Pages rustle gently against the wind but do not stir from my thumb

Worlds of words wind their way to me and take me from my own

Now I sit in a tavern where Gareth is buying drinks for all

Burgundy velvet rubs against my cheek as I tug my cloak against the breeze,

Pulling my bare feet up into the white tumbling waves of my skirt

Cups clank together, mead slops on my tunick

The air plays at my hair but I pay it no mind

Gendry, a member of ours, claps me on the back and we laugh heartily

Streams of sun fall through breaks in the canopy above to fall on waves of various greens

Highlighting the thick natural hair of the forest floor

Lanterns burn dimly to cast an orange hue across the brown tavern

I shiver at the sudden gust of wind that stirs my world once more

It is warmer where I am, i think to myself, a fire burns dimly in the hearth

Autumn leaves fall in a sudden flutter to break the endless sea of rippling green

A fallen leaf, five points of holey orange and red obscure my page

I am no longer in that old tavern

The book closes around the leaf, succumbing

The forest demands to be noticed

The book slides down to my side

A gust stronger than the rest pulls through the clearing

sending red and orange spiraling upward

Staring after them through the canopy of trees

I feel small

My eyes lower to the world around me

Watch the yellow root and wood fern rustle against each other

Examine the thimbleweed beside my toe

And weave a crown of purple hepatica and sedge

A stray ray of light falls against my crown and lands on my cheek

Warming me

My feet grace against the grasses that lay beneath me

Cushioning me

The tree at my back digs into my shoulders and i am reminded of its hard presence

Protecting me