The night weighed heavily in its darkness. Ina small Stonehouse got a candle lighted and its warm shine aimed the soft face of a young man. His bright eyes looked down at her.
"Today he seems really happy, Rosa"
The little girl smiles slightly towards the face of a dear old lady. She grinned with a twinkle in her eye. Her skin was brittle and wrinkled like old vellum paper, her hair was drawn with dusty grey steaks and her eyelids hung sluggishly down, although her expression was full of love and compassions gazing towards the girl. Her view changed to the picture on the wall. It showed a steady, young man in a uniform, and his painting was embedded in a fancy frame out of wood. On his chest was a collection of freshly polished medals. They were lined up from left to the middle and he wore them proudly with a straight body posture. The uniform fitted him flatteringly perfect, overall he was really handsome in this probably new outfit. The candlelight made a glimmer upon his head like a nimbus. He appeared kind but also at the same time enviably brave and strong.
The girl wondered if the painter stuck to the example by painting her grandfather or if he took some freedom in his process. She wouldn't know. Carefully the old lady laid her handy on the shoulders of the girl and stroked her fondly. They stood side by side and the young girl glazed shy, but very aware of the situation into the eyes of her grandmother.
It's the day of the year again.
"Come on honey, it's time. Don't forget your lantern please and take the candle with you, would you?", the old lady is babbling and pointed on the candle in front of the painting.
The girl rolled her eyes but started to move. Outside the sun was already down and only the candle donated them some light. With a wooden stick and a fragile construct on top of it, the girl stepped next to the old lady.
"Let's go, my dear girl!" The Lady stretched her hands towards the girl and closed them as her hands touched hers. Quickly the girl grasped after the lit candle that brightened the painting and with one deep look into the ocean eyes at the wall she left the house. Together they stepped into the all-consuming darkness and locked the doors behind them.
Before the gate, a black-headed, tall guy waited for them. His hair was dark as the night around them and when the girl saw him she smiled widely towards him. They hugged him welcomely.
"There you are", he says and a hint of excitement rolls within his voice as if he couldn't wait for the next event that was going to happen. Immediately he offered his arm to the old lady and she hooked her arm into his and the other side into the arm of the girl. Together they walked down the street through their village. It was a dusty road and the wind was calm and silent around them.
Their view was blocked with absolute darkness and the candle only offered some light up to their tiptoes. Anyway, the trio didn't slow down, on the opposite they walked determined as if they knew their way even blindfolded. The sky was cloudy and dark and small light bowl was covered by heavy clouds. Slowly the clouds passed away and the wind got stronger until the moon shined down to them. His shimmering light felt on the silhouette of mountains in the distance and they aimed towards them.
Other village people joined them on their way, they were also equipped with candles and wooden sticks in their hands. The boy and the girl greeted some of their friends from the village. Together the sea of people walked to the mountains in the distance.
More and more people joined them and because of it the group got noisier, but at the same time more cheerful. They walked on a dirt road that leads them through their tiny village. They passed the stone and wooden houses with their front yards and fields. The curtains were closed and no light was seen unless some torches at a big building in the middle of their town. A court of arms and the description: "Tamiehs Community Center" was written on it with a golden flame sign.
With every step they took, the mountains got bigger and bigger in the distance, unless they were close to them. Their route brought them to the end of their village, where a small rive marked the border to the mountains. They were covered in thick woods and the paths got swallowed by the trees. The village people whispered nervously and they all walked over the wood bridge to the start of the mountains.
When they all passed the bridge, silence fell over them abruptly. The candles got positioned in the inner parts of the wooden constructs and the light revealed their true nature. The constructs were made out of cardboard and small figures were carved in them. The lanterns shined bright like the stars over them. Who looked closely saw that each lantern was different than the other, because of the highly detailed figures that were carved in them. They created shadow figures on the trees around them. Like huge monsters they got projected on the trees.
The little girl smiled when she saw her own lantern. She had made a rose, a plane and a teddy bear into the walls of her cardboard.
The shining sea of village people begun their way up the mountain. It was a small path up the hillside and the old lady used the time to look up to the beautiful stars. Quietly someone started singing a song and they all joined in. It was a calm and relaxed atmosphere:
„Halahita Halalahitaha
Halahita Halalahitaha
Away, far away are you
the crows keep missing you
the calls of the flame you've heart
so up to the sky we go
Halahita Halalahitaha
Halahita Halalahitaha"
Together the village people sang their song and their hymn sounded sung by one, not by many. It was a deep, shallow voice that carried deep sadness and a sense of melancholy with it. Neither beginning nor end was heard because every ending was born in a new beginning in an endless repetition. Only at the top of the mountain they came to a stop. The path merged into a wide meadow and all the people spread out on it. The lanterns got positioned around the people in a big circle so that they got framed by it. The meadow ended at a dangerously sharp cliff, that was steep like the walls of a house.
The girl, the boy and the old lady were standing close together in the middle of the lantern circle and the light created a mysterious atmosphere. It also lightened an oddly formed rock that stuck out precisely like a stage for one person. A huge weeping widow made it appear even more impressive and meaningHm-hm
"Hm hm." A man in a festive garb cleared his throat intentionally. The impact was, that everybody turned their heads toward him and he smiled into the group. He stood a little bit above all the others and he straightened his body posture, as if he wanted to show everyone he is the one their attention should be pointed at. All eyes laid on him when he spoke in his rusty but meaningful voice:
YOU ARE READING
Dream Big my Darling
مغامرةSally leaves her hometown Tamieh with her best friend Sasuke for a mysterious Mission through Misaki. Her Grandmother left her a task that will demand everything from her, including revealing the best-hidden secret of her nation, but how to know who...
