Flying to Nowhere: A Tale Read Online Free PDF Page A

not?’
    ‘I’m dying.’
    ‘Are you dying, Gweno? I’m truly sorry.’
    ‘I’m wrapped up in a leaf very quiet and still. My legs are together and my arms are at my side, and I’m wrapped in a leaf and hanging from a tree on a thread, turning very slow.’
    ‘Is it painful, Gweno?’
    ‘No, it’s beautiful and there’s the breath of the wind turning me slightly. Can’t you feel it?’
    ‘Yes,’ said another voice. ‘I can feel it.’
    ‘Now the leaf is drying and crackling. It’s crumbling away.’
    ‘Are you crumbling away too, Gweno?’
    ‘No, no. It’s leaving me pure and new and now I’ve died and got wings and I’m flying away. Can’t you see?’
    Her fingers fluttered in the moonlight, and their shadows moved in the rafters.
    ‘Yes,’ came several voices. ‘We can see you flying away. Where are you flying to?’
    ‘I’m flying to nowhere. I’m just becoming myself.’
    There was another silence, a longer one.
    Then came another whisper.
    ‘Tetty, tell about the brothers.’
    ‘Tetty’s asleep.’
    ‘No, she isn’t!’
    Tetty was not asleep, but was holding the flowers of her breasts and filling them in her mind like filling cupped hands with the heaviness of spring water, trickling cool through the fingers. She listened to the voices in the dark.
    ‘Tom Barker, Long Rachel, Minnie Wilkin, Milly Larkin and Little Dick were all in the same bed one winter night and the blankets piled high. They had prayed to the Saint and blown out their five candles and they had one apple only to eat between five.’
    ‘Yes, yes! What then?’
    ‘There was a bumping sound on the roof. Like this: bump, bump, bump.’
    ‘What was it?’
    ‘They didn’t know what it was. So Tom Barker shouts out quickly: “Who’s there?” And a voice comes back: “It’s only the wind walking over the roof.” “Oh,” says Tom Barker. But then came the bumping louder and Long Rachel calls out to it: “What are you, then, bumping up there?” And another voice says: “It’s the clouds walking over the roof.” “Oh,” says Long Rachel.’
    ‘Aren’t they frightened?’
    ‘Yes, they’re very frightened. Very very very frightened. So they prayed again to the Saint. But then there’s more thumping up above, and so Minnie Wilkin says: “Who’s that, thumping on the roof?” And a voice says: “Nothing. Only the moon.” And they can hear a hissing sound move slowly over them like a great cold fire. Then there’s another banging and a clatter and Milly Larkin asks: “What’s up? What is it now?” And another voice replies: “It’s the stars passing by.” “Oh,” says Milly Larkin.’
    ‘Are they still frightened?’
    ‘They’re still very frightened, and they’ve all gone down in the bed. Then comes the loudest noise of all, a rumbling and a rolling and a smashing and a crashing all over the roof, and Little Dick whispers from the bottom of the bed: “Who’s there?” And a big deep voice replies: “It’s the Saint himself passing by, and herding the wind and the clouds and the moon and the stars before him, and all is well.” “Oh,” says Little Dick, and one by one they poke their heads out of the bedclothes again.’
    ‘The Saint will look after them, won’t he?’
    ‘He will, and they will look after themselves, too. Tom Barker turns to Long Rachel and Little Dick turns to Milly Larkin, and they all fall to kissing, but there’s no one for Minny Wilkin.’
    ‘How sad!’
    Tetty listened to the story and hugged her own bare sides in the dark like Minny Wilkin. Quiet minutes gradually filled the loft and for a while there was silence.
    Then came another voice, but a sleepy one.
    ‘Gweno, are you still flying?’
    There was only a sigh in reply.
    ‘Gweno, tell about the Saint. Tell about the Saint and the bird.’
    Then Gweno’s voice came quietly from her pillow.
    ‘Long long ago... a long long long long very long time ago...’
    ‘Yes, go on.’
    ‘Before the abbey was