Tres-Path

Write at the Merge; Week 10

This week we’re honoring the genius of Dr. Seuss, who was born on March 2, 1904.  Our two Seussical offerings are an image and a line from one of his books. Happy writing!

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.”
Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax

And because a birthday celebration should include everyone, if you don’t find either of these offerings inspiring, use your favorite Dr. Seuss quote or story as inspiration — just leave us a note letting us know what you chose!

I may have just chosen trees, which gives me an excuse to revisit the Elementals for a minute...

Chuck was gazing out the kitchen window when a movement caught his attention. He watched the young girl slide down the rough bark of the old oak in the back yard. She wasn’t at all dressed for tree climbing, her long legs were bare as were her arms. She didn’t seem to have shoes, either. The jumper she wore was far too frilly.

He called to his wife, “Hey, Beth, who’s the kid in the tree?”

Beth joined him at the window, still holding a plate and dish towel. She watched for a moment, then raised her brows, “That’s no kid, chuck,” she said as she lay the towel down. “That? Is a dryad.”

“A what?”

“A dryad, wood nymph.” Beth put the dish aside and headed out the back door.

Chuck muttered under his breath as he followed, “Wood nymph? What next, unicorns?”

Beth was already half way to the tree. “Whoa there, Toots! That oak is taken!”

The girl had started back up the tree when she saw beth approach. She hesitated, she had been caught by humans. Disappearing into the tree would not be a good idea, she dropped lightly back to the ground.

“I’m sorry, lady.” She did her best imitation of a young human girl, letting tears fill her bright green eyes and twirling a lock of honey brown hair. “I just wanted to play.”

“Give it up, I know what you are, and as I said, that tree is taken.” Beth glared at the nymph. “Whats your name? And no games, I’ll know if you lie.”

“Acalia,” she answered with a very unchild like scowl, “and how is it you know what I am?”

Beth looked Acalia over, she was too thin for even a dryad. “I know a lot of things. Except why you're crawling all over this tree.”

“I didn’t know this tree was taken. I need to find a new one, mine is sick.” Acalia squinted at beth, “You're no dryad, why do take this tree? I can make it a better tree, if you let me live in it.”

“The tree is in my yard, but I’m not the one that has taken it.” Beth said with smirk as the back door burst open once more.

“Get away from that tree, dryad!” cried the newcomer, her leaf green eyes blazing. “That’s my personal doorway!”

Acalia’s eyes and mouth fought to see which could open wider.

Beth chuckled, “Acalia, meet my mother, Tameryn Leafeyed, Element of Earth and Lady of Treecairn!”

A Secret Path

Show me an anti-hero. It can be a character sketch or a scene, but try to establish how and why this person is the obstacle to the protagonist’s goals.

Write a piece, fiction or non, in which your character suddenly finds themselves somewhere and have no clue how they got there.


I've tried to handle two prompts at once here. Let me know if I succeeded. More of the Elementals' story can be found here


       The kitchen was busy. And noisy. Beth was teaching Barry more games using his power of air. Her mother, Tam was watching and talking about how she should really go home for a while.

       Darren felt left out. He was only a little boy. A little human boy. He couldn’t move the air like his brother and mother. He couldn't make the earth work for him like his grandma. He was not special. Just human, like his daddy.

      But Daddy was a grown up. He got to leave and go to work. Darren was just a little boy, he was not special, he was nothing.

He sighed and left the kitchen. His feet slowly dragged him upstairs to his bedroom.  Once there, he picked through his toys and books, looking for something to do. Nothing interested him because he was nothing.

He was nothing, so he climbed to the back corner of his closet. With his arms wrapped around himself, in the dark he could be nothing and pretend he was nowhere.

>>>>>>>>>>>

                          

Tam was rambling on about trees she knew and flowers that she loved. Suddenly she stopped mid word.

“’Bet.” She tried to get her daughter’s attention, “Lyabet!” she called, using her daughter’s given name. “Did you just feel that?”

“Feel what, mother? Barry! You dropped the feathers. Pay attention to what are you doing.”

“They just falled, mommy! They just falled!”

“They don’t just fall, Barry." Exasperated, Beth finally answered her mother, "Feel what Mother?”

Tamryn Leafeyed, earth elemental, Lady of Treecairn, sat still and felt the earth beneath her. She’d lost touch with her element, for just a moment, she believed her young grandson had just had the same experience.

She sighed at her daughter’s distraction, “Never mind, ‘Bet. It was nothing.”

“Okay, Mother, whatever. Barry, good job! Your feathers are floating again, now you…” Beth, as she was called by her human husband, was focused again on her youngest son.

Tam quietly left the kitchen, troubling memories from her youth swirled just out of her grasp. Still, she followed her instincts up the stairs. Standing outside her other grandson’s bedroom, she called, “Darren, it’s Grandma. May I come in?” There was no answer. “Darren? Sweetie?”

         Reaching for the doorknob, she realized she was holding her breath  She exhaled and scolded herself for overreacting, with a twist of the knob, she threw the door open.

Tam stifled a cry of horror. On the other side of the door was…nothing.

Tam closed her eyes to the emptiness beyond Darren’s door. The light is off, nothing more she told herself, but when she opened her eyes, there still was nothing. Just black, empty space. She put her hand through the doorway and watched as it disappeared. She yanked it back quickly, then stared at her fingers, wiggling them to reassure herself.

“Darren?” she whispered, “Darren are you there? Answer me baby, are you okay?” Tam started to panic. Should she call her daughter,what could she do? 'Bet was too young to have any knowledge of this. This void.  Blackness.  And elementals had no power here, their elements no existence. She reached again toward the emptiness.

This time the blackness held her, sucked her into itself. Tam felt herself falling, she knew she was screaming, but her voice made no sound in the void.

Yet, she wasn't falling, she could almost feel ground beneath her feet, but there was no connection to it as with the earth. The blackness wasn’t  complete, she could make out a bleak landscape of various shades of black and gray. “Darren?” she whispered, her voice almost soundless to herself.

Close by, Tam heard a voice chanting, “Fall. Fall. Fall.” She could just see the outline of a small figure in front of her. She recognized the muted voice and gently touched the young boy in front of her, “Darren? Darren, please stop.”

Darren flinched at her touch and voice. “Grandma, what are you doing here? I just want to be alone!” he yelled. His focus shattered, his bedroom began to reappear around them, color and light quickly filling the shadowy void.

Tam threw her arms around the boy. “Oh Darren! You're okay, I was so afraid…”

“Afraid? Afraid of what, grandma? I was just playing, by myself.” Darren rocked side to side in his sneakers. Guilt warring with anger at being caught. 

Paths Meeting

This week, with Labor Day and the end of summer rapidly approaching, we asked you to write about a season of change for your character or you. It can be literal or metaphorical

(Another bit in the Paths of  Beth/Lyabet's family. The human and the elemental. I've added a page with all the snippets) 


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Chuck sat in uncomfortable silence observing his companion. Graleon was dressed in light gray slacks and a sky blue polo shirt. His hair was the lightest shade of blonde almost white. Along with his icy blue eyes, he looked cold as a winter dawn.

Graleon only gave Chuck a cursory look. He didn't care about Chuck's faded blue jeans or black T-shirt. He did care that Chuck was uncomfortable, he wanted to put him at ease. He wanted to make clear that he was not here as an enemy, but to be a friend.

Finally, Graleon broke the silence, "I come to speak to you because of your relationship with my daughter. I only want her to be happy. I'm concerned that she cannot be happy while denying who she is."

Chuck raised an eyebrow, "I have never heard her deny who she is, or what she is. It is you that have denied her children. You who have tried to talk her into leaving us, tried to talk her into coming back to you and living in the world she left behind."

Graleon sighed, "I have changed my feelings. I don’t pretend to understand why she made the choices she did. Yet, I have taken time to observe her interactions with the children and how you care for her, I would like to play a part in her life again. In your lives.”

Chuck listened to the words, trying to read the intent. He wasn't sure he trusted this man. He heard little from Beth, and nothing good from their new house guest, her mother, Tam.

Chuck looked steadily at Graleon, “I’ll give Beth your message. If she wants to renew her relationship with you, she’ll let you know. If she doesn’t, that is her choice.”

Graleon nodded, “That is all I ask.” He rose from his seat , nodded once again, then walked away.

There was an uneasiness in Chuck that he couldn’t define. He took a deep breath, the meeting had unnerved him more than he wanted to admit. He replayed the short talk in his mind. The words were benign, but they weren’t reflected in those icy eyes. Things were about to change, Chuck could feel it

Parallel Paths

The trip home from the Circle of Seven Trees...



They had to leave immediately.  Every moment spent amid the seven trees meant about ten minutes passing in the human world. It seemed small, but became hours quickly.

"I'm going on ahead with Barry, Mother. We'll get home faster."  Lyabet was in a hurry now. "I'll look for you by the oak"

Tam laughed at her daughter, "I'll be waiting when you get there, 'Bet. Just because you slog through earth doesn't mean I do. I could teach you a few tricks there!"

"Another day I think. Right now I'll travel the way I know. And Barry needs to start learning the ways."  Lyabet began let her physical body "thin", she encouraged her young son to do the same.  She felt the air begin to flow through her as her body lightened. Barry followed his mother's example and they began to rise.

"Just stay within my space, Barry, I'll carry you home." She read the breezes like a roadmap. This one lead here, that one there. When a strong gust going her way came close, she melded herself to it.

She loved the air, the feel within her being. The freedom from weight and gravity. Her senses expanded as she became one with the breeze. She could see for miles, heard the musical voices of others of her kind. She felt the wind in her soul.

As she flowed from gust to cloud to summer breeze, she suddenly became aware of another presence in the air. Following her path, sharing her space.

"Father?"

Too late she recognized the presence with her. They were already home.

Calculated Path

This week we asked you to show us how physical beauty can open doors - or close them. How does it make an impact?




Graleon watched from outside the circle of trees. Lyabet was confronting her mother about the "theft" of her youngest child. He was surprised to learn of the boy's ability. He hadn't considered the possibility that these half humans might be more than pets. 

He remembered first meeting Tam.  He'd  been attracted by her beauty, the red highlights in her hair. Her face was lit from within, a rosy complexion. He almost mistook her for an element of Fire, until he saw her eyes.  They were the color of spring. Leaf green, a give away to her true nature.  When he looked into them he saw life.  She was of the Earth, solid and nurturing.

She'd make the perfect mother for his heir.