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This would work better as a series of storyboards as my words to poor justice to the atmosphere I dreamt. Like many dreams this one did not occur in chronological sequence so I have had to piece it together.
~~~
The scene: a small Western town boasting a railway station and a sawmill and little more. A man from the east looks too well dressed to be asking about work in the foreman's office just inside the main entry of the mill. Outside the office his heavily pregnant wife stands with their luggage while a boy and girl of about five and seven respectively chase each other in a circle, singing and laughing in voices clear and sweet enough that they cut through the mill noise and cause the workers to pause and shake their heads in appreciation.
Suddenly the earth rumbles and shakes and everyone flees the building except the mother who is struck by a falling timber and goes into labour, the father who has his foot crushed trying to get to his wife (passing out after dragging himself free) and the little boy who clings to her. "Get help" she whispers to him and he scrambles up a ladder and runs along a walkway shouting out windows at the few people in the dusty street below - but they all seem frozen in time, paying no heed or turning to run. Exhausted he drags himself up a set of stairs to get to a door which leads to an external platform and half-falls through.
Outside (and moving at normal speed) people realise what has happened and mill workers rush to try and clear the pie of timbers and scaffolding which has fallen to block the entrance. The little girl is the only one with the presence of mind to run around the side of the building looking for another way in.
As she rounds the corner she finds herself, with her brother, in an impossible summertime field of flowers and grasses where peaceful feeling reigns supreme. A pale winged horse sits in the grass, a gangly (also winged) filly sprawled out next to her is obvious contentment. The mare lifts her head and speaks to the confused children, greeting them ans "brother" and "sister" and telling them it is good to see them again.
[context impossible to convey descriptively: the mare is somehow the little girl who is about to be born, communicating from the future where she is literally able to assume this form. The foal she introduces in passing as their niece.]
She tells them everything will be all right and they are transported back, stepping back through the door at the top of the stairs and running back down to be with their mother. A beautiful fae woman is kneeling there and the mother is weakly whispering "I cannot take that from them" or "It is not mine to give". The woman lifts her head and asks the children "will you give your voices to save your sister?" Not really sure what is being asked of them the two just nod dumbly.
When rescuers arrive they find a healthy child born and the mother near-death. During the early stages of her long convalescence she sometimes rambles about the "beautiful fairy" who helped her, which is put down to hallucination bought on by the stress of he experience.
Five years later ("now"): The boy has not spoken since that day but is not simple and can read and write to communicate. He works at odd-jobs around the mill and will grow into a strong man, but his dark eyes reflect a depth of things seen that makes some uneasy. His sister is mostly responsible for looking after the family and she speaks rarely. When she does it is quietly and quickly, glancing up shyly with usually downcast eyes. Often the two will be seen sitting together, he silent and looking away while she holds his hand and sings softly to him.
The father (an educated man) was offered a job doing the mill paperwork by the sympathetic owner who has never had reason to regret the decision. Despite his semi-crippling injury he is now foreman. The mother is weak and spends most of her time sitting up in bed but is otherwise fully recovered and the women of the town bring sewing and other work to her. Although it is common knowledge around town people do not mention the odd circumstances of the birth and have avoided asking about the family's past.
The now-5-years-old babe is healthy, fair of face, generally well behaved and generally adored by all around the mill community. When she manages to escape supervision she can usually be found in the mill stables running and skipping around the large draft animals. Despite the apparent risk she has never and will never come to harm here.
[Twist in the tale] It's entirely likely that the accident was caused by the fae woman as a ploy to take the voices of the children for her own.
~~~
The scene: a small Western town boasting a railway station and a sawmill and little more. A man from the east looks too well dressed to be asking about work in the foreman's office just inside the main entry of the mill. Outside the office his heavily pregnant wife stands with their luggage while a boy and girl of about five and seven respectively chase each other in a circle, singing and laughing in voices clear and sweet enough that they cut through the mill noise and cause the workers to pause and shake their heads in appreciation.
Suddenly the earth rumbles and shakes and everyone flees the building except the mother who is struck by a falling timber and goes into labour, the father who has his foot crushed trying to get to his wife (passing out after dragging himself free) and the little boy who clings to her. "Get help" she whispers to him and he scrambles up a ladder and runs along a walkway shouting out windows at the few people in the dusty street below - but they all seem frozen in time, paying no heed or turning to run. Exhausted he drags himself up a set of stairs to get to a door which leads to an external platform and half-falls through.
Outside (and moving at normal speed) people realise what has happened and mill workers rush to try and clear the pie of timbers and scaffolding which has fallen to block the entrance. The little girl is the only one with the presence of mind to run around the side of the building looking for another way in.
As she rounds the corner she finds herself, with her brother, in an impossible summertime field of flowers and grasses where peaceful feeling reigns supreme. A pale winged horse sits in the grass, a gangly (also winged) filly sprawled out next to her is obvious contentment. The mare lifts her head and speaks to the confused children, greeting them ans "brother" and "sister" and telling them it is good to see them again.
[context impossible to convey descriptively: the mare is somehow the little girl who is about to be born, communicating from the future where she is literally able to assume this form. The foal she introduces in passing as their niece.]
She tells them everything will be all right and they are transported back, stepping back through the door at the top of the stairs and running back down to be with their mother. A beautiful fae woman is kneeling there and the mother is weakly whispering "I cannot take that from them" or "It is not mine to give". The woman lifts her head and asks the children "will you give your voices to save your sister?" Not really sure what is being asked of them the two just nod dumbly.
When rescuers arrive they find a healthy child born and the mother near-death. During the early stages of her long convalescence she sometimes rambles about the "beautiful fairy" who helped her, which is put down to hallucination bought on by the stress of he experience.
Five years later ("now"): The boy has not spoken since that day but is not simple and can read and write to communicate. He works at odd-jobs around the mill and will grow into a strong man, but his dark eyes reflect a depth of things seen that makes some uneasy. His sister is mostly responsible for looking after the family and she speaks rarely. When she does it is quietly and quickly, glancing up shyly with usually downcast eyes. Often the two will be seen sitting together, he silent and looking away while she holds his hand and sings softly to him.
The father (an educated man) was offered a job doing the mill paperwork by the sympathetic owner who has never had reason to regret the decision. Despite his semi-crippling injury he is now foreman. The mother is weak and spends most of her time sitting up in bed but is otherwise fully recovered and the women of the town bring sewing and other work to her. Although it is common knowledge around town people do not mention the odd circumstances of the birth and have avoided asking about the family's past.
The now-5-years-old babe is healthy, fair of face, generally well behaved and generally adored by all around the mill community. When she manages to escape supervision she can usually be found in the mill stables running and skipping around the large draft animals. Despite the apparent risk she has never and will never come to harm here.
[Twist in the tale] It's entirely likely that the accident was caused by the fae woman as a ploy to take the voices of the children for her own.
