Prologue: Aerie's Story
“It wasn’t very long ago,” the old man sighed, staring into the distance. “When we lost all hope.”
“Lost hope?” The girl looked up from her study of the flower. “You can never lose hope. Whatever else you lose in this world, you should never lose hope.”
“Ah, but we can’t help it. Soon, I will disappear, but I won’t even be a memory. We are being forgotten child! We will vanish, never to be seen again, and never remembered.”
“That’s no excuse for losing hope. Why don’t you go out and make people remember who you are?”
“I am too old.”
“Then your children, or their children. There is always the young to make legends.”
“Legends? Child, what would there be a legend about? There are no kingdoms under attack, no one of greatness to rescue. There is nothing to make a legend of.”
“I don’t know about that.” She grinned at him, hoisting her pack on her shoulders. “I think that if you leave and just wander somewhere, adventure and legend has a way of finding you.”
“You’re really leaving then?”
“It’s my job to make sure people don’t forget us. Since my people lost hope to rescue themselves, I suppose it’s my job to rescue them.”
“You can’t leave! You’re too important.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s the use of being placed in a tower for all to look at, when we’re all slowly dying? If I can do something to save our future, isn’t it my duty to do so? I can’t just stay in the palace tossing a little ball about while people die. No, let my sisters play Lady. I think this is my duty. This is where I can be of use.”
“By dying?”
“Is it better to die doing something worthwhile, or to disappear, forgotten? If I were to stay, I would watch my friends, my family, everyone I know vanish. Then I would know that my time had come too. I would vanish, knowing that I could have done something. Even if all I did was die. If I were to die, people would wonder about me. They would ask, ‘Who was that strange little girl that died yesterday?’ They would try to find out about me, a stranger. By asking about me, they would find out about you, and you would be saved.”
“Surly your father doesn’t want you to go! He might want to send his youngest daughter, or his son.”
“No, no. That’s where your wrong. I am the perfect one to go, and let me tell you why. The youngest of us is only seven, still a baby. My oldest two sisters are married. My brothers are needed. Not only does one have to take my fathers place, but they are needed to go around the country, and keep the peace. I have nothing to do, no one who would marry me. I am well spent on this mission.”
The old man had no other argument, though she waited a few minutes for him to formulate one. He could just shake his head as she walked by.
“Things like this aren’t meant to be done by people of your stature.”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Maybe not. But I don’t see anyone else who will do this. So I suppose it must be me.”
Don't worry. Whatever fatalistic attitude may grip her at the moment, Aerie's story as a happy ending... after a long and slightly tragic middle, but what's new? Actually, I have been gripped with writers bug reciently, and hope to post more of my written meananderings. You won't mind, dearest diary (and my two readers... lol) If I throw my mind farts at you, will you? I really want to finish this one story (about a vampire... lol) and post it at my forum... because it's boys love... If I finish it, I shall post it here too, and you can yell at me that it sucks and I should be frightened of putting it anywhere else. Deal? Good.
“Lost hope?” The girl looked up from her study of the flower. “You can never lose hope. Whatever else you lose in this world, you should never lose hope.”
“Ah, but we can’t help it. Soon, I will disappear, but I won’t even be a memory. We are being forgotten child! We will vanish, never to be seen again, and never remembered.”
“That’s no excuse for losing hope. Why don’t you go out and make people remember who you are?”
“I am too old.”
“Then your children, or their children. There is always the young to make legends.”
“Legends? Child, what would there be a legend about? There are no kingdoms under attack, no one of greatness to rescue. There is nothing to make a legend of.”
“I don’t know about that.” She grinned at him, hoisting her pack on her shoulders. “I think that if you leave and just wander somewhere, adventure and legend has a way of finding you.”
“You’re really leaving then?”
“It’s my job to make sure people don’t forget us. Since my people lost hope to rescue themselves, I suppose it’s my job to rescue them.”
“You can’t leave! You’re too important.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s the use of being placed in a tower for all to look at, when we’re all slowly dying? If I can do something to save our future, isn’t it my duty to do so? I can’t just stay in the palace tossing a little ball about while people die. No, let my sisters play Lady. I think this is my duty. This is where I can be of use.”
“By dying?”
“Is it better to die doing something worthwhile, or to disappear, forgotten? If I were to stay, I would watch my friends, my family, everyone I know vanish. Then I would know that my time had come too. I would vanish, knowing that I could have done something. Even if all I did was die. If I were to die, people would wonder about me. They would ask, ‘Who was that strange little girl that died yesterday?’ They would try to find out about me, a stranger. By asking about me, they would find out about you, and you would be saved.”
“Surly your father doesn’t want you to go! He might want to send his youngest daughter, or his son.”
“No, no. That’s where your wrong. I am the perfect one to go, and let me tell you why. The youngest of us is only seven, still a baby. My oldest two sisters are married. My brothers are needed. Not only does one have to take my fathers place, but they are needed to go around the country, and keep the peace. I have nothing to do, no one who would marry me. I am well spent on this mission.”
The old man had no other argument, though she waited a few minutes for him to formulate one. He could just shake his head as she walked by.
“Things like this aren’t meant to be done by people of your stature.”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Maybe not. But I don’t see anyone else who will do this. So I suppose it must be me.”
Don't worry. Whatever fatalistic attitude may grip her at the moment, Aerie's story as a happy ending... after a long and slightly tragic middle, but what's new? Actually, I have been gripped with writers bug reciently, and hope to post more of my written meananderings. You won't mind, dearest diary (and my two readers... lol) If I throw my mind farts at you, will you? I really want to finish this one story (about a vampire... lol) and post it at my forum... because it's boys love... If I finish it, I shall post it here too, and you can yell at me that it sucks and I should be frightened of putting it anywhere else. Deal? Good.