All was quiet in the Banagher Glen that morning. Dew kissed the bluebells and gentle primroses lined the leaf-strewn pathways through the old woods. Perched on the cliffs, twisted oaks clung to the edge with all their might so as not to fall to the Glenedra waters below. For it was rumored that in those same waters lived a mighty serpent; one so great that St. Patrick himself was unable to drive him out to sea and left the huge snake there in the pool forevermore.
Kieran stretched his skinny limbs remarking to the lads, “Right, then, another lovely day is it?” His mate Aiden looked toward the blue sky and agreed, “Aye, today is a right lovely day. Tis good to be alive!”
“Maeve? Are ye with us, lass?” bellowed Kieran. “The day’s a’wastin’! The sun won’t be out forever you know!”
“Aye, Kieran, I’m here, ach aren’t I always right behind ye?” Maeve shook as she giggled and all the lads joined in on the joke.
“I’ve not heard a peep from Callum this glorious morning! Callum! What say you?” Maeve bellowed down the lane.
Callum fair cracked the silence with his yawn, “I’m bringin’ up the rear, just like every other day.” Then he, too, lazily stretched his limbs toward the sun, shaking off the night’s cold.
Banagher Glen was Siobhan’s very favorite nature reserve in all of County Derry. She loved to wander its ancient twisty paths and look up at all the trees. For hours she would walk in the quiet woodland talking to the ancient trees, wondering to herself what they had witnessed in all their many years. She could identify every ash, rowan, hazel, and hawthorn but felt especially close to the ancient oaks, their limbs gnarled and twisted. Her friends laughed to find that Siobhan had even given names to some of the oaks. Many days Siobhan thought she could almost hear the mighty oaks whispering as she passed by.
“Such a fine young lass,” remarked Kieran. “Wouldn’t you agree, Maeve?”
“Aye,” whispered Maeve, “fine lass indeed.”
Parchment Monkey 