Ch. 2 – No. 7: See Ya, Songbird

Clove and Zander begin to poke at the secrets that one another harbor.

This is the final installment of chapter 2.

Entering the warm glow of the foyer, Zander stepped down from the stairway, followed by Clove.

“I’ll fetch you a lantern. One moment!” Zander held up a forefinger and sauntered through the quaint living area, disappearing around a corner into the kitchen. Left alone for a moment in the quiet entryway, Clove gazed around, seeking purpose as one often does when suspended in an in-between time and space.

Hanging on the wall beside the living room’s bookshelf was a wooden picture frame in which a sheet of parchment was pressed between a sheet of glass and a dark backboard. Clove chose this as her object of focus for the moment and approached it, scrutinizing the elegant lines of text written on the parchment.

My rhythm sings with that of the sun
while the sea sighs with the moon,
and the slender crane in the night sky glows
’til autumn’s final bloom.

When mantis fox’s final breath
steams white in winter’s sun,
the dappled vulture cleans her bones
while crow cries requiem.

The spring tides lap at little feet;
as above it is below.
Two bodies of salt and water collide,
vast worlds contained in both.

Nomadic stars come ’round again
on summer’s lonely nights,
and that shining crane peers down on both
my distant sailor and I.

Clove turned to find that Zander had silently entered the room.

“By my mother,” he said. “She was a magnificent poet.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Clove murmured.

“Here you are,” he handed her a small lantern as she made her way to the front door.

“Remind me to tell you of an encounter I once had with a mantis fox,” Clove remarked.

“Oh, I look forward to it!” Zander exclaimed. “I’ll trade you a tale of invisible leeches.”

“I hope it doesn’t suck,” Clove winked, and to her relief, Zander laughed heartily and earnestly.

“Oh, do you mind giving me a light?” Clove held up the unlit lantern as she opened the door. “I’m very sorry to trouble you – I didn’t intend to be out this late.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble all,” he shook his head. “However, I believe that you can tend the flame yourself.”

Clove blinked. “I…can’t.”

“You…are positively brimming with limina,” Zander remarked with a tone of honest concern. “I can feel it simply by proximity, like the pervasiveness of a strong perfume. Is it not dreadfully unpleasant for you? Why do you not release it?”

“It’s complicated. For me, at least,” Clove glanced away, fidgeting with the smooth metallic handle of the lantern as she was suddenly overcome by the familiar sense of guarded isolation, starkly contrasted against the rare aura of serene kinship that’d enveloped her just moments ago. And while she remained still, her and Zander watched as her shadow strode away of its own accord, melding completely with the night as it left the pool of light that spilled from the doorway.

“My apologies, I don’t mean to pry,” Zander, unsurprised though not unfazed, quickly waved his hands and his expression was nearly frantic as he shook his head. “I simply thought that I ought to offer an opportunity for you to…reveal that which you hide. Presumptuous of me. Overzealous. I do apologize.

“Scavengers are safe here, however.” He gestured widely, indicating that his statement encompassed the community as a whole. “If that is of any concern to you.”

“That’s…not it,” Clove shook her head. “At least, not all of it. But thank you, that is certainly some small comfort.”

She looked around, as though hoping to find concrete answers to abstract questions. “How did you know that fire was my…thing? Each of us generally differs, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. The more you connect with your own nature, you are thusly better able to sense the unique nature of other Scavengers; and of people in general,” Zander explained.

“Ah. What else do you know about me, then?” A grin tugged at one corner of Clove’s mouth.

Zander cocked his head and fidgeted his hands thoughtfully. “That is the question,” he murmured. “Something…perplexes me.”

Setting the lantern on a small table next to the doorway, Clove grinned coyly. “See ya, songbird,” she winked and turned on her heal, receding into the night with quick strides, jacket flapping behind her. Bewildered, Zander called after her, but she swiftly crested the rocky hill and sank into the abyss of night.

Ascending the stairs with the swiftness of muscle memory, Zander emerged into the beacon and approached a row of glissers. Scooping one of the birds up into his cupped hands, he strode to the railing of the lookout deck and whispered something to the creature as she stirred from sleep. She chittered, clicked her beak, and as Zander stretched his arms upward, she took to the sky.

The bird found Clove as she passed Betula’s Vittles & Inn. Her mind had been burrowing in on itself but she was roused to awareness now as the creature swooped in, landing on the path in front of her. The bird hopped and glided low as she kept pace with Clove, who couldn’t help but grin at the sight. As the two embarked onto the Forest Road which cut through the towering trees and tangled undergrowth, entirely dark but for the glowing bird, Clove could truly appreciate just how luminous glissers were; the pool of light surrounding the lone bird was remarkable. Flitting from branch to branch, the glisser expertly kept Clove within the light as she hurriedly plod homeward.

Clove veered right, off of the Forest Road and onto the narrow footpath leading to her house. The glisser followed, and as the two approached the house, Clove whipped her head around when motion in her periphery caught her attention. Her hand had already been on the small hilt of a dagger, and she unsheathed it swiftly, poising to aim and throw as she turned toward the disturbance.

Emerging from the darkness of the house’s little clearing was Clove’s disembodied, autonomous shadow. Sheathing the dagger, she watched as it sauntered toward her, almost sassy in its stroll, and it merged with her corporeal form once more. Clove waved her arms, as did her shadow; she stepped sideways, and her shadow followed suit.

“Welcome back,” Clove said.

Reference Materials:

Thank you for reading Circadian Forest! This has been the final installment of chapter 2.

Publishing will resume in a few months, give or take, at which point chapter 3 will begin. You will receive a notification once there is an official premier date for chapter 3.

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Thank you to the stars and back for being here. You are immensely appreciated, truly. See ya, songbirds.

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