As promised, The Fairy Lady slipped into time in a blink of soft blue. As my sensible boot touched down its toe nudged the corner of the door. The door opened in. With it came the stench of stale brackish water, the sort that has sat too long with neither rain nor movement. The perfect environs for ... "Malingering," the word not mine seemed to suit. No turning back. I knew the journey was forward. I took the next step, planting both sensible boots outside the threshold.
In a heartbeat, and I could hear mine pounding soundly, the hall was a stream bed slippery with moss. Water trickled rather than flowed. My boots slid as I attempted movement. "Two doors down. Only two doors down," Raven encouraged. Imagining his silver-hair distracted me. I chose another thought as tempting as it was to stay with that one. My balance in the physical form as Border Witch was not so much missing as random. Sometimes my former agility wore me like well-fitting leggings. Other times, not so much. Slipping with the jelly basket in my armpit would be messy and the explanations afterwards ... well. I was too old for that.
Firm enough afoot, I steadied myself and slid the hat pin from the front of the kihei. Twisting the topknot in a clockwise direction with my right-hand the palm-sized pin grew into full and stout length. A walking stick. A tool. A third leg. I lifted my arm just enough for me to dip the end of the o'o between the woven vines of ie'ie, covering it with the sticky jelly. Blowing on the jell dried it, leaving it as cushion to my movement in the brackish stream. The going was easier, though the smell of the stale water thickened. No light assisted this journey. I laughed as I thought of my mother who would have carried a flashlight!
My preference was keep one as well, but did I leave that in the cafe as well? Well, it made no never mind to look back. I planted the silver o'o in the stream bed, reassured. It was dark but my eyes had adjusted to the absence of light. Shadows glittered and my awareness sharpened. "No shadow without light," I felt a tug at the lehua blossom. It was Hi'iaka. "Turn, turn," she continued. Confident now, my sensible boots pa'a, firmly in place, and my knees flexed I turned slightly and saw the crescent light of Hoaka above the bedroom door behind me. A fair distance behind me now, the light of Mahina cast a pale but particular glow. The shadows of tree skin, the bark as golden as Chinese gold rings outlined a door no higher than my flexed knees. 'ekahi ... one. The tree itself was elegant and tall her arms rose into the space above me. "Madrone, the lovely deep rooted one," I was thrilled to see her and reached for the smooth run of her skin. "The Faceless Woman was two doors down, but what is behind Door Number One?" I waited, wondering, for a moment whether that was the right question.
The Safety Pin Cafe and The Joy Weed Journal are Copyright Protected(c), 2012
Yvonne Mokihana Calizar
In a heartbeat, and I could hear mine pounding soundly, the hall was a stream bed slippery with moss. Water trickled rather than flowed. My boots slid as I attempted movement. "Two doors down. Only two doors down," Raven encouraged. Imagining his silver-hair distracted me. I chose another thought as tempting as it was to stay with that one. My balance in the physical form as Border Witch was not so much missing as random. Sometimes my former agility wore me like well-fitting leggings. Other times, not so much. Slipping with the jelly basket in my armpit would be messy and the explanations afterwards ... well. I was too old for that.
Firm enough afoot, I steadied myself and slid the hat pin from the front of the kihei. Twisting the topknot in a clockwise direction with my right-hand the palm-sized pin grew into full and stout length. A walking stick. A tool. A third leg. I lifted my arm just enough for me to dip the end of the o'o between the woven vines of ie'ie, covering it with the sticky jelly. Blowing on the jell dried it, leaving it as cushion to my movement in the brackish stream. The going was easier, though the smell of the stale water thickened. No light assisted this journey. I laughed as I thought of my mother who would have carried a flashlight!
My preference was keep one as well, but did I leave that in the cafe as well? Well, it made no never mind to look back. I planted the silver o'o in the stream bed, reassured. It was dark but my eyes had adjusted to the absence of light. Shadows glittered and my awareness sharpened. "No shadow without light," I felt a tug at the lehua blossom. It was Hi'iaka. "Turn, turn," she continued. Confident now, my sensible boots pa'a, firmly in place, and my knees flexed I turned slightly and saw the crescent light of Hoaka above the bedroom door behind me. A fair distance behind me now, the light of Mahina cast a pale but particular glow. The shadows of tree skin, the bark as golden as Chinese gold rings outlined a door no higher than my flexed knees. 'ekahi ... one. The tree itself was elegant and tall her arms rose into the space above me. "Madrone, the lovely deep rooted one," I was thrilled to see her and reached for the smooth run of her skin. "The Faceless Woman was two doors down, but what is behind Door Number One?" I waited, wondering, for a moment whether that was the right question.
The Safety Pin Cafe and The Joy Weed Journal are Copyright Protected(c), 2012
Yvonne Mokihana Calizar
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