Wandering Woodcarver by Himring

Wandering Woodcarver

Oderen sensed the call as he handled the wood. It was a lovely piece of pine. The captain had asked for a frieze of fish, a common enough request among the more well-to-do citizens of Brithombar, so Oderen carved a shoal of darting mackerel, expertly, unhesitatingly, but he sneaked in small pine cones at the corners, for the light wood grain under his fingers had set him dreaming of dark forests rising high atop mountain ranges inland. As he added the finishing touches, he already felt a growing desire for cool mountain breezes pull him north-east as on a string.

Emlinn returned from the harbour with two small haddocks from today’s catch in her basket and duly admired the finished carving.

Over their fish dinner, Oderen abruptly said: ‘We should go to Dorthonion. There is good wood there.’

Emlinn blinked. She had not expected to leave again so soon. For a moment, she felt as if her husband was pulling her around on strings, like the puppeteer she had seen performing earlier on the quay. Then she regained her balance and her humour.

‘All that way for good wood? You are just pining for travel again! All right, let’s go!’

Chapter End Notes

For the B2MeM 2022 General Prompt (G-111): pine, woodcarver, puppeteer, fish. 2 x 100 words in MS Word.

The dynamic between the couple will change a little when they get embroiled in the events described in The West Wind Quartet and A Woodcarver from Brithombar.