Eternity and a day. Maria Spotlight

do you hear?", he whispered to my ear.

      "The trees, they talk to each other. They sing songs about times long ago. Their voices are sublime and proud."

      I opened my eyes, a vast shadow had fallen on the land, not long now and night would fall.

      "Good child", I heard him say, "you are on a good path, but there is still a long way to go to perfection. Now come, let's go to our sleeping place."

      Down in the valley we collected dry firewood, this night we would probably have to sleep under the open sky, but I did not care; it was warm and I was with him. He piled up the dry pieces of wood into a small peak, then looked at me.

      "It's your turn to light it."

      "Flintstones, we need flintstones", it popped into my head. Hectically I looked around, if I could discover some somewhere, after all I did not want to disappoint him.

      "Emily, dear, you don't need such banalities anymore", he said, "you have it in yourself. Just as you played with the wind on the mountaintop, I now demand that you do the same with the element of Fire."

      "But how can I make something my own that isn't there?"

      "Are you sure it's not there? Listen to what's inside of you."

      I closed my eyes, an incredible lightness suddenly enveloped me. My spirit wandered back to that moment when my tyrannical father had tried to burn my face. The flames had struck back at him, burning the whole half of his face. Only when I had shouted no, the red flower had vanished from him. In this flashback, it seemed to me, I found the key and instinctively raised my hand, snapping my fingers. It was still very small, but between the stacked wood I could see something sparkle. A tiny spark that soon greedily devoured the branches and rose to larger flames.

      "You see, it had always been there", an enraptured smile flashed across his lips, but something about this smile also worried me, as I had just created fire out of nothing. Suddenly he stood up.

      "You should get some rest, Emily, you've done enough for one day."

      Then he set himself in motion. "Wait, where are you going?"

      "I will explore the area, but be sure that when the sun rises, I will be with you again. You must not fear the darkness, I will stay close to you."

      With these words, his appearance finally merged with the gloomy surroundings and he disappeared. Strangely, despite the fact that I could not see him anymore, I felt his presence. My tiredness finally overwhelmed me, my eyelids became heavier and heavier. As I sank over into the dream world, a last shiver came over me. In the darkness, I was sure, not only good things were lurking.

      Practice makes perfect

      The morning dawned, sunbeams that made their way through the treetops tickled my face and woke me up in a gentle way. An appetizing smell crept into my nose, and when I looked towards the fireplace, I recognized where it came from. A rabbit was stuck on a skewer rammed into the ground. It had become crispy from the fire and spread this delicious smell.

      "Eat!", a voice commanded, and he immediately stepped out from behind the tree. His alabaster-coloured skin was surrounded by a fantastic glow in the sunshine. Although I did not like eating meat, I couldn't help it, my hunger was too great. The rabbit's flesh was tender as butter and literally melted on the tongue. The animal must have been quite young, I had already eaten older rabbits, which had left a far more bitter taste in my mouth.

      "I hope you slept well, at least you look well-rested. You will need your strength, we still have a long way to go", he said seriously.

      I swallowed the meat quickly. "What are you going to do with me?"