|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:09 pm
Their once was a small little bird who dreamed of bigger things.
He mother and farther always warned her. "You are a small bird with many enemies. Stay close to the nest and stay quiet."
But little wren couldn't follow her parents rules and as soon as she learnt to fly she left the nest.
She travelled many days and saw lots of things she had never seen before. In the middle of a frightening storm she took nest in the small knothole of an olive tree.
The storm raged all day but as the sun started to set it had almost blown itself out.
Little wren poked her hear out of the knothole slowly checking the area, she was about to fly when she noticed someone approaching.
The hooded figure approached and leaning in tree they whispered into the knothole.
"Oh wise tree ,I ask of thee, The gift of fruit ,please give to me."
The little wren tilted her head and wondered why this person would ask that of a tree.
Before she didn't have time to wonder as the tree shook and a gentle voice spoke , like the whispering of the wind through the leaves.
"What is it that you wish of me child? Speak clear as i can only grant you one."
"I want to be able to sing. My whole family sings but i am the only one who can not. I wish i could sing as loud and as beautifully as the birds " the hooded figure said shyly
"if that is what you wish." the tree said and with a shiver two silver olives appeared on the branch in front of the figure.
She took the olives and ate them spitting the stones onto the floor.
As she walked away she started to test her new voice. Her voice was rich and strong and it made the little wren feel like going home.
Hopping down from her knothole she snatched up the olive stones and ate them wondering if it would have the same effect on her.
Trying to sing she realised her voice was louder and richer then before.
Settling back into the knothole she decided to make the magic tree her home.
She noticed that the tree was just like any other tree most of the time. birds roosted in its branches, the occasional goat chewing on the low hanging leaves.
But on the night of the full moon sometimes cloaked figures would come to the tree and make a wish.
Each wish was granted and each time the little wren would eat the stones.
Some wishes were sensible some were not.
One wished for Hair to regrow on their head, another wished to be smarter so she could help others, one wanted to dance,one wanted to fly and one even wished to stay young looking util they died.
Little Wren sat and watched each one always wondering what would be next.
One stormy night a new figure approached.
She muttered the rhyme and waited for the tree to answer.
"I want to live for ever." the hooded figure blurted out quickly almost as soon as the tree spoke.
"if that is what you wish." the tree said and with a shiver and a single golden olive appeared on the branch.
She ate quickly before spitting the stone on the floor and leaving.
As normal little wren hopped down and ate the stone too not fully under standing the wish that had been made.
Years passed and the little wren hardly noticed fewer and fewer came to the tree now and it was almost like it was forgotten.
The little wren spent most of her time singing to the tree or talking to it. She had no idea if it could here her but it kept her happy.
Seasons came and went but one night on a full moon an old hooded figure, almost bent double with age, approached the tree.
"Oh wise tree ,I ask of thee, take back the gift you gave to me."
The little wren stuck her head out from her home having not heard this one being said before.
"The wish I gave was just for you, alas my child i can not undo." the tree replied and then remained silent.
The hooded figure hurled her stick at the tree and sobbed angrily threatening the tree before storming off the way it came.
The wren was about to head back to her nest when she felt the tree shudder.
"Little wren that lives in my knothole stand in front of me." the tree spoke in its normal calm voice.
Little wren shook her feathers and hopped down in front of the tree.
"All these years you have lived in my branches and listened to the wishes of others. You stayed and kept me company in the long cold months and I have heard your wish.
At my base their is a split in my trunk. go into it and sleep their tonight. When you awake I will be no more but I will grant you your greatest wish before I go."
The wren hopped to the base of the tree and she found the split in the trunk.
Hopping inside she felt warm and safe as she nestled down. So content and comfy she did not notice the whole closing up behind her.
Her dreams were filled with all the people who had made wishes in the years that she had lived with the tree.
A great singing voice, long wavy hair, eternal youth, advanced knowledge, wings of a bird and the grace of a dancer. As her visions of the very last women came to her mind she felt a shudder and pain.
Not her pain but the pain of the tree.
Opening her eyes she could see a thin shaft of light in front of her getting slowly larger and a slow rhythmic beats of a axe chopping wood getting louder.
She realised that someone was cutting down the tree, looking around she realised their was no way out from this little hole but she knew the tree would protect her.
Suddenly she was filled with the urge to sing so she opened her mouth and the softest song drifted from her lips.
As she sang she realised the chopping had stopped and the crack was getting wider.
Their was an almighty Crash as the old olive tree split right down the middle.
As the dust cleared and her eyes adjusted to the light she realised their were people standing in front of her.
But something was wrong they were a lot smaller then normal in fact they were the same size as she was.
~No~ she though to herself looking around ~I am the same size as them~
Looking down she expected to see her normal little brown body but she was shocked.
She still had her birdlike feet but her form was now more human, those strange hooded figurers who she wished to be like.
Standing before the people in front of her she noticed the old women that had come to the tree before.
Walking up to her she stood tall.
"In all my years i stood watching with this tree eating the stones everyone spat out, yours is the only one i regret eating."
walking back to the fallen tree she rested a winged hand on its cracked trunk.
"goodbye my friend. Sleep well" As if it heard her the wind rustled its leaves one last time.
Reaching into the hollow trunk where she rested she pulled out three olives hanging to a single branch. Gripping them tightly in her talon she stretched out her wings and took to the skies.
She circled the group a few time before soaring over the lands towards the sea.
She had no idea where she was going or how she knew but it just felt right to go this way.
letting the wind carry her she drifted on the currents until she spotted a group of islands ahead.
They would be later known as Cein Isles but they were still wild and untamed.
Some say that she planted the olive seeds in a hidden grove where unicorns watch over the last of the magic. Other think she is responsible for the random fruit and olive trees growing around the islands.
Where she is now now one is sure but mother harpies often speak of little wren when hatching wish for silly things.
Though often from time to time you might just catch sight of a small brown harpy dancing and singing around an old olive tree.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:38 pm
As this was a long time coming, I'm awarding all three participants of this ancient event the taur they were writing about in their story. Please fill out the appropriate form in the guild and post it with a quote for Syrcaid. Happy Holidays! ~ Cein Isles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
