picture and story

[cheri]

I'm posting the picture first, and the story in a seperate post as it is rather long. I'm very happy with how the story came out.
*Warning, story will leave you asking "what happens next?"*

[cheri]

After long days of travel, Falka and Razmuz arrived at the edge of the Lonely Woods. They rested for awhile along the edge of a stream; little did they know that it was the Stream of Forgetfulness and that drinking its water could be dangerous. Razmuz sniffs and turns away, put off by an odor he can't place. Falka, not noticing in her thirst, drinks till she satisfied. Razmuz, forever driven by his sense of loyalty to her, thinks of the mission she came here to fulfill and urges her onto his back. The water has not yet done its damage and they proceed carefully, aware that this strange "forest" could hide many dangers.
The Lonely Woods is a forest of legends and home to a solitary living tree. This single oak is the descendent of the magnificent many that once thrived there. For reasons unknown one by one they vanished, they didn't die, get cut down, they simply vanished. Falka was sent to find out why. The superior wood fairies could not give her much to go by, the only thing they could tell her was to be on her guard....always. The villagers stayed as far from the Lonely Woods as they could. Parents warned their children to stay away from it. The villagers old enough to remember the Lonely Woods as a thick forest tell stories on the anniversary of the disappearance of the first tree.
As Razmuz and Falka go deeper into an unexplainable gloom, they spot a magnificent oak tree flickering in and out of visibility. "Wait here for me, you'll be safe here." Falka kisses his nose softly and walks toward the tree; almost as if it was calling her and he couldn't hear it. Razmuz nickered nervously after her, begging her not to go, trying to tell her something is wrong. Not daring to disobey her, he stirred not a step just watched her. Reaching the tree Falka reached out to touch it and was sucked in. Razmuz screamed in fear as Falka disappeared with the tree. On the verge of running in fright as his instinct told him her parting words came to him again, "Wait here for me, you'll be safe..." he stilled his fear and did not move.
Falka found herself spiraling into another world, where the oaks grew tall and true. She hit the ground hard and lay there alone. Standing up and looking around she thought, "where's Razmuz, interesting, this forest is full of trees with an empty spot where the tree stands....where Razmuz waits for me." She looked down at herself and brushed the dirt off of her skirt and wings. "Why do I have wings?" The sound of her voice broke the silence like a knife. The trees shuddered in response she looked at them blankly; the water was working its magic.
The villagers never mention that the Stream of Forgetfulness was not always there, that it appeared as little as two to three days to as long as two weeks before the disappearance of the first tree. No one speaks of the family members that were lost during the "Age of Disappearances" as that time in their history was called. The twelve people that drank from the stream and one by one disappeared with a tree over twelve days. Not one of them came back and no one dared speak of them, in fear of angering the "departed".
Falka turned slowly looking in all directions for anything, anyone. Seeing a thin trail of smoke rising from the valley, she headed in that direction. A tiny village greeted her eyes, twelve houses in two circles around a pile of things she couldn't recognize. From the look of the pile the inhabitants didn't know what they were either. (There were axes, hoes, shovels, milk pails, luncheon pails just everyday items from the world they came from.) As she walked through the center of the circle she felt eyes staring at her from the drawn curtains on the houses. One door opened and a small, lean man walked out. "Welcome stranger. I am Mich (Mick); I am the first person to come here. I know by now that is of no use to ask who you are, you would not have been brought here if you didn't drink from the Stream. Come friend, Clara will help you clean up and get you some food." Falka didn't have time to ask who Clara was, as she was about ask Clara showed up by her side and led her to the smallest house in the front circle. There Clara brushed Falka's tangled hair and gently cleaned her smudged and slightly tattered wings. Placing a bowl of soup in front of her, Clara set about altering a dress for her to wear so her torn one could be repaired. Full, clean, and feeling slightly better Falka went to see Mich hoping he could tell her more about this strange place.
Mich's door was open and he was sitting on the stoop as if he was waiting for her. "You have many questions child, sit; I will answer them as best I can." Falka more confused now than before, did as he bid and he began. "At least 40 years ago I was a young man, I worked in the village on the other side of the forest. On this very day those many years ago, I chanced upon a thin brook. I was astounded, there had been heavy rain the evening before, but never had a brook formed from rains here. I took a sip, to test the water and continued on to work. I never made it through the forest; a tree was glistening as if water was running down its trunk. Like a fool I went to examine it, never to be seen there again. I and the tree were sucked into a swirling vortex, the light changed and the sky was above me then we landed. Yonder stands the tree that bears the mark of my hand, the same that now bears the mark of yours. If only I had seen it preparing to leave, I might have tried to leave with it. But here I am the wise man of town; I look after those who have not remembered who they are. Much like yourself, everyone came here confused and dazed. For some it took as long as 20 years for their memories to return, for others a day or two. We have determined that it is dependent on the amount of water you drank from the stream. There is one person left that has no recollection of the event or her past and she drank many handfuls of that cursed water. Clara told me that she thought perhaps that you did as well, but that you were very coherent and that perhaps being a Fairie gave you some immunity to the effects. Time will tell us that, though. I regained my memory only a day or two after I came, time here is hard to understand." Falka said nothing, the shadows changed as she absorbed the ramblings of a lost man. The sun began to sink slowly behind the tall oaks bathing Falka and Mich in its splendid light. "Today is the first time the sun has set in many turns of the clock in the town's statue" Falka turned back to him startled, "Statue? What statue?" Mich pointed to the odd pile of objects in the center of the circle. "That, my child, is our statue in tribute of the life we left. We found that the clock was useless here," seeing Falka's questioning look he added, "Oh it keeps the time alright, but the sun doesn't always set when it should....more often then not it does not set at all."
Falka looked around at the growing shadows and the moon began to rise over mountains that she was certain weren't there before. Seeing her surprise, Mich turned and seeing the mountains "They show up only when the moon rises, they are in the world we came from our only link. At least they were until today. Now we can try to contact those that went in search of the mountains to try to get back home. That tree left and came back with you, so if it can leave why can't we leave with it?" Falka nodded, "It would be worth a try."
As the moon rose high overhead, Falka turned to Mich. "My name is Falka, I was sent to try to find out what happened to the forest and to find out who is responsible for it. I am a Wood Fairie and my Razmuz waits for me in the other world. I remember drinking from the stream, finding the tree flickering, telling him to wait for me, and getting sucked into this world. I know that there is a way to call him and he'll be able to cross into this world without drinking from the stream. The problem is I can't remember what our call is. Have you found that after the memories return there is one thing that they have forgotten forever?" Mich was silent for a moment, “Yes, there is one thing that was forgotten by each of us for as long as we have been here. I'm sorry Falka that the thing that you have forgotten is a possible way out for us. In fact...I wonder if the one forgotten thing from each of us is linked to a way out."

[mandyme2]

Wow very pretty picture,Now I need more of the story its great so far,MandyMe2

[cheri]

LOL! I need more of the story too, Falka taunted me with the image and the story for a week and now there's silence, so I guess that's all she wants me to know.