Out of the Mud (standard:fantasy, 719 words)
Author: Heather Rose Brown	Added: Dec 16 2007	Views/Reads: 3305/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This is a very short story I'd written a while ago that just started with the image of two odd figures climbing out of a mud hole. I began theorizing what they would be doing there and where they were going next. The following story is the result of that

Out of the mud two strangers came, and caught me splitting wood in the
yard. It was all I could do to keep from giggling when I saw out of the 
corner of my eye the visitors trying to act dignified with 
grayish-brown sludge dripping from their leathery wings and what must 
have once been sparkling white robes. Partly to keep from laughing, but 
also because I knew it would annoy them, I ignored the strangers and 
kept at my chore until they were so close I could smell the rich, 
earthy scent of the muck coating them from head to toe. 

I had forgotten how strong they could be and was surprised when the
closest one caught my ax handle in mid-swing. "Insolent girl! Do you 
not know who we are?" 

I let go of the handle, hiked up my britches, and looked him square in
the eye. "Right now, you look like someone who needs a bath." 

The back of his hand smacked into the side of my face before I could
have even thought of reacting. It would have been a death blow to a 
mortal. Fortunately, I was only half mortal. I had been flung halfway 
across the clearing, my ribs ached from the landing, and my ears were 
ringing, but I was still alive. 

The door to our cabin swung open with a booming crash. "Arnash! How
*dare* you lay a hand on my daughter!" The wind picked up and dark 
clouds began to gather in response to his wrath. I turned and saw my 
father, thunder in his eyes, his long platinum hair and glowing white 
robe whipping in the growing breeze. 

The stranger who struck me seemed frozen with fear, but his companion
was slowly inching his way back to the mud hole. When he finally spoke, 
it came out in a strained squeak. "Arnash, I told you we shouldn't have 
come. I'm sure we can explain to His Lordship that it's still too soon 
after losing his wife to --" 

"It will ALWAYS be too soon!" My father was across the clearing, had
grabbed each of the strangers by the collar, and began dragging them 
back up the path they had come down before I could blink twice. "He 
knew a mortal could not survive the marriage trials. He knew I could 
not speak out on her behalf while I was in his prison. I will not 
return to His realm. Not now." He tossed one stranger into the mud 
single-handedly. "Not ever." He tossed the other one in. There was a 
brief flash of golden light as the portal activated and took the 
strangers away. 

When the light faded, my father fell to his knees. As I pulled myself to
my feet, a chilly raindrop splattered on my forehead. Even before I 
could hear him sobbing, I saw the wings draped across his shoulders 
shudder. By the time I was standing beside him, the heavy rain had 
nearly soaked through my clothes. I couldn't think of anything to say 
to take away the pain of his loss for the woman I had never met. 
Instead, I crouched down, wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and let 
him cry. 

Finally, he looked up and stroked the back of my rain-soaked hair. "You
are so much like your mother. She would have been proud of the way you 
stood up to those overbearing brutes." 

I couldn't help smiling when I saw his red-rimmed eyes light up at the
thought of her. "Maybe some day we'll be able to see her." 

I was barely able to hear my father's sigh as thunder rolled in the
distances. "Dearest child, I've explained this to you before. When I 
gave up my immortality for her, she lost all memory of her past. She 
may be alive, but she doesn't know us. It's just the way things are." 

"Well, I don't like the way things are. Maybe, if she really tried, she
might remember us." 

My father chuckled and the clouds began to part. "If she's still as
stubborn as you, perhaps she could." He wrapped his arms and wings 
around me, making me feel safe, warm, and hopeful. 

I looked over his shoulder, and saw the faintest of rainbows in the
clouds. "I know she will."


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