Dwellers of the New World: Chapter One (Pt 1)

Simon stood in a clearing of the leafy hollow, he had taken to coming there first thing in the morning, it was quiet and he could think, he also enjoyed talking to all the birds, even though he knew they couldn't answer him back, but that was exactly what he needed, not to be told, just someone to listen.

Looking up, he was aware of how red the sky was, he knew that was a sure sign of rain to come. You could tell Autumn was on its way, by the changing colour of the leaves, that were going a copper brown. This was his favourite time of the year, there seemed to be an air of mystery around the forest. All the creatures would be preparing for the coming winter. His family would be digging up potatoes. The wheat they had been growing would be harvested, making bread to line their stomach's. “My favourite is corn bread.” said Simon to the crow.

“Caw...caw!” replied the crow, not really understanding, but seeming too.

Simon's father had assured him, that he was old enough now to go on a long journey South, part of him was excited about the trip, but he also felt a little apprehensive of what was out there in the big wide world.

He was from a long line of travellers, his father's name was Brad and his mother's name was Seline, but she had died in child birth, Simon was always sad that he had never known his mother, but when you were a traveller, there was always someone to watch over you.

Simon travelled through forests and across the northern mountains, but this time his father wanted to take him further south, down to the vast ocean, that his father had fallen in love with. Simon never knew what an ocean was, just that it was a large expanse of water, he only knew the rivers and lakes, where his father had taught him to catch fish.

He loved animals and had discovered a talent for healing them. He knew about which plants to use for bites, cuts, stings and sickness, from his grandmother Martha, he also found he could communicate with animals to find out what was wrong with them. It wasn't that he could talk to them, just that he used his sixth sense, he trusted his intuitions, which were usually right. Martha told him to open his third eye, take in the scents around him.

“Listen and hear, trust in what you feel, speak your thoughts and believe there is sound, even when there is silence,” his grandmother would say.

But the other people could not understand what he meant, so he became known as the little healer. Simon was eight summers old and had his father's looks, his hair was blonde and down to his shoulders, Martha thought that he looked the image of Brad, when he was the same age.

Brad also loved birds and had helped to teach Simon all he knew to this day. Simon grew up with an owl called Tawny, which belonged to his father, in fact it was Tawny that had brought his father and mother together.

Brad told Simon, that one day while Tawny was flying, the owl had dived down to this beautiful girl and landed in front of her, the bird wouldn't let her pass, but just kept coming towards her. Every time she tried to walk away, Tawny would fly in front of her, his wings flapping, but not actually hurting her, it was as if the bird knew that Seline was the girl Brad had been looking for.

She had blonde hair that came down her back, reaching to her waist, when she walked it was like a horses mane, her dark skin showed her hair off even more. She also had the bluest eyes that were hypnotizing. Brad was intoxicated with her and so much in love.

She always wore deer skin, even in the winter, preferring it to the heavy bear skins. Seline also made boots from the skin of the deer, but in the winter she harvested the coats from the summer sheep, and made thick boots and heavy clothes for Brad and his family.

Simon loved to hear tales of his mother, “if only she were here now,” he said to the crow, he was feeding blackberries too.

His mind wandered back to the trip he would be taking. “Why can't grandmother come with us? That's what I want to know. She says she's too old, but she's travelled much further before, well maybe not South, but she's been up in the mountains and I really want her to come crow.”

The crow stared at the food Simon was feeding him, not particularly interested in what he had to say, but enjoying the blackberries.

Simon was also sad, because he would miss his friends and all the animals and birds that trusted him.

Brad was always going off with Tawny. Out of the blue he would say, “son I'm going off to somewhere or other.”

It used to upset Simon when he was younger, but as he got older, he got used to the idea, then he was quite happy staying with Martha. He really loved her cooking, she would make some amazing stews, Yum! His mouth watered just at the thought of those stews, but now he was going, he would miss them desperately. His father would probably live on the fish he caught. Yes it would be fish...fish...fish!

Normally the travellers including Martha would travel into the forests, further south, where winter wasn't as bad, but some of the travellers including Martha had decided to stay where they were for the winter, even though the weather could get very cold, with bitter winds.

The heathland where they camped for the summer was very open, without much shelter, apart from their wagons, their only protection.

There were also wild creatures that lived up in the heathland, large cats and poisonous snakes. Fires had to be kept burning at all times within the camp.

There were also wild...woolly sheep that lived up on the heath, some of the men were expert at catching them, they had learnt how to shave their coats off in the summer, with knives made from sharpened stones.

But they also lived on the edge of a forest, so if things got really bad, they could always move further in amongst the trees, for protection from the elements.

Simon decided to make his way back to the camp for some breakfast. He was just leaving, when it suddenly went very quiet. Stopping in his tracks, there was an almighty explosion, the earth trembled. The boy nearly jumped out of his skin, his heart beating fast, shaking he looked
up to see all the birds take flight, frantic not knowing which way to fly.

“Father...father help!” Simon fell to his knees, not quite knowing what was happening, the earth still trembling under him, but no one came. He had never felt anything like this before.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter One (Pt.2.) | ABCtales