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 Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:55 pm
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 "Girls, girls, my wonderful daughters," Watch lay on the stone by the river where he and the beautiful Rain had fallen for each other, calling for his beautiful children to gather round, "Come, my children, I have a new story to share with you! Come now, my girls."
The sun was hanging low in the sky, he watched as the shadows it cast danced upon the gentle river. His eyes closed, listening to the sounds of his temporary home; the buzzing the the graceful Persimmon, the clattering of many hooves as his children ran about, the calm voice of his wonderful lady. He sighed, they were just about grown now. Despite the itchiness of his hooves and the ache of staying still for so long, raising these girls, his daughters, had been the most amazing time of his life. He would remember those days even more clear than those of when he first laid eyes on his beloved ocean. But he could not stay forever, he knew that. They'd be finding their own ways soon. It would be best to get in as many bed-time stories as possible before the time came.
. . . .
"Coming papa! Young Set called from the bushes around their den.
She had been gathering food when her father had called. Shining, red, ripe berries filled the shell of a once living turtle, accented by soft, delicate flowers that melted on your tongue. Mmm! She couldn't wait to bring them to papa. They were his favorites, after all, perfect for nibbling on when a good story is just waiting to be told. She felt a small pang in her chest when she thought of all the stories he would tell her and her sisters when they were falling asleep every night. They were getting older now, and her own hooves itch. Not for travel like her father, but for independence, quite and peace. But that was for later, right now was story time.
Set picked up the bowl and gracefully made her way over to the large rock upon which her father lay. Gently, she placed the bowl at his hooves and set herself down, ears perked and eyes bright, patiently waiting for the story to begin.
[ Roll call! ]
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:53 am
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Watched smiled as his children approached, a gleam of pride in his deep, red eyes. They were beautiful, the most beautiful does he had ever seen. And he was their father. He has tried his best to raise them right; praise when they behaved, punishment when they didn't, and all the stories he could think of to teach them the life lessons they would need in the ever-nearing future.
"Ah, thank you, Set. They look delicious." He said gratefully as the shell of berries was placed before him.
Small, little Set. He sighed inwardly. This daughter had a special place in his heart, being so like him in both appearance and name, it was hard not to grow close. Polite, kind, and respectful, just like he tried to be, with a love for the ocean and it's sunsets. The only things that set the two apart was her lack of wanderlust.
'Such a shame too,' he thought,'She'd make a wonderful traveling companion.'
A chuckle danced upon his lips as he watched his other daughter nudge Set playfully. Mist Rest, so unlike the rest of their family but family none the less. She was unique, cunning, and oh so curious. Memories of helping Lady out of the many messes she had gotten herself into as a filly flickered over his memory. Not a single day went by without some kind of excitement from this little one!
...
But where were the rest of his children? He cleared his throat and gave a call.
"Heart? Abyss? Come, girls!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:24 pm
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"It's Fallen, Father." But her correction held little bite; her voice never did. She was perpetually sweet, unconcerned, guileless, but without intention or even seemingly having any sense of self-expression beyond the sweeter matters of the heart. She understood little beyond companionship and loneliness and only the latter because she sought to avoid it. She seemed to drift almost, graceful with a gentle smile on her face. She loved her family certainly, but to her, this love seemed empty as if she were searching for more and it simply wasn't there. Nonetheless she had yet to stray from her home, her pale spring form staying with her father's summer countenance, her mother's winter beauty, her sibling's varied loves.
The stories her father told, she enjoyed, but found little practical application. She found them irrational and strange for her heart lay within others, whether or not it was cherished meant little to her so long as she was allowed her strange, simple, complicated, beautiful loves. Alas, she had no kin to place her heart in so she settled at her sisters' sides. She, although most like her mother in appearance, a near splitting image except for colors, horns and hooves, held none of her mother's sweet shyness, rather she simply existed, neither forward in her intentions nor uncomfortable in assertion. She was as she was, gentle, but not soft, natural like a cool rush of water, perceptive but not penetrating. She partook not in the berries nor the playful nudging of Lady unto Set. But she smiled and that was the best you could ever want out of Fallen for she was beautiful that way, warm, like the beginning of a spring that was going to last.
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Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:04 pm
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"Ah, but my dear girl, you will always be my heart. Even when you've found lives of your own, I shall keep thoughts of you close, always and forever."The sun-set buck cooed poetically, meaning every word. His children were his life, after all.
His red eyes followed the graceful beauty that was The Felled Heart. She was splendid, the spitting image of her beloved mother. She was quick to love, probably a little too quick for her father's tastes, but her love was deep and pure like the river that flowed just inches away from their hooves. He worried of the bucks that would surely steal her away. Would they be kind? Gentle? Would they return her love and treat her as she deserved? He couldn't know, and he knew that Fallen cared not. Still, he knew she would be happy, and that mattered most, he thought.
"But dear children, this story is different from all the others. It isn't one of the many tales I have collected over the years by the mouths of others; but one I lived through, personally." Watch smiled dreamily and nibbled a berry, reveling in its taste, "You see, this is the story of the deepest and most true love story I have ever heard."
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Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:41 pm
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"Ahh, is it time for that?" A broad smile spreads across her face and pale eyes sparkle when she sees her family. This was an empty grove not too many seasons ago. A single doe lived here, alone. Dense undergrowth concealed the footpath, and few strangers ever thought it was worthwhile to squeeze through brambles and grasping vines for what might just be another marshy caiman hole. The land here is plentiful and the water sweet, but there was no voice to answer her own. Giant wasps are companions, of a sort. Persimmon is loyal and perhaps a bit overprotective, but there is no heart beating within her armored chest. A wasp cannot provide warmth on winter nights or tell tales of strange lands. But then he came. And then...
A path, once unwelcome, was cleared. Soil was turned, seeds were planted. A family grew. Where there was once one, now there were six. Well... five. Rain doesn't bother looking for Dream in the Abyss. She was always a troubled girl. She wanted for nothing, but she was prone to terrible fits of rage and icy, uncertain stillness. Nightmares plagued her sleep. Violent outbursts alienated her from her family, and no amount of praise or punishment could sway her. As soon as she was able, she wandered away on her own for longer and longer stretches of time. Rain occasionally finds her daughter's hoofprints, cloven like her own. If the girl wanted to be found, she would be found. At first these absences terrified and angered her, but time has helped her negotiate an uneasy acceptance of her daughter's self-imposed exile. Even so, she still searches for Dream's red eyes around every tree. Motherfather deliver her from danger.
Her other three daughters are a sight to see. One so pink and delicate, dutiful and kindhearted. Another pale and frostkissed, romantic and searching. The last is red and racy, devilish and graceful. And an Acha. How that happened she'll never know. Watch was a good sport about her endless teasing. It must have come from him, right? She kneels and then settles into the soft moss next to him. The wanderlust within him has nurtured a curiosity within her about the greater world, the world outside of this peaceful grove. She half-closes her eyes and leans against him, listening to his breath and counting his heartbeats. This is a familiar story, one told in glances and quiet words after dark.
"I'll let you tell it. You'll do a far better job than I."
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:47 pm
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She accepted her father's endearments easily, smiling that gentle spring smile of his as he spoke. She forgot her future for a moment, content in the present of her family though she would return to those undefinable loves once this moment passed. She had a future of strangeness and perfection, love and love to be repeated and cherished, each forever and crystalline to her fallen heart, perhaps too simple and too much standard for those she chose to love, but each perfectly unique to her. It was her future happiness not to be spurned or broken, only to love.
And it was these dreams that let her settle happily for this story, for she saw all things with love and though she could not imagine that one love would be deeper and truer than any other, she accepted that her father valued his loves differently than she valued hers. It was his right after all. In the wake of her mother's statement, she encouraged him with her cool river voice, "Tell us, father."
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 4:46 pm
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Eyes so red, like a dying sun that blinks through the trees, slide closed as a tumble of words untangle themselves in his mind. Colorful flashes of childhood memories, familiar scents and smells and sounds surround him, and then, suddenly...
He's there. Out in the flat lands that bore him into the world, surrounded by the people who sculpted him, formed him into the buck that he was today. This was a special story indeed.
"Love... Love is a beautiful thing. It shines in the eyes of those gifted it with brilliance that rivals the sun. It fills us with meaning, with direction, with choices and decisions and feelings we never thought we'd have. And when it is true," He smiles and presses his nose into Rain's mane, reveling in her scent and the peace it brings him, "It is stronger than anything we can even begin to imagine.
There once was a doe, a plain-runner who looked as though she'd fallen straight from the bright summer sky. Her eyes were like pure sunshine, full of joy and excitement. Her mane was ever flowing, racing behind her in the wind as she ran gracefully though the swamp that was her home.
One day, this doe met a buck. He was beautiful, a Kiokote as well, with a pelt made from the twilight sky and eyes that shone with the intensity of the setting sun. And when those two sets of eyes met, the MotherFather nodded and smiled its consent. It would have seemed as though they were perfect for eachother. And so the buck begged her company, wishing to keep by her side forever."
Waltz sighs, ears lowered.
But forever is such a long time... And the idea of such a concept was too much for the doe, and she declined and ran."
He hesitated a moment, wondering what would have happened if she hadn't. Would he be here? Surely not. And if Waltz hadn't chased after her? Would he be as he is now? He surely doubted it...
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 5:26 pm
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The Felled Heart listened in rapt attention. This story more like her dreams, more like her secret unknown longings, than some of the other stories that her father had to tell. She closed her eyes as he spoke, letting his words wash over her and wind its way to her heart, drawing mysterious and fating patterns over the beating center of her unbounded love for all kin, those she had met and those she had yet to meet.
His words shimmered behind her closed eyes, weaving it seemed to her, something so beautiful that it must be called fate. She settled her head upon her hooves, a smile playing across her face as she listened. Even the sadder tone of the story did not faze her for she believed without a doubt that love could not end in sadness. Love, for her, lifted all things, elevated them. So she did not interrupt her father, and simply let the silence hang, the echo of his sigh filling the air.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:43 pm
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"But he followed her, my children, determined that, even if he could not be her mate forever more, he still wanted her in his life. Because to him, she was everything. Without her smile, the sun did not rise. Without her voice, the wind was still and stale. And without her warmth next to him every night, he was sure his heart would freeze.
Watch smiled, and continued. It really was such a wonderful story, he thought, even more so because there was no doubt that these kin were real, not bucks of stars and does of mist. But his own flesh and blood.
And so he did. He stood by her side, providing her food, shelter, and warmth. He gave her his blessing when other bucks wished to run beside her. He raised her children, even though they were not sired by him. And he never held any doubt, because he knew from the sun shine in her eyes that she would return to him always. Even though it took many years, she finally did and, together, they are the happiest kin I have ever met.
From their love, I was raised and taught the value of its strength. It is from them that I learned to love everything; The swamp and the water that holds it, your mother, and each and every one of you. I know that you are all getting older and will soon be off on your own, but never forget, by beautiful daughters, that we will always love you. No matter what."
With a sad smile, he stood, and looked over each and every one of the women in his life. They were his world, just as his mother had been to Waltz and they would always be with him, he knew. No matter how far he'd go.
"They should be here soon. Your grandkin. I'd like them to meet you, the flowers of my heart."
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