I am as old as time, I have seen the world changed, how death and life went together. But never I thought I would be so attached to a young girl as I know am. This young girl is burned into my heart, her name is my music, her name makes me feel young again. She comes to me for advice, just like her mother did before her. Little Wanton they call her, forgetting that her mother was lot alike her. But I remember.
She calls me Grandmother Willow, I do not deny that. I am mother to many and in the shape of a willow. But my true name that no one on this land knows, it belongs to the spirits. I am happy to be a grandmother to this young, restless girl trying to find her place in this world.
Years pass by but I remain the same. The girl, my little wanton, is now a young woman. She looks exactly like her mother but her fate is greater.
My sweet child, spirits have set a strong fate upon you.
How right I was. It hurts me when I see what is brought on my little wanton's path. Strangers across the Great Water. I can feel them in my roots, how the land shakes and shivers under their power. Times are changing. The fate of my little one is now clear. She is to bring peace upon these strangers and her kind. I pray for the spirits.
She sits in my lap with tears in her eyes. She cannot find her path and is scared of the fate of her beloved one. I know this beloved one, he is a good man, as good as a stranger can be. He has respect for me, for the spirits and for all around him. I tell my little wanton that it is not too late, unless she gives up. The bloody sun rises as my beloved one decides to try.
Never have I thought I could lose my little wanton. She is to go over the Great Water to help her people. Defender they should call her. She could have followed her beloved one earlier but decided to stay with her people. What greatness lies beneath her appearance!
Her father had never come to me before but as his daughter sails towards her destiny, he comes to me. Asks me to protect her and wishes she would come back to us. Nothing I wish for more than her return to her land.
I never meet my sweet little wanton again. My time on this world has now come to an end. I can feel it in my mind, in my spirit. I am being called home after years and years. The storm clouds have gathered upon my forest and I can feel the earth trembling. Spirits are calling one of their own home. My earthly destiny has been fulfilled. As the rain starts I send my love to the little wanton who has now became a strong woman.
Lightning strikes and hits the top of my tree. It is caught on fire and as the tree burns from around me, I can feel the freedom in my veins and I rise from the ground to get home again.