Vigil No. 2
Sigh No.2
September 21st, 3:03 pm
Rat busied himself about the house, collecting bay leaves and cinnamon, wax and wick and all manor of comforts, both comforts to him and what he hoped would be comforts to others.
He Neatly packs them in boxes and he takes them, one by one, down into the hole in the garden.
The sun has not yet set.
Badger has dug deep enough that rat cannot see him from the vault he has chosen down the tunnels. He chose one very close to where Badger will be sleeping.
Needing a rest, Rat sat in the garden a moment and watched rows of little fluffy clouds pass rapidly over him, leaving brief darting moments of shade, then warmth and sun then blue hues and shade again. Today was the first day since the digging and preparation began, that actually felt as though the Autumn were arriving. It would be some time before the winter and the Wolf. And that worried and comforted him in odd ebbing ways.
He looked through the big windows at the back of the house where he had sat with the others the night before. Possum was nowhere to be seen, but Bear stood at the window. From where Rat rested he could not tell if Bear was looking at him and as the bear retreated into the shadows of the house, it gave him no clearer a sign.
The work was done for the day, there was to be a celebration before the going into the underground.
Washing up and readying himself to greet the animals, Rat wondered if Badger might at least join them for a while and hoped he would.
As the evening turned golden, the animals came.
First the Mice then Moths, all a clamber and giggles. Then haphazardly and not without incedent came in the blindfolded Raccoon, who handed Rat his umbrella and began to bump about the house.
Then came Bear from the back room, who sat quietly in the kitchen, in a chair whose back was against a wall.
Possum still slept but was present in her own ways.
And finally with a great thud, the door was closed by Badger, whose presence made the Rat overflow with comfort and happiness.
Tonight was a celebration!
All the animals would attend, those known and those unknown and when the celebration ended, the descent would begin.
There were no speeches, or specific feasts, just animals milling about, eating and drinking as they liked, speaking about the “down there” and what they planned to do with the time spent in it.
Rat sat quietly next to Badger, who was visibly tired and nodded off here and there. The warmth of him was like wine and mead and hot tea and baths to him.
It left the Rat satisfied and un-worrisome.
And at a time of celebration, what more than satisfied and unworried can one hope to be?
“Here we are all gathered, the known and the unknown, the future is unknown, the self is hardly known and the “other” known even less, but in this season we ask for unity and warm kinship, that as we huddle together and share our stories and lights, we may come away from it all back into the sun, a little more of each other than before. As the seasons change may we change in promise, in the same promise that what sleeps shall return, what was once green and quiets into fire and gold and then silver and sleep, will be green once again in time. May we come back fuller and wiser and more able, may badger dreams be full of peace and laughter, and may he rise again in might!”
