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amelia_petkovaStill not as good as it could be, but this is as close as I can get to the feeling I want. For the record: This is not the story I posted teasers from and said I would have done by the end of the month.
Title: Harvest
Fandom: The Prydain Chronicles
Harvest
By Amelia Petkova
Disclaimer: The Prydain Chronicles are the property of Lloyd Alexander (1924-2007).
It was now autumn at Caer Dallben. Even far away from the scullery, Taran could hear Eilonwy banging pots about. He smiled; on a golden day such as this, he would much rather be out of doors on his task of gathering fallen nuts. Oaks, chestnuts, walnuts, and other such trees grew scattered throughout Dallben’s farm. Once, years ago, Taran had been complaining at the end of the day about having to run about from tree to tree, while at the same time keeping nuts from falling out of his baskets. Dallben only had to suggest that Taran might prefer cleaning spider webs out of the cottage and that was that. Being so very old, the enchanter had been able to spend a lot of time thinking up ways to make Taran regret complaining. Taran enjoyed harvesting this year with Hen Wen as company, though he had to keep her from eating all the hazel nuts.
Taran was on his knees searching acorns out of the thick grass when he heard Hen Wen begin oinking loudly in the apple orchard. “Stop that, Hen!” he called, striding towards her. His current basket held barely enough nuts to cover the bottom and they rolled back and forth, clicking against each other in their hard shells. “If you keep wandering out of sight, I’ll put you back in your pen.” He stepped into the first row of apple trees and stopped short.
Leaning against a tree was a tall, thin man with thick white hair. He was smiling down at Hen Wen and scratching her white chin. She had ceased oinking and was now chuckling happily, always pleased to meet someone who would pay attention to her.
“Where did you come from?” Taran asked, too startled to be polite as Coll and Dallben were always telling him to be.
The man looked up. “Quite a ways off. I think I might have lost my way, but—would this happen to be Caer Dallben?”
“Yes, but how do you know Dallben? Hen, stop sniffing at him like that,” Taran ordered.
“I don’t mind,” the stranger said, though he did nudge Hen Wen’s snout away from his odd trousers and shoes. “I’ve been hearing about Caer Dallben for many years, though I never had the chance to come in person before.” He looked around him and smiled. “It’s so very much like Wales. And I’ve always loved apples.”
“Yes, but who are you?” Taran asked. He was more at ease now, but he still felt that something was out of place.
“You’ve caught me out! I was just about to remember my forgotten manners. My name is Lloyd. And you?”
“Taran of Caer Dallben. I live here,” he said. “I should take you to see Dallben. He will want to know that you’re here.”
“I would like that very much,” Lloyd said. They walked along peacefully, though one time Taran glanced at the ground and could not quite see the old man’s shadow between those of the trees’ branches.
Eilonwy came outside as Taran was closing Hen Wen back into her pen. She said, “Taran of Caer Dallben, I bet you’ve been lazing about all afternoon while I’ve been working! And taking Hen with you is like asking the forest to have her be lost in it again, and—oh.” She had just seen the stranger, who had tactfully been staying out of the way.
“This is Lloyd,” Taran said, shamelessly using the man as a way of avoiding yet another argument with Eilonwy. He stumbled a bit over the name that was as strange as the man’s attire. “Hen Wen found him in the orchard and he’s here to see Dallben.”
Lloyd smiled at Eilonwy and raised a hand in greeting. “Hello.”
Dallben stepped out of his study as Eilonwy was just opening her mouth in response. “I fail to understand,” he said, “how I am meant to meditate with all these disturbances.” He nodded upon seeing the man whom the commotion centered around. “Ah, good. I was expecting you.”
Lloyd stepped forward to meet the other man. “In that case, I hope I’m not late.”
Dallben shook his head, his fine white hair and beard wisping in all directions. “I think you have arrived at the perfect time.” Taran and Eilonwy watched as the two men walked into the cottage. Just as the door was closing they heard Lloyd say, “I am so glad to finally be here. It has been a long journey.”
Title: Harvest
Fandom: The Prydain Chronicles
Harvest
By Amelia Petkova
Disclaimer: The Prydain Chronicles are the property of Lloyd Alexander (1924-2007).
It was now autumn at Caer Dallben. Even far away from the scullery, Taran could hear Eilonwy banging pots about. He smiled; on a golden day such as this, he would much rather be out of doors on his task of gathering fallen nuts. Oaks, chestnuts, walnuts, and other such trees grew scattered throughout Dallben’s farm. Once, years ago, Taran had been complaining at the end of the day about having to run about from tree to tree, while at the same time keeping nuts from falling out of his baskets. Dallben only had to suggest that Taran might prefer cleaning spider webs out of the cottage and that was that. Being so very old, the enchanter had been able to spend a lot of time thinking up ways to make Taran regret complaining. Taran enjoyed harvesting this year with Hen Wen as company, though he had to keep her from eating all the hazel nuts.
Taran was on his knees searching acorns out of the thick grass when he heard Hen Wen begin oinking loudly in the apple orchard. “Stop that, Hen!” he called, striding towards her. His current basket held barely enough nuts to cover the bottom and they rolled back and forth, clicking against each other in their hard shells. “If you keep wandering out of sight, I’ll put you back in your pen.” He stepped into the first row of apple trees and stopped short.
Leaning against a tree was a tall, thin man with thick white hair. He was smiling down at Hen Wen and scratching her white chin. She had ceased oinking and was now chuckling happily, always pleased to meet someone who would pay attention to her.
“Where did you come from?” Taran asked, too startled to be polite as Coll and Dallben were always telling him to be.
The man looked up. “Quite a ways off. I think I might have lost my way, but—would this happen to be Caer Dallben?”
“Yes, but how do you know Dallben? Hen, stop sniffing at him like that,” Taran ordered.
“I don’t mind,” the stranger said, though he did nudge Hen Wen’s snout away from his odd trousers and shoes. “I’ve been hearing about Caer Dallben for many years, though I never had the chance to come in person before.” He looked around him and smiled. “It’s so very much like Wales. And I’ve always loved apples.”
“Yes, but who are you?” Taran asked. He was more at ease now, but he still felt that something was out of place.
“You’ve caught me out! I was just about to remember my forgotten manners. My name is Lloyd. And you?”
“Taran of Caer Dallben. I live here,” he said. “I should take you to see Dallben. He will want to know that you’re here.”
“I would like that very much,” Lloyd said. They walked along peacefully, though one time Taran glanced at the ground and could not quite see the old man’s shadow between those of the trees’ branches.
Eilonwy came outside as Taran was closing Hen Wen back into her pen. She said, “Taran of Caer Dallben, I bet you’ve been lazing about all afternoon while I’ve been working! And taking Hen with you is like asking the forest to have her be lost in it again, and—oh.” She had just seen the stranger, who had tactfully been staying out of the way.
“This is Lloyd,” Taran said, shamelessly using the man as a way of avoiding yet another argument with Eilonwy. He stumbled a bit over the name that was as strange as the man’s attire. “Hen Wen found him in the orchard and he’s here to see Dallben.”
Lloyd smiled at Eilonwy and raised a hand in greeting. “Hello.”
Dallben stepped out of his study as Eilonwy was just opening her mouth in response. “I fail to understand,” he said, “how I am meant to meditate with all these disturbances.” He nodded upon seeing the man whom the commotion centered around. “Ah, good. I was expecting you.”
Lloyd stepped forward to meet the other man. “In that case, I hope I’m not late.”
Dallben shook his head, his fine white hair and beard wisping in all directions. “I think you have arrived at the perfect time.” Taran and Eilonwy watched as the two men walked into the cottage. Just as the door was closing they heard Lloyd say, “I am so glad to finally be here. It has been a long journey.”
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 12:02 am (UTC)Sweet tribute to a lovely man. I do love to imagine dear Lloyd coming to rest on the hallowed shores of the Summer Country, but perhaps it is just as fitting to have him show up in Prydain itself...how fortunate that his name already fits the vernacular, what with the double "L" and all.
Stumbled upon this by googling "Prydain fanfic". I'm always on the lookout for more beyond what the few of us Alexanderian authors at ff.net have managed to pull together. Wish you'd join us there.
If I might make a teensy suggestion, it would be a nice "reveal" if you saved his name/identity until the very end - by having Taran skip asking his name and simply bring him straight to Dallben, and then having Dallben use his name, i.e. "I think you have arrived at the perfect time, Lloyd." That would keep the reader in suspense longer and then be a lovely little "ah-HA" moment.
Anyhoo. Good to know there are more fans of Prydain out there. We are too few and far between to be stand-offish when we discover one another.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 01:19 am (UTC)I suppose I was trying to draw a parallel between Caer Dallben and the Summer Country; I was also thinking of Medwyn's valley while writing this. I included the apple orchard because I was remembering that the name Avalon (a Summer Country) means along the lines of "the land of apples." And I couldn't resist adding the bit about Hen Wen eating all the hazel nuts, as in Celtic myth they are called the "nuts of wisdom", and it was said that the number of spots on a salmon were how many nuts it had eaten. And Hen Wen is, after all, a most intelligent pig.
Where would I find the Lloyd Alexander section at fanfic.net?
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 12:19 pm (UTC)It's a great section, with only a few duds (the obligatory token badfic without which it would not be ff.net). I recommend anything by PrydainViolet, Adaon45, and aka_the_centimetre...and, if I might throw in a shameless plug, myself, CompanionWanderer. I'm mostly Eilonwy-centric, so if she's a fave of yours you'll enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 02:59 am (UTC)I have his last book waiting for me at home. I'm putting off reading it, because then there won't be any more.
But this is beautiful, and sweet, and just right. Thanks for linking to it again, so that I could find it.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 03:13 am (UTC)My fourth grade teacher read Books 1 through 3 to us. She did the voices and everything. Couldn't teach math worth a damn, but that woman could read. Somehow, she got the entire class obsessed with what was going to happen next. She said that if we wanted to know what happened in Books 4 and 5, we had to read them ourselves.