"Everything comes from the ground"

2|A BRIGHT SUMMER DAY

The sun is high in the sky as a girl sits on the field. The summer's grass has already begun to grow rapidly and the grass is high on the ground. Her eyes bark brown watch as a figure approaches her. The girl's pink lush lips smile as the figure sits down next to her on the warm grass. It's a man who smirks at her."I was not certain you would show" The girl speaks to the man that is in front of her. A chuckle leaves his lips. "When the most beautiful maiden in the village declared that we would meet on the field while the sun is high, how can I possibly deny?" He speaks.

His words make her roll her eyes as a laugh leaves her lips. "Oh, please, Declan. We both know that I did not declare we should meet, rather I ordered you. I am you sister, it is my duty to order you" The girl says to him. With her fingers, she plays with the soft grass. Not caring for the creatures that live in the grass. In fact whenever she does see a creature, an insect or other, she allows it to live it's live and does not ruin the life the creature has.

Declan, being her brother takes her hand and makes her bark brown eyes look into his identical brown ones. "You fail to mention that I am the older sibling, should it not be I who should order you, Asherah?" He asks her with a raised eyebrow. Asherah is not that man years younger than him and yet he never fails to remind her that he is in fact older than she is. "May be, yet as father said. Women are much stronger. Our mother is a wonderful example" Asherah says to him with a small smirk.

It is true. Their family is not like the rest and therefore they have been declared as odd and perhaps even mad for their father's belief that women are far superior than men. The only sample that he has is his wife. Who, many have declared a Witch because since her daughter had been born, she had never caught any ills and never felt hunger nor thirst and she does not appear to age as her husband does, and they are the same age. His wife, and their mother, has not shown any signs of exhaustion nor tiredness when she works.

And their daughter, the girl that sits there on the field has never been struck by any ill as well. Her beauty is the only reason for why they have not been chased away from the village. For every suitor lines up to have her as their wife. "Now, tell me, dear sister, why have you ordered me to come out here?" He asks her, feeling like he will not be able to win this battle with her of who should order who and who is older than who, that he will always lose.

Not that Declan minds that much. There is great love which he holds for his younger sister and he does hold the upmost respect for her, and their mother who he does say is a strong woman which everyone should listen to. A sigh leaves her lips as she stares at her brother. "I am two days from turning sixteen years of age. Father will soon not be able to keep me unmarried for long, and none will listen to when I deny. I will be married soon enough, when I do not want to" She tells him.

When girls have started to bleed, they will be married off to someone. However, if they Father cannot find anyone to marry his daughter off, she will age until suitors will ask for her hand. Asherah's horrible fate is to become a wife to someone that she does not know and does not wish to wed. It is why she has not allowed her father to marry her off, and her parents do agree. They do not wish her to marry a man that she does not know and they will let her decide whom she wishes to marry and when.

Not everyone is on that opinion and the people will soon force his hand. And as she grows and becomes more mature, er beauty and grace does as well. Capturing the hearts of all the men that she comes across. "You know that I will never let anything happen to you, sister. I am here for you and if you wish for me to defend off the entire village, I am more than willing" He tells her. She looks at him with gentle eyes of admiration for she does admire her older brother, despite how she teases him on occasion.

"How come you married young when you did not know her?" She asks him. Her brother is indeed married. He gives her a chuckle as he ruffles her brown hair which is tied in a braid that her mother had maid this morning. "I knew her not, I admit. I saw her and I fell in love. You shall see. One day you shall meet the one that will capture your heart. He will never want you because you are the beautiful girl that everyone wants. No. He will want you flor the kindness of your heart" Declan says to her.

A smile comes to her face when he speaks those words and she knows them in her heart to be the truth. The love in her eyes as she looks at her brother makes her wrap her arms around him and give him a light hug. "Thank you" She speaks. Then the girl breaks the hug. "If there is nothing else, I do suggest that we leave the sun. We would not to collapse" He says. The summer is arriving and the sun is so strong and it heats up all that it can touch and it spares none.

"I wish to stay, you are free to leave. Be with you wife, I hear that she shall be expecting any day now. Are you not excited?" Asherah asks him with a smile of glee on her face. He nods. "Yes, very much so. Yet, would it be ill of me to speak how nervous it is to have a child?" He asks her. She shakes her head. "I do not doubt that anyone is perhaps afraid of having a child for it is a lot of responsibility. After some years, you finally have a chance to become a father, I believe it to be a miracle despite the nervousness you feel" She says.

He stands up and gives her a gentle smile. "Of course you believe it to be a miracle, as you did mucking the stalls" He says with a raise eyebrow at her. She laughs. "Every duty is important if you look at it that way. Now, leave, be with your wife" She orders him as she raises her head and pretends to be of high status ordering him around. Her brother leaves her alone there under the sun in the grass. A sigh leaves her lips, one of happiness as she stares out into the world.

The field is a long one and in the distance she can see the village where life takes place, her brother walking towards the village. And yet, it is looking farther than the village, towards the mountains and the landscape that is so far away that she can only dream of. The distance that she will never be able to see other than from afar. As Asherah can only dream of it, she sits there under the heating sun with only her own thoughts to keep her company.

The nature is what she adores and she would spend hours on the same spot, when she does not have any duties to attend to she sits there and looks at the world. Many would believe her mad for doing so, yet she does not care. For it is her choice to be out there. If there is one thing that her family has taught her, it is not worry about what others believe for they are simply obsessed for any gossip they can find. The girl sits there and she wonders how the world can hold so many wonders and yet she cannot grasp any of them.

Standing up from the ground, she lightly brushes her gown and wipes away any dirt that might have gotten onto her gown when she sat there. Instead of heading towards the village which she should have done, Asherah walks in the direction of a small forest. It is not that large and neither is it small. Neither is it thick either, none can go missing when walking through it and yet the trees to shield one when the sun is bright and blazing upon the world during this summer which many would say is one of the warmest in many years.

Walking towards the forest, she leans down by one of the trees and slightly moves the dirt away with her fingers to find a wooden box lying there in the dirt. A smile comes to her face when she picks it up to see a flower in it. The flower being a white rose that lies in that box. A smile comes to her face as she brings the rose to her nose and slowly sniffs it. The wonderful scent fills her up as the smile can only become brighter than the shining sun outside.

She sits by the tree and does not care that she only has her own thoughts to keep her company. For it is not just her own thoughts that are keeping her company, it is the rose. The single white rose that was in that box. The girl stays there for some time with the rose before she slowly puts the box back down into the ground where it had been before. With her hands she pushes some dirt over the box to hide it from sight before she stands up. Still with the rose in her hand, she travels to the grass field and that way towards the village.

Where she will be met with the people that she has grew up with and are the only ones that she has ever known. The village is filled with life as people are working on their duties. It is not a very large village. There are only a couple of dozen houses and the people are not that many either. She walks towards her house, ignoring how the stares of men always seem to follow her. As they have done since she was a young child and still continues on as she grows.

Entering upon her house, she sees her mother sewing another gown for her shop and her father is preparing another apple batch which he will sell at the market. Her mother is a seamstress while her father is a merchant. They both work hard and they both love their duties. "I did not expect you until supper, did you finally realize that not everything is about the thoughts?" Her father teases her. As she has been going to the field for many years with the only explanation to her family that she needs her time to think.

"Of course not, I simply decided that someone needs to wash the floors. After all, we cannot live in such dirtied floored house" She speaks as she mentioned her father's dirtied boots and the footprints that he always leaves behind. The market is always filled with dirt that seems to travel everywhere. During the rain season it is the worst time, and the dirt does not leave. It had rained during the night, but as soon as the sun came out, it dried everything. Except for the dirt in the market which never seems to dry, no matter the heat.

Her mother lets out a laugh as she looks at her husband and her daughter. "I shall wash the floors, my dear. Do not trouble yourself. Why do you not begin on the supper?" He asks her with a smile on his face. His daughter is one that always does what she is told, and beyond even. "Of course, father. Allow me to freshen up before" She tells him and then walks towards the bedroom that she once shared with her brother. After he wed, he bought a house and his wife and him live there.

When she walks into the room, she closes the door and takes the white rose which she had hidden from the sight of her parents for she does not wish for them to tease her yet again about the only suitor that she allows to give her flowers. Her cheeks redden when she think of him, the one that no one knows about. Walking towards the window she puts the rose into the vase with three other flowers as well. The flowers that she keeps from him when she fetches them in the forest, where none knows of as she is the only one that knows of it, except for him of course.

She sits down onto her bed which is simply made out of wood and has some blankets and a small pillow which she has had since she was born. Looking at the vase, the smile is beaming brighter than the sun as she thinks about him. Asherah has never met this suitor, yet she does leave him letters when she can and he would either leave her letters or flowers. Where that box in the forest is the only way that they speak to one another through letters or flowers.

When she stands up again she walks out of the bedroom after having freshened up slightly and then she begins on the supper. Her mother and father chatting with her as she does. The family is almost complete, her brother is tending to his wife who is with child. But, the two of them shall be arriving for supper which is the reason for preparing it earlier than usual when they only have three mouths to feed instead of five. His wife does eat a lot, given that she does eat for two now that she carries a child.

The forest is quiet as the sun shines on it. The leaves create these shadows upon the dirt ground. The animals that live there are silent and yet the life is blooming and it is wonderful to see. A man stands there by a tree and looks at the village in the distance. His hand touches one of the trees. As soon as the contact had been made, the branches begin to move around as if the tree were dancing from the glee that travels through the roots from that single touch that comes from the man who can only smirk.

"Of course I am aware that I will soon have to appear to her face and show that I am true" He speaks to the tree, as if it had asked him a question and it had done just that. Where this man is the only one that can understand the langue of the trees and all the life that lives in the world. A small smirk comes to his face as he looks at the tree. "I am not afraid to meet her, I simply do not wish to frighten her" He speaks with a chuckle.

The man then leans down. The dirt blows away from the box when he reaches down and picks the box up. While it is made out of wood, it had been crafted by him using the branches that trees had given him and therefore did not need to commit those murderous sins that the humans do when they cut down these lovely creatures that he adores with his entire being. The box being empty. "She will be frightened if I were to speak to her" He tells the tree with a sigh. "I know that I will frighten her" He then says.

The man opens the box to see that it is empty. He knew that she had taken the rose for he had watched her take it. He knew that she had been there. "How can I say to her that soon enough I will have to take her from the world that she knows, I cannot possibly cause her sorrow when I see that the love she holds for her family is just too great to be matched" He speaks when asked by the tree which he still stands up. He holds the box in his right hand and touches the tree with his left which still dances on.

Then his green eyes stare at the village once more where he knows she is. The way that he always knows where she is does make him feel comfort. "If I wish to win her heart, I must not force her into my world before I can show her that wonder that we see. Believe me when I say that humans do not respond to us. Rather they burn the likes of us at the stake, any hint of magical properties and it has them terrified. That it's what she has lived with her entire life" He says.

"Magic must fear her and since I am magic in the flesh, I must terrify her greatly" He says to the tree. The man then looks down into the box where a blooming flower appears along with a note which is written on a leave. Closing the wooden box, he puts it on the same place in the ground and the dirt once again covers it as it blows over and hides the box from sight. "Soon enough the truth will be revealed" He says to the tree and then removes his hand.

As soon as he has done that, the branches return to their place and he walks deep into the forest or into the middle of it where his entire body crumbles and becomes dirt. The ground takes the dirt and spreads it around. While the man has not died, it is not him that is there anymore. Rather has he traveled to another world which is his own world. A hidden world that none know of. And it is a world that the young girl in that village will soon be able to see with her own eyes.