The Field.

1

Meredith walked aimlessly through the forest on the edge of her family’s farm lands. It was a warm summer morning and her youthful curiosity had beckoned her to explore territory unknown. Being a young girl at the tender age of six, her mother and father rarely let her out of their line of vision long enough for her to slip away, but today her parents were off to market, and she had been left with her older brothers. The two young men had taken the rare opportunity to tire themselves out with horseplay before dozing beneath the large fir tree beside the barn. 2

It was then that Meredith had raced toward the tree line.3

It had been the single most thrilling moment of her young life. The childish simplicity of getting what you wanted, what you had been yearning to have but were repeatedly denied. 4

Her heart had raced in her chest as she ran across the sun-yellowed grass of the large field. The dry blades had tickled against the small hairs of her legs as she lifted her dress to keep from tripping. The heat of the day had her sweating by the time she reached the shade of the trees. 5

Without a moment’s hesitation, the young child surged into the forest with a joyful giggle. 6

The tightness in her chest, which had grown during her anticipation to enter the woods, seemed to uncoil in an instant and left behind a tingling satisfaction at finally getting what she had desired. Meredith looked all around her in wide eyed awe.7

The sun filtered through a lush canopy of tree tops, giving the area a strange emerald glow. Small moths fluttered through the rays of light, their thin, translucent wings almost seemed to glitter, and her imagination took them for the fairies that her mother had told her stories about. The ground on which she stood was a rich brown that felt cool and slightly moist to her bare feet. Large ferns grew in the bare patches between trees and saplings, and, to her glee, small white flowers seemed to be sprinkled randomly amongst the shrubbery.8

In her wandering, she came across a fallen tree that was covered in assorted mushrooms and strange green fuzz that she had never seen before. With a sense of wonder, she ran her tiny hand over the alien substance. It was an intriguing mixture of soft and course to her touch. The child giggled animatedly at the queer green blanket and quickly climbed the side of the log to feel it against her feet.9

It tickled and itched at the sensitive skin of her heels and she wiggled her toes as deep against it as she could.10

Once Meredith had had her fill of the sensation, she jumped off the log and continued her exploration. She could hear different bird calls all around her and she imagined that they were singing just for her. With that small thought, her ample imagination had her believing herself to be a princess of this enchanted realm. The animals were all part of her court and would do what she asked. 11

As she walked she would often see a movement from one direction or another. She even glimpsed a doe and a large fawn a few yards away. The pair had stopped and stood as still as stone when they spotted the child. She had also stared and studied them as they studied her.12

Meredith had only seen deer from far away as they walked through the fields, towards the creek that ran through the farm. She had never thought them to be so big or graceful. The fawn took a tentative step in her direction and the child giggled. The doe bounded in the opposite direction and the fawn quickly followed behind.13

Once the deer had gone, Meredith tilted her head to the canopy to watch the sun filter through the leaves. She smiled wide and stretched her arms on either side of her before spinning in a tight circle. As she spun, the colors around her blended from separate greens, browns and whites into a single rich shade that she could not identify. The child let out a shrill laugh before tumbling to the ground in a frenzy of shrieks and giggles. 14

The canopy was slowly spinning above her eyes as her dizziness slowly ebbed away. A cool breeze stirred the lush leaves and soothed the bit of sunburn on her cherubic face. Once her breath was caught, she climbed to her feet and took to a random direction in search of adventure.15

As the day slowly passed, Meredith satisfied her hunger for exploration to its zenith. Anything and everything struck her innocent curiosity. From the different flowers and ferns that grew everywhere, to the massive trees that towered above her with elegant limbs that seemed to dance in the breeze. She encountered a small frog and had stood for nearly an hour, holding and caressing its cool damp flesh before allowing it to bound away.16

The woods had become such a fascination for the child that she had lost track of how far she walked, or in which direction. Meredith was so engrossed in the scenery around her that when she stumbled into an open field, she yelped in surprise. Her eyes opened wide as she realized that this was not one of her families’ fields, and what she saw before her roused a whole new curiosity.17

The sun sat high above the unknown meadow and cast its rays over strange, glittering rocks that made little prisms of rainbows all around them. They were scattered queerly across the knee high grass, and she could see that they went on for miles. The light that glimmered off the surfaces of these rocks was so bright that Meredith had to squint and cover her brow with her hand.18

Tentatively, she took a step forward, then another. The clearing was oddly silent and she felt the need to be as equally soundless. No birds sang their songs, no deer bound through grass. Save for the breeze, all was still.19

She moved slowly toward the shining mass before her, biting her lip as she often did when trying to be quiet and gentle. There was an aura of sadness about the place. A heavy calm that made her think of the times when one of her brothers had received a thrashing from their father for misbehaving. It had the same atmosphere of brooding silence and sorrow, an aching air of pain that lay in the wake of anger and fear.20

Meredith shivered at the thought, but kept her pace and slowly arrived at one of the glittering objects.21

The child knew instantly that it was not a rock. It was a piece of shining metal. The same thing that her father’s plow and saw were made of, but this thing was far more beautiful than those things. It was long and smooth, and she could see her reflection on it. A dark brown mud had caked itself halfway down the surface. Meredith knelt down and scratched at the imperfection. It flaked away easily but left behind a moist, light red tint.22

The color fascinated her and she used the hem of her white dress to try and clean away the dirt. Some of it wiped away easily, but there were some spots that were harder and seemed more difficult. When she gave up, she looked down to her dress to see dark brown stains that faded to a reddish pink. She thought it was such a pretty color.23

Meredith looked across the field at the different shapes of glittering metal and smiled. 24

“This must be where steel grows!” she whispered.25

She stood up and carefully treaded further into the field. Her steps were soft and cautious of the white hot surfaces around her. Meredith knew how hot the plow could get under a summer sun, and she did not want to burn her toes. 26

As she observed each mound and cluster of shining steel, she was minutely aware that they each resembled a familiar shape. In some instances she observed an almost flesh like color beneath the layers of reddish brown dirt that lay on, and around the metal, but she could see nothing that really made her believe it to be that of mortal skin.27

The breeze picked up slightly, bringing with it a soft tinkling sound that caught Meredith’s attention. The resonance was so faint that she had to strain to hear it again. For a few, fleeting seconds, the child was not sure it would sound again, but when it did, it was louder and sharper than before. 28

Entranced by the noise, she maneuvered through the labyrinth of glowing steel and dirt. While she searched for the source of the chiming, she skimmed her hand over the tall grass, noticing how most of the blades were streaked and dotted with the same bright pink that had stained her dress. As she progressed deeper into the garden of steel, the pink streaked blades gave way to a dark red, almost black high-grass that seemed weighed down by the heaviness of its color.29

The piles of metal had become closer together and piled upon each other in random heaps, making her paths narrow and more difficult to find, but the strange sound called to her curiosity and beckoned her to make haste. It was no longer a faint chiming that she had to strain in order to hear. It had now grown to an almost hollow clanging that had a staggering, methodical rhythm to it. The closeness of her quarry lifted her spirits and she climbed on and over the piles of metal, turning her knees and the souls of her feet red from the heat of them. Her lungs were gasping in her excitement as she finally came upon the source of the sound. Meredith felt a thrill of wonder and fear as she beheld the strange sight.30

The child found this pile of metal far more beautiful than the others she had encountered. It lay nestled in a thick nest of high-grass that was both a vivid, lush green and bright crimson. The blinding surface had been marred with obscure dents and scratches. The imperfections were often streaked with the dark, ruddy dirt that seemed prominent around each pile. Some of the stains were darker than others, often flaking away with even the slightest caress of a blade of grass in the wind, while others, were a bright shade of pink that ran in thin, serpentine like streaks from small crevices in the metal.31

Meredith took in the sight with her deep emerald eyes, absorbing every detail before her. If it was not for her natural eye for detail, she would never have noticed the intricate designs that had been deformed by the strange abrasions upon one of the largest surfaces.32

Most of the lines were not recognizable to her. Some of the depths and bends had been filled with a thick, almost oozing substance that Meredith concluded to be mud. The stains almost added a vibrant contrast to the bright white of the metal. Most of the picture had alien to her, but she was able to make out the head of a handsome horse beneath the grit and mud. 33

A sudden, overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment washed over her at her discovery. Her eyes swept greedily over the large heap before her, searching for any other puzzles she could solve.34

As her observations commenced, she slowly began to notice how this particular heap reminded her of that of a human. It was much like her father, broad and large, but not as tall. She looked at the torso like area and saw a few similarities, which slowly gave way to more crude dents and gashes. At one particular spot in the pile, she had noticed the steel had grown quite peculiarly. It was narrower than the spots above it, but had seemed to have been crushed and flattened in a way she could not fathom. The different elevations were exhausting to the eye, but cast different rays of colors into the beams of sunlight. 35

The twisted mass gave way into two thin sections. One had grown at an odd angle, bending sharply at a large bulbous growth, and out toward the left. The other kept a straight path but had stopped abruptly with jagged black ends that she found wickedly sharp. One cruel point seemed to drip with the same black mud that had caked itself around the crushed portion.36

Suddenly the sharp, hollow clanging that had lured her to this sight caught her attention and she looked up at the top of the mound.37

As the wind blew in stronger gusts she noticed how one particular area of the metal moved. It was a small movement, but large enough that when the wind weakened; it would fall hard enough to clang against the surface just beneath it.38

The queer, round surface seemed much smoother and brighter than its other portions and had grown with a few large openings. Meredith leaned as close as possible over the slits, careful not to touch the hot metal with her fingers, and peered into the shadow below.39

Meredith could not make out much of what lay beneath the steel but she thought it to be a deep crimson clay with shining layers of onyx and obsidian. The mass was oddly smooth and looked to be soft if she tried to touch it, but she dared not. There was a strange sense of peace around the tiny chamber. As she peered closer still, she thought she could see a brilliant blue gemstone hidden half beneath a thin, rubbery layer of clay and mud.40

“How pretty!” she whispered. 41

An idea jolted the little girl into a frenzied stand and she dashed from the pile. She kept close to her treasure but began to gather an array of flowers and certain blades of grass that were a brighter pink than the rest. Once she had as many blossoms and blades as she could carry she skipped awkwardly back to her find and began to carefully arrange the different flora about the pile.42

She strained hard to find the perfect spots for each bulb, bringing blots of yellow and soft white to the glittering mass. Once finished she stood and peered at her work.43

Most of her labor had been done to the twisted and marred areas. Filling each abrasion with a colorful petal and sticking bright pink blades into the tiniest of crevices. She had found one small pool of watery mud and had laid a large yellow dandelion upon it, watching in awe as it floated ever so slightly.44

Meredith had found two large lilacs and had saved them a special place at the top. With great care she had placed the two beauties into the narrow slits where she had found the blue gem. 45

The large pile of steel was now like a small garden for her, a special treasure all her own.46

“Meredith!”47

The child started at the distant call of her name. She turned towards the tree line and strained her ears to catch the sound again.48

“Meredith! Where are you girl?” came the call.49

Meredith recognized the multi-toned voice of her brother. She took to a run and bounded through the maze of shining metal. The wind blew the hair from her face and she finally cleared the last of the large piles. Her tiny legs strained up the hill as she entered the tree line and kept skipping towards the calls that grew louder and closer.50

Finally she found her eldest brother, Barks, searching in the opposite direction. His long blonde hair hung in thin strands around him and his whole body seemed tense and strained. 51

Meredith bounded up to him and flung her arms as far around his waist as she could. The young man started at the unexpected impact but relaxed immediately once he realized it was his sister.52

“Meredith! Where in all hell did you get off too?” he asked.53

“You shouldn’t curse, brother! Mother will be angry.” she said in her soft voice.54

“Mother and Father will both be tanning our hides if we do not get back before they return!” he said. 55

Barkus was reaching the threshold of manhood and his voice kept breaking from a high pitched boy to the deep smoothness of a young man. Meredith giggled and let him wrap his large hand around her tiny one and they headed back towards the farm. 56

“Your dress is all dirty. Where have you been exploring?” he asked.57

His voice was no longer angry, but held a relieved curiosity that made her smile.58

“Just a field.” she said.59

“Find any treasures?”60

“Oh yes! I found a garden! A garden of beautiful, shining rocks that grow from red and pink earth!”