A Dreamer's Worlds

So Speaks the Wind (Part 1 of Eyes of the World)

 I have a tale about the wind speaking. You might think I'm crazy, but I assure you, I'm not. But then, they say that the mad think they're sane. In which case, perhaps I am insane. Perhaps the tale I am about to tell you is the figment of a crazed mind. You might be thinking that, rather than listen to a tale from an old man, you should be doing your laundry, or cleaning the dishes. But perhaps you'd like to stay and listen, if only to keep your mind off things. But please, do remember, that as far as I am concerned, this is not a tale cause by madness, but is, in fact, a tale wrought by magic.

It was summer when I heard the wind speak. I was a young one, mayhaps about twelve? No, twelve is too young. Twelve is when- Well, that's another story. But when I heard the wind speak, I was older than twelve and younger than sixteen. I remember that it had been my birthday a week ago, and I was still caught up in celebrating. I lived far from the city; I had no neighbors to celebrate with. As such, I always made my birthday a long celebration to compensate.

But a week after my birthday, I decided to visit the forest and tell every rock, tree, and animal that my birthday had been last week. I scampered over the rocks, calling out my reason for celebration. The deer ran from me as I bade them to wish me a happy birthday. But when I climbed to the tip top of the trees to tell the wind, the wind answered me.

"Happy birthday." It said, with a voice airy and light. "I got you a present. Did you know?"

At first, I was amazed at the skill of the trickery. Wind didn't speak! Yet when I climbed down from the tree, there was no one about. I even yelled at people who weren't there for playing a trick on me. But after some time in which I was sure that the pranksters would've revealed themselves, I came to the conclusion that yes, it was the wind that had spoken. So I spoke back.

"No, I didn't know!" I called to the wind. "Where is my present?"

"Up by the mountain, within the cave I sing into." The wind answered. I knew the caves it was talking about; I'd played there ever since I was old enough to explore the woods alone. Which, to be quite honest, couldn't have been long before the wind spoke. I was a young one after all, and my parents protective.

Yet I still knew the caves, and the path to them was easy, with only a hop needed to cross the stream.

The caves themselves went through the entire mountain. It was often that the wind would race through the caves and howl like Hell itself was rising up. When I played there, I imagined it to be the lament of long forgotten ghosts or the howl of demons slain within the mountain. I was always the one to slay them. I was the hero in the caves.

"Come in! Come in! Come in and see your present!" The wind cried. I laughed and darted into the caves. The wind beckoned me deeper and deeper, and soon the surface was no more than a vague thought in the back of my mind. My wild rush was unhindered by the rocks and ditches in the caves and as such I reached the bottommost area within the hour. By then I was exhausted, collapsing against a cave wall for rest.

The wind caressed my skin, bringing cool to my hot flesh.

"Where's my present?" I asked. I was young, remember, and childish selfishness was at the front of my mind.

"Wait a bit, then you'll see." I did not want to wait. I'd already run through the forest and then made a mad dash through the caves. I stood up and, I will admit, yelled the naughtiest words I could think of at the wind. The wind quieted as if cowed, but soon it took its vengeance on a bad child.

The wind blasted me, cutting my skin with swords of sand. I cried out and fell to the floor in a ball. The wind tugged at my clothes, trying to pierce more of my skin.

"Ungrateful child!" It howled, "I'll not give you your present now!"

I laid there for some time, cowering beneath the wind's barrage. It seemed like days before a second voice spoke. It must have been the voice of the caves, rumbling with the age of the earth.

"A child, a child. Children know not what they speak. Calm yourself." It said, and the wind died down to flickers against my skin. Still, it hurt, for my skin was raw from the whipping wind.

"An insolent human. I got him a present and he yells instead of waits." Screeched the wind. The caves proved unmoved.

"At this age, a human believes they get everything immediately. Much like you, O raging wind."

The wind did not truly answer, simply hissing in response. The cave gave a growling hum, so deep I could feel it within my bones. Carefully, I began standing.

"Ah, it stands after such a torture. Humans are resilient, are they not?" I nodded in agreement, though at the time I doubted. Humans didn't seem any more resilient that a puppy. I especially was no more resilient than a leaf in fall, able to break at the slightest touch.

The wind howled again, but not around me. It howled around the caves, the call of demons surrounding me.

"I think such resilience deserves a present, does it not?"

I nodded again. I still wanted my present.

The wind screeching in unseen caverns, but a fierce gust knocked away the dirt from one of the cave walls. How this hadn't been revealed before escapes me, yet it remained hidden until the wind revealed.

I gingerly stepped to the object, brushing off any remaining dirt. A watch, bone white and gilded, had been freed from its underground prison.

And what did that watch do, you may ask? I'm afraid that's another story for another night.