The Long Awaited Day, Part 1

 

 
            It was a perfect summer day. The forest stood dreaming in the warm air. It was abuzz with life. All creatures flourished, from least nematode setting about its duties in the soil, to the mighty creatures of the air, and their small cousins. Each four footed thing was in its given place, from mice to deer and even bears, illusive as those creatures are.
            A salty breeze blew up from the Sound, becoming infused with the scent of wild flowers and rampant vegetation as it blew over the two meadows. Everywhere was brightness, and color, and life.
            If a person stood in the right place, and concentrated, he, or she, could hear Twigg’s friends, the B’s going persistently about their work  And maybe, if she squatted down, as Marge used to do, examining a bank of blackberry blossoms, as white as stars in their dark foliage, she would see a Beula or a Betty, working those same blossoms, and hear their small busy hum.
            The arc of the year was at its highest.
            Morning light came early, therefore Ramona woke early, sensing the day beginning, even as she lay in the dim light of the cave home. It was like she could hear morning, and maybe she did. Deep in the forests of the PNW, there is a bird whose call sounds like running water. There were crows calling out too. She stretched, yawned, and sat up. Ralph lay still, as constant as the earth itself. Cherry sighed and rolled over, causing Blue to move over a little in their cot.
Bob and Berry opened their golden eyes for moment, noting Ramona’s movements, and closed  them again, dozing on.
            She slipped outdoors and found that Maeve was already there, sitting by the Fire Circle with her eyes closed, until she heard Ramona come out to start the day. Ramona smiled when she saw the great Raven. Maeve uttered some comfortable sounds deep in her chest, a sort of gentle knocking.
            There was still dew on the grass that grew right outside of the Home Clearing, but it wouldn’t last long in the coming sunshine.
           
            “Seeing you here, early, blesses me,” Ramona said, in formal Saslingua.
            “I am she who is blessed,” said Maeve, who also spoke the Old Language of the forest.
            “It felt important to be here,” added Maeve in our common language.
            “You’re probably right,” said Ramona. Then she set about coaxing and feeding her fire. They didn’t need the heat, but cooking requires fire anyhow. So, first she gave the coals some little dry twigs, which they accepted greedily, then she added some broken branches, and finally some moderately large chunks of deadfall, gathered after the last wind storm in the spring. There was always more deadfall, and Ralph kept the forest floor tidy, by bringing it to Ramona to cook his food.
            Ramona and Maeve gazed into the flames, as everyone always does. But it was different this time. This time there was a blue flame in the center where the flames were highest. The blue part of the fire grew larger, becoming spherical. When it was the size of the Fire Circle ring itself in diameter, an image formed. It was Twigg. He was smiling and he said one word. “Today!” And then the vision was gone. Ramona and Maeve looked at each other in amazement. Both began to speak at the same time!
            “Something said today was important,” said Maeve. “I couldn’t stay abed!”
            “Oh, Birdy! I can hardly breathe,” cried Ramona.
            “Let’s wake everybody up!” said Maeve.
            Ramona ran back into the cave with Maeve close behind, airborne.
            “They’re coming home today, Baby! Wake up!” cried Ramona, shaking Ralph’s shoulder. His eyes flew open and he sat up in bed, throwing off the big quilt.
            “Cherry! Wake up! Twigg, and Leely are coming home today! I think they have a surprise for you too!” said Ramona. Blue started howling and Cherry jumped out of bed. The puma bros. stood up suddenly on their ledge, eyes wide.
            “Today!” yelled Ralph, in a voice like quiet thunder. He didn’t ask Ramona how she knew, because he knew Ramona.
            Everybody rushed outside into the summer morning. All were talking at once.
            Ramona set up a pot of cowboy coffee with trembling hands. Then she started beating some of Thaga’s hen’s eggs for a great omelet. Before she put the eggs on the pan she fried a bunch of oyster mushrooms, then added the eggs. It cooked in a flash and soon everyone was eating eggs with mushrooms. Then the excited chatter started up again, while the adults, including Maeve had a cup of coffee and collected their thoughts. Cherry and the animals had some warm mint tea.
            “Where shall we meet them?” said Ralph at last.
            “Well, by the Alder Tree House, Baby,” said Ramona. “But Mak would find us wherever we waited, I am sure!”
            Ramona gathered all the cups and bowls and put them in her five gallon bucket for later.
            “Let’s go!” said Ralph, and the whole party, the three Forest People, the white wolf, the puma bros., and the great Raven all walked out to the meadow, past the Gifting Stump where Twigg and Marge had first become friends, and learned to love each other.
            The Alder Tree House stood waiting. It looked like a tall dome made of alder trees with their branches interlaced together at the top. Black berry vines grew up the trunks, covered in those white blossoms. There were bird’s nests in the trees, full of hungry fledglings. Ooog had made a clever wooden door into the space between two of the trees. He had painted it a dull red. Inside the flat river stone floor was beautiful and level. A small wood burning cast iron stove stood inside. Its pipe came out between two trunks. It was all properly insulated of course. Ooog had gotten the small stove from an abandoned cottage up in the woods near his place and had polished it up and made sure it worked.
            Ramona was inspecting everything, as she had many time before, when Ralph shouted, “Look!”
            She and Cherry, and Blue and Bob and Berry, and Maeve all looked up, and there descending slowly out of the blue sky was Mak’s silver ship.
            Slowly, gently it settled down on the grass of the meadow.

🤍⭐🤍