Kailei

The two of us lay there staring at the sky. Two sisters who could not be more different. She was fourteen, I was five. The elder girl lay on the soft grass with her hands behind her head. Her eyelids drooped over her bright blue eyes, and her golden hair that shone in the sunlight was fanned all about her. She looked to be tall, and slenderly built. She looked carefree and happy. As though she had no worries in the world.
"Doesn't that one look like a bird?" She looked at me and pointed to some clouds which did look like a bird. I continued staring at the sky without speaking. Out of the two of us, I was the more silent one. "My little silent shadow," is what Aideen had sometimes called me with a smile brightening her face.
The slow ever changing clouds whirled in white shapes and forms above me with the sky blue behind them. I lay there in silent serenity as my sister got up and wandered aimlessly through the field in search of flowers.
The grass was soft beneath my slight figure, and the sun was warm on my clear light skin. The wind blew my dark loose curls around my face as the tree's in the near distance whispered their sweet secrets to one another. A brown bird darted through my view of the sky and captured my attention. The small brown creature darted into the first tree on the edge of the forest and joined in its small chirps with the countless other birds of the forest.
I looked up and saw my sister with a small bunch of lilies walking towards me. "Come now, we should be heading back dear one." She gave me a warm smile as her dainty hand closed around my small childish one.
"Why don't we walk through the forest Deeny?" Aideen looked down at me mildly surprised that I had spoken.
"We have our reasons, little one. Why should you wish to walk through there anyways?" A silence stretched out as I looked up through my small dark eyes to her bright blue ones.
I whispered so that Aideen could not hear me, "Because the tree's feel like home."


At age five I had a good childhood and family. I was the youngest of the six children of Conn. My five elder siblings were not full of the same blood as I, we only shared fathers. My eldest brother, Dierdan, was a dark blonde youth of sixteen. Other than his hair color, he was the spitting image of our father with his sturdy build, large hands, his grey blue eyes, and his strong features. His face was eager to break into a smile whenever possible, and his eyes always had warmth in them.
Then came Aideen with her bright clear blue eyes with no trace of dull grey, but shone with a bright diamond like glitter. Her golden hair was usually tied back into a loose braid when she worked around our farm. She was my mother's right hand, and could do things even my mother could not. She had a natural talent for herbs, poultices, and salves. When she wasn't busy baking in the kitchen helping mother, or cleaning out the house with her younger sisters, you would see her walking with her small bundle towards a neighbors home. Her herbs healed many sick, and with the village doctor getting on in age, she was needed much.
Then after her came the twins. You'll never know twins more unalike in so many ways. There was Faelan, at age eleven he was a robust young fighter. His dirt brown hair had a slight curl to it and his deep eyes were dark brown. Unlike his father or elder brother, he wanted to be a warrior, not a simple farmer. After his chores around the farm, he would be running around with his village friends with his wooden sword. His mischievous deeds usually got him in trouble... when they could catch him.
His twin sister Eryn was much different than him. She was quiet and reserved. She always gave us the impression that she was deep in thought. Whenever she was asked to do anything, she would without a word do what was asked and silently got it done. Her dark brown hair like her brother had loose curls. That with her pale skin, deep brown eyes, and slight frame gave her an enchanting look. At age eleven she looked to be much older than her age, mostly because of the wisdom that seemed to be in her thoughtful eyes.
Then there was my sister who was only a year younger than her twin siblings. It was when she was born that their mother had died. Naomh was, as others say, the living image of her mother. She had the golden hair like her mother, with the slight loose curl. Her eyes were the crystal green eyes that her mother had. She was slight, and fragile looking, but like her mother, she was strong. She had a strength of will and a deep patience that outlasted any others. She smile was the warm inviting smile that many loved of her mother.
Then there was me and my mother. Some say that my mother was one of the faerie folk that mesmerized my father so deeply that he could not help himself as he fell in love. Their accusations of her being a faerie were not ones that came out of nowhere, for she had the eyes of a faerie, the build of one, and the enchanting look of one. After he announced his desire to marry her those years ago, many advised him against it not trusting my mother. Any reason that could be set up against her was. Some said there was too much an age difference, her being twenty one while he was thirty two, some said that she would not be able to handle the work of a housewife of a man with such a holding as his.
But he reasoned out every excuse, and still married her. Her almost black hair cascaded down her back like a midnight waterfall, her slight hands were soft to the touch, her face was both innocent, and motherly. And her eyes. Her eyes were a deep purple with small streaks of silver. And her ears were unusual, for they were slightly pointed at the tips. Upon first glance you might miss it, but a second careful glance would reveal it.
She treated the other villagers with kindness, and she raised her husbands children with care and love. Soon the village's small protests were quieted, and she became accepted.
A year after their marriage, she gave birth to me, his daughter.
I had inherited my mothers dark brown hair, and her deep purple eyes that were clear with a sparkle of silver in them. I was accepted by my half brothers and sisters as though we shared both father and mother. I grew up as Aideen's silent shadow, following her as she made her small rounds to the villagers, helping her in the kitchen, which I loved doing because of all the small tidbits she would drop into my tiny hands as she worked.
"Kailei, would you please carry this for me?" She asked one day as we made our way to a neighbor's home. She held out her bundle to me, and after I took it into my hands she stooped down to inspect a plant that had caught her interest. She took out her small pocket knife from her front pouch and cut off some leaves from the plant. "This would be nice for in mother's tea to help with the baby she's carrying."
"Deeny, whats wrong with the baby?" She looked up at me surprised.
"Nothing is little one, Mother and baby are both healthy. These herbs are going to make both of them healthier, thats all." She took the bundle from my hands and added the herbs to the items in there.
"Am I going to have a little brother or a little sister?" I looked up at Aideen expecting an answer.
"We do not know yet, Kailei. It will only be less than a month till the new baby is born, will then be able to see."
"Ok Deeny, I'll wait." I smiled up at my big sister to see her looking ahead with a worried expression in her eyes.