Eli didn’t sleep, which meant he didn’t dream. But on very rare occasions, he would slip into a state of almost sleep like behavior, and he couldn’t escape his nightmares, his past memories that he was able to keep in check in consciousness, but that filtered out in the dead of night.
It was on one of these nights that his memories of her haunted him, his memories of Cyra.
It had been some time since he first saw her, wading in the stream with her kin.
Since that time, she had come back, and he would watch her, as she stood and watched him.
Though the other woman never came back with her, it never seemed to bother her to be alone with him.
She never came closer than a few cubits, but he was happy to see that she had returned.
One day, he decided to bring her a gift, an offering to show he didn’t mean her any harm.
He traversed through the woods, looking for a plant with long, wide leaves, and thick yellow roots. Its roots were commonly used to treat festering wounds and issues of the stomach by his people.
Not finding the plant, he settled for another, whose medicinal uses were limited, but valued.
He returned to the stream, looking for one more gift to add.
When the woman returned, waiting on her side of the stream were too large fish, wrapped in muddied leaves, and covered with long stemmed flowers.
She picked up the offering and smiled to herself, the first he had seen from her. She glanced up, seeing him peeking from behind the rock outcropping, before turning and running off into the woods.
Unsure of what to make of it, he caught his own fish and hastened to sleep behind the cover of the rocks.
The sun awoke him, and he was excited to wait for the woman’s return. Instead, he found a bowl of dried meats waiting for him on the bank, but no sign of the woman.
They went on this way for many moons, sharing small gifts with each other, but never venturing past their own side of the stream, until one day, Eilig awoke, and there was no gift waiting for him.
Surprised by this, he waited to see if the woman would arrive.
She came when the sun was highest in the sky, and he came from out of his rocks to watch her. He was sure she would do as she always had, stand across the stream and watch him as he had her, but she did something remarkable: took a step into the stream.
YOU ARE READING
The Everlasting
Romance"Who is he? And who's memories are these that continue to haunt me through the night?" Rose Keller meets the boy with the startling gold eyes, after moving to a small town in Massachusetts,. She doesn't know him, but he seems to know her. But before...
