Open Apple Picking

[Ari'Ellin]

60th Fall, 520AV

It was still early in the day with the sun having just risen above the peaks of the city. People were outside, moving around, making their way to work or coming back from a late night of leisure activities.

Ari’Ellin was sat in her doorway trying to decide what to do, waving a greeting to those who walked past her home on their ways to work. She enjoyed seeing everyone going about their daily lives, and in some aspects she enjoyed imagining herself as part of them.

Sighing to herself, she tried to decide what to do with her day when she heard some sort of commotion and saw a group of people making their way towards the Snow Apple Orchard. Furrowing her brow, Ari’Ellin stood up and walked to the fence that surrounded her garden. Carefully she leaned over the stone and caught the attention of someone walking past her.

“What happen?” she questioned, her voice soft and hushed, slightly concerned and also curious as to what could be going on.

“Oh all the apples are ripening early. They’re putting a call out for people to go help pick them all.” the woman said, a warm smile on her face and a friendly tone in her voice, and Ari’Ellin couldn’t help but smile back.

“Ah, thank you!” she said with a courteous nod the woman before moving back to her door and leaning into her home to grab her backpack. Soon she was swinging her door closed, she made her way over towards the Snow Apple Orchard to help out.

“Are you here to help?” a voice came and Ari’Ellin nodded, turning to look at the elderly woman that had asked her, and who also looked as though she knew what was happening. “Excellent! I’m Mariolla, I own the orchard. Usually the apples don’t ripen this early, but with Morwen disappearing things have been strange... Unfortunately we’ve ran out of our normal baskets, but could you take one of these to collect them in.”

Mariolla held out a large wicker basket and Ari’Ellin nodded, accepting the basket and hanging it on her arm before looking to the woman.

“Do you know what the ripe apples look like?” the elderly woman asked and Ari’Ellin shook her head apologetically. “Well, here.” Mariolla held out an example of two apples. One was dark and red, almost a perfect apple other than being smaller than she’d have expected. The other was lighter in colour and had some more yellowy orange tints to it.

“This one ripe?” Ari’Ellin asked, pointing to the dark red apple and watching as Mariolla nodded, a grin spreading across Ari’Ellin’s face. “Where need most?” she asking, watching the woman check outside before pointing towards the west.

“It looks as though less people are working towards the west. Could you possibly go help over that way?” Mariolla asked and Ari nodded and hummed in agreement, bowing slightly to the woman as a thank you.

“Of course. Thank you.” she said, a calm but cheerful tone in her voice as she made her way towards the west of the Orchard, her eyes looking at the trees as she started to reach for the lower branches, gently plucking an apple from it’s place and looking it over before placing the apple into her basket, her eyes keeping scanning over the trees for more of the ripe Snow Apples.

Word Count566 Words

[Autumn Rose]

“Oh, my Goddess! Autumn, you have to try this.”

Autumn’s mind had been wandering, but Gweneveh’s voice in pure ecstasy drew her back into the room at the Red Lantern. When she came to by materializing at the foot of Gweneveh’s bed, the scene came into focus. Autumn had always struggled to visualize the physical world unless she was a part of it, unless she was materialized. Perhaps she was an oddity. Perhaps it was the same way for every ghost. Looking to Gweneveh, she half expected the living woman to be naked. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Despite Autumn’s current state of existence, Gweneveh had decided to make it a game or a challenge to see if she could seduce the ghost. Today, though, Gweneveh had no such intentions. She was lounging in a pile of pillows up against the head board with her knees tucked up to her chest and an apple in her hand.

Holding out the apple, Gweneveh offered it to Autumn. “You have to.”

“An apple?” Autumn was unimpressed, and her face clearly said so.

“Not any apple. A snow apple. One of the first ripe ones of the season.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?”

“It’s a snow apple. Of course, you’re supposed to be impressed.”

“I’m not.”

“You will be.” Gweneveh held out the apple again.

“I can’t. I’m dead.”

Rolling her eyes, Gweneveh dropped her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. “We both know you have your ways.”

Autumn raised her eyebrows at that. She couldn’t believe what her friend was asking her to do. “I am not wasting life just to taste an apple. My jar is limited.”

Gweneveh pouted, an exaggerated gesture that was ployed with the skill and wisdom that plenty of experience had perfected to get Gweneveh exactly what she wanted. “I guarantee it’s worth it.”

Autumn’s eyes still said no.

Gweneveh wasn’t used to being told no, not as a final answer anyhow. When she heard the word, it just generally meant she had a little more convincing to do. She wasn’t going to let this go. “I guarantee it, but if you’re not satisfied, I imagine I could think of other ways for you to spend whatever time you have left.” She was always trying, but she could see the offer wasn’t enticing Autumn. “You always have something to do when you’re living. I’m sure you can figure it out. Come on. Try it. For me.”

This was as close as Gweneveh got to begging as far as Autumn knew. “Fine. It had better be worth it.”

“Is is. Trust me.”

Trust seemed to be a hard thing to give someone like Gweneveh. She made her living manipulating people’s trust to her advantage. Despite knowing this, Autumn was insatiably curious about these apples now. Quickly, Autumn fetched her jar from where it was hidden among Gweneveh’s clothes in a wardrobe. She brought it out and set it down, popping the lid open and sifting through the gems until she found one she liked, a medium-sized green one that reminded her of Maro’s eyes. The gem was almost in Autumn’s mouth before Gweneveh stopped her.

“No. Not that one.” Gweneveh’s eyes were set on one near the very bottom, and she pointed her finger at it. “This one.”

Autumn’s mists sparked in annoyance. “Why?”

“Because it’s the same color as the snow apples.”

Gweneveh set her snow apple next to the jar to prove her point, Autumn had to admit the two reds were very reminiscent of one another. Shrugging, she dumped the gems out on the floor, found the one in question, loaded the remaining gems back into the jar, and tucked it back into its hiding place.

As she emerged from the dark, cherrywood wardrobe, she popped the gem into her mouth, and the familiar flavor of starsong and light burst in her mouth like berries. No matter how many times she did it, the rush of sensations that came with living again was enough to take her breath for what felt like several chimes on end. When she finally steadied herself, her entire body was still tingling with the rush of tactile sensations, but Gweneveh was waiting anxiously with her apple in an outstretched hand.

Autumn felt her own smile break on to her lips and was almost undone by how disorienting it all was. Still, she wanted this apple, and greedy hands took it from Gweneveh’s. She was ready to sink her teeth into the apple when Gweneveh’s voice stopped her yet again.

“Gods, not like that, Autumn. Are you a barbarian?”

Autumn glared and, with a voice froggy from long unuse, responded. “How else do you expect me to petching eat?”

“First, don’t use that word. It’s not lady-like, and it certainly doesn’t suit you. And second, you need to savor it. You don’t just eat a snow apple like its some piece of bread. Experience it.”

Holding up the apple between them, Autumn’s glare deepened. “So what do you want me to do?”

Gweneveh smiled, and Autumn was beginning to see the other woman had already planned this out before she had asked Autumn to try the apply. She had known Autumn would say yes, and she had known Autumn would try to take a greedy bite of the apple. She had been waiting for this moment. “You need to cherish this like you would a lover.” Gweneveh shook her head. “No. Not like a lover. You haven’t had the best luck in that area. Cherish it the way you do Maro’s voice.” Gweneveh knew Autumn too well. She had listened to the ghost talk about her best friend and knew that there was nothing she valued more.

“Cherish its every detail the way you love every part of Maro’s voice, his rhythm, his cadence, his pitch, his tone. His curiosity.” Gweneveh had a habit of memorizing everything about everyone she met, and that showed now. A brief pause came while Gweneveh let that sink in, then, “Start with the color. How does it look? Miss nothing.”

Autumn was beginning to understand how Gweneveh could appreciate so many of her clients. While many would look at the big picture and miss so much, Gweneveh could sift through it all to find some detail she loved, and once she found it, she latched on to it and nurtured it until it was better than it had been before.

Turning the apple over again and again in her hands, the first thing Autumn noticed was color. Dark red, it almost bordered on burgundy, but little lines ran down its side of slightly brighter hues. It was freckled all about with tiny dots of a much brighter color, maybe yellow or orange though it was hard to tell with how small the spots were, and it was much smaller than the apples Autumn had encountered throughout her existence. At its top was the short stem, woody and brown. Stark against the red was the white of its fruity flesh where Gweneveh had taken the bite that had led them here.

Seeing Autumn coming up to the end of what she could gain from this sense, Gweneveh directed her on. “Good. Now close your eyes. How does it feel? Miss nothing.”

With her eyes closed, her other senses felt heightened. Against her fingertips, the skin of the apple was waxy and smooth, slick but still catching her skin on occasion, marred here and there by the raised freckles and little divots and dimples. It was cold, too, probably from having been in out of the sun. When her fingers found the stem, it was rough against them.

“Now hold it up to your face.”

Autumn made to take a bite, so Gweneveh stopped her again. “Not so greedy, gorgeous. There’s more to it. How does it smell? Miss nothing.”

Drawing in a deep breath through her nose, Autumn reveled in the scent that came, fresh and crisp something distinctly apple. She smiled. She had never experienced food so wholly this way before.

“Now, take a bite. How does it feel? How does it taste? Miss nothing.”

Setting her teeth to where Gweneveh had already taken a bite, Autumn bit slowly, the pressure building until finally the skin gave away with a pop and teeth sank though the flesh to bring an overwhelming sense of sweet while the apple smell swelled around her. Crunching slowly, she cherished every bite until there was nothing left to do but swallow it. A stray thought wandered through her mind. Gweneveh’s breath must taste and smell exactly this way.

“You’re right. That was worth it.”

“If you like it that much, they’re asking for volunteers to harvest them. Harvest time usually isn’t until winter, but the apples ripened early.”

Autumn’s eyes brightened. There could be so many more snow apples in her near future. “You won’t be angry if I leave you here alone?”

Gweneveh shook her head, and with that blessing, Autumn took off out of the Red Lantern and, after a bell of walking, found herself at the Snow Apple Orchard’s cottage. Her bright eyes glittered as she spoke to a woman on the porch. “I’ve heard help is needed.”

Mariolla smiled at Autumn and pointed in one direction. “I just sent someone that way. She may need help. Take a basket and be sure to enjoy yourself.”

“May I help myself to a couple apples?”

“Of course, dear. Just be sure not to make yourself sick on them.”

A short walk in the direction Mariolla had pointed brought Autumn upon a young-looking blonde busy picking apples. As she approached, Autumn could see she was a Konti with their typical iridescent scales and electric beauty.

“Good morning, friend. I’m Autumn. Mind if I help you here? Work seems to be more enjoyable with company.”

Autumn went to work, plucking apples from a low-hanging branch above her head and placing them gently in her basket. “How long have you lived here? I’ve only lived here a few days, but it feels like I’ve been in Lhavit much longer.” She smiled at her clever joke that only she would understand. “Are you one of the Orchard’s workers?”

Autumn was certain the woman wasn’t, but she hoped the question would get the woman talking a little bit about herself. She watched the woman as she responded, Gweneveh’s words dancing in her mind.

Miss nothing.

As best as she could, Autumn tried to focus on every detail she could, memorizing the woman’s face in a way.

WC=1,765

[Ari'Ellin]

The voice had shocked Ari’Ellin. She’d known that few people were picking apples at this side of the orchard, and the sound of a female voice that was loud enough to be directly addressing her wasn’t something she had expected. She’d found that few people acknowledged her and usually just let her get on with her own work, at least during the daylight hours.

She’d almost dropped her basket as she turned to face the woman, hands going to grip the handle of the basket before it reached the ground and risked spilling what little she’d picked already. She was fortunate in her endeavour and a slight smile spread across her face as she balanced the basket on her arm again, turning her full attention to the woman again, listening as she gave her name and offered to help.

“Autumn...” she repeated the woman’s name softly, before reaching out a hand as a greeting, using her other hand to point to herself as she took the chance to introduce herself. “I Ari. Ari’Ellin but Ari quick.” she explained despite being certain that using a nickname would be more than self explanatory to the woman, before she decided to add a little extra, this time grimacing as she spoke and admitted her struggles to someone she’d barely met. “Sorry, I common not good yet.” she briefly inhaled through her teeth before a soft chuckle came, trying to make light of her own lacking ability to use the language.

She spent a few moments just watching the woman as she started picking more of the apples, her eyes taking in her appearance, from her light blue eyes to her beautiful, long, reddish brown hair that Ari’Ellin felt a slight pang of envy over, and trying to commit it to her memory so that she could maybe recognise her in the future, then again she didn’t doubt her ability to confuse people with others and call someone by the wrong name. It must have been no longer than four or five ticks before she herself turned back to the tree, picking the lower hanging fruits from the tree, focusing on the ones that pulled away from the branches easily over the ones that were being more stubborn and would possibly require the held of a knife to release them.

“I here maybe years, three? Four? It nice here. Better than some places. Beautiful here.” she started, trying to remember when she’d left Mura and began the long journey that had ended in Lhavit. “I think four or three yes, I forget time.” she sighed and shook her head at herself as she continued trying to remember the date that she had arrived in the city, or at the season and year that she’d come to the mountainous region and first laid eyes on the mountaintop city and it’s incredible skyglass structures. “Only days? Where from before?” she questioned the woman, wanting to know more about the world that they lived in and the various cities that people could come from. “What bring to Lhavit?”

She was fairly certain that it had been four years already, at least three years since she’d seen her mother last, though she couldn’t help but furrow her brow as she thought, trying to work out exactly how long she’d been there before shaking her head and smiling at the woman’s next questions, asking her if she worked in the orchard. It was a strange day after all, and she imagined that on most days the orchard only contained those that made a living tending to the trees and the pretty little snow apples that seemed to be so popular in the city.

“No, I hear help need here. Not busy so think nice come, help pick, enjoy sun.” a soft chuckle escaped her lips as she thought of how little else she’d had to do, and how few people in the city she’d really met. “Enjoy people, talk maybe. Just be out instead stay home alone.”

“I herbalist. Healing Hands. Want to read future though. I need better first. More practice before people pay. Need make Avalis happy.” she explained, not wanting to let silence fall for too long. The woman seemed to be pleasant and sociable, and it made a welcome change for Ari to have someone she could speak to and enjoy the company of. “I herbalist. Healing Hands. Want to read future though. I need better first. More practice before people pay. Need make Avalis happy. You want work in Lhavit? What do? Or what want do?” she asked, tilting her head as she kept her eyes on the woman, curious to learn more about her.

Word Count781 Words

[Autumn Rose]

Shaking her head at Ari’s apology for the quality of her Common, Autumn gave the Konti a reassuring smile. “You think your Common is bad? You should hear me try to speak Fratava. It feels like I’ve been practicing it for decades, but most Svefra toddlers speak it better than I do. Just keep practicing. Speaking s the only way to get good at it.”

Content to immerse herself in the company of someone unique, different from most around Lhavit, Autumn listened to the woman’s accent. It was familiar, and Autumn knew she had heard it before. That beins said, the woman was a Konti so it was easy enough to guess the accent was Muran. She remembered other Kinti from the island speaking with the same pace and emphasis that Ari now used.

When Ari asked where Autumn was from, Autumn looked out southeastward over the peaks. “I came from Black Rock but by way of Alvadas.” Autumn thought about the geography for a moment in her mind and shrugged. “I know that route doesn’t make much sense, but believe me when I tell you, I never intended to end up here. I went to Alvadas with someone, but I lost them there. After Maro was gone, I couldn’t stand to be in the city that took him from me, but I discovered home didn’t feel like home anymore either. I went where sailors took me, and that was here. It turns out, though, that nothing ever really stays lost for long.”

As Autumn suspected, the Konti wasn’t a worker at the Orchard, just a volunteer like herself. One thing the woman said jumped out at her, something to the effect of “Just be out instead of staying home alone.”

If there was one thing Autumn had nearly perfected, it was isolation, and it wasn’t an ideal craft to master. Isolation left one alone with one’s thoughts. Thoughts turned to brooding, and brooding often gave way to whatever underlying current coursed beneath it. Fortune smiled on Autumn, though. She had Gweneveh, and Gweneveh knew how to draw out the best in people. Gweneveh never let her isolate long.

It turned out the Konti was a balance of the major Konti values. She was an herbalist, a nod to one of her people’s Goddesses, Rak’keli. Also, though, Ari was interested in fortunetelling, the realm of her other Goddess, Avalis, the Goddess Ari mentioned by name. Autumn wondered which one the woman was marked by. Every Konti Autumn had met was marked by one of the two, Avalis or Rak’keli. Part of Autumn wondered what it was like to be marked, to be claimed. Part of her was envious. To have connection to that sort of power must be exhilarating, inspiring. But part of her was happy she had never known, glad she had never accepted Dira’s offer. Everything Autumn had done, she had done of her own accord, by her own strength, driven by her own will. She was her, and her life accomplishments were hers and hers alone. Still, there was an enamoring draw, a fantasy that played in one’s mind when they thought of being blessed by a deity.

“Me?” Autumn shrugged, then reached up to catch a branch. Her foot found a hold in the crook made by a thick bottom branch, and she pulled herself up to stand on it. From this purchase, she could reach ever higher for apples on the upper branches. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for work right now, or if I’d even be good at anything. A friend is putting me up at her place at the Red Lantern for the time being, but I know I couldn’t handle her line of work.”

Autumn thought a moment about what she would be good at if this living condition were more than just temporary. “I used to be a teacher, but I’m not sure if I’d be welcome in the teaching circles here. The Towers have some very high standards, and my knowledge of magic is limited. All I really taught was reading and writing to the young ones. It would be fun to do that again. You can’t imagine the wonder there is in watching a child you’ve taught grow up to become a wiser part of society because of your input, not until you’ve done it.”

She stopped talking for a moment as she reached for an apple high above, one hand still desperately clinging to a branch. She wasn’t high up, but she didn’t like the idea of falling. Having lived free from it from it for so long, she was made painfully aware of her reattachment to gravity every time she returned to her living body. The apple broke free from the branch with a fleshy snap.

“Did you manage to stop in Black Rock on your way over from Mura? You are from Mura, yeah? You wouldn’t believe how many Konti stop at the Isle of the Dead on their travels about the world. With Rak’keli trying to prevent death, you would think more Konti would avoid Dira’s home, but it isn’t so. If you didn’t, you should visit someday. There is a beauty there unlike any other in Mizahar, at least anywhere I’ve seen. I imagine the two islands are quite different from each other. Black Rock is sheltered but almost always raining, keeping the marsh the way it is meant to be. Marshy. What about Mura? I’ve only ever heard stories.”


WC=917

[Ari'Ellin]

As the woman spoke of how poor her Fratava was, Ari couldn’t help but grin slightly, shaking her head and chuckling in response as she thought of her own Tukant and the few words that she knew with it. “Ah my Tukant same. I can some words. No full sentence. Just point say.” she chuckled again, just happy that the woman seemed to understand her struggle, even if just a small amount.

Then she listened to the woman speak of where she’d come from and where she had been since leaving that place. Black Rock wasn’t a place that she recognised the name of, but she’d been to a number of places on her journey from Mura to Lhavit, some for a matter of one or two days whilst they restocked and enjoyed a meal that wasn’t served on a swaying boat.

Then she heard a name being mentioned and she tilted her head slightly. The woman said that this person was gone, and Ari’s knowledge of the word wasn’t enough to help her determine whether the woman meant that this Maro was missing, dead, or whether he had just decided to leave her.

“Nothing stays lost for long? You found them? Or you know they safe?” she asked, hoping that the woman had managed to find whoever this person was. It was important to have those that you love close by, or at least know that they are living well and happily somewhere.

As she spoke, she was aware of the woman just listening to her while they worked at picking the small red apples. It was pleasant to have company, to have someone knew that she could speak to and just enjoy the company of, at least until the day ended and they went their separate ways.



“Red Lantern?” she repeated, trying to work out where she’d heard the name before. It wasn’t somewhere that she had been herself but she’d heard it being spoken about before. It wasn’t long before she had an idea of what the place was. “I think I hear name before. Men like because pretty girls, yes?” she asked, trying to avoid saying anything that might be taken offensively. “Your friend treated well? I think some people be nasty sometime. Hard job. I could not do.” she sighed softly at the thought.

“Teacher? Teacher sound fun job. Help young ones and get them ready.” she nodded as she thought, before narrowing brows. “Maybe not Towers but Academy? Maybe Academy want teacher?” she questioned. “They teach young I think. Towers teach not young.” she mused over what she knew of the cities opportunities for education. She had wanted to look into the Alluvion Academy for a while, certain that they would have a class that interested her. The Academy also seemed as though it would be a good way to meet people with similar interests. She’d been scared though. Maybe now was the time she should start looking into it.

“You sound like good teacher. Like you care a lot. Not just teaching because can, but teaching because want to help young do good.” she half hummed as she spoke, watching the woman.

As the woman asked if she’d visited Black Rock, Ari felt a smile spread across her face, happy to hear how much the woman knew of the Konti, and of how Rak’keli was important to them. She thought for a few moments before shaking her head.

“I been a lot places, but do not think Black Rock one. And I think Konti go because they aren’t against death, just preventable death. It waste if die from... Finger cut.” she thought of an example and chuckled at herself. “Near everything die in end, we should respect it and Dira and hope not come early. Also hope for good death. Good... after death?” she frowned slightly as she couldn’t quite recall the exact word she was looking for.

“Black Rock sound pretty. Different to what I see before. I will try visit one day. Marsh is unusual to me.” she smiled at the woman as she thought of how to describe Mura. “Well, Mura lots of Konti!” she chuckled as she stated the obvious. “It mild. Not too hot, get cold and snow and ice, but not too cold. Just need coats and gloves. It pretty. Part land, part water since we breathe both.” she stated, tapping her gills as though trying to ensure that the woman realised what she meant. “There a lot gardens and decorations. We like to decorate with shells, art, carving. Anything we can we use decoration. It peaceful. Everyone help. Everyone understand and do not expect too much.” she smiled slightly before shaking her head. “It other side of Syliras though. Long way otherwise I suggest visit. Too far go unless desperate.”

Most of the apples came away from the branches easily enough, though others were stubborn, and the one she was gently holding now was a stubborn one. Tugging on it didn’t seem to be loosening the apple from the tree and she frowned, not wanting to pull too hard and risk damaging the apple, or the rest of the branch. After a few moments of thinking, Ari’Ellin twisted the apple a few times and pulled again, smiling as it came lose from the branch and she could place the apple carefully into the basket.

As the woman stayed up the tree, Ari swallowed her thoughts slightly, hoping that the woman knew what she was doing up the tree and that she wasn’t going to lose her footing and slip from the tree. Ari may have been a herbalist but she wasn’t a doctor and had very little knowledge on what to do when someone was hurt from a fall in such a way.

“Try not fall. I don’t think I good help for that.” she half joked as she watched the woman picking the apples that were slightly higher up the tree as Ari’Ellin worked on the branches hanging low enough for her to reach the apples when standing on her tiptoes.

Word Count1016 Words