"Autumn is Upon Us"

The leaves are dropping, and the weather can't decide if it wants to be hot, cool, moderately warm, or positively stuffy. Cool breezes filter through the fields and meadows, coaxing the crisp, browning leaves from their branches.

The ground cover in some areas has died, leaving bare patches of earth until spring comes again. Flocks of birds flutter and settle and gather in great numbers, preparing for their yearly migration.

Webworms have mummified trees across the Ozarks, shrouding the once proud sentinels in ghostly cloaks of webs. The fuzzy "worms" swarm the fences and homes and rain barrels and gardens. They huddle on doorsteps and crawl across the threshold to look for new places to conquer.

Sunlight slants differently now, its light seeming a little whiter, the sky a little less blue. It takes longer for our burning orb to chase away the thick mist that huddles over the meadows in the early morning. The white mist clouds linger like residual spirits, unsure whether to stay or cross over to the next place.

Soon, the black walnuts will fall, and harvest will begin. And the leaves will turn gold and red and apricot and caramel and burgundy. The bright orange pumpkins and pale cornstalks will dot the landscape, and the smells of earth and walnut hulls and mold and baking bread will fill the countryside. 

Autumn, my friends, is here.

"The Encounter"

Part 2

 

(As told by Queen Sapphire to her adopted son Sky.)

 

"Who are you?" Ebony stretched his neck to its full length and peered into a corner of the crystal cavern.

 

A dark figure, blacker than the surrounding crystals, stood up to its full height and stared back at the enormous snail without answering.

 

Ebony spoke again, louder this time. "Who are you?"

 

The creature took a step toward Ebony. "I am a traveler. Nothing more."

 

The great snail crept forward to get a better view of the creature. The glow from Ebony's shell reflected off the crystals and cast light onto the creature's fur. It was the color of fire.

 

Ebony stopped. "You are a fox, are you not?"

 

The fox shifted uncomfortably. "I am."

 

Ebony did not fear the fox, for he was much larger than the hunter. Snails were enormous then, remember.

 

"I am called Ebony. What are you called?"

 

"Rasp," the fox replied.

 

"Rasp," the great snail repeated, committing the name to memory. "Did you come here to escape the heat?"

 

"I did. As I said, I am a traveler. I do not plan to stay."

 

Ebony studied the red fox thoughtfully.

 

"I do not fear you. I am as poison to you," he said.

 

"Yes, I know. I lost my brother to a snail."

 

"Then you will not challenge me when I claim this cavern as my own," Ebony said firmly.

 

Rasp swished his tail. "No. I am just traveling through."

 

Rasp moved forward toward Ebony. The great snail did not move. Edging past him, Rasp skirted a cluster of crystals and vanished into the tunnel that led to the world outside.

 

Ebony glowed alone in the crystal cavern. He had won. The cave was his.