The longish Corellian ferns and grasses rustled silently in the wind, the merest breath of warm air blowing amongst the myriad of scented plants nestling in the border of the large garden. It was one of those days, Thena thought idly to herself, when it was genuinely good to be alive. They'd done the right thing in returning to Joel's family home to enjoy the fine mid-year weather, even though it had cost them a lot of soul searching in the process. Her husband was a pilot and a very fine one indeed so it was said. One of the best in the Corellian Search and Rescue teams, except that he was based even further away now that they had moved. It wasn't just for herself she felt bad for but the children, who now got to see even less of their father than they did before. Thena watched her four-year-old son as he tried to close his hands round a butterfly that sat invitingly on a long stalk of grass. Todd always thought he knew best, always liked to have his own way, and yet he was strangely sensitive and quick to tears when things went wrong. Being a child they went wrong frequently, the merest scrape on the knee being turned into a life and death situation, the slightest bruise demanding instant attention from his mother. Joel thought he needed toughening up, but he was only little for star's sake! Perhaps she did spoil and mollycoddle him a little but it was so easy to give him affection that she found herself drawn in. The butterfly moved at the last minute, leaving a very disappointed little boy behind. "It moved." pouted Todd. "I was going to keep it in a tank and feed it on cake and candy and…" "Butterfly's don't eat that kind of thing." Thena said with a small smile, ruffling the boy's hair with her fingers. "What do they eat?" Todd frowned. "Well," Thena considered, "plants and greenery amongst other things." "But I eat greens." The boy squinted as another butterfly flew past, flapping enticingly as it circled his head. "So why doesn't it eat cakes and stuff?" "That's not how it works I'm afraid Todd." Thena replied fondly. "But why?" "They don't…they…just don't." "But why?" the boy insisted. Thena closed her eyes. Todd was at that age where every second thing he said was 'Why?' The problem she had was trying to find answers for his many varied questions. She didn't want to deny the boy his natural curiosity but some of the things he came out with… "What's your sister doing?" Thena changed the subject. "Playing." Todd stood up quickly and jumped as a Fork-Tailed Stinger zipped past his ear, squealing as it hopped away. Thena cast her eyes round and found her youngest child wandering round the trees at the back of the garden. How had she got down there without her seeing her? Once more the sheer speed of the girl completely took her aback. When she set her eye on something, no matter how distant, she usually went out of her way to get it. "Jemmiah!" Thena called. "What are you doing down there? Come back this instant!" Thena stormed after her determined three-year old daughter and hastened to catch up with her. This was usually the point where the girl would run off and try and hide in the hope of escaping a rebuke, but Thena could see that Jemmiah had found something far more interesting to occupy her mind with other than basking in the warm Corellian sun. As she got closer she could see the child's little hands grasping something - she couldn't quite make out what - and throwing it up into the air. The object, whatever it was, fell like a stone to the ground. Jemmiah's eyes followed the thing to the grass, a stubborn expression on her face as she bent down to retrieve it. Once again, the girl scooped up the peculiar shape and after a few moments repeated the same exercise, with exactly the same results. The stubborn expression became even greater. Thena stared as she strode forwards, thinking how much Jemmiah took after herself. In looks she was a peculiar mixture of both parents but the girl's personality was very similar to her own. She was overly-fluent for her age and well spoken. If something didn't go right first time she would stick at it until it did, unlike her brother. If something vexed or frustrated her she wouldn't burst into tears like her elder sibling either. But she had an almighty temper for someone of her tender years and Todd had very often borne the brunt of it if he pushed her too far. This time, Thena could see her daughter tossing the thing into the air and hear her shout, "fly!" in a determined voice. As she got to within three-quarter distance of the back of the garden, Thena could see what was making her daughter so perplexed. A dead bird. "Jemmiah!" Thena scolded. "Let it go! Put it down right now! It could be full of germs and things…let it go!" Jemmy turned to face her horrified mother with big, solemn eyes. "It won't fly." She said. "I want to help it fly." "Jemmiah, just put it down. That's right. Put it on the ground again." "Why won't it fly?" she asked in a puzzled voice. Thena looked up to the top of the tree they were standing under, where a largish nest of twigs and leaves could be seen amongst the upper branches, and then back at the downy feathered creature on the soil. It was a nestling that must either have fallen or been pushed out of the safety of it's home, and being too young to cope on its own had either perished in the fall or died subsequently. Her daughter's sad expression caused her to wonder how she could explain this to one so young in a way that she would understand. "The bird doesn't need to fly anymore." Thena crouched down to the girl's level, tidying up the wavy hair from her face and sweeping it behind her small ears. "The bird has died. Do you know what that means?" Jemmiah half shook her head, clearly not sure of the question. "When something dies, it no longer has need of it's body. Like the bird. The part of it that matters has gone away." "Where?" She might have known that one was coming, Thena thought dryly. "It's gone to heaven." "Is that far?" Jemmiah asked. "Yes, in a way." Thena smiled. "Past our garden?" "Yes." Thena laughed. "Past the garden." "And past the next garden?" "Yes, even past the next garden." Jemmiah considered. "What's it like?" "Heaven? Well…It's whatever you want it to be, I suppose. Good people go to heaven. If you like sunny days the sun will always be shining. If you like things to be quiet it will be peaceful. And if you're like the bird," Thena nodded at the feathered corpse, "then there will be lots of trees to fly to and from." "But it can't fly." Jemmiah said, disappointed. "It will have a new set of wings in heaven, my little butterfly." Thena tickled the girl, watching the serious expression melt momentarily into cheerful screams. Jemmiah looked at the bird. "What happens if you're bad?" "Sorry my dear one, what was that?" Thena wondered. "Do bad people get into heaven?" "Er…not really. I don't think they're supposed to." Replied Thena, the serious eyes once more visible on Jemmiah's face. "Was it a good bird or a bad bird?" "Oh, a good bird, I shouldn't wonder." Thena pulled her onto her knee and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's only a baby. It couldn't have done much wrong in such a small amount of time." That concept was completely new to Jemmiah and Thena could almost see the wheels turning inside her daughter's head. "Why did it go to heaven?" she asked. "Sometimes," Thena tried to pick her words carefully so as not to confuse or upset the girl, "when we are sick it's difficult to get better. You remember when you were sick? You had to stay in bed and take the pink medicine?" Jemmy nodded. "Well, sometimes people get so sick that the medicine doesn't help." "We could have given the bird some." Jemmy replied. "It wouldn't have helped the bird I'm afraid, sweetheart." Thena said gently. "It fell from the tree and got hurt. Remember when Todd fell off the swing and hurt himself?" "He cried." Jemmy grinned. "I don't cry when I fall." "No you don't, you're a brave girl." Thena sighed. There was a longish pause. "Will I go to heaven?" Jemmiah asked. "One day, yes." "What if I'm bad?" "Oh, you won't be bad. Not you." "Will you?" she became agitated. "I don't want to go without you." "We'll all be there. All the people who were good and kind and who loved each other. Everyone who was important to someone." "You won't go without me?" "Jemmiah, honey…I'm older than you are. I'll probably go to heaven before you." "I don't want to go on my own!" The three-year-old suddenly stamped her foot in anger. "I want to stay with you!" "Hopefully, we're all a long way from going to heaven." Thena soothed the child. "But you shouldn't fear it. We have enough problems being scared of things we can see let alone things we can't." Jemmiah looked at the bird again. "We'll dig a nice little hole in the ground for him." "He's got new wings, hasn't he?" Jemmiah tried to get things right in her head. "That's right." "So he doesn't need his old ones." "Yes, sweetheart." "Will I have wings?" she asked. "Maybe one day. If you're good." Thena answered. Jemmiah turned her attention to her brother at the other end of the garden as he started to chase their pet Vampki around the lawn, it's collar being affixed to a long piece of rope attached to a peg. "Todd won't be going to heaven." Jemmy said mournfully. "Of course he will." Thena frowned. "What makes you say that?" "He dropped your necklace down the fresher." She tried to look downcast. Thena straightened up, all talk of wings and birds and heaven soon forgotten. "Todd Gleshan! COME HERE NOW!" Watching her mother tear back across the lawn, Jemmiah smiled. "I think he needs your wings!" she giggled at the bird. |
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| A Bird In The Hand By Jemmiah |