The Nature of Things
There are always things floating in the air, specks of dirt that find their way to a flat surface and settle together-like the bonds of a family. Then there are the fireflies that swarm around at night filling the night sky with alien lights, sweet and kindness all brought together from their stark green eyes.
Technically, Lily shouldn’t be sitting here in the cool night air, pondering fireflies and dust. She should be six feet under, with the worms and bugs burrowing into her coffin and eating at her dead flesh. But here she sits, legs crossed, her long blonde hair falling softly around her shoulders and her heart beating lively in her chest.
The backyard has always been her favorite place. Here she can be anyone she wants to be: a princess, a bird or a part of nature that breathes life into the world.
That day she lay still in that hospital bed, clinging to life and yet praying to die for the pain that radiated throughout her body. It was fire and ice, pin pricks and razor slices and there was no end to it. Her body was broken, every limb covered by plaster and glue. Nothing worked. Her fingers and arms broken, her leg bones snapped in two.
As she waited for the end to come-for God to remember she was there and mercifully end her suffering-the door flung open and in walked a statuesque woman with long legs and brown, short cropped hair. Her eyes were what really struck Lily as odd. They were bright green and almost glowed in the dim light of her hospital room.
“What do you seek, Lily?” For a moment she couldn’t answer. She just stared into those eyes and waited for something…anything that might explain the extra fire that now burned across the delicate planes of her skin.
The woman smiled and suddenly she felt the heat rise to her head, filling her mind with possibilities.
“I seek the truth,” she said before realizing her mouth could move. “I want to know more than this life. I want to know what is out there…past the void.”
The woman nodded and walked towards her bed. Her skin was ivory; her dress hugged her curves and was the color of lily pads, like her nails. Not the fungal color of rot, but the kind of green that reminded her of sweet grass and spring leaves.
“So you shall have it,” she whispered and placed a hand upon Lily’s chest.
The fire spread evenly throughout her limbs, fingers and toes and settled deep within her chest, aching and pulsing, killing the pain of her accident and pulling her away from the room and into a light brighter than the sun. Here she felt temptation, saw the want of her life and flowed into another realm of consciousness. When she opened her eyes she was standing in a field of golden wheat, the warm sun beating down on her bare shoulders. The pain was gone and her hands worked. She could feel the rough texture of the grain, playing with the ends between her fingers. Ahead, she could make out the outline of an oak tree, tall and broad with leaves sparkling green.
“It is here you will find your truth,” a voice whispered next to her. “It is here you will make your choice.”
Lily turned to find the woman standing next to her, this time in a long flowing white gown, her hair long and auburn against her back, tender curls hugging the ends. Her face was peace and serenity, her smile sweet and kind.
“Go to the tree and find your answers.”
Without understanding or hesitation, Lily walked across the field to the large tree where she felt cool green grass beneath her toes. Under the leaves was a small man with a pale, pinched face and a childlike smile.
“You have come,” he said, his voice weak. “I have waited for this moment my entire life.”
There was familiarity here, a sense of knowing and enlightenment. She never felt more at home.
“Who are you, sir?”
He twitched, his chest rising and falling with shallow, unsteady breaths.
“I am the light,” he said. “I am your truth. You seek knowledge and a way out of the pain. I can give it all to you...” he hesitated, his green eyes dim. “However, you must do something for me in return.”
“Anything,” she whispered.
She thought of her little sister, huddled next to her in the bed, breathing softly into her hair, of her mother, soft and strong and warm with arms like steel cages when needed. She thought of the warm summer sun and green grass under her feet and the shock of cold that hit her when she jumped into the lake at the edge of spring. All the things that made her who she was, all the people that gave her hope and reason.
Yes, she would do anything to have it back, pay any price not to see them suffer for her mistakes.
Most of all she thought of Alan and the mangled way the accident left his car…of how he managed to escape unscathed while she was left in the car to die. Just to see his face, to let him know it wasn’t his fault and she survived would be worth any price.
But when she turned to the tiny old man, his face is grave. “What I ask does not come without a price.”
“I don’t care. Anything,” she said, her head reeling with possibilities.
He breathed a sigh of what she thinks is relief. “My time is done, but yours is just beginning. Fate has granted you a second chance, but you must make the choice.”
“Name it.”
“You must take my place.”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion, but her pulse began to speed, unsure of what this stranger was asking. “Take your place?”
“I am a creature of nature…since the beginning of time we have given our lives to protecting the spirit of all that surrounds you. We live this life not for ourselves, but for the spirit that allows the rebirth of the earth.” He smiled but it was weak, like a fading leaf and she started when she noticed that his face was now paler, thinner in the few minutes she had stood over him.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“We live in the air, the trees and the soil. We are the keepers of the earth.”
And for a moment, she understood…of course she did. It was the story her grandmother told her so many times before. It was the story of the nature gods; the keepers of the spirit of Mother Nature. The protectors of what fueled hopes and dreams…of what life had to offer.
“And how do I do that?”
His smile was weary, his voice barely a whisper. “Take my hand and bind our spirits. Choose to be more than your life…than yourself. But be warned that it comes with a great responsibility.”
There was no answer more pure than the moment her fleshy hand settled onto his leathery, otherworldly skin. A spark, an answer to all of her burning questions shot through her brain, incinerating any untruths of what she was brought up to know.
“What happens now?”
“The light will build,” he said, his teeth now yellow with age, his face so thin it caressed the bones of his face. “Over time, it will continue to grow until it begins to flicker out. It is then you must pass it on to another worthy of the spirit. Here is where it begins anew and with the transfer, it will end for you and begin anew for someone else.”
His hand was shaky, but he brought hers to his lips, chapped and rough, and kissed it gently. “Be kind to others, Lily. Be true to yourself and most of all remember to always give to the Earth the way she has given to you.”
He was gone before she took another breath, his flesh gathered in dust on the ground. The soil came alive, feeding off the remains of his body. In his place, a plot of blueberries blossomed.
“He will be missed,” the woman said, her eyes leaking silver tears.
“Who was he?”
“He was Bel,” she said serenely, “Celtic God of the sun. He was the reason the sun shone on your backs. He was the reason the crops grew plentiful. When he began to fall, so did the sun. Therefore the soil hardened and turned to dust and the crops began to fail.” She turned to Lily with understanding. “You were chosen from many years of searching. We are the keepers of nature…of fire and ice. Now it is your turn to bring forth the sun, to wake the animals from their slumber into the warmth of the light.”
Lily gazed at the woman, who was kneeling by the plot of berries. “I can’t do those things. I’m just a girl.”
“Not anymore, Lily. You chose to take his place. It was your choice to give him peace.”
She felt selfish and ashamed for wanting everything he offered for her own gain. But inside there was a tiny spark of something just beginning to glow, a fire flickering to life. It would be years before that light grew too bright, she knew. But now she had the chance to right the wrongs of man and create another world where crops were plentiful and the sun glowed bright in the sky for all mankind to witness.
“Who are you?”
“I am Blod, Goddess of the Earth in bloom, of wisdom and lunar mysteries. I cannot do it alone. He,” she said, her hand sweeping across the wild blueberry patch, “was the other half of who I am. Bel was the reason my powers allowed the Earth to bloom every spring.” She turned to Lily. “Now it is you that will make it shine. It is you that will help me to fulfill my purpose.”
Blod wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her gown. “Go now, Lily. Return to your human form, but remember all that you were taught here, all the knowledge you gained.”
The wind shifted, the smell of wild flowers and berries filled the air and the tree shimmered until she was staring at the beige walls of her hospital room.
Lily walked out of there completely healed. Her doctors couldn’t believe her progress. For weeks they thought she was on the brink of death. They called her parents and told them to prepare for the worst. They call her a medical miracle.
Under the lights of fireflies, she smelled the edge of summer fast approaching. In the midst of night she closed her eyes and prepared for the dawn, her face quiet, her heart thudding softly in her chest.
When the sun crested over the horizon, she smiled and set out on her journey to begin the job she had chosen. It was time to wake the animals, the ground, the fairies. It was time to begin healing and prospering. It was time to live.
