The Feather and the Rose

By Josefine Ottesen

At the very moment the Heron Girl touched the pile of feathers, it disappeared like morning dew. The King was kneeling behind the tree, watching what was happening. He was speechless and just a little afraid. What kind of strange creature could be both bird and human being? Suddenly, he recalled the old woman's stories. This was just what she had said about people from Birdland: they could be both bird and human! A shiver of excitement ran down his spine. The young woman was looking around as if searching for something. He was scared to stand up. Fear had made his hands sweat and his left leg had gone to sleep. Carefully, he tried to straighten it, but all at once he lost his balance. The dry branches cracked loudly beneath him as he fell. The Heron Girl heard the noise and ran straight to the fallen tree. Before the King could get up, she stood leaning over him. He looked up, right into her smiling, dark eyes. She reached out a hand to him and helped him up. With difficulty he got to his feet again. The young woman smiled at him. He was no longer quite so afraid. She sat down on the trunk of the fallen tree and moved her white silk dress out of the way to make room for the King. He nodded gently to the dark-haired woman. How beautiful she was! He could not remember ever having seen such a wonderful woman before.

   The Heron Girl stared openly at the King for a while. Then, satisfied, she said: "Yes, it must be you! True, I had imagined you to be older. You're really only about the same age as me! But it must be you!!"

   "Me!" said the King, terrified: "What do you mean?!" He slid a little farther away from her. She laughed and placed her hand on his: "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you. I'll explain it all to you: I come from Birdland. As you know, Lovelyland and Birdland were once the same country, but that was hundreds of years ago, before the Swamp.

   Since then, generation after generation of our people have tried to make contact with the people of Lovelyland. But no-one's ever managed to meet any of you until now. No-one on our side knew what had happened to you. The Wise Men in the Blue Hall sang to the fire, read the sand and studied the stars to find out what happened to you when the Swamp came, but they never found the answer. Indeed, for a long time we believed the Swamp had simply wiped out Lovelyland. But a short time ago I dreamed of you and Lovelyland, and yesterday the Wise Men decided that the time had come.

   All night preparations were made for me to fly over here at dawn. The Wise Men cast spells, ancient songs were sung, and I danced the ritual bird dances. It was my first real flight, you see!" The Heron Girl suddenly looked down, embarrassed. The King could not help smiling at the young girl's embarrassment. He had been sitting totally captivated by her story, but now he had to ask her: "But, how could you fly through the Swamp? I thought the canopy was poisonous?!"

   The woman nodded and said: "Oh, it was a terribly tough flight. I flew high above the canopy, you see. Several times along the way I thought I wasn't going to make it. It takes an incredible amount of strength to fly so high. And I had to fly the last bit right through the canopy. It was terrifying. I could hardly breathe."

Translated by Kevin McCafferty