| When she woke up it was raining hard outside. She was laying on the floor of the room with her feet outside in the rain. Her forehead hurt. She touched her forehead lightly with her fingers and felt a little blood. As she sat up her head throbbed. But she did not black out. She scooted back into the room until her boots were no longer getting wet. She sat there holding her head for a while. Then she realized that she had on boots. She looked and she was again wearing the clothes that she had arrived in. That Marcy had arrived in. Looking around the room it again was the same as when Marcy had arrived. She remembered hitting her head. She also remembered the dream she had after she had hit her head. What a strange dream it had been. While she waited for the rain to stop, she went over, out loud, all the herbs and plants that she had learned about before coming here. She described each plant, where it could be found, and what it could be used for. It was a long list. By the time she was done, the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and everything was once again dry outside. Her head no longer hurt. She got up and left the room, being careful to duck this time. Back on the beach, her sleeping bag was just a little damp, but everything else was dry. She hung her sleeping bag over a limb to completely dry it before night. She went to the water and washed off the dry blood from her forehead. It only hurt a little now. By early evening her sleeping bag was dry. She built a fire and made some tea and cooked some supper. It sure tasted good as she realized she was famished. After supper she sat by the fire just enjoying this lovely place. It really was a paradise here. Just before dark she heard a flute. It was not the same tune as the night before. It was happy and thankful. Marcy took out her flute and joined in. For an hour they played together. Then it was quiet and Marcy got into her sleeping bag and went to sleep. Marcy woke at dawn and realized the wind was again blowing sand around. The fire was still burning in the fire pit. She did not remember building up the fire before going to sleep. She also thought she saw two sets of footprints near the fire pit. She got out of her sleeping bag and went over to the fire pit to look. There were no foot prints there. Only some sand moving around a little with the wind. After some strong hot tea and a big breakfast, she busied herself cleaning up and packing up her little camp. Some things looked like they had not been cleaned in days. She was done before noon. Then she took out of her back pack some special leather pouches. She had made them herself and packed them with great care. She took these up to the room, being careful to duck when she entered. She sat them down on the blanket and said a prayer of thanks. Each pouch had something different in it. One had salt, one tobacco, another had dry white sage, and so on. There were seven in all. This done, she left the room, again being careful to duck. She was ready to leave, even tho part of her wanted to stay. Getting in her canoe, and with one last look around, she headed back the way she had come. Going downstream was so much faster and easier. Before dark she was already back where she had entered the river. A quick portage to her truck, and it took no time at all to load up everything. She drove back to the Iroquois Inn, and was even there before the dining room was closed. She was a little surprised when they said they had looked for her a few days ago. But she was to hungry to give it much thought. After eating, she went to her room. She thought about the last three nights. It had only been three nights since she had left here hadn't it? She shrugged, and started to get ready for bed. She emptied her pockets onto the dresser. That is when she saw it. A necklace! It was made of shells and bright colored stones, with a large stone in the center. The large stone had small circles almost like shells turned to stone. It was lovely. The dream she had of being White Bird was only a dream. It had to have been a dream. Or was it? |
 |
| music: Tonia |
