Tower Challenge Fourth Submission!

I know I haven't been posting at all this week but its a very busy week for me and I promise I'll be back to posting more regularly next week. But for now, do enjoy this wonderful short story by one of my best friends, Gabrielle Hellwig. Check out her blog, Legend of a Seamstress, while you're online please. ;)

Tower Challenge Submission

  by Gabrielle Hellwig.

My name is Avi. It means ‘bird’ and Mamma calls me her little bird. That is because I’ve always dreamed of taking wing from our tower and flying away to explore the great, wide world outside.

My father, mother, Little Sister, and I live in a tower in the heart of the Southern Forest. Nothing penetrates here except the sun, rain, and wild animals. I know a tower sounds like a strange home to most of you, but for me and Little Sister, it has always been home. Let me tell you how we came to live here.

Long, long ago, before Father and Mother were married, Father was the king’s bodyguard. There were very close and Father accompanied him everywhere. One evening, Father happened upon one man beating up another. The poor, bloodied victim was near death and no longer able to defend himself. Father made a dash for his attacker but the man escaped, the deepening darkness and a near alley favoring him. The other was already dead, and before Father had made up his mind what to do, several of the dead soul’s kin chanced upon the two. They did not wait for an explanation, but accused Father of murdering their kinsman. They brought him to court and demanded justice. The judge ruled in their favor, and against Father, and a day was set for his execution. That morning, however, Father escaped, taking with him our Mother, to whom he was at that time betrothed. They spent many months in hiding around the country before they were able to take ship to the remote and mostly undiscovered island we now call home.

Here, in our tower, they were married, with the sun and clouds, the birds, squirrels, and deer, and our Maker above as witnesses of their sacred union. Here, in our tower, Little Sister and I were born and have been raised. We had a baby brother too, but he was born early - sick and frail, and lived barely a day. The bedroom Little Sister and I share overlooks the mossy patch of ground and the polished tombstone that mark his resting place.

Life here in our tower is far from dull. Our days are filled with lessons from Mother and games with Father. Mother is teaching us fine sewing, the art of the flute and of baking, and to do our sums. Then Father takes us outside to the sunny clearing we call our yard. There, we play hide-and-seek until we all fall laughing and breathless on the soft turf. Then, Father will find mushrooms, leaves, flowers, or even interesting toads and snakes and teach us science in such an engaging way that Mother has to call us in for our midday meal.

And often, Little Sister and I will play in our yard. A rippling, whispering rivulet of fresh water runs through our yard and we like to float sticks or leaves along, pretending they are our merchant ships. In the spring, we search for tiny wildflowers, each one unique, nestled in the crannies and cracks along the aged base of our stone tower. Just yesterday, I found a single pink one twining over the gap in a stone step.  It had petals shaped like points of a star and the center was a mass of sparkling gold like a fallen gem.

On the days when it rains, the rain pattering comfortingly on the roof and against our windows, Little Sister and I must occupy ourselves inside. Sometimes, we race up and down the cold, flat stone steps and through the numerous corridors playing hide-and-seek. At other times, we’ll play a counting game with stones on the tiled floor of the kitchen or lean our elbows on the windowsill of our bedroom, dreamily counting the falling droplets.

No, it is not that life here in our tower is dull. I do not think I would trade it for any other life. But I should like to see the world – the town where Mother and Father were born and grew up, the land they knew and loved. Perhaps some day, we shall all visit that land. For now, we would love to have you visit us here in our tower in the heart of the Southern Forest.