Pax & Pollen

Chapter 1

A gentle knock on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?"

The shack creaked as a gust soared across the open field, the sea of wildflowers waving in the wind. Silence from within the house.

"I have a package for an individual going by the name... Ole-chime-as? Am I saying that right?" The antiquated name on the parcel was written in an elaborate handwriting style, a style that Gav found difficult to read. He noticed a small mailbox mounted next to the door; open and letter-less, expertly crafted webs decorated the inside.

Minutes went by before he tried the door again. This time, his knocking power was approximately sixty-percent of its maximum potential. Silence from within the house, yet again. Fortunately, Gav was known for his persistence. He was also known for his outlandish fashion choices. He waited diligently until he felt another attempt was appropriate.

The courier unleashed a strike of one-hundred-percent power on the shabby door, suspicious of its seemingly sustained structural stability. One entire minute passed by, and his final attempt at calling the inhabitants of what could be called a house only in the most lenient definitions appeared fruitless. Yet, Gav could not bring himself to descend the hillock on which the lonely cabin stood; it was his duty to leave his parcels delivered.

"One more knock," he swore to himself. Upon the wood he rapped gently, on the cusp of imperceptibility. It was an encore, as undeserving of an audience they were.

"Should you knock on my door one more time, your bloodline would end here and now." Roused from within the darkened abode rasped a voice heavy in tone and severe in enunciation. Not even the sealed entrance could dampen their thunderous threat.

Gav was startled momentarily, but was quickly overtaken with the excitement that his perseverance had paid off.

"I am without a need to knock a fifth time, now that I have your attention!" He smiled widely, and if it were pointed at a person rather than a door, it might have been contagious. "I am here on behalf of the Pax & Pollen Courier Company, and I have a delivery addressed to this residence. Am I correct in assuming I am speaking to the lord of the house?"

"I am he," they grunted, "why must you so thoroughly disturb me, and deny the mailbox its purpose?"

A sound argument, but Gav's resolve tore through reason.

"It is my purpose to see the mail which I have been entrusted with wholly delivered, that is the vow I swore. Respectfully, Ole-chime-as, I am no simple errand boy."

"Olchymas," the voice corrected, "and though I am wont to chastise thee for profound ignorance, blame lay not upon thee but thine bungling educators." A bizarre accent as of yet unknown to the courier rang in his ears.

"I apologise for my ignorance, lord-of-the-house Olchymas. Might you open the door so we may speak plainly, face to face?"

The formless voice disappeared for a moment, before once again causing the nearly rotted wood to shudder from its resonance.

"I remain partial to the discretion of my form, for I care not to have thou cast ye contemptuous glare upon mine flesh."

Gav grabbed his rounded spectacles by the frame, fogged them up with his breath, and wiped them with his sleeve. "I can't pretend to understand what you mean, if I am to be honest. Alas, if you wish not to open this door, I am forced to place it in front. Although this technically fulfils my contract, I must admit I am disappointed."

"What, pray tell, is there to disappoint?"

"You see, I have travelled far and wide, but never before had I visited these lonely fields buried so far inland. I am a man who lives on the road, by choice or by circumstance it matters not, and as such am often swept away by the whimsy of fate. Lucky am I to be under employment that not only supports but encourages this way of life. Like a leaf in a gale I feel the joy of freedom, bothered not by the burden of choice. This wind guided a parcel into my hands through curious happenstance, the abundant flowers poisoning me with directions here, yes, unmistakably here, to a hamlet in the countryside of Sonato, the land of everbloom. And yet, here I stand, at the door of my destiny, forbidden to deliver my purpose and cursed to stagnant, wither, then fade away."