Whisper to the Wind

(1) Simple Lives

The sounds of the trickling spring beneath her feet caressed Whisper's ears. Her eyes were closed to listen to nature's silent serenade. The wind blew through the crinkling leaves who were preparing themselves for winter. The distant sound of singing birds was blown on the breeze. It was a good morning.

Standing on the rock in the middle of the small creek, Whisper kept her balance and lifted her face to the wind. Something about being in nature calmed her. She could fall into her thoughts and be by herself. When she was a little girl and had found this small clearing in the middle of the valley, Whisper had found sticks and pretended she was a fierce hero, defending the innocent from death. As she had gotten older though, the responsibilities of her village were more important than the dreams of a child.

"Whisper!" The shout jerked Whisper from her thoughts and she slide back. Her boots had little to no traction and as she attempted to quickly regain her balance, her feet slid out from under her and she fell back into the creek. In an attempt to stop the fall, Whisper threw her arms out behind her, but she still landed on her back in a splash.

The sound of giggles was carried over towards Whisper. Looking up in shock that someone saw that ungracefull act, she saw her little sister, Norrine, standing on the edge of the trees, pointing and giggling at her sister.

Whisper sighed. Her entire back end was wet and the water was seeping into her breeches. She could feel the sting of small scrapes on her palms and when she lifted her hands out of the water, small red dots could be seen all over her skin.

She cautiously attempted to stand, but the rocks beneath her feet were still wet and slippery. Trying to hold onto the grass at the bank to keep her on her feet, Whisper slowly rose to her feet, only to slide forward again and land back into the water. Her sister began to laugh louder at her.

Whisper couldn't help but smile. Her sister had a joyous, infective laugh. Whenever she was giggling about something, whether it was at Whisper's ungracefull moves or the old man in town who would go about, telling stories to the children, Whisper couldn't help but smile at that sound.

"Alright, you little devil!" This time, Whisper quickly rose out of the water and jumped onto the bank before her boots could slide across the rocks again. She grinned and began running towards her sister, her wet boots sloshing full of water and slowing her run. Her sister made a sound between a laugh and a scream before she took off back into the trees.

They continued chasing and running away through the forest together; Whisper laughing and threatening to catch her sister and gobble her up while Norrine was screaming happily and dodging around trees sharpely to avoid Whisper's hand. Whisper slowed down catch her breath and allow her sister to think she had won. She watched as Norrine turned, not seeing her older sister behind her, and quickly scurried up the nearby tree. Whisper smiled to herself and continued to walk on.

"Norrine!" She shouted as she neared the tree. Above her, she could hear her sister attempt to muffle her giggles. "Come out, come out wherever you are, Mouse." When Whisper had been a little girl and watched Norrine crawl around on the floor, she would always scream with a grin and point at Norrine saying, "Mouse!" She had been so little compared to Whisper, who had been seven at the time. The small amounts of red hair on her head was so soft, Whisper often found herself petting her little sister's head until the small child fell asleep.

As Whisper stepped out under the branch Norrine had sat upon, she heard a noise from above and looked up as Norrine jumped from the branch and landed on her older sister. The two girls crashed to the ground in a fit of laughs and giggles.

"I got you," Norrine shouted as she crawled up and sat on Whisper's stomach. The older sister grunted as Norrine's whole 85 lbs. jumped once on her belly. They both giggled again as Whisper gave a sigh of defeat.