A Return to the Wild

[JadeStryuu 534]

 

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"The sea calls to those who have walked its shores,

for it remembers every step,

every whisper of the wind."

 

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A RETURN TO THE WILDS

 

There are those who leave with the clamor of drums, their names sung to the heavens, and those who slip away in quiet, unmarked steps, becoming echoes in the wind.

 

You, Grandmother, were the latter. You drifted like fog through the cedars, like a whispered prayer, slipping the bonds of duty, of place, of time. You were a healer, a voice in the dark, a firm hand on a fevered brow, the whispered word of courage when the shadows closed in.

 

Yet, I watched you fade, not into weakness, but into something deeper, something quieter. The light in your eyes turning to the distant horizons, your heart no longer bound to the pulse of this city, but to the silence of ancient paths.

 

No one dared to ask where your thoughts wandered, but we saw it — the slow retreat into yourself, the unspoken farewells, the way your hands lingered on the old maps, the way you stared into the dusk as if catching the final glimmer of a departing ship.

 

You left, one dawn, your shadow stretching long across the stones, and the door whispered shut behind you.

No trace, no letter, no final words, only the echo of your steps and the salt-sweet breath of the sea.

 

But perhaps, one day, you will return.

Perhaps the wilds will release you, and the world will once again feel the steady pulse of your steps. I saw you leaving with a pack of wolves, creatures you had raised from trembling pups to fierce, loyal guardians, their silver eyes mirroring your own untamed spirit.

 

Now, as I stand at the edge of this world, looking to where the waves meet the sky,

I know you are there — a faint figure in the mist, a heartbeat in the surge of the tide. You are the wind in the sails, the whispered call of the unknown.

 

Let the sea cradle you now. Let the stars guide your steps.

Let the wild places know your name, as we did.

 

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Not goodbye, grandma, but bon voyage.

For in the loneliness, in the wind, in the twilight ... you remain.

Always

 

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SUA SIGNORA,

Valeria Viola Auclair, 

Head of the Valeriane Line of the

Auclair Household

 

 

Edited May 16, 2025 by JadeStryuu