Now living on her own, the cottage felt lonelier and Eibhleann found herself venturing to town often. She had met a few lovely woman close to her age and had befriended them. It had been years since she had had friends and she was grateful for their company.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Awaking to the sunlight of morning streaming through her small window, Eibhleann dressed and prepared to journey to town. Wearing her usual dress of dull gown, she drew her hair up into a simple twist and tied it with a green ribbon to add colour to her wardrobe. She could not afford to buy new clothing as she spent the small amount of money she earned on the necessities that would keep her alive. While she did not have steady work, she would sometimes collect herbs for the town's healers and earn a small profit from it. Here and there she would work odd jobs, whatever she could to make enough money. She dreamt that one day she would be able to afford nice things, but these comforts did not come easy to most and she was well aware that people of her place rarely amounted to anything.
The journey to town was tedious, taking an hour's walk. But Eibhleann found comfort in the long walk, taking in her surroundings and singing traditional Gaelic songs. The forest was bright in the daylight and seemed friendly enough. Birds flew through the trees, singing along and squirrels scampered across the trails. It was summer and the trees swayed in the light breeze, the soft tinkling of bells carried along from the market.
Nearing the town, a foreign tune came to her mind with strange yet beautiful lyrics to follow. They were like a distant memory, shrouded in a black mist. Nearly forgotten, but strangely familiar. She found her voice softly singing out the words.
Closing her eyes, Eibhleann spun around, her arms swaying back and forth in a beautiful dance. Her voice rang out through the quiet forest, the tune filling the air. It seemed as though the forest joined into her song, every single creature singing along. The wind seemed to sigh at the loveliness of it and Eibhleann ended the song contented.
** short, I know. Just wanted to get something up before you all killed me. **
