Celestial Maiden

Section One - Prologue

Standing there on the crest of the ridge looking down over the collisions of greens and yellows, oranges and browns all I could think is SOMETHING IS COMING.

    It was a crisp October morning. Dawn had come and I knew the time had come for me to return home. The sunrise had been beautiful. I relished mornings like this. So often one can get lost in the monotony of day to day life. It really takes a view like this to make you reevaluate things. I may only be 18 and have never really left my hometown or the safety of the community for that matter, but I can say that for everything I have experienced in my short life, nothing can compare to the constant gifts mother nature gives. The sunrise this morning was so mesmerizing. The ripples of colors were breathtakingly astounding. Initially the stratosphere was a deep, dark purple with small specks of white. As time passed the colors changed to a beautiful rosy shade and then it gradually shifted to variants of orange and gold.

    I took one more look out at the autumn morning scenery and down to the still lake below. “I really wish I could stay longer” I thought before running back to the wooded area behind me. I had been up in upper tiers of the ridged area a majority of the morning. Sleep had been hard to come by the past few days. I kept having these weird dreams, I wouldn't say they were nightmares per say just odd. I normally am the type of person who sleeps through the night. I also take naps throughout the day. I had been good about sleep even when I was a baby. My mom used to say that while all the other moms of babies in my age group had many sleepless nights, she and dad were well rested. Very seldom did I have restless nights unless I was sick. That's what had made the past few nights odd.

    In the dream I'd been having I would be sinking underwater. While I sank there were a pair of eyes watching me. The eyes were a hazel color. They were not the type of hazel like mine which were an inner brown ring around the pupil with a forest green outer ring. These were a light brown with blue around the outside. They were absolutely mesmerizingly beautiful, more so than any eyes I had ever seen before. While in the dream I was never able to see the face that the eyes belonged to. The Letter M would appear behind the eyes right before I woke up. I have been spending a lot of my time recently thinking about what my dream meant. It had been recurring all week. I hadn't shared this dream with anyone although maybe I should. I couldn't help but wonder if this dream meant something was going to happen.

    As I walked home through the woods I took in all my surroundings. The tangles of branches and vines might be intimidating or possibly even scary to some. But growing up how I did, all I could do is feel comfort. The forest was like a close member of my family. I always felt safe there. I grew up in these woods and due to that fact the forest is more like a second home to me. Anytime there was something on my mind or I needed to recenter myself, I'd go to up into the mountains that encased and towered over our town. The calm I'd feel while in the mountains was almost euphoric. There were many of the community who felt the same as I did. We were known for our beautiful nature reserves and parks.

    Normally, we had many out of town visitors during the year. Our community made a decent amount off of tourism. Next weekend would be the celebration of Samhain or what some call Halloween. The community had been settled by immigrants from the UK, a lot with celt blood. We celebrated most holidays the old way. The pagan way. This is the first time in over 100 years we were holding the Samhain Festival. Especially to such a large scale. Normally we celebrate Samhain just the community. We normally send representatives to where the gatherings are held. It was an honor to attend. Not everyone went because a lot of parents wanted to celebrate with their children. This year was going to be so magical. Not only were we holding this special celebration but to get to meet so many new people from other cities and countries made my heart race. During the day there were competitions, games,

    As I ran down the path and through the trees I soon came to the clearing that was the midway point back to town. I felt the soft, squishy moss beneath my bare feet. It had rained in the earlier hours of the morning, long before I awoke. “God I love this feeling!”, I cried. I spun in circles and pirouetted around the clearing while humming and singing “Canta Lunata e Soleil”. The melody was of the lullaby I'd heard for as long as I could remember. The song spoke of the love and dedication between two celestial figures, Lunata and Soleil. The maidens had been blessed by the creator and harnessed power from the moon and sun. Our community used songs and stories to teach the children of our legends and where our people came from. Some of the tales and songs of our people were so ancient they originated in the time before recorded history. I loved history much like my parents. I always felt there was so much to learn if we looked to the past. I aspired to be an archeologist one day and travel. I guess you could say I wanted to be just like my mother. She also loved nature like I did. Often being in the woods I felt connected to her.

    There was a thick haze on this early October morning. It had been somewhat foggy and I was engulfed by a fine, sheer mist that was transparent yet opaque. The white night gown I wore clung to my figure as I danced about. My thickly knitted shawl fanned out around me. I felt like I resembled a gypsy stereotype. This really was true happiness, pure bliss. I loved being able to recenter and connect myself like this. If I told my closest girl friend, Astoria, about this I can only imagine what she would say. Most likely she would make a jab at me about being a Disney princess, the only way this would be better would be with some woodland creatures. Her remarks would be harmless. Astoria had this way about her that when it came to me she could rarely say a hurtful or cruel thing. Which isn't to say that I haven't seen her temper in action. That was truly something to behold. She was a magnificent being. I was blessed to have a friend like her and often thanked the gods for her.