I’m testing out the posting of short stories on this site, with a bit of lore from the world of Esmeralda. It includes an illustration too (which I’ve also included in the Art page gallery). 😀 So without further ado…
Anthem of the Bog
~~~One day in our good land of Willowyn, many generations ago, a lone fisherman by the name of Wegny was fishing in his favorite spot. It was a secluded wood platform that stood tall over the water on its stilts, deep within the swampland and far from Wegny’s village. Wegny had taken his little raft out to the platform and was trying to catch fish for his family as he did often. And as he sat up there, his feet dangling over the edge of the wooden planks and his fishing rod held out over the water, a Riddlemaw swam into sight and looked up at Wegny, watching him as he fished. The scaly creature just bobbed there in the water for some time, staring at Wegny, seeming fascinated. Wegny became annoyed… how was he to catch any fish, with the Riddlemaw lurking down there and scaring them off?
The Riddlemaw just would not leave. Eventually it even began to swim around the base of the platform, circling, and emitting grunts and gargles. But these were not the regular grunts and gargles of Riddlemaws… they were, as Riddlemaw-grunts usually are, arranged in poetic rhythm, but this time, they were words! They were words that Wegny could understand!
Now Wegny was the one who was rapt. He listened and listened, until he had no doubts that he was hearing clear words from the Riddlemaw’s toothy mouth. Over and over the Riddlemaw recited them, having found inspiration in the sight of Wegny and delighting in its new poem. These are the words the Riddlemaw spoke:
“Wood go up,
Dry over low swamp.
Funny-skin sprite,
There sit top.
Holding stick,
Fish then eats…
What funny little there that seats!”
And soon, when satisfied that Wegny had heard it out, the Riddlemaw swam away. Wegny remembered the words and took them home to his family. Word soon spread… for the first time in memory, a Riddlemaw had spoken in Whimsy-tongue! The words of the Riddlemaw soon became legend here in Willowyn, the Bog of the Bards, and came to be known as the Anthem of the Bog.
~~~
I’ll surely have many more where this came from, and not all of my short stories are THIS short. 🙂
“Anthem of the Bog” is copyright to Sequoia the Storyteller. All rights reserved.