lonely are the ones who fall from love; Posted on February 21, 2024 at 05:07:51 AM by frond
The bear had come again, and in terror she fled the vast plains of the Prairie into the sea. In her memory she called out wildly for Veronia, but in that state of blind panic nothing is certain. She can only hope that her daughter escaped. She had been fierce in her independence since childhood, and she was far from a child now. Still, Frond worries, even as seasons pass and she remains trapped here in the openness of the Meadow, unwilling to risk the trees for fear of the monsters the darkness holds.
Long ago she had lost her first love to a boar protecting his cache. They had stumbled upon him accidentally, and her love had sacrificed himself defending her. She had become complacent during her time with Zevulun. The openness of the Prairie made her believe that she was safe. Zevulun made her feel safe. Healed her. But the scent of the bear had eviscerated what time had sown together and Frond had run.
She wanders the Meadow as she has for many passing seasons. Alone, though there are many faces that pass through. Sometimes she sees them in the night - those she has lost. She sees Zevulun walking in slow procession - the ghost of him, she knows, but she does not care. She walks alongside him, wonders at the tears slipping down his cheek. Even in death he wears his scars, but in the moonlight he is beautiful - more beautiful than she remembered. She has walked with his ghost before - tracing familiar paths into the meadow grass until she'd try to look directly at him and then he would be gone from her again.
She does not dare look to closely when he stops in the middle of the snow dusted meadow, only asks quietly, "What has made you so sad tonight, my love?" Replies: