SS - A Change in the Weather

From “I’ll Be Waiting” - Talia Perez

 

The dryad stepped out of her birch tree. Frost crunched beneath her bare feet and an icy wind stirred the leaves in her hair. Impervious to the chill, she moved up the hill. A chickadee winged around her and chittered greetings. She paused to let the bird alight on her head.

Garish sunlight turned the grass to diamonds as the trees became fewer and farther between. The brilliant purple sky did not hold a single cloud.

The chickadee sang a question.

“I think it has been winter long enough,” the dryad replied.

Another question.

“I don’t really care what the faerie might think.” The dryad reached the crest of the hill. She spread her arms and more leaves gently swirled away. “It is time.”

The frost melted slowly, running first in rivulets then in streams down the hill to where the trees woke from their slumber and shook the stiffness from their branches.

The chickadee took flight again. Her song rose and fell, mingling with the laughter of the dryad. Springtime, at last!