Words

Albir Elderberry of Farwood

Father asked if I were ill when I told him I wasn't hungry. I wasn't ill; the truth is I just couldn't stand to be near him, or the Family any longer. I needed out. Just for the evening.
I slipped out into the courtyard. I suppose my hours of imprisonment in the house with father and uncle and uncle's grand counselors put me in a savage mood. And those stupid cobblestones were spotless again. I poured out a bucket of dirty water lying outside the kitchen windows behind the courtyard gate. It was a lame and a stupid thing to do, but for the moment, it satisfied me.
On my way to the grove, I happened to look up just as something white darted between the trees. Curious, I followed it. Perhaps it was just a bird. But then I lost sight of it through the thicker of the rose bushes.
I wanted to find that wonderful old oak again. I wanted, I'm sure, to be out of sight of everyone. To be alone.
I stopped short as I passed the wild roses.
There was a girl, dressed in white, swinging back and forth on the old wooden swing. She wore a bright blue ribbon around her waist, and no shoes on her feet. Her thick dark hair wrapped itself around her soft face as she swung back. It streamed behind her as she swung forward.
I suppose I was surprised--or mesmerized, or maybe just amused. In any case, I stood and watched her. I didn't even bother to wonder who she might be. She could very well have been a figment of my imagination, for all I knew. In one moment, she kicked up her bare feet and reached forward to touch a leaf just out of her reach. And suddenly, and in mid-air, she slipped off the swing and fell to the ground. I started. Had she fainted? Was she hurt? She lay on her back, looking up at the sky. For some minutes, she didn't move. Finally, I got up to see whether or not she were hurt. My movement made a noise that startled her. She sat up and looked frantically around her. I didn't want to be seen if I could help it, so I instantly ducked back into the bush. She didn't see me as she swept quickly past the roses and out of sight.
I'm rather superstitious, and perhaps I'm being haunted; I heard music again in my sleep.