The Nymph of Black Forest

It’s been three weeks since I lost my NaNa. The rogues who killed her are still camped at the edge of the Black Forest, where I call home. They don’t realize I have been watching. They definitely don’t realize I am stalking them. Micah..my mouse friend has kept me informed..and we know they are waiting for someone…

My name is Rhiannon Smalls and today, I am eighteen years old. It’s my first alone birthday and my forest creatures have thrown me a party. They have nuts and berries…and fashioned me a crown of flowers! A family of mice have given me little stones they found in their foraging. A deer family blessed me with moon flowers..which are hard for me to find, unless I hunt them at night! They make my most complicated potions possible, so they are precious to me! We are in the clearing by the lake. It is my most favorite spot. I learned to fight here..spar with the trees.. my NaNa taught me how to fire my arrows with deadly accuracy..throw knives, daggers..I am deadly with an axe. I am proficient with a sword..although I only fence with the trees, using a wooden one.

The rogues attacked Edina when we were hunting…they injured my left haunch..and I couldn’t get up to defend myself against twenty full grown wolves. NaNa killed eight with her bow..and knives, before one ripped her chest open. I couldn’t save her. So now…we stalk them..and I kill them when I can.

I am your standard forest nymph, I suppose. Never having seen another, except my grandmother.. I don’t have much to reference myself by. I am short…but tall.. for a nymph at 5’. My hair is red..a vibrant red that glints in the sunlight, like fire. My ears are signaturely pointed at the tips. My eyes are green.. a deep forest green with gold flecks around the pupil. They glow golden when I am healing someone. Edina is blonde..a beautiful light sandy blonde…but my paws, tips of my ears and the end of my tail are as fiery red as my hair. She’s big. Standing almost 6’ at the shoulder…

My cottage, at the base of the Yew Tree is large. My PaPa was very handy with his hands. I have a bedroom..a sitting room.. and a kitchen.. PaPa laid pipe from the river to provide running water from a tank that fills every day with water that recycles from the flowing river. A fireplace that is vented through the manmade structure of the cottage so the tree doesn’t suffer from the heat of it. Underneath that, is a cold storage cellar. I store all my tonics and potions there. As well as my food supply. The forest provides what I need.. although the squirrel family that lives in the elm tree down the way, argue with me daily about the nuts I forage. I had to scold their son last week for trying to steal from my nuts and berries stash. The dad now throws pine cones at me when I pass by their house. Rude!

I communicate with all living things..but I suppose not everyone will like me..or get along with me. The world is the same all over. But, for the most part, we are friendly with each other..there is a curmudgeonly old beaver I have run ins with time to time..he keeps trying to dam the river above the cottage.. and I keep explaining that he needs to go dam the stream further north, away from the majority of the wildlife that need the river to stay its course. To punish me he chewed down four saplings instead of using the naturally felled trees! So, I destroyed his dam! Twice! He’s an asshole!

Today, I am wandering to the south forest. There is some wild raspberries and strawberries that are ripening. And I love fresh strawberries! So, I have my basket..and packed a picnic lunch to share with a rabbit family I made friends with. Bertha Rabbit has another litter of kits due this week.. so I will probably share berries with them. They have 8 kits still living in their hutch..so I may help Robbie extend the hutch..for the new litter. They’re a pleasant little rabbit family..but another 14 kits seem like too many, to me!

Micah climbs out of my apron pocket to sit my shoulder, awhile. He’s tiny..and takes frequent naps.. his body gets exhausted easily. So, mostly, I just tote him around. And when he gets tired, he slips into my pocket and dozes. I found him when he was just a pup. Bald, pink, and blind. He was the only survivor of his whole family after a fox destroyed their burrow. It’s the circle of life..and it’s harsh.. but the forest provides sustenance for all species, and everyone has to eat. We all know this..understand it..and accept it.

Even Edina has to hunt..but she only takes down prey that are old..or weak..and always asks permission. It’s just the way of things. She needs protein. A lot of it! While I, for the most part, am a pescatarian….I will still have fish from the river.. especially salmon from the stream. They are my favorite! And now, I have talked myself into being hungry!

I reach the south forest..and am so happy to find burgeoning vines of strawberries and abundant bushes of raspberries! Sometimes, the bears beat me to them, and I am hard pressed to find any salvageable berries. What they don’t eat, they trample into uselessness. And it’s getting on toward the end of summer..so their foraging will become more aggressive to ward off their hunger in preparation for their winter naps.

My basket is over half full when Robbie approaches me. Bertha is giving birth to her litter and he needs help enlarging the hutch. I ask him for another hour, then I can help. I scold Micah about the amount of berries he has eaten.. because now he can hardly move! He’s lying on his back.. in my berry basket, with his little engorged belly.. looking miserable! Silly mouse!

After helping Robbie..and soothing Bertha’s pain.. we head back home to the Yew. Halfway home, I hear voices.. Flitting to a tree branch so I’m not seen, I listen..then I see them. Three rogue wolves, making their way in the direction of the camp I have been watching. They are talking about someone named Kingston..and three or four days. If they don’t succeed this time, they won’t get paid. Micah chatters he will sneak into the camp tonight and listen to see if he can get more information. I tell him tomorrow is soon enough. We have had a busy day!

Daddy Squirrel is being a jackass, as I pass the elm..he is chattering some nonsense about me stealing all the berries from the forest and never saving any for the rest of the creatures. I giggle because he knows how stupid he sounds as I hand his mate a handful of berries. And my hands are small..but much bigger than a squirrel’s. I tell him “Squeaky.. you just bitch to hear yourself talk! You would bitch, if you had nothing to bitch about!” And I head on home! I have learned every species on the planet have their rude individuals.

After a wonderful night’s sleep, I bathe and dress in one of my dresses..a white sundress I have embroidered pink and yellow flowers on..across the neckline and around the entire hem. It’s one of my favorites..I french braid my hair…it hangs past my waist. Then I slip on my little white flats.. I head to the cellar, packing up my crates full of tonics..and potions. I have tonics for upset stomach, headache…even gout.. simple ailments. My potions are different. They treat infertility or unwanted pregnancy. Poor vision, low appetite… sleeplessness.

I load my pull behind cart and head to town. Some luxuries, the forest can’t provide. Like flour..milk..rice..and sugar! Yum! Sugar is my guilty pleasure! I make all kinds of gooey sweet desserts that serve me well, as midnight snacks! A flock of bluebirds keep me company on my way to town off to the east. We sing the songs of the mountains…and Micah is always excited to join in, although I don’t have the heart to tell him he can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

I sell my tonics and potions to the apothecary there in the town called Forest’s Glen. They have the most fascinating grocery store in that town. Next week, I will head to the western town…. That town is named Woodland Falls. They buy the jewelry I fashion from the rocks and stones I sift from the river. The gems I get from the mountains in the north, will wait.. until I have rid the forest of the rogues camped there.

I crested the final hill..leading to town. It seems particularly busy today..and I feel excitement build. The oracle who runs the apothecary is always so sweet..and has the best teas I have ever tasted. She always adds some to my pay envelope..and never charges me. She is probably my only human friend, and I enjoy our conversations so much! She reminds me of NaNa in a lot of ways.