The water walkers

“Come back before 6 for dinner!”

”Ok Grammy!”

The girl rushed into the woods surrounding her grandmas house, hungry for knowledge. On the rare occasions that Teresa was left with her grandma, she was never allowed to explore. Her Grammy Ma’ama always wanted to sit and knit and watch lil Teresa dance. Sometimes Grammy Ma’ama got in the puzzling mood, or wanted to bake cookies, but the main thing she did was sit. Teresa disliked sitting opposed to exploring. Grammy Ma’ama‘s house was located in the middle of tons of land, yet Grammy almost never explored it. Teresa was going to explore it today, and she was thrilled.

The sun was dappled through tree leaves and the shadowy, warm, wild place entranced Teresa. She continued deeper in, twirling here and jumping there, always with a smile on her face. Teresa’s long brown hair was tangled up with sticks, her dress had mud on the edges, but Teresa didn’t notice, or didn’t care. Teresa spun deeper and deeper until she was completely surrounded by nature. She could hear no life except that of the creatures around her. She giggled and grinned. The sun was turning the sky a lovely shade of orange and Teresa seeked out a clearing to gaze at it more clearly. She spotted one after a bit of searching and settled down upon the grassy floor. She looked up and saw a light show of oranges, reds, pinks and yellows. It was lovely, and seemed to paint the entire forest in oranges. Breathing in the color Teresa got up, suddenly very thirsty and hungry. She knew what the beautiful view meant, it meant soon it would be dark. Teresa was lost and as the realization sunk in she frowned. How was she supposed to find her way back? She started to retrace her steps, but found that she hadn’t been very focused on the details until just then. Sighing she sat on a rock near a creek. The moss was like a cushion and she was actually rather comfortable. She stared into the water, still holding out dashes of color even as the sky turned to purples and blacks. The water was constantly in motion, yet it seemed so free, as though at any moment, when it wanted to it could stop. Then it did. The water stopped. Teresa stared at the rocks below the still and clear water. The rocks started moving, as though an earthquake was happening. The pebbles under the water turned from smooth ovals to human-esque forms. Teresa stared, mouth agape, as the ‘pebbles’ started walking from the water up to Teresa. Some stayed under the water, some floated to the top. Some had moss for hair some had fish for hats. A pebble person with a moss mustache climbed up Teresa‘s rock and shook her hand. He then scaled up Teresas hair and into her ear canal.

“the king and queen of the water folk of the west would like to speak with you, but we need to shrink you first. I recommend shutting your eyes.”

Teresa did as was instructed and shut her eyes. She felt a strange tingling sensation move through her body. From the tips of her toes to the edges of her hair she felt movement. Almost as though she was the river previously, she felt as though she was a abundance of flow and movement, but at the same time she possessed a calmness inside.

“You may open your eyes now.”

Teresa slowly opened her eyes and found herself shrunk to the size of a small pebble. She looked the same, but everyone around her looked intimidatingly, well, her size. Teresa waved to the crowd and a few waved back. The pebble previously leading her through the shrinking stepped back, revealing two Nobel dressed large stones. They were decked in moss gowns and River weeds adorned theirselves. They loomed over Teresa, and she gasped as their dramatic reveal took place. She watched as several others bowed, and followed suit, dropping to a knee and lowering her head to the ground.

“Doth ladies curtsey no longer?”

Teresa looked up, surprised at the direct communication to her.

“Well, I just didn‘t I guess?”

”That answer stands!”

Teresa rolled her eyes at the declaration. Boldly she asked,

”What-and who-are you anyway? Talking rocks?”

The sun had completely dropped out of the sky and the faces around her were intensely shadowed.

“WE are not just ‘talking rocks’ WE are the spirits of the water! We are in every river, pond, ocean, and body of water, WE ARE WATER.”

Teresa, staring, eventually just murmured ‘mmhhhmm‘ under her breath

”I would invite you to dance and drink and party the night away with us fae folk, but your attitude is showing me you would rather not.”

The nobles started walking away from Teresa, making quick and violet gestures with their hands as they walked through the crowds.

“Wait!” Teresa couldn’t believe she was running to catch up to these royals who obviously had never been treated to anything less then upmost respect.

”Wait!” Shouted Teresa, “Wait! I would love to party with you guys, if it’s ok with you...?”

The pair shook their heads and gestured For Teresa to follow behind. She could barely make out the shadows of the people around her, but she could gage that they never strayed far from the water. After walking for a bit they came to a natural circle branching off the straight river. A thin and jittery girl dressed in leaves and moss raced past everyone else and to the edge of the water. Curiously, Teresa watched as the girl swirled her hands through the water. For several seconds nothing happened and Teresa grew bored and disappointed, then suddenly the water grew alight, the liquid pulsing with light. It was concentrated to the circle, only occasionally leaking out into the mainstream. Groups starting running At the water, giddy and excited to go for a swim. Wine and breads were pulled from unknown places and everyone was laughing and singing. There were entertainers on a high rock above the water, similar to a stage. They would sing unearthly melodies that would reach pitches unheard of in such harmonic Tones a musician would be prone to replicate it. As the night died down a special dance group made their way upstage. They were considered very important since they practiced traditional dance and practice done as old as the people could remember. They were illuminated by moon, stars, and water as they gathered their many pounds and layers of fabrics together around their feet. Their hands, with nails so long and transparent one would be scared if they were not hypnotized by the beauty. Teressa watched with intense interest as the three thin small girls raised their hands in unison. The fabric draped downwards, and their heads dipped to the ground. The magical music started playing again, except this time it was much slower and more moving. Persons in the crowd were nibbling at breads thoughtfully and swishing their wine but never drinking it. All eyes were trained on the dancers decked out in shimmering draping And dragging dresses and thick make-up, excitedly awaiting the next precise move. The arms raised above the head and the back right leg rised so that the toes were barely seen peeking behind the head. Within a split second they were crouched in a ball, hands still crossed at the wrists. Slowly the right leg swooped in a circle out of the ball, and the entire body leaped forward, landing on the singular foot. The floor long hair each one sported moved ever so slightly with the dance, enunciating each motion. The dancers kept on for quite some time, the crowd never growing bored. When the dance was done and the dancers took their curtseys and left much of the partying restarted. As the sun painted the sky golden she was told it was time to leave. Rather rudely. Teresa got out of the water, and started walking away. The farther she got from the water the taller she got. Every step she forgot a little more about the past night and by the time she reached her granny’s cottage, had regained her normal height and had lost all memory of the time spent in the woods.

”Oh GOSH TERESA.” Grammy Ma’ama shouted from out of the window. “I was gonna call the authorities! Lordy child! LORDY! What were you doing out there anyway?! Thought ya got eaten by a Bear or something!”

Teresa, too exhausted to deal with Grammy Ma’ama pretended to faint.

“OMG CHILD! Don’t go passing out on me now! YOU‘VE MADE IT SOOO FAR!”

Teresa heard running and felt a umbrella loosely wake her in the head. Then she was left alone with the sun and the grass for a few hours. When Teresa finally did feel like talking it was not to Grammy Ma’ama but to a small daisy near her on the grass.

”you know what?” Teresa mumbled to the earth, “I can swear I had the strangest night, but I don’t remember a thing!”