quietpinetrees:

“On the 12th day of Christmas the pine trees gave to me,
12 hidden hours, a secret third half to each day as the sun ringed the horizon, when we could finally admit what’s in our hearts because not a word of it would be remembered

11 daytime stars, dark points in a bright sky, a constellation pointing me to the lands I imagined were there as a child, making it impossible to ignore them again

10 ancient poisons, each dose just barely strong enough to kill a moment’s worth of doubt, brewed from indigo flowers that were harvested to extinction during an age that was starved for heroes

9 words of warning, whispered within the songs of crickets and scrawled in my own handwriting between the stars: “The sea will be your only refuge from them”

8 caves of silver, carved by miners who left behind the precious metal either because something all the more seductive was calling to them from below, or because they were only seeking to hide from something calling to them from above

7 amber statues, depicting those who would be my enemies in the years to come, so that by contemplating their sad smiles I could be ready for them, forgive them before we even met, and perhaps, understand why one of them was me

6 guardian snowmen, absolutely still and forever unblinking, their eyes locked on the sky, ready to cry out at the sight of an approaching figure from the void, so that I can finally rest from my vigil

5 GOLD RINGS

4 wooden coins, the currency of the seasons, just enough to pay for a single summer to turn to autumn, to wrap the world in darkling sweetness as the storms and frost drown out the sun

3 bone pins, carved from the skeletons of long-extinct creatures, which would ward against misfortune, having already been tempered with all the bad luck they could endure

2 loyal dogs, skyhounds who will never stop seeking out crashed starships and time travelers, eager as they are to take me away from this planet and show me the silent wonders of their playground universe

And a wooden crown beset with lake stones, a priceless heirloom of the Forest King himself, given as a test of my humility, to see if I would cast it aside and accept my place among the quiet pine trees”

-QuietPineTrees

Merry Christmas, everyone.