It was a Firekeeper’s tale, told all
through the generations of those who came after. It was told around many a fire
and in many a home nest. If a child was a girl, the Mother would stress Leely’s
part, and if the child should be a boy, she would make much of Twigg’s greatness
of spirit and his Love.
For this was a tale of a great Love which had surmounted all obstacles.
Now, as it was told, Twigg was the son of the great Forest King, Ralph. And that when he was still but a child he met a human girl, also a child, in a meadow because she desired to know the Forest People and came with gifts to a grand and ancient stump in a meadow. There, they struck up a lasting friendship, a friendship that blossomed as time crept onward through the next years.
And it was said also, that Twigg’s Mother was a great and wise Firekeeper, who kept much knowledge in her heart like a living treasure.
Ramona looked upon this girl child and saw that there was more in her than what appeared on her surface. For Marge, as the girl was known, was no beauty, and yet, there was something mysterious and profound in her.
Time passed and Twigg began to know that he loved Marge with all of his heart, and yet she was blind to that love. She loved him dearly too, but she thought of him as a brother.
In the course of those days, Twigg desired to make a gift for Marge, so he wove for her a beautiful Basket of Promise, and placed in it some stones, which bespoke eternity.
Ramona waited and consulted with the Maker of Heaven and Earth and all the Forests of Earth, and when the time was ripe, she took Marge by her hand into the river, and gave her a new birth, a river birth and named her Leely. The name in Saslingua means “little one.”
Ramona saw that Leely was not one thing or another, but two, for her grandmother had been such as she, herself, was. This grandmother, this Forest Woman had married a man of the land who had worked as a woodcutter.
At just the right time the Maker of Heaven and Earth called a wedding party together without those called knowing the nature of the calling, only that they must go to where King Ralph and his family and his beasts lived together in the Great Forest.
Urgently, they gathered. Leely herself left her human mother’s home for she heard the calling too! Then her mother woke and also heard the call and made her way to the wedding party.
There the Firekeeper would pause. She wanted to make sure her child listened carefully. Or maybe she gave the girl or boy a small sweet snack, so that they would remember the taste and the tale together. It is the way of Mothers.
Now, it happened, she would go on, that there was a king of a far world who was a great friend of King Ralph’s, for they were distantly related from a time when both their worlds were very new. This king, Mak, for that was his name, was called to the wedding also, and he brought with him from his world a most precious wedding gift, the blue Oro. It was a mysterious round gem of blue light filled with many hidden gifts.
King Mak arrived at King Ralph’s home in a
silver ship from the world of stars and far planets. He met his friend Ralph at the river and together they made their way to the wedding party.
When all was in readiness and all the guests were gathered, Leely’s eyes were opened and she entered into a greater Love with her beloved Twigg. The Basket of Promise had held this secret for her.
Then, before the guests and the Maker, King Ralph caused Twigg and Leely to pronounce their wedding vows to each other. And so, they were married! And the rejoicing in that company was great and there were many tears among them all. For as we know, there are always happy tears at a great wedding.
Many times a Father would gather to his family and listen to the old tale again, for it is good to contemplate a great Love, and it is also true that the overcoming of obstacles is a manly virtue and worthy of celebrating.
The Mother would resume her tale then.
As an aside, to the Mothers, Ramona and Enid, King Mak who was a healer and a wise man with hidden knowledge, explained that Leely was barren, but that a Seed would be given to her and Twigg.
When the moment was right, King Mak presented the wedding gift to Twigg and Leely, explaining some of its properties. And with it came an invitation to come with him to his kingdom and live at his Palace for half a year.
His gifts were accepted gratefully and the young couple entered King Mak’s silver ship together with him and his sons.
And so it was that in the merest twinkling of an eye, they arrived at King Mak’s planet, coming to rest in the garden of his palace.
What a world this was! The Mother would expound on it. The air was sweet and fresh. Mountains rose into the sky on the far horizon. Flowers such as never seen on Earth filled the garden in multi-hued splendor, and their scent was both intoxicating and enlightening.
A merry stream of water trickled through the garden singing in an exotic language. There were talking birds and small animals speaking poetry at times in softly muted voices.
The beauty of King Mak’s marble house was almost beyond describing. It rose many stories tall and was carved with many flowers and birds and beasts of the land.
After being ushered inside, Prince Twigg, for prince he was, was given a blue silk ribbon to wear over his shoulder and around his chest as a sign of his position. Leely was given gowns to wear of many colors and fabrics, made by the Queen’s own seamstresses.
Queen Reva met them and was most charming. Twigg and Leely had lunch with Mak and Reva and all four sons. There was much joy and laughter, and all was happiness.
Prince Twigg and his bride Leely were appointed a beautiful chamber in a tower of the palace in which to rest from their exciting and busy day. There they would live for half a year.
If her child was still attending well to the tale, the Firekeeper would go on. Otherwise she would continue on another day.
She would tell the little one that the next day Prince Twigg and Leely were presented to the people. A golden trumpet was played by one of the palace musicians, a signal for the people of the city to gather around the palace. And they did gather. A great throng of many men and women and their children waited to meet the newcomers.
The Mother would use her imagination to picture out the presentation of the Prince and his bride to the people of the city, and how warmly they were welcomed into their midst. She might say that children brought them flowers, and that men and women welcomed them personally and told them their names.
In the course of the half year Twigg grew in majesty and wisdom. Leely grew more beautiful and gracious every day. Mak sometimes called Twigg Ralphson. Many of the people called him by this new name too.
They met and discussed much with the wisemen and Doctors of Philosophy of Mak’s kingdom, learning about the structure of the Universe, science and literature. They learned names of the Maker from other worlds, and of the many types of Man.
One day Mak, knowing their desire for a child of their own, brought Leely and Twigg a Star Seed. The Star Seed grew into a child in time. The child was a gift of the Maker’s, an angelic spirit, a boy, who possessed the gift of transformation. He was a Forest Child and a human, and much more, for he was the compound expression of their unbounded Love. Twigg named him Koka, or in English, Star.
The Mother would tell her child that Twigg and Leely’s joy overflowed, for they had wanted a child to share in their Love and to give it expression. Then she would stress her joy for the gift of her own child.
Back on Earth, the story went, and it was a true story, which everyone knew, King Ralph and his dear friend Ooog, a maker in his own right, set to work building a home for Twigg and Leely and Koka. Yes, at home Ralph and Ramona knew of Koka and waited to see him.
The house was like the one Twigg had thought to build but much grander. It was framed by living saplings which would grow in time. Berry vines and wild roses were added to the exterior walls, so that it seemed to be living part of the forest, and so it was. Ooog built a floor inside and clever compartments and even beds. He made a chimney and installed a small woodstove for Leely.
When all was in readiness, and the summer breezes blew in the Great Forest and the half year was over, Mak’s silver ship came to rest in the meadow beside the Living House. Ralph and Ramona and Cherry, with Blue and Bob and Berry were gathered there to greet them and welcome them home.
At that point the Mother would describe the reunion and Ralph and Ramona’s meeting with Koka, who loved them on sight. A few angelic lights attended the meeting too! It was rather wonderful.
Then the wise Firekeeper would say to her child, “So, that’s the way the Star Child Koka came to live in the Living House in the Great Forest with Twigg and Leely, and his grandparents, Ralph and Ramona, and his aunt Cherry, and the animals too.
“And, Dear Child, we may go visit the Living House one day if you like, and you will know that the story is all true, for it still stands where it was planted!”
For this was a tale of a great Love which had surmounted all obstacles.
Now, as it was told, Twigg was the son of the great Forest King, Ralph. And that when he was still but a child he met a human girl, also a child, in a meadow because she desired to know the Forest People and came with gifts to a grand and ancient stump in a meadow. There, they struck up a lasting friendship, a friendship that blossomed as time crept onward through the next years.
And it was said also, that Twigg’s Mother was a great and wise Firekeeper, who kept much knowledge in her heart like a living treasure.
Ramona looked upon this girl child and saw that there was more in her than what appeared on her surface. For Marge, as the girl was known, was no beauty, and yet, there was something mysterious and profound in her.
Time passed and Twigg began to know that he loved Marge with all of his heart, and yet she was blind to that love. She loved him dearly too, but she thought of him as a brother.
In the course of those days, Twigg desired to make a gift for Marge, so he wove for her a beautiful Basket of Promise, and placed in it some stones, which bespoke eternity.
Ramona waited and consulted with the Maker of Heaven and Earth and all the Forests of Earth, and when the time was ripe, she took Marge by her hand into the river, and gave her a new birth, a river birth and named her Leely. The name in Saslingua means “little one.”
Ramona saw that Leely was not one thing or another, but two, for her grandmother had been such as she, herself, was. This grandmother, this Forest Woman had married a man of the land who had worked as a woodcutter.
At just the right time the Maker of Heaven and Earth called a wedding party together without those called knowing the nature of the calling, only that they must go to where King Ralph and his family and his beasts lived together in the Great Forest.
Urgently, they gathered. Leely herself left her human mother’s home for she heard the calling too! Then her mother woke and also heard the call and made her way to the wedding party.
There the Firekeeper would pause. She wanted to make sure her child listened carefully. Or maybe she gave the girl or boy a small sweet snack, so that they would remember the taste and the tale together. It is the way of Mothers.
Now, it happened, she would go on, that there was a king of a far world who was a great friend of King Ralph’s, for they were distantly related from a time when both their worlds were very new. This king, Mak, for that was his name, was called to the wedding also, and he brought with him from his world a most precious wedding gift, the blue Oro. It was a mysterious round gem of blue light filled with many hidden gifts.
King Mak arrived at King Ralph’s home in a
silver ship from the world of stars and far planets. He met his friend Ralph at the river and together they made their way to the wedding party.
When all was in readiness and all the guests were gathered, Leely’s eyes were opened and she entered into a greater Love with her beloved Twigg. The Basket of Promise had held this secret for her.
Then, before the guests and the Maker, King Ralph caused Twigg and Leely to pronounce their wedding vows to each other. And so, they were married! And the rejoicing in that company was great and there were many tears among them all. For as we know, there are always happy tears at a great wedding.
Many times a Father would gather to his family and listen to the old tale again, for it is good to contemplate a great Love, and it is also true that the overcoming of obstacles is a manly virtue and worthy of celebrating.
The Mother would resume her tale then.
As an aside, to the Mothers, Ramona and Enid, King Mak who was a healer and a wise man with hidden knowledge, explained that Leely was barren, but that a Seed would be given to her and Twigg.
When the moment was right, King Mak presented the wedding gift to Twigg and Leely, explaining some of its properties. And with it came an invitation to come with him to his kingdom and live at his Palace for half a year.
His gifts were accepted gratefully and the young couple entered King Mak’s silver ship together with him and his sons.
And so it was that in the merest twinkling of an eye, they arrived at King Mak’s planet, coming to rest in the garden of his palace.
What a world this was! The Mother would expound on it. The air was sweet and fresh. Mountains rose into the sky on the far horizon. Flowers such as never seen on Earth filled the garden in multi-hued splendor, and their scent was both intoxicating and enlightening.
A merry stream of water trickled through the garden singing in an exotic language. There were talking birds and small animals speaking poetry at times in softly muted voices.
The beauty of King Mak’s marble house was almost beyond describing. It rose many stories tall and was carved with many flowers and birds and beasts of the land.
After being ushered inside, Prince Twigg, for prince he was, was given a blue silk ribbon to wear over his shoulder and around his chest as a sign of his position. Leely was given gowns to wear of many colors and fabrics, made by the Queen’s own seamstresses.
Queen Reva met them and was most charming. Twigg and Leely had lunch with Mak and Reva and all four sons. There was much joy and laughter, and all was happiness.
Prince Twigg and his bride Leely were appointed a beautiful chamber in a tower of the palace in which to rest from their exciting and busy day. There they would live for half a year.
If her child was still attending well to the tale, the Firekeeper would go on. Otherwise she would continue on another day.
She would tell the little one that the next day Prince Twigg and Leely were presented to the people. A golden trumpet was played by one of the palace musicians, a signal for the people of the city to gather around the palace. And they did gather. A great throng of many men and women and their children waited to meet the newcomers.
The Mother would use her imagination to picture out the presentation of the Prince and his bride to the people of the city, and how warmly they were welcomed into their midst. She might say that children brought them flowers, and that men and women welcomed them personally and told them their names.
In the course of the half year Twigg grew in majesty and wisdom. Leely grew more beautiful and gracious every day. Mak sometimes called Twigg Ralphson. Many of the people called him by this new name too.
They met and discussed much with the wisemen and Doctors of Philosophy of Mak’s kingdom, learning about the structure of the Universe, science and literature. They learned names of the Maker from other worlds, and of the many types of Man.
One day Mak, knowing their desire for a child of their own, brought Leely and Twigg a Star Seed. The Star Seed grew into a child in time. The child was a gift of the Maker’s, an angelic spirit, a boy, who possessed the gift of transformation. He was a Forest Child and a human, and much more, for he was the compound expression of their unbounded Love. Twigg named him Koka, or in English, Star.
The Mother would tell her child that Twigg and Leely’s joy overflowed, for they had wanted a child to share in their Love and to give it expression. Then she would stress her joy for the gift of her own child.
Back on Earth, the story went, and it was a true story, which everyone knew, King Ralph and his dear friend Ooog, a maker in his own right, set to work building a home for Twigg and Leely and Koka. Yes, at home Ralph and Ramona knew of Koka and waited to see him.
The house was like the one Twigg had thought to build but much grander. It was framed by living saplings which would grow in time. Berry vines and wild roses were added to the exterior walls, so that it seemed to be living part of the forest, and so it was. Ooog built a floor inside and clever compartments and even beds. He made a chimney and installed a small woodstove for Leely.
When all was in readiness, and the summer breezes blew in the Great Forest and the half year was over, Mak’s silver ship came to rest in the meadow beside the Living House. Ralph and Ramona and Cherry, with Blue and Bob and Berry were gathered there to greet them and welcome them home.
At that point the Mother would describe the reunion and Ralph and Ramona’s meeting with Koka, who loved them on sight. A few angelic lights attended the meeting too! It was rather wonderful.
Then the wise Firekeeper would say to her child, “So, that’s the way the Star Child Koka came to live in the Living House in the Great Forest with Twigg and Leely, and his grandparents, Ralph and Ramona, and his aunt Cherry, and the animals too.
“And, Dear Child, we may go visit the Living House one day if you like, and you will know that the story is all true, for it still stands where it was planted!”
🌟
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