Dream

Finn walked through the bright meadow humming to herself. A glorious day of sunshine and wildflowers bloomed around her. A particularly beautiful one swayed toward her in the breeze as if bowing to her.

Finn smiled and curtsied to the flower before reaching down to pick it. She raised it to her face and inhaled, closing her eyes to concentrate on the sweet scent. As she opened them, she was suddenly in the darkest part of the forest. The trees seemed to be drying up, cracking and dying in rocky soil. A parched branch behind her gave a mighty crack and crashed to the ground, then another to her left. Fire bloomed from the falling limbs, low to the ground like a crouching animal, growling with glowing eyes.

Finn couldn't scream, couldn't run, could only watch. Her leg became trapped beneath a falling tree.

The pain was unbearable. She felt like she was being torn in two. Though the light of the sun was already anemic through the dead trees, it became darker still. Finn looked up to see something giant in the sky eclipsing the life-giving orb entirely. It would have been pitch black around her but for the growing flames greedily licking up the dry forest.

Her throat ached as she tried again to scream and call for help. She closed her eyes as hard as she could and wished it away. Please, send somebody. Please save me. Take me somewhere else. Somewhere happy. Somewhere safe.

——

"If you get any more flour on your face, there will be none for the bread!" Amelia teased her daughter. Mayra was indeed fairly covered with flour. The heat of the cooking fire had caused her to sweat, but every time she wiped her face with her sleeve, she smeared on more of the ingredients meant for the dough.

Finn laughed. She loved when Mayra and Amelia came over to bake with her. It made her feel like part of a bigger family than her own little one. There was something soothing about the presence of other women that spoke to her in the absence of her own mother. Mayra grabbed a clean cloth and tried wiping her face again.

"Better?" she said as a knock came at the door.

All three ladies looked to the entrance. None of their men or boys would have knocked, and all were out working the fields right now anyway. The local neighbors usually called a greeting instead of rapping on the wood. Who could it be? Since it was Finn's home, she moved to answer the door.

She opened it slowly. Before her stood a young man, perhaps in his early 20s, wearing a dark cloak. His eyes were a bright blue and his hair was light and sun-streaked. Something about his face rung a dim bell of familiarity. She couldn't put her finger on what it was. Something...

He smiled easily at her in greeting, "Good Morning! I asked one of the village people, and they said I might find the local healer here today?"

"I'm here," Amelia answered automatically from behind Finn, "Who is sick, or what is the injury?" Her eyes scanned the smiling man and, finding nothing of note to her medical mind, returned her gaze to meet his eyes in question.

"Oh, nothing like that. I've come in search of herbs and other medicinal items, you see. Might I buy any of these from you, or if you have none to spare, can you direct me to where I could find them?" He procured parchment from beneath his cloak and held out the list to Amelia. He blinked awkwardly, suddenly wondering if the assumption that she could read was rude. Here in the outlying lands far from the city, there were no guarantees. "You... you can read, yes?" He winced, realizing that the question may have been even ruder than the assumption.

"Of course, dear, we're not barbarians out here." Amelia smiled warmly and took the list from his hand. She scanned it quickly. "Herbs in this area are hard to find lately. I'm afraid I've none to spare from my own supplies. However, if it meets with your approval, I can make some notes and directions here for where I have had occasional luck finding them in the surrounding forest?"

The man nodded gratefully, his easy smile returning to his face. Finn was still staring at him when he turned his gaze back to her. "Oh!" she blinked, "Won't you come in while you wait? Amelia, I have writing implements in that drawer in the corner."

"Thank you...?" He paused

"Serafina." She inwardly cringed at giving her full name. Why should she want to sound pretty and refined to this stranger instead of providing him the boyish nickname she used with everyone else?

"Serafina." He smiled wider. "I'm Roland."

"Pleasure to meet you, Roland," Offered Amelia when no one spoke for a moment, "I'm Amelia, and this is my daughter Mayra." Mayra, who had been frantically wiping her face for fear of looking disheveled for the handsome stranger, suddenly stopped and smiled sweetly. She hoped her face was clean enough to pass muster.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" Finn offered as Roland took a seat at her table. It was covered with the products of the ladies' baking, but that gave the room a homey feel rather than a messy one.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you more than I already am," Roland protested, while his stomach loudly disagreed. The smell of baking bread had wakened his appetite with a vengeance.

"It's no trouble," Finn smiled and put together a plate of food from the freshly baked bread, fruit, and cured meat that she had brought out for lunch.

He ate hungrily, but with as good of manners as he could manage. "Thank you, this is delicious," he proclaimed, swallowing another mouthful. "Better than I've tasted in a long while."

"Serafina's a good cook." Mayra emphasized the girl's full name, giving Finn a significant look. Finn blanched a little. She had hoped Mayra hadn't noticed that she hadn't given the stranger her shortened moniker. Surely the girl had enough kindness to not embarrass her about it in front of him, but the twinkle in Mayra's eye suggested otherwise.

"Someone's not taking good care of you," Amelia proclaimed, checking her notes to make sure she didn't miss anything about the requested herbs.

"My master's wife cooks passingly well, but nothing so good as this." Roland asserted.

"Your master?" Finn asked, more incredulously than she meant to.

"I'm an apprentice of medicine," Roland clarified. "A kind old doctor took me on to learn the trade when I was but 8 years old. I'm here to gather herbs and medicines for him which have become scarce in the city. No one's sure why the supply has dwindled so low, so I'm here in search of means to rectify that."

"I didn't realize the shortage affected other places." Amelia's face darkened in concern. "I've been having more and more trouble finding what I need each year, but our village is small and I don't venture too far beyond where I need to. I thought it was a local problem, and was going to buy more off the peddler when next he came to town."

"If the peddlers had any, the doctors of the city would have bought it up ages ago." Roland commiserated, swallowing another bite. "I'm surprised the peddlers come out this far. I've never ventured outside the city walls until now and I'm not entirely sure how far I've come. I'm hoping simply following the road I came on will guide me back when I'm done."

"Mainly one peddler, really." Finn offered. "He comes every so often. At harvest time we get more; they come for the crops to take as much back to the city as we'll sell them."

"I see," responded Roland, although he didn't. What a far journey just for buying and selling! Then again, he had come this far for scavenging. He supposed he had no reason to judge. His thoughts shown easily on his readable face.

"How long has your journey been?" Finn asked.

"I've lost track, honestly," admitted Roland. "A few weeks so far. Everyone I've met has all but denied seeing any herbs at all and directed me further South or further West. You're the first who has shown any hope at all that I'll find something, so I'll begin searching slowly and carefully from this point. I just know I shouldn't go back until I have what my master needs, or until I have to. It would be no use being a doctor's apprentice when you've got nothing to learn because he can't treat anybody."

"Nonsense. A good healer can use whatever's on hand to the best of their abilities, for better or worse." Amelia stated this as fact. She didn't have the materials or skills of some big city doctor, but she knew a thing or two about being able to learn in all circumstances. She put down the writing implements and held the list higher to check her notes.

"Do you recognize the things on the list?" Roland asked curiously. He'd hoped she knew one or two of them, but the woman seemed wise and knowledgeable despite the small size of the village she served.

"Most of them, I believe," Amelia assured. "Many grow just South of here. Perhaps they're growing better further that direction, but I haven't ventured more than a few miles in search of them." She handed him the list back, with her notes about where he was most likely to find the ones she knew of in the area. "Best of luck. If you find too much, feel free to come back by the village and replenish my supply."

Roland grinned. "Yes, ma'am, and thank you for your generous help. I'll bid farewell to you and your sweet daughter." He stood and gave Amelia and Mayra a short, formal bow.

Turning to Finn, he said in a softer tone, "Thank you as well. I'll remember your kindness, Serafina." He took her hand and bowed over it, his forehead almost touching it as if she were some great lady. His voice lingered over her name. When he rose and let go of her hand, he smiled in a way that made Finn's heart stutter. Her fingers felt warm where he'd held them. "Farewell!" and with that, he was out the door, upon his horse, and headed to the Southern horizon.

Finn woke with a start from the dream.