Waterlash's Great Story Hat
When I was three moons and eleven suns old, it was time for The Great Story to be told to me. I had heard the Great Story before, of course. I had heard it every time it was told. But this time, the story was being told to me. For me.
I was playing in the branches of the Home Tree with two of my cousins, Shadowblown and Leafwind. "Waterlash!" my mother said, finding us giggling under an old leaf. "The Word Weaver is going to knit your Hat." We all came at once, tumbling into the hollow, wings and legs and arms all muddling together. I was very excited. After this I would get to wear my very own hat! I would be a real fairy!
My grandmother was sitting, just as she always sat, in the corner of the hollow. Her name was Legend Rosewound, but everybody called her Word Weaver. She sat in her moss cushion rocking chair all day, knitting and telling her tales. My siblings and cousins and I would bring her things for knitting with, and in turn, she would tell us stories.
There was almost always a story being told, with one or two of us flightlets listening. But it was time for the Great Story to be knit again, and all of the young ones were gathered in a great flock on the bark around her rocker. The grown ones were standing around, cooking dinner, sweeping the floor, and playing figgly twigs.
My grandmother looked around to make sure we were all there. When she was sure that we were, she reached down into the acorn top at her feet, and drew out a piece of moss. The Word Weaver began casting on.
"Once," she said, and everyone fell quiet. "The Great Creator took laughter and tears and the whisker of a fox, and breathed his breath- which is the purest magic of all- and fairies came into being. For a time, all was good. Then one day, the first fairies, who were named Petalglimmer and Stingrider, noticed Man and Woman. They noticed how The Great Creator doted on them, whispering his love into their ears all day, and kissing them often. It was then that the fairies first experienced jealousy."
My grandmother reached into the acorn cap and pulled out a human child's eyelash, and began to knit it into the hat. "And so the first fairies began to torment the humans." My grandmother looked up at me, and said, "You are a fairy, and you yourself have a bit of the fox in you. You know how to make mischief." It was true. It had always been true. I knew how to tie the tails of the mice together when they slept, and to mix up the feathers of the owl when he wasn't looking, and to confuse the fish on her way to visit her sister.
My grandmother went back to her knitting, weaving the words along with the threads into my hat. "The Man and the Woman were miserable, and they did not know what they had done to deserve such awful treatment. 'If this is what it is like to be loved by God' they said to one another, 'then we want no part of it.' And though the One Who Sees Through Time tried to woo them back, the fairies tormented more and more. When the One Who Sees Through Time learned that the faires had driven the Man and the Woman away from him, he became very angry.
"The Most Magical of All summoned the fairies, and his anger made them shake like aspen leaves in a rain storm. 'Why?!' The Most Magical of All thundered. 'Why have you driven my beloved from me?' The fairies were very afraid, but they managed to tell the Great Creator of their jealousy. 'You love them so much,' Petalglimmer said.
'You speak to them all the time,' Stingrider added.
'You always give them kisses,' Petalgimmer finished for the two of them.
"The Great Creator was still angry, but his anger was no longer a wind storm, it was calming to the fury of the summer heat. 'How could you,' he asked, 'be jealous of Man and Woman? They are human. They cannot hear me clearly, they forget about my love, and they are separated from me. I have to constantly remind them that I love them. You are fairies. You always hear me when I speak and you never forget of my great love for you.'
"Petalshimmer and Stingrider never forgot what Love said to them. And that, my child, is why I tell you this story. So that you will never forget." My grandmother was nearly finished with my hat. She picked up a piece of spider's web with which to finish the story and the hat. "Love's anger had completely abated now, and he gave to those first fairies a commission which all of us carry out after them. 'I put a fox whisker in you for a reason,' he told the pair. 'Do not waste it. But only torment the ones that I tell you can take it. For through your mischievousness , they will draw closer to me.'"
And with that, my grandmother handed me my hat.
I was wondering what a Word Weaver was, anyways. It's good to know.
When I was three moons and eleven suns old, it was time for The Great Story to be told to me. I had heard the Great Story before, of course. I had heard it every time it was told. But this time, the story was being told to me. For me.
I was playing in the branches of the Home Tree with two of my cousins, Shadowblown and Leafwind. "Waterlash!" my mother said, finding us giggling under an old leaf. "The Word Weaver is going to knit your Hat." We all came at once, tumbling into the hollow, wings and legs and arms all muddling together. I was very excited. After this I would get to wear my very own hat! I would be a real fairy!
My grandmother was sitting, just as she always sat, in the corner of the hollow. Her name was Legend Rosewound, but everybody called her Word Weaver. She sat in her moss cushion rocking chair all day, knitting and telling her tales. My siblings and cousins and I would bring her things for knitting with, and in turn, she would tell us stories.
There was almost always a story being told, with one or two of us flightlets listening. But it was time for the Great Story to be knit again, and all of the young ones were gathered in a great flock on the bark around her rocker. The grown ones were standing around, cooking dinner, sweeping the floor, and playing figgly twigs.
My grandmother looked around to make sure we were all there. When she was sure that we were, she reached down into the acorn top at her feet, and drew out a piece of moss. The Word Weaver began casting on.
"Once," she said, and everyone fell quiet. "The Great Creator took laughter and tears and the whisker of a fox, and breathed his breath- which is the purest magic of all- and fairies came into being. For a time, all was good. Then one day, the first fairies, who were named Petalglimmer and Stingrider, noticed Man and Woman. They noticed how The Great Creator doted on them, whispering his love into their ears all day, and kissing them often. It was then that the fairies first experienced jealousy."
My grandmother reached into the acorn cap and pulled out a human child's eyelash, and began to knit it into the hat. "And so the first fairies began to torment the humans." My grandmother looked up at me, and said, "You are a fairy, and you yourself have a bit of the fox in you. You know how to make mischief." It was true. It had always been true. I knew how to tie the tails of the mice together when they slept, and to mix up the feathers of the owl when he wasn't looking, and to confuse the fish on her way to visit her sister.
My grandmother went back to her knitting, weaving the words along with the threads into my hat. "The Man and the Woman were miserable, and they did not know what they had done to deserve such awful treatment. 'If this is what it is like to be loved by God' they said to one another, 'then we want no part of it.' And though the One Who Sees Through Time tried to woo them back, the fairies tormented more and more. When the One Who Sees Through Time learned that the faires had driven the Man and the Woman away from him, he became very angry.
"The Most Magical of All summoned the fairies, and his anger made them shake like aspen leaves in a rain storm. 'Why?!' The Most Magical of All thundered. 'Why have you driven my beloved from me?' The fairies were very afraid, but they managed to tell the Great Creator of their jealousy. 'You love them so much,' Petalglimmer said.
'You speak to them all the time,' Stingrider added.
'You always give them kisses,' Petalgimmer finished for the two of them.
"The Great Creator was still angry, but his anger was no longer a wind storm, it was calming to the fury of the summer heat. 'How could you,' he asked, 'be jealous of Man and Woman? They are human. They cannot hear me clearly, they forget about my love, and they are separated from me. I have to constantly remind them that I love them. You are fairies. You always hear me when I speak and you never forget of my great love for you.'
"Petalshimmer and Stingrider never forgot what Love said to them. And that, my child, is why I tell you this story. So that you will never forget." My grandmother was nearly finished with my hat. She picked up a piece of spider's web with which to finish the story and the hat. "Love's anger had completely abated now, and he gave to those first fairies a commission which all of us carry out after them. 'I put a fox whisker in you for a reason,' he told the pair. 'Do not waste it. But only torment the ones that I tell you can take it. For through your mischievousness , they will draw closer to me.'"
And with that, my grandmother handed me my hat.
I was wondering what a Word Weaver was, anyways. It's good to know.
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