Falareste

A flash of silver feathers, A gleam of golden flame; In silence, he looks inwards; And outwards, she takes aim. And glancewise seems so bright and fair The timbre of their thoughts; Yet, both fast are bound: He by flesh, she by care. Within the shade, he waits to fade— O what shall come of him? She beats in rage against her cage— O what shall come of her? Those two, entwined until the end— O, what shall come of them?

In the years that were bright, the years Frost described as gold-before-the-green, we lived half here, in this world, and half in Lothlorien. Not the original Lothlorien, of course. Even at eight years old, I knew that I could not reach Lothlorien on foot, at least not in a matter of minutes. Perhaps if I followed the sun westward long enough, I would find Lothlorien, and perhaps Rivendell, and perhaps even the Havens, but not in time to get back home for dinner. So, instead, we created--found--our own Lothlorien. In the late afternoons, I would sit beneath the trees in our front yard, and Gray would join me, settling quietly beside me with

There is a family down the street with six children. Or, at least, Gray and I count six from our window. We watch them wheel in circles in the street. The windows are closed, but I can hear their squealing from here. It is a noise we both have grown unaccustomed to. Gray says that if he looked away, he would be unable to tell if they were squealing in joy or distress. Just like piglets, I say. How uncharitable, he remarks. And now you know why I don't want any, I say. We continue watching, because the chores are done and the housemates are gone and there is nothing better to do, and it has been a long time since we last watched children p

Soon after going home for the summer, she decided she was sick of home cooking. Her chance came when her parents drove north on a weekend trip. They had invited her to come along and see her cousins, but she had managed to convince them that she was too tired from work and that she would have trouble studying on the road. Thankfully, they had dropped it at that, and she hadn't needed to cook up any further reasons. They had left the fridge stocked with leftovers, with homemade bread and dumplings, but she ignored them and dialed a local pizzaria's number. The employee who picked up was pleasant-voiced, with a crisp Southern accent that remi

Quite fittingly, she dreamed of being sick while she was sick. In her dream, she was the only patient in the room. The nurses and doctors spoke in hushed tones around her; more than once, she caught whispers of "that poor girl." There was an IV in her right arm. It itched, and she tried to pull it out, but a doctor frowned at her and she stopped. There were oxygen tubes up her nose, which she minded less since the air from them was pleasantly cool. She felt fine, except for the fact that she couldn't get out of bed, and she wondered what she had been hospitalized for. --- Her supervisor from the lab she worked at came to visit her, bearing

That summer night, she learned that supermoons were not auspicious omens. She had been sitting at her desk, the overhead light on, her laptop open and playing quiet classical music in front of her, her statistics textbook open on her lap, her head bent as she read the most recent chapter on confidence intervals. Gray sat next to her, hands folded across his lap, eyes closed. Then she heard her father call her name from downstairs. "Did you see the supermoon?" he called. "The what?" she called back. Gray opened his eyes. "There's supposed to be a 'supermoon' tonight," she heard her father say. "Are you able to see it?" She glanced at a wi

She remembers a conversation she had with Gray that still makes her sigh. Many summers ago, he was waiting for her when she walked outside, leaving the house empty. Not going to call Angela and the others today? he asked as they began walking down the street. Nope, she said. You're more interesting to talk to, and she has soccer practice. I don't know how to feel about your word order, he responded. She laughed. They continued down the block and came to a large fountain, with a base big across as a living room and a jet the height of a ceiling. They say that you can see a huge rainbow when the sunlight hits this fountain at the right angl

One summer afternoon in the city, she sits in the back seat of a car idling in a Kroger's parking lot, waiting along with her father, who is busy checking his Blackberry, for her mother. They had already picked up what they came to the store for, but her mother had noticed a sale on peaches as they were leaving. There is a man standing outside the front door of the car parked a space away. He is looking at a notepad. As she watches, he crosses one thing out and writes in another. The window rolls down, and a young boy pops his head out. "Dad!" he yells, grinning. "Dad! Guess what! You can't get in!" "Oh yeah?" she hears the man say. "You