It had the four translucent wings lined in black. But it was big- about the size of a small bird. Its body shimmered as it rested on the barky surface of the log.
Strangely, it lacked the basic form of an insect… in fact, it rather looked like…
“Eden!” a woman’s voice shouted out from behind.
Eden was pulled away from her curiosity in an instant. The little girl turned to see her mother exiting through the door of their house, pacing towards the brook.
“What do you think you are doin’, love?”
Eden’s mother, Nila, wore a long woollen tunic that was frayed and stained, the bottoms dragging in the drying mud as she walked sternly towards her daughter. She wrapped her shawl tightly around herself to fend off the chilly breeze.
“I was just looking at-” Eden turned back to the log, but the strange creature was gone.
“Darlin’, it’s getting dark out.”
“I know, but I just wanted to look at all the flowers and the animals. They are so pretty. And mama, I found a sprite!”
“A sprite?” Nila replied with a raised eyebrow. “Eden, what kind of nonsense are you coming up with today?”
“I swear it, it flew right past me! It looked just like the sprite from the stories that papa used to tell me.”
Eden’s mother put her hands on her hips. “And what have I told you about runnin’ off outside without asking?”
“But I stayed within shouting distance, just like you said last time!”
“And what was the other rule I gave you, last time you took off to the wood?”
Eden froze up. Realising she couldn’t remember, she looked down at her feet.
Nila could only smile. “To always ask before you go out, remember? Sweetheart, I know you want to go and explore, but you are only eight years old. You are too little to be off wondering around alone. Now, promise me you won’t take off unexpectedly again?”
Eden nodded. “I promise.”
“Besides, I need your help around the house, love. Especially while your father is away.”
Papa. Eden became upset at the thought of her father, Filip. It had been a long while since she and her mother had farewelled him at their doorstep, as he marched off to serve in Queen Darmer’s regional guard.
Eden looked her mother in the eye. “When is papa comin’ back?”
Nila thought carefully about her answer before she gave it. She didn’t want to lie to Eden, but being honest with herself, she knew that she wasn’t even entirely sure of the answer.
Nila ran her fingers through her daughter’s unbrushed hair, earth brown and curly, just like her own.
“Sweetheart, I’ve already told you this. Your father is off working. Doin’ his part for the kingdom. Protecting us.”
Eden rolled her eyes. “I miss him, mama.”
“I miss him, too.”
“He always came and looked at the flowers with me.”
Nila smirked. “I know, darlin’. I’m sure he’ll be back to us before you know it. And you can go back to exploring the wood with him whenever you like.”
Eden looked at the fiery clouds and the raging sunset behind it on the horizon, just above the tree line.
I wonder where papa is right now.
“Why don’t you come back inside for some supper? I cooked up some stew. It’s nice and hot, nearly ready to eat,” Nila said, caressing her daughter’s soft cheek. “And I tell you what, tomorrow I will find some time to come out to the brook with you, and we can look for some flowers together.”
Eden broke into a smile. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Eden followed her moth back to the house, yet she could not help but took one last look back towards the log, searching for the strange creature she was certain she had seen.
It was gone.
※
Nila woke Eden up at the crack of dawn.
“Time to get up, sweetheart,” Nila said softly as she pulled the blanket off her daughter. “We need to head into town this morning.”
Eden groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Can’t I stay here?” she said with a big yawn.
“Of course not! I need your help carrying our produce into town.”
Eden shrugged with a groan, feeling bogged down by all the responsibilities she had been given since father had left.
Woof!
In came Jasper, the family’s hound, bouncing in on all fours, his shaggy ash-coloured fur hanging off him like a rug. Jasper jumped up at Eden, licking her furiously with excitement.
“Jasper, hop down, boy. Cheeky boy!”
Eden ruffed up his ears and patted her furry friend. He raced back out through the bedroom doorway.
“Jasper can watch over me, mama.”
“Like Hell, he will! That boy is such a softy, he wouldn’t even hurt a rat, let alone a brigand tryna snatch you, or a wild wolf come to eat you!” Nila laughed, chasing after her daughter with ticklish fingers.
Eden giggled and fled to the other side of the bed.
Jasper stood in the doorway, watching, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he panted.
“Such a gallant protector, Jasper!” Nila laughed sarcastically.
Jasper tipped his head sideways, almost as if he were saying huh?
Nila stripped the bed. She rolled up the old linens in her arms to wash later. “That dog of yours is more puppy than hound.”
Eden smirked. She had a special bond with Jasper, ever since they found him as a stray puppy in town several years earlier.
Eden had begged her mother and father to let her keep it.
“I will watch out for him! I will feed him! I will clean him!”
She still remembered how her mother made the comment that they were struggling to feed the three of them…how would they possibly feed a fourth mouth?
But Eden’s father, Filip, found it hard to say no to his daughter, and
