Lilies of the Field

by Em-Spider

 

 


Disclaimer: Cable, etc., is Marvels. Not mine. Not one red cent is being made. Ask for archiving. nopop-up and MST.

He sat in the field. It was one of the simple, lovely things he hadn't been able to enjoy in the future. The field reminded him of why he was fighting. Everyone, he felt, should have an oppurtunity to sit down in the middle of a huge field and just look and smell and hear and BE. There was no background noise from thoughts, just the buzzing of the bees and the rustle of the grass and flowers as the wind caressed them. He sighed, and looked around.

The meadow's fragrant, lily-covered whiteness stretched as far as he could see. The smell of the flowers tickled his nostrils lightly, and he picked a flower to catch the smell of it better, breathing in the fragrance. He flopped backwards, crushing grass and flowers beneath his bulk as he stretched out. Looking up, he felt as if he were in a green cave, looking up at a piece of soft blue sky.

Nathan noted that one of the puffy clouds floating by looked somewhat like a dog. He started looking for other shapes, finding a tree, a house, and President Woodrow Wilson.

His green "cave" seemed even more sweet-smelling than it had before, and he began to breathe more slowly, more deeply, relaxing. His tense muscles unwound as he watched an ant crawl across his chest. It was caryying away a piece of his picnic sandwich that he'd dropped a while ago. He grinned and reached into his brown bag, looking for the Hostess cupcake he'd packed. Finding the tasty eatable, he opened the wrapper and broke it in half. He crumbled one half on the ground a little distance away from where he'd been lying, then ate the other half.

He returned to his spot to lie down again. The grass he'd crushed the first time was nice and soft. The day was warm, and he was growing sleepy, so he curled up and drifted off.

He dreamed,and his dream was quiet and gentle as the breeze that ruffled the grass. Domino was there, and she stood in front of him, only she was young, like she'd been when he'd first seen her. She aged a bit, and hugged him, told him to relax, and continued to change. She grew, and changed, and flourished, and soon she was an old woman with silky grey hair. Her hair grew, braided itself. Her face took on the markings of the Mother Askani, and the Mother told him he was doing well. She changed again, her hair getting shorter, turning red as she deaged to a young girl. The young girl told him she was proud of her brother, and she, too, hugged him and started shrivelling into a grotesque creature. The creature smiled quietly, said something in the lilting Askani tongue, and started to grow taller, grow curves again, and red hair, and Jean told him to take it easy and get some rest for a while. Jean's curves disappeared into angles, and grew taller, more muscular. The hair shortened, turned brown, and the eyes were obscured by a visor. Scott smiled and hugged him, like everyone else had, and said, "Son, I'm proud of you." He felt his own self changing, and getting smaller and younger, and his fther's clothes changed, got more futuristic. He looked down, and found himself to be around five years old. He looked up, and saw Redd and Slym, and they were smiling. Slym leaned down and scooped him up, and he *was* so sleepy. He snuggled up to his father, and slept deeply, and was warm and protected, and he could smell Redd's gentle, flowery, comforting scent.

And Nathan Dayspring Summers slept a deep, undisturbed sleep, held in the arms of the grass and soothed by the scent of thousands upon thousands of pure white lilies.


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