The Wandering Blaze is inspired by W. B. Yeats's piece, The Song Of A Wandering Aengus. In my English class, we were to come up with our own spin on the piece.
"I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun."
-W.B. Yeats
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the story!
The Wandering Blaze
Frantically, I raced out into the woods that lay a couple miles away from where I butchered that poor, innocent, little girl. The blood on my hands still hadn't washed away, even with the vigorous washing I had attempted. I was still itching at the stained red on my hands and forearm with great aggression. My arms were irritated from the strenuous itching and clawing at my skin. It felt as if it were crawling where Nova's blood had sunk into my pale, dry skin.
The woods was the only place I had found where I could clear my head, comprehend what I had done. My eyes darted back and forth, searching with desperation to get out of my head, to put my mind to ease.
I had been running through the trees for days. The branches had left bruises and scratches all over my achingly tired body.
I stumbled upon a stream, its water rolling over the rocks breaking its surface, clear as day. A few crystal butterflies fluttered by, not seeming to care about what was happening in the world around them.
I closed my eyes, listening to the rustling of the stream. For the first time in days, I felt at peace. My stomach growled angrily at me, for I had not eaten the entire time I had been in the forest.
A small berry bush with berries the color of the butterflies looked awfully tempting. I popped one into my mouth. The tasteful juice had quenched my thirst and made my belly growl more hungrily than ever.
"A cooked fish would be fabulous right about now," I murmured to myself, looking about the stream.
A medium sized tree branch layed by the stream, just waiting to be collected. I snatched it up without another thought and dug into my pocket, searching for my lucky shoelace.
Once I had fished it out from my pocket, I tied it around the branch in a prusik knot. I plucked a few more berries from the bush and slide one onto the aglet of the shoelace.
After ensuring the knot had been tightly made and would not fly off, I cast the line upstream, hoping to catch something.
A few minutes passed and I still had no food. My patience had been slowly evaporating my body the entire time I had sat on the muddy shore, waiting for a fish to tug on the line.
I zoned out, and a hard yank on the lace had brought my back to earth. I flung the fish onto the shore excitedly, my breath uneven.
A small silver trout flopped up and down, gasping for water. Its icy blue eyes were filled with absolute terror, and I felt a twinge of sympathy for the fish. As if on cue, my stomach growled, reminding me how much I needed to eat.
I turned away to collect firewood to cook the fish, but when I returned, it was gone.
"Filthy animals!" I yelled angrily to the sky, thinking the animals had stolen my only food source.
How very wrong I was.
I fished throughout the night, snacking on the berries to keep me somewhat satisfied.
Dawn broke through the trees. The screens of sunlight turned the once calm, crystal waters into a frantic, blood red ocean.
Once again, a tug on the lace caught me off guard. Greedily, I tossed it to the shore. I stared down in shock.
There was the silver trout from yesterday.
Surely it had to have been a different fish of the same breed.
Those same piercing blue eyes stared up at me. This time, there was no terror in those expressive eyes, only hatred.
I shook my head, shaking the idea from my mind.
"You're going crazy," I murmured to myself, scampering backwards.
The fish began laughing hysterically. It hopped up onto its tail fin and stood high.
"Recognize me?" It dared to ask in a deep, spine-tingling, screech.
I was too shocked to register what I was witnessing in front of me.
The silver trout began to shimmer, and fog began twisting around the glowing light. I shielded my eyes, shutting them tightly.
"This is a dream," I repeated over and over again until the shimmering light diminished.
"Oh, it's not a dream Uncle Blaze!" A fake, chirpy voice chimes in.
My entire body tenses up. It can't be. I took killed her over a week ago!
"Open your eyes Uncle Blaze! What's the matter?" Nova asked, faking the concern in her face.
Suddenly, I was thrown into the air. I was dropped hard, and slammed against a nearby tree. Nova had her hand out before her. Her face was twisted with pure anger and hunger.
"Now remember me Uncle Blaze? Remember how you mutilated my body? Beat me when I fought back? Remember? Say something!"
Suddenly, an invisible force closed around my neck, and I felt myself gasping for breath like the fish had been. I then understood the fear that fish, or Nova, had felt.
"I'm sorry," I managed to squeak.
It closed in tighter as Nova laughed louder, her eyes filled with glee.
"Sorry? That's all you have to say? Oh Uncle, we are going to have so much fun!"
A FEW DAYS LATER
Blaze Herley was found on June 25th, 1995 by the river side. A fishing pole had been by his right foot, a small fish by his left. The marks on his body suggest he had been brutally attacked by a wild black bear, which is very uncommon in these woods.
A few berries were found in a pouch tucked into his belt, along with approximately three silver scales from the fish. The blood on his hands and arms is the blood of his sixteen year old niece, Nova Leigh Reign. Investigators searched the woods and household for her corpse. Over twenty years later and her body has since been missing.
