Despite being dyslexic I do love to write, and often find myself jumbling together the odd idea into some sort of story. They may not be very good, or even make sense but they bloom, flower and change; a morphing presence of mind. So, here is one of these snippets from some strange corner of my mind that has developed but hasn’t quite formed into anything fully formed. Just a brief thought. Enjoy…

The Melody of Life:

As Helophina rose over the purple jungles of Tharque’s mountainous mid-continent, the sounds of eerie creatures announced First Night. Faint orange light seeped through the giant leaves of the canopy, casting strange contrasting shadows on the rocks below. No person could venture to guess, how one woman and her Bhoria ended up in the middle of this wilderness.

Climbing seemed to be all Khari did, and all she could remember doing. The endless mountains, valleys and trees surrounded her, no matter how far she went. She always looked to the next peak in hopes of seeing something different and new but never did. There were times when she felt like her memories were nearly in reach but soon she’d feel like giving up again. It was only her Bhoria, Halak, who inspired in her
a sense if something more, which she could never explain.

“Helophina’s up. We should find shelter.” Khari said as she pulled back her braids into a large knot, before striding ahead. “I think I saw some larger Likanth on the top of this ridge. Come on Hal.”

Halak was a ponderous well-mannered Bhoria, unlike his partner, and often wondered why he’d been put in charge of her of all people. “My lady,” he spoke with a soft rumble of a voice, “I move with you as always.”

A little further up, there was, as Khari had said, a line of Likanth dominating the sky. The giant flat leaves and thick twisting branches made for a great place to rest during Second night. A ripple of wind blew through the leaves making one glide to the floor in a large swoop. Khari didn’t even notice it. She headed straight for the base of the first tree and began to climb, her sandy reed satchel bouncing on her back.

Looking up at the tree, Halak started towards it, sharp sinuous fingers ready for the climb. He hesitated for a moment and closed his black glassy eyes before he dug them in, hoisting himself up after Khari. He hummed as he went, not a cheery hum but a soft deep mysterious tune, of the kind that everyone feels like they know but can’t quite place. The sound, although soft, penetrated the surrounding jungle, resonating and morphing through the tree tops.

Khari had stopped at a large branch, with a twist in it, which created a small hollow where several plants had taken refuge. Turning to Halak as he pulled himself over the edge of her branch she said, “Why do you hum like that when we climb trees?”

He cocked his head and gave a sly smile in amusement, “It is of the jungle, my lady. I do not hum the tune. The tune is already being hummed. I am simply adding to the chorus.”

“Oh, don’t give me that rubbish again! Next you’ll say that jungle creatures can speak and that the two moons are long lost sisters or something.” She’d heard his stories once too often.

“They arelong lost sisters, my lady. Separated by Tharque itself to keep them from clashing in such horrific ways.”

Khari just looked at him in amusement, “Another of your famed stories? Shall I make myself comfortable?” The sarcasm dripping from her words brought a flat expression to Halak’s face, which for his face wasn’t hard to do.

“They are not stories, my lady. They are truths. It would do you well, if I may say so, to listen, as they may bring you, in turn, a truth.” His dark eyes were fixed on hers, the shifting light playing on their faces making it hard for her to see the annoyance he was holding back.

She sighed sensing she’d struck a nerve, “Alright Hal, I can see there is no getting out of this. What is the ‘truth’ you wish to tell me this time?” She settled back onto the natural cushioning of a Yina moss, its fronds curling away from her as she crossed her arms ready to be lectured on the mysteries of life.

Halak began with a slightly annoyed tone in his deep voice but soon got into his stride, “Helophina and Nemthesis were once one, called the Great Mother Wumbra, who brought such light to the night that there was never true darkness upon Tharque. This peaceful glow wasn’t to last, however, for as with everything in this realm it was bound by the codes of change. From Tharque, the sight of a new planet was seen, bringing with it a tail of fire and light. Over a full ten days you could see the planet move in slow motion towards the Great Mother Wumbra. On the tenth day it hit, great flames and cracks engulfed her, filling the sky and raining down massive shards, which hit Tharque forming hills and mountains across one side of its vast surface. The Great Mother Wumbra’s storm rained down for ten days and nights but when the skies cleared two sisters were born. They sat together in the sky one orange and one blue casting their light together on Tharque. Tharque brought them the names we know today, Helophina and Nemthesis, sisters that became enemies.”

He paused for a breath. The light in the tree top shifted slightly making Khari squint to see Halak as he crouched against the trunk, his gnarled limbs and torso blending in with the textures of the tree. Then he continued, “The two sisters twirled together through the nights spinning closer and closer. Their new-found life spurring them on in a dance that only accelerated in speed and beauty. Eventually they clashed, one pushed the other, though no one could say who started it, and they went their different ways. Tharque divided them, ruling that one shall rise at First Night and one at Last Night, with Second Night, the darkest hour to separate the squabbling sisters.”

“That, my lady, is the truthof Helophina and Nemthesis.” He sat down crossing his bony limbs and growing out a moss-like layer of skin to keep him warm in the dark of Second Night, which was fast approaching. “May I suggest that my lady gets some sleep before our continued journey tomorrow?”

Khari had phased out, her mind wondering to the planets and their majesty in a sky of darkness. “Huh? Oh, yeah sure. Not that I know why I’m here or even what I’m really doing walking day in and day out. I mean it’s all just the same.”

“The beauty, my lady, is in the small changes that bring us the truth which we so desire. Now rest until morning.”

She lay back under the purple canopy listening to the sounds of the jungle as she drifted off. The creatures all scratching, digging, climbing and humming. That hum did sound familiar, a bit like Hal’s but it was being repeated by birds and beasts in all sorts of tones and pitches, never quite the same. She wondered if there were other planets out there that shared in the melody of life. Well, maybe there was something to what he told her after all.