Natural Magic

"Annie, will you get your head out of that book and start concentrating on your work!" The sharp voice of Mrs. Brown snapped Annie out of her dreams of unicorns and fairies and into the dull world of maths and science. She stared at the drips of rain as they ran down the window pane and imagined they were dragons tears.

"If you concentrated as much on your homework as you do on fairy tales, you might be surprised at how well you can do." Annie didn't care how well she could do at geography and physics.

"Magic and stories are for babies, you're too old for it now, Annie."

It rained for the rest of the lesson and the rest of the day. By the time the bell rang for hometime the sky split and huge drops of rain poured from the black clouds. Annie pulled her hood over her head, zipped up her coat and ran down the hill, along the lane and into her house.

"Annie, you're soaking. Go and change into some dry clothes."

"Okay, Mum," she replied, trudging along the landing to her room, leaving wet patches on the carpet.

As Annie changed into her dry clothes she heard the door open and her fathers voice. She could not hear what he or her mother were saying, only muffled voices. Her fathers got louder and deeper, whilst her mothers, higher and faster, until they were both shouting. She pressed a pillow over her head, twisting her body into the bedclothes. She could still hear the voices. She turned the television on with the volume on maximum. Images of blood, tears and panic flashed in front of her eyes. Annie could not take it any longer, she pulled her window wide open and crawled through, landing in the garden on the other side. The sweet scent of flowers and wet leaves surrounded her like a blanket.

The rain had slowed to a soft drizzle as Annie ran through the garden to the thick, high hedge at the bottom. She crawled through it, her clothes getting caught on brambles and her hands stung by nettles. Finally, she made it through and slumped down on the autumn leaves. Her hair hung in thick, wet strands around her shoulders and tears poured down her cheeks.

Tipping her tear streaked face skyward, she noticed the drizzle had stopped and bright, shining holes started to appear in the clouds above the trees. Rays of sunlight shone down through the canopy of wet leaves, wide beams of golden light that shifted and changed shape as the leaves shivered in the breeze. The light seemed to change slowly, into the form of a tall, slender woman. Annie couldn't make out any features, but the intense light showed tendrils of golden hair flowing around her face and the folds in her long dress moved like liquid sunshine.

With an agile leap she covered the distance between them. Annie heard her light laughter, like soft rain and wind through the leaves. The woman stretched out a long fingered hand and Annie held on tightly. She sprang forward, moving like sunbeams over the wet ground and Annie had to run to keep up. The light kept dancing until they reached a small clearing, where it seemed to change back from the woman's form into rays of sunshine.

The woods were on a slope now and Annie could just see the tops of the trees below her and a wide expanse of bright blue sky above. She sat down on the thick carpet of fallen leaves. For the first time in many years she looked at the normal, ordinary things around her with wonder and amazement. She felt like a baby who was looking at everything for the first time, as through her eyes were now fully open. Simple things that she had walked past every day now looked beautiful and full of magic.

She looked upwards at the millions of leaves and branches running, like veins, between them. The sun turned the upmost leaves lime green and the lowest were much darker, with patches of blue sky mixed in. It reminded Annie of a giant mosaic, like the ones she had learnt about in History lessons. But this mosaic was full of life. Squirrels darted from branch to branch and birds burst through the leaves.

A sunbeam pierced through the trees and something glittered in the corner of Annie's eye. She turned her head and saw a spiders web. The delicate strands shone like silver and on each thread was hung tiny raindrops. The droplets of water looked like clear glass beads, made by clever fingers, into a necklace that glittered and sparkled. The beads seemed to capture the blue sky and golden sunshine.

The cobweb hung on a thick tangle of brambles and wild rose. A few dusky pink flowers still clung to the summer, whilst dark purple blackberries hung in heavy clusters. Strings of bright red berries gleamed like rubies amongst the dark leaves and thorny stems. For the first time, Annie noticed the birds and animals she was lucky enough to share her home with. Two baby frogs crawled out from under the log Annie was resting against, their mottled green skin blending in perfectly with the dark leaves. In the sky above, a buzzards sharp cries sounded and when Annie looked up she saw the bird, wings outstretched, circling through the warm air. A deer stepped into the clearing. It stared with huge brown eyes at Annie but instead of leaping away, it stayed. Its long legs stepped delicately over brambles, whilst its nose pushed through the leaves.

The bright blue sky slowly turned to rosy pinks and faded orange, but Annie didn't notice time moving past, she just watched. A few clouds, their edges stained with scarlet, floated through the marshmallow pink sky as a final burst of sunbeams shone from the horizon. A few black rooks flew back to roost in the trees. White mist started to seep from the ground and clung to the trees. It rose in great swirls and moved as though it were alive, forming patterns and shapes. Slowly, out of the mist in front of Annie, three figures were formed. There were three men, they looked quite different but each man wore a silver crown on his head, which shone with a blue light and their piercing eyes sparkled with starlight.

The first man was old. His long silver beard fell down across his chest and his white hair, encircled by the silver crown, covered his shoulders. He wore thick furs and in his hand was a long spear. The second man was younger than the first. His short black hair and beard was streaked with grey. Sharp blue eyes shone out through his battle scarred face. A sword hung from the leather belt at his waist. The final man was the youngest. His face was clean shaven and his long dark hair fell in a neat plait down his back. He wore a grey cloak and carried a bow.

All three men fell, in unison, to their knees in front of Annie, bowing their heads. And Annie realized how lucky she was. So many great people, generations of kings, had died fighting to protect the place both they and she called home. People had given up their own life to ensure that hers would be safe. Annie felt very honoured and thought about how different her life could have been if the three men kneeling before her had not made such a great sacrifice.

The mist quickly dispersed, taking with it the three kneeling figures. A dark curtain was pulled across the sky. Dark blue fading to a deep purple, studded with stars like sequins. The crescent moon cast a buttery gold glow on the trees. Annie realized that it was time to go home.

She ran back through the woods, instinctively knowing which way to go. She scrambled through the hedge and sat for a few moments in the shadows of a beech tree. She looked at the bright stars in the midnight blue sky, the same stars that shone when cavemen walked the Earth. The stars were watching before the Earth was born and would still be there long after it had all gone. No matter how different the Earth became, the stars would always be there, unchanging, the history of the world connected to their silvery light. Annie could never feel afraid or lonely because she had so much; she had the stars, the trees, plants, rocks and animals to watch over her. She would always have magic.

...........

Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I know there's not much of a storyline to it, but it's just a few thoughts I had and wanted to try and get them down on paper. The grammar probably isn't too good, as I haven't taken much time to read through it all properly. Anyway, I love getting reviews (good or bad!) so please send me one!! Thanks for reading!