Souldust

Inside of her memories

The youngest Ylvar was running and jumping between the golden leaves of autumn. The air was dripping with humidity but it did not deter the little girl in her attempts of getting herself far off her dad. She left behind the river and her beautiful two stories house. She was following a narrow path that she knew as her own hands between the foggy morning. An odd figure appeared in front of her on the dirt trail.

Ylvar instantly knew who it was, and without thinking it twice, she ran to the man who was almost near her. As she was not able to see his face, nor his clothes, she could feel the color that surrounded his body, like if it was the color of his soul. At the short distance in a day like that, she could almost feel between her lips her favorite smell, the scent of his grandpa: medicinal herbs, wood, cotton, and “that” other “ingredient” that always was on the tip of her tongue but never put her finger on what it was.

Grandfather and granddaughter shared a bear hug and shortly, Ylvar felt like she was flying in the air, as his grandpa held her up tightly between his hands. When she got back on her feet, they shared a precious moment, looking into their eyes, as if they could talk whitout words about the time that they were not able to see each other. The man was the first to break the silence “knowing that you don’t like presents that do not come from “Mr. Wolfy” I’ve brought this to you”.

By that time, the fog had dissipated and the sun shone above their heads, as it was blessing the reunion. Almost touching the little girl nose, there was a long, ivory colored feather. It was beautiful on its own accord, something that was very unique; It did not belong to any known bird, that much was clear. That little item caused a plethora of sensations inside the young Ylvar. She was not old enough to appreciate the exquisiteness of the gift, or the unusualness of it, but sure enough she knew it was something important in a whole different level. It should be in hands of an adult, that much she was sure of. She frowned and, at the same time smiled. She was feeling huge as a mountain because her grandpa thought that she was a big girl.

“Go ahead, take it. It’s rightfully yours”

Even after hearing it, and feeling somewhat reassured, she did not dare touch it carelessly. She got the feeling that it was extremely delicate and at the same time, it reminded her of herself. She moved her feet and changed her weight restlessly –a sign that she was nervous or unsure of something- and finally decided to approach it. Channeling her “mightiness” –as she liked to call her powers since she was able to comprehend- she looked at it and saw a “color” that had never seen before, indicating that belonged to someone that she didn’t know. But the scent…

She looked at her grandpa with a deeper frown, watching his reactions attentively. The man patted her head and shacked his head ‘no’.  “You catch on everything, don’t you?”  However, it was not what she wanted to hear, what she was asking silently of him.

“It’s from your momma, my little bird. She has given it to you.”  The new, deep, voice came from behind her. Ylvar took the feather from his grandpa, slightly smiling, as she asked herself why was she not able to distinguish her mother “energy” in there. The newcomer put his hands in her daughter’s shoulder and looked serious at the other one while he got himself off the ground where he was kneeled to watch at the ever-changing eyes of his granddaughter. The men stared at each other seriously.

“Long time not see. Old man”

“You look exactly as I left you”

“The same goes for you. OLD MAN” the emphasis did not go unnoticed by the latter, who smirked while hugged his son and handshaked in a pretty extravagant way.

“¿Old man? I look almost younger than you. ¿What about that hair? ¿and the shaggy figure? I see why Althea ran away from…”

The sentence was cut short with a low growl. But the twinkling in their eyes took away the tension in the air.

As they made their way back to the house, they continued to talk.

“I think you already know the reason why I asked you to come” Aric looked at his daughter who was silent. “Ylvar, grandpa Vasili is going to spend some time with you in our home, while daddy is gonna be away for a while. You should be a good girl and makehislifealivinghell…cofcof… hear him out. Learn as much as you can-because he did not teach me anything” and murmured something between the lines of “that mean and selfish assh**e” that no one should be able to make anything of.

The silence was palpable, little Ylvar tightened her grip on the feather and hugged her father’s leg. Although she didn’t like to cry, her tears stained her cheeks. The man rushed to hug her back and kissed the little droplets off her.

“Little bird. I know you miss your momma. That’s why I’m going to bring her back to us. WE WILL BE A HAPPY FAMILY AGAIN and forever”. He almost broke himself at the last word, but did not show that weakness in front of his daughter. Vasili on the other hand, watched with pitiful eyes the scene in front of him, incapable of taking away the discomfort of his family members.

Little Ylvar did not utter a word, she knew beforehand what was going to happen and generally why was it happening, but as little as she was, she couldn’t control herself and the feeling of abandonment. She could not ignore the little voice inside her head telling her that her father was going to leave her behind, that her mother was never going to return, that her grandpa was too distraught with his medicines and errant ways, his “wanderlustness” that in some point he was going to forget her in some weird place and will never remember  where, making it impossible to come back for her…

Her soft cries and thoughts were interrupted by her father’s voice “Listen little birdie” he took something from inside his clothes “I had it done for you to remember us always. Promise me… promise that you will always think good things of momma and papa, my little bird. We always want what’s best for you. Always.” Uttering those words made him feel so sad, desperate and helpless that he almost broke in front of her daughter. Their future was difficult, full of shadows and uncertainties. Instead of the full of confidence, and all mighty man who always saw the positive side of things, he felt like a powerless and abandoned boy.