The Young Chief's Unravelling

(Exactly 1000 words 🙂

In a land with a name foreigners couldn't pronounce there was a castle on a cliff. This castle was home to the Donal'sen clan chiefs for four generations. They ruled their clansmen fairly and well for nearly two centuries.

But a threat now loomed at their doorstep, a threat no chief in their family had faced before. A threat discovered only days after the third Donal'sen chief died.

In the Donal'sen castle, by a blazing hearth, a brand new chief paced. Every step that swished on the rushes covering the cold stone floor was amplified by his fear. He scratched at the stubble he could not yet call a beard and clung to the hilt of his father's claymore. His thoughts were a storm more violent than the one looming just beyond the southern border of his clan's territory. A conqueror was coming and he felt powerless to stop him.

The voice of his mother sounded in his ears from behind.

"Do you assume you will fail?" Her voice was thick with the grief of bereavement.

"How can I not?" He said as he turned to face her.

"You are asking that question wrong my son." Her tone grew sharper, like the warning of a mother to a child whose attention is drawn toward a cliff. "You must believe that there is an answer to that question. Then you must. Find. It."

He looked away from her tragic, grey eyed inspection of him.

"To fight will bring devastation. To grovel will bring enslavement." He said.

"Alec, the least tragic outcome of this terrible situation is your victory."

Alec felt the overwhelming weight of it all press down on him and he screamed an anguished, guttural, cry of frustration and rage. Hot tears filled his eyes as visions flashed through his mind of all those he loved experiencing horrible, bloody ends. His mother, his sisters, his clansmen. Gasping. Reaching to him for help. Eyes full of terror but trusting he'd make it all better.

His mother enveloped him in her arms.

"You are not a boy anymore. You are a man. Stop fearing and start doing. We need you son. Don't abandon us."

Alec knew she was right. But a victory could wipe their clan out just as much as a defeat.

"Son, plan your fight like your bringing everyone home alive and well. Then do it."

It was impossible.

"Aye mother."

She turned and left without a backwards glance.

He stood there another minute. Then his clansmen started to walk in. Somber, serious, but also confident. His father's second, Dougal spoke,

"Alec, each of us is a bonny fighter but you are the one your father taught strategy and tactics. Tell us what to do and we'll do it."

Alec dreaded the coming fight, but he knew there was no other course worth taking.

"They outnumber us and have much better armor." He began, "We have fewer numbers but greater maneuverability. We also have the advantage of being the defenders."

The men all nodded understanding, and Dougal said, "What do you want to do?"

"Here's my idea."

In the Ongalo camp the next morning, King Edurton, a tall dark man with silver hair, sat in his pavilion going over correspondence when a man entered.

"My king." The man said as he bowed.

"Yes?"

"A man is approaching the camp with a white shirt on a stick."

King Edurton smirked and said, "Oh? Let him come in."

After a few minutes, the man with a white shirt on a stick entered.

"Do you come with offers of allegiance from your chief?" The king asked.

"Alas, it is not so king. My chief asks that you meet him on the plain below his castle with your army so that he may contest your conquest in pitched battle."

"He does?" the king said with an amused laugh, "Well, I was feeling a little bored this morning. You tell him I will be there in a few hours with my army."

After the man left, king Edurton gestured for a man in light armor standing to his left to come closer.

"They mean to draw us into an ambush. Take 50 archers and 50 horsemen through the wooded ridge on our right flank and flush them out."

"Aye my king."

Alec waited on that ridge with his main force of four-hundred, watching fifty of his clansmen walk forward on the plain below. Opposite them, over two-thousand men in glittering armor marched in ranks onto the field. Alec could feel the vibrations of their unified stomps all the way up here.

"Chief Alec! Chief!" One of the watchman he had posted ran up breathing hard, "Archers and horsemen are coming up behind us!"

Alec growled.

"He knew. The ploy was too obvious."

"Tell us what to do chief."

"We'll be decimated if we try to fight them. We're lightly armored and on foot... easy prey for arrows and men on horseback."

The shouts of his men further down the line began to be audible and the sounds of clashing blades reached their ears at almost the same time.

"Sound the retreat!" Alec shouted, "Flee to the castle. Keep hold of your weapons."

As the horn sounded, Alec called to Dougal, "You and your brothers come with me. We're covering the retreat."

"Aye chief."

Alec was angry. Angry at himself for being so predictable. Angry at the king attacking his clan. Angry that his father was gone. So much anger. But no one cared. The chaos all around him didn't care. The enemy didn't care. He felt rage building as his pace quickened.

Then he glanced back at Dougal. His mind cleared.

He wasn't alone. His clansmen all loved him and would die for him. His mother cared and his family cared. Though everything was unravelling around him he was not alone.

With this realization every visual detail became sharp, every was sound suddenly crystal clear. He had an idea.

We'll use the trees for shields.

Here, have a drabble! And congrats everyone for making it this far!

---

She had held the universe in her hands, and now it was all coming apart.

She watched the fraying rope of the universe unwind, the galaxies and nebulae spinning off into nothing. Her hands grabbed at the planets, but they came back empty.

She had journeyed to the end of the universe and to its beginning, and it had all been for naught. It had always been for naught.

This universe was not for her to save.

She knew this. She had always known this.

But she refused to accept it.

She picked up a thread and began to weave.

The Little Sheep's Magic Wool by Jamie Larsen 

There once was a little sheep with beautiful chocolate brown wool, one day she was playing in the field with her friends when her wool got caught a bush, she didn't reliese this had happened until much later. The little sheep and her friends played the day away, jumping,running, and having a grand old time. When the day was done and they had their fun the little lambs run to their mothers to settle in for the night. 

"Oh, goodness! What happened to your wool little one?" The little Sheep's mother cried. She turned to see that her wool had unraveled while she was playing, but here is the funny thing, it had unraveled into yarn all neatly spun. The little sheep took a few steps to see what would happen and as she moved her wool come off and spun into yarn. Well now she had a bigger problem, she and her friends had played all over the field today, which meant her wool was unraveled all over the field as well. "Mama, what do I do? If I try to gather my wool the rest of it will unravel, but if i dont gather it someone could get tangled up and hurt." The little sheep cried to her mother. "Don't worry my dear we'll think of something...perhaps you should stay here and I'll gather up your wool." Her said calming her baby.

The little sheep laid down while her mother started to gather her wool. She worried her mother wouldn't be able to gather it all but soon enough her mother come back with her wool gathered into a ball. They settled in for the night and drifted off to sleep.

In the morning when the little sheep awoke she looked at the ball of wool her mother gathered last night and saw how beautiful her brown wool looked spun into yarn dazzling in the morning sun. She decided that since her wool was already half unraveled from her, that she might as well finish unraveling it and finish her spun ball of yarn. It was almost summer after all so she would be too cold at night. 

So carefully she started to carefully walk away and was mindful of where her wool went. When she finally unraveled the last bit of wool she went back to the ball and begun to wind it up. She had a decent sized ball by the time she was done, but not enough to make anything to big out of it. The little sheep sat and marveled at the color of the yarn in the sun and how beautiful it looked. As the other sheep woke up they drifted over to her asking what had happened to her wool and where the ball of yarn came from? She told told of how her wool snagged on a bush and how it had begun to unravel and spun into yarn. The other sheep where amazed at how this had happened and they all decided to try it for themselves, but all tried in vain for it didn't work for them it only worked for the little sheep, she giggled and said to the others "don't worry the Sheppard will come to shear you and his wife will spin your wool into beautiful yarn." This gave the others some comfort but of course they were still slightly envious of the little sheep and her gift. The end.

Unravelling

What is my purpose? I pull at that thread and sigh. It gets longer and I wonder where I should go next. It doesn’t stop coming and I get worried. I had plans for my life. A job, a family, a house. Each plan unloops as I pull. Those plans are no longer part of the fabric in front of me. 

“Ms. Smith, would you like some more water?” The nurse asks.  

I look up from the yarn in my lap and smile, “yes please.”

The IV behind me beeps as the medication is dispensed. I pull another row of stitches out of the scarf and think of all the possibilities that are no longer. 

I am tired, so tired, yet this thread that has unravelled on my lap holds different possibilities, different paths. I look around at the others here who are watching their threads unravel, and I see opportunities to love. Opportunities to share hope. 

I turn to the young woman next to me. “Hello, would you like to learn to crochet?”

Knitted Together

Once upon a time there was a kingdom without a princess. Actually, there had been a princess. The King and Queen had dismissed her nanny, because she had been found in the castle dungeons practicing black magic. On the night before the princess was to turn three years old, the witch used her magic to cloak herself and stole her away. In her bed, a note read: 

Your Royal Highness,

I have waited for this moment for a long time!

My life has unraveled because of your selfishness. 

Now, I will take what you prize most 

and what I have longed for with all my heart - your little girl!

To prove to you I am more honorable than you,

I will return her on her 13th birthday. She will be

somewhere on the Royal grounds for you to find; 

however, if you do not find her by noon, 

she will be mine forever.

How the king and queen grieved for their little girl, Selah. They had their entire Royal Guard out searching for her, but she was nowhere to be found. 

Five years went by, and while the search continued, they welcomed a baby boy - Prince Tobias. As he grew, they told Tobias stories about his sister so he would know all about her. Family was very important to the royal family, so important that they found and hired Constance, the witch’s kind and good sister, to be Tobias’ nanny. She agreed to help in any way she could to help find Princess Selah, including praying for help from God above.

When Selah’s 13th birthday finally arrived, five-year-old Toby - affectionately known by his mother - was sent outside to play with his dog, Rascal. The Royal family, along with the servants and Guard, began searching the entire grounds for the Princess. Constance was to follow through with her duties of watching over the young prince.

Toby loved throwing a stick and watching Rascal chase after it into the garden then bring it back to do it all over again, but he became concerned when Rascal didn’t come back right away. He called the dog’s name, then heard Rascal bark, so he ran in that direction. He spotted Rascal sitting at the entrance to the garden maze, and that’s when he also saw what appeared to be a glowing ball of yarn on the ground in front of Rascal. Constance called for him, and he yelled, “I’m over at the maze! Come and see what Rascal has found!” 

When Constance reached Toby and Rascal, she started reminding Toby that he was not to go into the maze without an adult. That is when she saw the glowing ball. 

Just then, Rascal gave the ball a push with his nose, and it began to unravel into the maze. Rascal trotted after it, with Toby trailing right behind. Constance gave a little smile and followed. The ball unraveled this way and that, in and out of the hedges which made up the maze. Eventually, they saw the last of the ball stop right in the center of the maze. There they saw a figure lying on the ground in front of the bush. 

“Wow!” exclaimed Toby.

“Woof!” wagged Rascal.

Constance just smiled.

The figure began to moan and move. Then she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She saw the three staring at her and was startled. 

“Don’t be afraid, my child,” Constance quietly said. “Where did you come from?”

Standing up and brushing off, the young girl answered, “I live in a village down over the mountain,”. She went on to ask, “Who are you, and where am I?”.

“My name is Constance, and this,” she replied, “is Prince Tobias. You are in the middle of the Royal Family Maze located on the grounds of the palace.”

“The palace?” the girl exclaimed. “How did I get here?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” countered Constance.

“What’s your name?” asked Toby

“Ayla,” the girl answered.

“Oh,” Toby replied, disappointed. “I thought maybe you were my sister. But her name is Selah.”

Constance interrupted, saying, “You must be hungry, young lady. Why don’t we find our way back out of this maze and into the palace where we can get you cleaned up. Breakfast is already set up. Tobias, why don’t you grab onto that yarn and start leading the way out of here?” 

Finally out of the maze, the three could hear the calls for the princess. It was then that the queen saw the four figures coming toward the castle where she was standing. Bowing, Constance spoke.

“Your Grace. I would like to introduce to you Ayla, a young lady of the village. I believe you would be very interested in getting to know her.”

Ayla bowed and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace.”

The queen extended her hands to Ayla’s, and that is when she saw the crescent-shaped birthmark on the inside of the girl’s wrist. Gasping, the queen knelt down to her level and wrapped her into a fierce hug, crying, “Oh my sweet Selah! Constance, quickly go let the Guard and the King know that the princess has been found.”

Ayla pulled away, confusion written all over her face. The queen realized her confusion and invited her into the castle where they were joined by the king. It was there that they retold the story of who she really was and what had happened to her eight years before. Then the king asked Constance, “How and where did you find her?”

“Your Highness, I had found a specific kind of yarn that would appear to glow, whether the moon or the sun shone upon it, to help find where the princess was located. Somehow the ball of yarn ended up at the entrance of the maze where Rascal had located it and, subsequently, found where my sister had hidden the princess.”

The witch was eventually found and arrested, and the Royal Family lived happily ever after.