Naryn woke up to the sound of birds chirping. She let go of her mother's hand and stood on stiff legs. She stretched and walked arround the cabin until the feeling of pins and needles went away. Then she went back to her mother to help her out of bed. Alana lay with eyes open, shaking violently with her ailment. Her only form of comunication now was eye movement and little moans. Naryn sat at the edge of the bed and slipped her arm under Alana's back. She pushed her mother up into a sitting possition and propped the pillows up behind her so that when she lay back she would remain in a sitting position. After she was done she went to get a brush and started brushing Alana's hair. The long, salt and pepper strands nearly reached the floor when her hair was draped over the edge of the bed. This was Naryn's favorite thing to do for her mother. She loved the feel of the silky locks as they glided through her fingers. After the brushing Naryn braided her mother's hair and draped it over her shoulder. "There momma, you look so pretty." She kissed her head and then went to the kitchen area to cook breakfast. The smell of eggs, bacon, and biscuts filled the cabin. Naryn filled her plate and then got a bowl to mix her mother's breakfas in. She crushed the bacon and biscut into mush and added the eggs. She also got two glasses of fresh, cool milk from the jug she filled the day before when she milked Chocolate, their dark brown cow. She put all of this onto a tray and went to carry it in to her mother where she planned to feed her while she, too ate her breakfast. ::Crash:: All that hard work went to waist as the tray hit the floor. Naryn just stared at her mother with blank, mournful shock. Tears began to stream down her face, but her look remained unchanged. Alana wasn't shaking anymore, she just stared now, strait ahead, with a hint of a smile. There even seemed to be a bit of joy and love in her eyes as she sat motionless on the bed. Naryn knew with one look that her mother was gone. She also knew that her father had been there, to finaly take his love home. It was the only explanation for that expression on her mother's face. Naryn buried Alana next to Thadien under the large patch of clover that grew five yards away from their home. She dug the six feet deep hole herself but she went to town to ask a family friend to help her carry her mother. He was a burley, hairy old chap named Liam. He fancied Naryn and would do anything for her even though he knew that she would never want him. He helped her carry Alana to the grave. A few hours later Naryn said a Wiccan prayer over her mother's grave. Liam carved a headstone from a loose board. This is what it said:
Alana May Strait-Arrow A Beloved Mother who has returned to her true love, at last.
Naryn got her self a good nights rest for the first time in eleven years. The next day she packed a heavy pack full of dry goods, water, and as much monney from the family chest as she could carry. She tucked the knife her father gave her into her boot and grabbed her bow and quiver on the way out the door. She was an orphan now and she set out to find the one who made it happen.
MommyMengrove · Thu Jul 13, 2006 @ 03:57am · 2 Comments |