn days, collecting fallen leaves and piling them around the valley floor to play in and around. The sense played out for him, his sister and him running around, laughing and playing, not having a care or responsibility in the world.
A loud bleat close by his head caused Sirlinias to bolt upright, thoughts of his sister pushed from his mind. He swiveled his head to the left and the right quickly, eyes coming to rest on a sheep that had climbed up the hill and was chomping on grass a few feet away from him. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed anything approaching him. It was good his father hadn’t caught him daydreaming like that. Sirlinias reached out his hand for his nook, and pushed himself quickly to his feet. He took a step towards the sheep, curved end of his nook pointed towards it to prod it back down the hill, and stepped awkwardly into the bowl that held his half-eaten breakfast. The bottom of his show made a squelching sound as it pushed into the gruel and his foot slipped in it, pushing him off balance. His foot slid forward out of the bowl and into the air, the rest of his body falling backwards. For a moment, Sirlinias stood frozen in place, arms spinning in frantic circles to regain balance, foot swung high in the air, and then he crashed to the ground with a thump.
“Ouch!” he yelped, pain radiating outwards from his behind to his extremities. Sirlinias pushed himself up onto his knees quickly, rubbing his behind to ease the pain emanating from it. He looked around quickly, seeing if anyone had been around to see his mishap. Seeing no one nearby, he lightly sighed, pushing himself the rest of the way to his feet, taking a few moments to wipe the gruel off of the bottom of his shoe on the grass. Sirlinias glared down at the bowl tipped precariously on its side, gruel half inside and half in the grass beside it. He picked it up, searched the nearby ground for the spoon and when he had both, walked over and set them down beneath the tree. Turning, he gripped his nook once again and walked towards the sheep, prodding it back down the hill and returning to his chores.
Several hours had passed while Sirlinias finished his chores, watching the sheep graze and then leading them back to their pen. It had been a pretty uneventful time. Sheep were pretty boring creatures to watch, and Sirlinias would have much rather been doing almost anything else in the world rather than watching them. He was relieved when his cousin Tolben came to take over watching the sheep and Sirlinias was finally able to take a break.
“S-Sirlin-nias, g-get g-going,” Tolben panted out, face flushed from his run to the pen. He stopped by the fence and bent over, hands on his knees, breath coming in short gasps. Tolben had a bad habit of showing up late to his chores, leaving Sirlinias having to wait for him to show up before he could head home. However, Sirlinias would never tell his father or anyone else about Tolben’s tardiness. Tolben stood almost two heads higher than Sirlinias, and was built like an ox from his head to his feet. Sirlinias may not have had much of an education, but it didn’t take very many punches or kicks from Tolben for him to realize that it was better for him if he kept his mouth shut about Tolben’s bad habits. Tolben stood up straight, his muscles flexing naturally under his shirt, and looked down at Sirlinias. “Well, whadya still doin’ here? Best be getting home before they think something’s wrong.”
“Yeah. Suppose so,” Sirlinias said quickly and quietly, turning quickly and running off towards his house. He glanced back once at Tolben, but he was already over the fence and in amongst the sheep, not giving Sirlinias a second thought. Sirlinias sighed and turned back to his path, heading down the path to his house.
With empty bowl and spoon in hand, Sirlinias ran into his yard, skidding to a stop as he rounded the gate to the stone fence surrounding it. He bent over, putting his free hand on his knee while he caught his breath. He had run as fast as he could to get here, but it would be meaningless if he was seen panting and out of breath. Sirlinias’ left hand moved instinctively to his right shoulder, memories of Tolben’s fist impacting it floating to the surface of his mind. It wouldn’t do him any good if people thought he rushed here because Tolben had been late.
Sirlinias took one last, deep breath, and strolled up to the front door, pushing it quietly open and slipping inside. He stood in a small entrance, several pairs of shoes piled near the doorway. He slipped off his own shoes and added them to the pile, walking over a plain dirt floor farther into the house. He passed by the arch that led to the main living room, glancing inside as he passed. Nobody was inside, the wooden benches and tattered cushions sat alone and neglected.
He continued on to the next opening, turning inside the kitchen, a low, dull fire burning slowly in one corner, with a large pot of boiling water sitting atop it. Sirlinias walked up to the pot, filling the nearby ladle with boiling water and pouring it into the bowl he carried with him. He stepped out the side entrance to the rear yard and began cleaning out his bowl with a bit of cloth he pulled out of his pocket. The hot water scalded his hands at first, but they quickly adjusted to the heat as he worked at the bowl, rubbing the gruel from the sides and into the water. When he was satisfied that it was clean enough by his father’s standards, he dumped out the water and wiped it clean with his cloth.
Sirlinias wrung out his cloth and then returned to the inside of the kitchen, placing his clean bowl on a rickety wooden shelf near the entrance and laying his cloth over a wooden rod hung beneath it. His cleaning finished, Sirlinias walked out of the kitchen and continued down the hall. He skipped the door to his bedroom and continued to the end of the hall. His parent’s room had the door barely open. He stopped by the door and put his ear to the opening of the door. Inside, everything was quiet except for a deep, slow breathing, signifying that his mother was sleeping soundly.
Sirlinias pushed the door open slowly, far enough so he could slip quietly into the room. The room was dark, the only light coming from the edges of the blanket which hung over the window at the other side of the room. He glanced around his parents’ room, beautifully decorated with cloth and a few small paintings his mother had done. As his eyes traced the room, they were drawn to the bed where his mother lay, a small bundle held in her arms. Sirlinias walked over slowly and silently, doing his best to not wake her up. He came up to the side of the bed and looked down into the bundle she held.
Sirlinias let out a short, sharp intake of air, catching himself short as he looked down upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Two large, round, green eyes stared up at him, penetrating and intelligent, as if they were looking straight into him. The baby let out a quiet giggle, kicking its arms and legs lightly at Sirlinias. At that moment, with the baby staring up at him, Sirlinias fell in love and knew that he would do anything to protect his sister, to help her grow, to make her happy. He felt a smile creep onto his face and reached down to let the baby grab hold of his finger, a swell of joy and pride filling his chest as he stared down at his beautiful baby sister.
His mother began to shift in the bed, slowly waking up. Sirlinias pulled his finger away and snuck quickly and quietly out of the room, hearing the sounds of his mother moving around and the baby starting to cry loudly following him from the room. He headed down the hallway and ducked into his room, the grin growing on his face. He lay on his bed and began to think about his sister, returning to his previous thoughts with renewed excitement now that he had actually met her. He drifted off into his thoughts, the troubles of last night and today forgotten, his only thought the new addition to their family.
Completed
C&C
< Message edited by superjars -- 6/29/2010 10:04:54 >
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