His Aunt Rose ran ahead of the little boy, laughing, long hair whipping behind her as she turned a corner on the trail and disappeared. He wasn't afraid, he trusted in the trees around him and the soil under his feet. He could hear the ocean ahead. It wouldn't be long before they reached the cliffs.
"Don't you drop that!" Rose jumped from behind a tree to try and startle her nephew, but she had whistled first because sometimes, he was fragile. He was nine and open with his tears, seeming to feel so much. He was his mother's son. He was told all this and heard all this when adults spoke in that way they assumed went over the heads of children. He heard the worry in their tones, though. How sorry they were to hear that.
The pumpkin in his arms was hugged tightly. It was small and white and Judd had chose it himself proudly. "I won't!" He ducked around the woman and took off at a sprint, hearing the waves crashing and feeling the air changing, getting saltier. Denser. "Catch me!"
"You know I will!" He squealed as he heard the rustle of the branches behind him, his Aunt having longer legs, quicker steps.
All of a sudden, the trees stopped and both burst out, laughing and slowing their runs to walks to then stop, sitting down in the grass. In front of them, Cape Split was a cacophony of seagulls and sea and the wind, winding around the rocks, sure in its swirling path.
"Give him your gift, lpa'tu'ji'j!" A nudge and Judd stood, walking not too close to the edge, but close enough to plant his feet and hurl the pumpkin out over the water, watching it fall and plop into the sea, disappearing then bobbing up, a white dot. He stared down, waivering a little, feeling like he could fall, crying out for Rose. She was there with a gentle laugh, arms around him and he recognized the ground was still there and he was safe.
"Kluskap will know it's from us?" The white was gone, the froth of the waves covering it, the offering of their hike taken. He smiled a little, unsure.
"He sees us," He looked where his Aunt pointed, having to hold back his hair to see, the wind playing with it. "He looks on from there," Her finger pointed to Cape Blomindon, "And sees us here as he sees all."
"The Eel won't take it?" Judd questioned, worry in his voice. He'd learned the stories over the years, of Eel, Turtle, the stone Moose. He listened with deep thought, so much so his elders teased him. So unlike Michael. A mirror image with an opposite soul.
"No, little bear. He is too busy, remember?" A prompt. The little boy grinned. He knew this one.
"Fighting Lobster," It made the muddy waters he knew from the bay and the river, their battle. He liked that story.
Then, something fluttered against his chest and Judd stepped back, into his Aunt's arms, looking down with curiousity. In the fold of his loose, second-hand-for-the-third-time t-shirt, there was a feather, flapping, caught. His hand reached up to free it, holding it at the tip.
"You see?" Rose's laugh was scratchy sometimes, from cigarettes she shared with Judd's mother on the back porch. "He heard."
Judd had so many questions, about how he did that and why he didn't hear other things, little and big questions both, but he held to the feather tightly and was quiet. If this was a message, then he'd listen. Even if he didn't understand. He'd listen.
Nulla facilisi. Praesent ac turpis pharetra erat dictum ornare. Quisque egestas condimentum sapien quis viverra. Pellentesque posuere enim tellus, a porta est eleifend eu. Etiam nunc ante, vehicula ut condimentum vitae, sollicitudin eu sapien. In quis augue at est viverra ornare. Sed euismod tincidunt fermentum. Nulla id rhoncus arcu. Aliquam erat volutpat. Vivamus dapibus quis libero ac volutpat. Pellentesque vulputate tincidunt tincidunt. Cras metus ante, tincidunt eget commodo ut, porttitor non metus. Proin urna erat, lobortis non vehicula ut, luctus et nunc. Duis iaculis odio a urna ultrices efficitur. Nulla eu porttitor nunc.
Mauris nisl leo, pretium quis arcu sit amet, consectetur pulvinar arcu. Duis dapibus semper lectus, vitae tincidunt quam eleifend sed. Aliquam efficitur lorem in massa blandit suscipit. Duis iaculis ligula quis varius sodales. In tortor tellus, fringilla a metus quis, efficitur ultrices justo. In lobortis condimentum ultrices. Mauris pretium felis eget diam fermentum, eget dictum metus tincidunt. Aliquam erat volutpat. Donec aliquam efficitur lectus malesuada fringilla. Fusce ut porttitor velit, vel molestie tellus. Aenean mollis luctus pellentesque.
In eget ultrices lorem, a congue neque. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Donec euismod urna convallis luctus aliquet. Donec convallis rhoncus sapien, vel rutrum magna rutrum in. Sed laoreet augue sit amet vulputate auctor. Mauris ut ipsum in metus dictum tempor ut vitae sapien. Fusce pretium turpis non mauris egestas, eget tempor nisl vehicula. Donec at turpis a ante auctor pellentesque nec quis nulla. Sed congue nunc ut ante mattis, id suscipit lectus molestie.
Etiam tempus ligula ex, nec molestie felis maximus id. Quisque at leo scelerisque, congue leo in, tincidunt nisl. Nullam efficitur, libero vitae tincidunt pharetra, diam dui eleifend odio, et tempus neque metus id felis. Nullam egestas velit sit amet leo faucibus, non vestibulum dolor ultricies. Suspendisse quis arcu id elit fermentum varius. Donec id felis quis velit elementum finibus id eleifend turpis. Suspendisse scelerisque, sapien imperdiet porttitor semper, mi tellus consectetur turpis, vitae fermentum est tortor interdum metus. Morbi a tincidunt nibh, id euismod diam. Integer dictum tortor non arcu rhoncus, vitae auctor nibh feugiat. Cras eget tellus at massa porttitor auctor in eget turpis. Suspendisse sem arcu, sodales in nisi eu, ultrices tempus purus. Curabitur aliquet massa et sagittis mollis.
Cras volutpat placerat justo in vestibulum. Integer luctus libero at metus semper pellentesque. Vestibulum ac est arcu. Duis consectetur ipsum ultrices, dignissim enim ac, luctus nibh. Integer fringilla at tellus vel fringilla. Suspendisse in sagittis risus. Nulla id massa et magna bibendum bibendum. Nunc ut turpis ac tellus lobortis porttitor. Proin ut quam justo. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Pellentesque tellus lorem, rhoncus et faucibus ut, tempus non lacus. Quisque sodales velit ac dui scelerisque pharetra.
Morbi lacinia massa nisl, a maximus est gravida eget. Praesent eget nisl sit amet diam imperdiet imperdiet. Mauris ornare, diam ornare ornare bibendum, ligula mauris malesuada est, et scelerisque lacus elit quis mauris. Donec commodo eros eu dui ultrices, ac accumsan libero finibus. Sed blandit lobortis lectus quis rhoncus. Aenean id hendrerit justo, vitae hendrerit dolor. Vestibulum vestibulum mattis posuere. Cras cursus vel mauris vel bibendum.