Fern

As Part of our writing group, we get a prompt each session to do a blog post on. It is usually a single word, blurted out at the end of our meeting. This time I tried something a little different. I gave each person a random photo, and they wrote a story from that image. I had no idea which one I was giving myself, I did it blindly. Here is the photo that I selected and the story that it inspired. I hope that you enjoy.

Fern

The cold wind blew off the water. Fern stood shivering under its onslaught, rooted in her usual spot on the shore. The frigid temperatures this late in the year were hard on her. She hadn’t minded the wind when she was younger, but at her age, the cold was a serious risk. She wasn’t as resilient as she had once been.

She was lonely. Most of her friends had succumbed to old age and now there was only Fern. She was the last of the gang. She missed them and wondered what was to come after. What did the future hold for her? She never spent much time on such thoughts, so this introspection was fleeting.

As she endured the cold, the sky lightened in the east. She surrendered her thoughts and immersed herself in her favourite part of the day. The sun was about to rise, the giver of warmth nearing the horizon. Its arrival not heralded with fanfare but it announced in an explosion of glorious colour.

The ruddiness bled up through the sky, defying gravity’s attempts to chain it down. The hues, vibrant and substantial; yet lighter than air. They flew through the sky, leaving evidence of their passing on every cloud they touched. But the colour was ephemeral and its glory soon faded in the face of approaching Helios.

As his face appeared over the tops of the trees, He banished the cold before his glory. Fern stood and bathed in the warmth and light he provided. For the rest of the day, she stayed where she was, watching the sun’s progression across the heavens, turning her body to track his journey.

All too soon, Helios left the world of the wakeful and journeyed to his night-time domain. Fern once again shivered in the slightest breeze. Limbs that had so recently warmed in the smile of Helios became gripped by the stinging needles of cold. Fern hoped that she could hold on through the cold of night and see one more sunrise.

As the pre-dawn light filtered through the darkness, the ground shone like diamonds. Precious jewels spread around the shore reflected the coming of Helios. As his glory brightened the sky and shone from the points on the ground, something was missing.

Fern was not standing to watch the coming of the morning. Closer inspection found her in her customary spot, her limbs cold and withered. The killing frost had freed her to once again rejoin her friends. Her brief question finally answered; Fern discovered what comes after.