Althea

Lambs and Games

Lilly: innocence, purity, beauty
Origin: English

I woke to the usual sounds of birds waking up, arguing and wooing each other in the trees. There was distant bleat of sheep just starting to stir, and one bleat that was not so far away. Our little escape artist, Lilly, was standing on my chest giving me her signature smile. She bleated at me again, headbutting me.
"Ow! Lilly? How... It's way too early for your antics. The sun's not even awake yet." I groaned. "Ariadne!"
"Who is this Ariadne, Althea?" My mother appeared in my bedroom door, stirring a bowl and grinning cheekily.
"Sorry, mom. Why'd you let Lilly in my room?"
"Lilly is just so sweet, I couldn't resist. She clearly loves you."
"Yeah, but her love hurts! And we really should not encourage her to escape all the time. Remember Mr. Flannigan yesterday?" I rubbed my head as I spoke, wincing. I pulled a frock over my shift carefully, avoiding the growing goose egg, and quickly tied my hair back.
"He always was a stick in the mud. Come on now, I've packed your lunch. Good luck teaching Lilly, little mother." She shook a bag at me and winked cheekily.
"Thanks for the encouragement mom." I rolled my neck and Lilly lept off the bed, spinning around and bouncing, bleating all the while. I grabbed my lunch and wiped some flour off my mom's face before planting a kiss on her cheek.
"See you later mom."
I walked out the door with Lilly trotting gleefully behind me, her red ribbon glinting in the sunlight.

"Okay ladies and gent, ready to go?" Moses, our ram, looked at me disdainfully.
"Don't give me that look Moses. Gloria, Flossie, you ladies are staying here today, okay? I know you want to come but you are way too pregnant for that. Don't worry, you'll have all kinds of fun with Ariadne." I unlatched the gate, running names as our small flock left their barn and started down the well worn, familiar path.
"That's everyone... Gloria, don't you dare take another step." She baa'd at me indignantly, plodding back to Flossie's side.
"Gotta go Gloria, I'll see you tonight though girl." I grabbed my crook from beside the barn and took off after the rest of the flock. I caught up to them easily, they never went down the hill without me leading the charge, especially in the dark.
I started down the hill, dozens of sheep following me. I stopped at the bottom. The sheep all ambled past and spread themselves out. I glanced around briefly and seeing that all the sheep had made it down the hill, started towards my regular rock. I sat down on it and pulled an apple out of my lunch bag, polishing it absently with my sleeve.
"In 3...2...1..."
On my count the sun peeked its head over the distant mountains. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as the first rays of light washed over my face in a rush of warmth. A chorus of high pitched bleats startled me out of my musing. I cracked an eye to see the lambs of the flock peering up at me, lead of course by Lilly. I smiled.
"Alright, I'll play with you." I jumped off the rock and they scattered, bounding over the tall grass.
"Not too close to the river!" I chased down the twins, Cedric and Lavender, who were racing along the river bed. "Not so fast you two. Your mother would have a conniption fit. You know how ornery Cassie gets. She's one of our oldest and has dealt with more than you two, she'd put you back in your place." I scooped them up, one in each arm, and distributed them back into the middle of the flock.
I looked around again and spotted a cluster of the lambs hovering near the edge of the woods. I jogged over to them and promptly collapsed. I smiled, but kept my eyes firmly shut as they investigated me. I held my breath, trying not to laugh as their soft muzzles tickled my neck and suckled on my fingers. Soon they were all over me, leaping over me and using my stomach as a springboard. I sat up quickly, and they bolted. Lilly headed straight for the woods and disappeared behind a juniper bush.
"Oh no you don't." I got up and rushed after her.

"Lilly, c'mon, I don't wanna be searching all day! I can't leave the rest of your family for too long!" I stumbled through the low hanging and ankle biting foliage, slapping at mosquitoes all while cursing under my breath.
"This is not how I like to spend my mornings! I told Ariadne we ought to put up a fence but no, 'That would cut us off from our roots!' What does that even mean? Now here I am, way too deep in 'my roots!' I'm going to make Lilly into a lamb chop when I find her..." I pushed aside another bramble only to have it swing back and swipe across my cheek, leaving a deep graze. I patted it gingerly, rolling some beads of coppery blood in between my thumb and forefinger. I sighed, and used my handkerchief to put some pressure on it. I was so focused on my cut that I missed the root directly under my feet and went sprawling to the ground. I picked myself up, groaning.
"I swear these woods are attacking me." I muttered crossly, rubbing my bruised elbow.
"Lilly, my patience has worn very thin." I broke through the tree line and stumbled into a clearing. The sun was warm, the scene picturesque with little yellow flowers dotting the thick green grass. I found my little lamb frolicking in the middle, chasing a cabbage moth gleefully. I sighed, still annoyed but grateful to have her back.
Mostly.
"Come on Lilly, let's go home." Before I could take another step, I felt scratching on my legs and arms as darkness started to envelop me. I kicked and screamed, but it did nothing. The last thing I saw was Lilly dashing away into the woods and her cabbage moth floating by lazily. I don't know why, but I reached out to touch it, and for a brief second it touched down on my finger. I smiled at the small comfort, and then everything went black.