Still Here

Stories and Lullabies

Rayla and Callum strolled through the royal forest. A large, vast array of trees outside Katolis. "Feels like I'm 15 again, coming here to kill the king," Rayla sighed. "Too soon." "Right, sorry about that." Callum chuckled. As the sun reached the highest point in the sky, Callum's stomach sounded as if it were trying to imitate his grumpy glow toad friend. "Well, what say we stop and eat?" Callum suggested, sitting down by a rock. Rayla sat next to him.

Callum tossed her half of a loaf of bread. It was a little stale. "Well, it beats weapons-grade baguettes," Rayla joked. Callum laughed. When they were full, they continued their walk. Their destination: Adoraburr Meadow. (Don’t ask, I just gave it a name.) Callum had it all planned out. They would eat, talk for a while. Then, he would start talking about he great she was. Then ask.

He breathed deeply. Soon, Callum. Soon. As they stopped that night and laid out their blankets, Rayla glanced at the moon. "Huh. Tomorrow night's moon is full." "Then we had better pick up the pace if we would like a nice romantic date night." Rayla nodded. They sat down in their blankets. "Do you want to hear a story my mom once told me?" "Sure."

"Once there was a tribe who worshipped the Great Moon, a beautiful silver disc in the sky. But one day, the righteous leader looked up and saw that half the moon was gone. "It’s been stolen!" he cried. The people were enraged. A war party traveled to the village of the neighboring tribe, whom they did not trust. But the other leader saw things differently. "We stole nothing. The moon is not a silver disc, it is a silver leaf." She pointed to the sky as proof. "This is the moon, and it is our moon." The leaders each accused the other of lying, and soon the two tribes were at war. Many people died.

"One night, both tribes found themselves lost in darkness. The moon had completely vanished. All the people were frightened, until a child spoke up. "Don’t you see?" the child asked. But the adults could see only darkness. Children do not just see with their eyes; they see with their hearts. "We all live under the same moon." Finally understanding, the people stopped fighting. And the moon smiled." After finishing her story, Rayla turned to Callum, who was staring at her in the moonlight. "That's beautiful, Rayla." She smiled. "Thanks. I think so too."

"I'm sure you have just as good a story your parents told you, right?" "Nah. I got a neat lullaby with all six primal sources, though!" "Let's hear it." "Okay." Callum cleared his throat.

"The Sun is down, the Moon is high.
Baby yawns wide with a sleepy sigh.
The Sky fills up with Stars that blink.
Baby's eyelids start to sink.
The Ocean kisses the Earth goodnight.
The waves say hushhh... little babe, sleep tight."

But when he turned to Rayla to see if she liked it, she was already asleep. He smiled. "Goodnight, Rayla. I love you."