The Branch of the Mayre Bird

by ByEmiWithLove

Ten years had passed since that terrible day; ten whole years. He stands at the grave of his best friend whom he lost to a creek ten years ago today. She's not really there- they never found her body. Ten years after Leslie's death, twenty-year-old Jess travels back to his childhood home to visit his family and the grave of a beloved friend on the tenth anniversary of her death.

2. The Point of No Return

He gently shook her arm and her bright, blue eyes slowly opened. She yawned softly and sat up. She looked up at him and bit her lip. It was him; he had found her. He quickly stood up and helped her stand up as well. "Wh-who are you?" he asked.

She didn't answer immediately, but looked down at the wooden floor. She was nervous and didn't know how to tell him what he needed to know. Finally, she spoke. "I am a wanderer in the land. I have not seen the friends of my youth in these ten years. I did not see the light of day for seven years, for I was imprisoned in the days of my youth and did not taste the sweetness of the pleasures and freedom of youth in those years" Said as she as she walked to the table and sat in one of the chairs. Jess sat in a chair beside her and pushed the stack of books aside.

"I have finally come from my imprisonment into the land of light, yes; this very land. Those who cared for me during my young and tender years are now gone on to a land beyond this and shall never more return unto me. They have gone away, as I once had, but now I am here and shall never leave again. They, those dear and blessed people, thought me to be in the land of the shadows, but I have never gone there. They are now themselves in that land and now they know that I am not there also. I will tell you the story of my time in the land of darkness, that is, the land of my imprisonment. I will tell it in a story, so please try to understand." She took a deep breath, and began her tale.

"There was once a maiden who loved to create. She created many a world in the days of her childhood. In one world was a deep, treacherous ravine that one must cross to arrive at the castle." As she spoke, he was transported back to the days of his youth when he and Leslie played in the land of Terabithia. He saw the creatures come to life in his mind through his memories on one such trip, the girl, who was indeed the queen of that land, fell to her alleged death. She did not die, however, and the river carried her to another land which was a far way off. The land had a name; Rishbon. Rishbon is a dark country where nightmares are realities and there is no sun. An old woman found her lying on the rocky riverbed and rescued her. The girl was half dead by the time the old woman saved her, so the old woman took her into her house and nursed her back to health. Once the girl was well again, the woman, whose name was Luciana, told her that to repay her for saving her life, she would have to work for her for seven years." She closed her eyes as if reliving the painful memory.

"The land of Rishbon was bound by such a great darkness that the little maid could not escape from the woman and her house. She was forced to work for the woman for the full seven years. The darkness of Rishbon favors no one, however, and at the end of the seven years Luciana could bind the girl no longer. For, you see, the darkness only helps you for awhile. After some time, it will turn around and make you suffer also as the person on which you used the darkness suffered." She paused, as if considering this deeply, then continued.

"She ran as far as she could from that evil land, but she could not find the place of her birth. Perhaps the woman was a sorceress and had put a magic in her mind to make her forget of whom she had been born. No one will ever know, for the woman died upon her departure. A soul for a soul it was to her. She had taken her youth, so was taken from her her old age. The maid, by then a young woman, traipsed across the earth for a year before she awoke from her sleep. Her sleep was, of course, the terrible forgetfulness that had mysteriously come upon her. She then went back to the home of her parents. Her father had declined since her supposed death and he was close to his departure." A tear found its way down hear pale skin as she struggled to continue her story.

"She found him in his last hour of life and comforted her mother after his departure. He was able to see his only child before he went into the other land and was glad on the day he departed. Her mother departed soon thereafter. After she had had her time of grief, she left the home of her birth and came to the land of her happiness." A few moments lapsed before she began to speak again. This was it; this was the moment she would let her identity be known to him. After this, there was no going back.

"This is Terabithia, the land of dreams, the land of happiness, the land of hope and light. This is truly my homeland, the land where I belong. You see, the story was mine. You, my dear friend, are Jess, king of this land. You must, by now, know with whom you are speaking. It is I; Leslie. I have come from the depths of the land of darkness. That land is, in name, Rishbon. You thought me long departed; ten years today. But I am not yet gone on my departure." She said with all the feeling she had in her. She had not been able to say a word to him for so many long years. Spoken now, there was no return from this point.