Harmony Winds, Wanderer

They call me Harmony for a reason. When I say they, I mean the birds, the rabbits, and the occasional deer. They are drawn to me. The birds are drawn to me because of my bird’s nest hair. They often try to use me to house their babies. The rabbits like the herbs and plants I carry around, they can smell them from a good distance away. They especially love my clover plants. They are the sweetest of all animals in the forest. The deer like my berries and treats. They recognize my breath by its sound. I live in harmony with nature, it talks to me. The wind whispers into my adapted ears. The spirits talk to me through my hide clothing. They tell me it was okay to use the animal’s soft hides to cover my body. The grass reflects off my vibrant green eyes. The water in streams and lakes run through me through a necklace I wear around my neck. It shimmers off my slightly browned skin. I am the symbol of nature. I wear a crown specifying me as queen. It has all four elements painted on green leaves. Water, Fire, Earth, and Air are painted with only natural substances. My face resembles the moon, it is round with a few crevices and scars. I resemble the sun, shining brightly throughout the meadows.

My mouth is like a stream of water during the rainy season. It changes depending on the weather or the outcome of the day. Sometimes it is curved into a smile; sometimes the tides go back in and form my mouth into a small unbroken line. My nose is like a tree, it prospers different functions, such as taste and smell like a tree prospers life. I never compare myself to something other than nature itself; it’s all I’ve ever known.

I am calm. I never get upset. I have come to realize after many years of my nature infused lifestyle that things happen for a reason. For instance, there might not be berries on my favorite berry bush because there is a bear in the area and I need to move out. Or, the streams are dry because I’m not meant to be there. Nature determines my reasoning. The weather, the feel of things, and what the animals or spirits tell me.

I am a very observant person, which came naturally to me over the last few years. I thoroughly examine a piece of ground before sitting on it; I examine my surroundings thoroughly before setting up camp. I examine every millimeter of my food before I put it in my mouth. I count the fish that go by in the stream every twenty seconds to see if that stream will provide me with enough food. I am not on a tight schedule, therefore I spend most my days and moons examining things, that way, if even one thing is out of line, I will know it, and I will know how to respond to it.

I am a very picky person when it comes to where I sleep or eat or sit. I do not like to sit on logs because they wear out my dress and beads. I do not like to sit on wet ground because it stains my clothing. I only have one set of clothing designed for each season, so I must keep them clean. I do not sleep in the open; I prefer to be up in a dry tree on a bed of rope or dry leaves woven together. I like to eat far away from my camp and sleeping grounds so that bears won’t come near me. I only eat on dry ground over a fire. I will not eat without a fire. Luckily, I can make one while it’s raining, in my sleep. Not that I’ve ever tried.

I have a deep connection with nature; I know even when the river bed is a centimeter lower than it was the day before. I love all animals and only kill them when it’s absolutely necessary, except when it comes to fish and bear. Bears make great wool coats and plenty of fatty meat, I will kill one every fall, so that I can use it all winter long when food is scarce. I make a coat for in the fall and in the winter. Fish, are just disgusting creatures in my eyes. They do nothing for me except poop in the stream, which doesn’t help the sanitation process. I will kill one every day in the fall and one every two days in the summer when my energy is lower. In the spring, I will kill them when I need them. They are my main source of protein and meat.

I am very organized. I have schedules according to what day and what season. For instance, on a normal day in the summer, I will wake up when the sun is high in the sky. I do not do much for food in the summer, and I always camp near a stream no matter what season. I will wash in the morning and evening. After I wash up, I will take my horse out for an exercise. After that I will eat breakfast then make stew for lunch. While the stew is making I will gather berries and fish if I need to. I will feed a few berries to the deer and crush nuts for the squirrels and birds. I will swim and relax most of the day in the summer unless I am moving locations or in need of rope or something like that.

Before I lived in harmony with nature, I lived in District 10. I remember it very vaguely. I only remember the night me and Matthew escaped. I was only six and Matthew was nineteen. I don’t remember most of what happened, but Matthew told me. I remember my mother hitting Matthew a million times. I remember my father locking us in closets, I remember hearing that I was a mistake, and that I was never supposed to be born, and Matthew was used as cheap labor. He told me that he could handle our parents, but I couldn’t. He said that they were so mean to us, and he overheard them talking about using me for something, something he didn’t tell me until we were older. They wanted to use me for intimacy. They wanted to charge men to have sex with me. Matthew said as soon as he heard that, and I was at school when he did, that he packed up our stuff. He bought a horse from the livestock stand with our parent’s money. He picked me up from school and we left. We left the District. I don’t know how, I don’t remember leaving, but we left. Matthew said I was asleep; that I always seemed to feel the most comfortable with him and a horse. Somehow we crossed the District border and left. He said we rode for days and days, but I slept through most of it. Eventually we made it to the forests of District 7, which were rich in food and supplies. Matthew knew how to survive in the forest. He said that he had runaway once, but was caught and severely beaten causing a scar right above his left eye.

He taught me everything he knew, and by the time we had made a living for ourselves in the forest I was around twelve years old. We met many wanderers just like us along the way, and they taught us new tactics and survival skills. One of the wanderers we met was one of Matthews’s friends. He had helped him escape when he left the District the first time. He was my age, surprisingly, but knew much more about surviving then Matthew did. He joined us in our travels around the forests of multiple Districts. I eventually started to fall for him. His name was Caldwell Vinpointe and he was a blonde, tall strong man. He had bright blue-green eyes similar to mine. I had never been in love before, so I had to ask Matthew what it meant. I described how I felt about Caldwell and Matthew explained to me that I was in love. It was a weird feeling but a great one. Me and Caldwell soon became a couple who were madly in love. By this time, I was sixteen and Matthew was thirty. He also had found love along the way. He was joined to a twenty-six year old woman named Briar Yule. They had two wonderful children when Matthew turned thirty-two. Briar was like my sister and their children were like my own. Caldwell and I were now seventeen. We were like a big happy family. We were surprisingly healthy and strong. Everything was perfect.

As the weeks went past after me and Caldwell turned eighteen, he began to change. He was no longer the sweet and gentle boyfriend I had. He turned into an extremely over protective control freak. Me and Matthew drifted apart day by day. Caldwell kept me from Matthew and his family. He kept me to himself, and I felt trapped. Even though when I would send him to the stream to get water so I could talk to Matthew I told him we just liked spending time together. The days got longer, Caldwell kept me in the tent all day and all night. I couldn’t explain to Matthew what was going on. He had no idea what Caldwell was doing to me. After a while of this, Caldwell decided we would leave; that we would be totally separated from any other human beings. We still had our horse, which I named Daisy. Caldwell took me away along with Daisy. I never saw my brother or my family again, but the farther we got away from them, the more Caldwell became his normal self. Even through his protective period I still had a love so strong for him, I couldn’t disobey him. Soon, that love became stronger, though I still had hate for what he had done, I would and could not leave my one and only love.

We became close again. I began to love him even more than I had. Caldwell was for sure the love of my life. We swam in the stream together and took long horseback rides. Life only got happier. One day, me and Caldwell made a vow to never have children, because he wanted me all to himself. I never really liked the idea of having kids anyway and I thought it was sweet, so I agreed. He was my rock. He kept me sane and happy. Now we are nineteen, and living it up like always. Every night before we go to sleep he says to me: I love you more than there are stars in the sky on a crystal clear night<3

We both have a love for nature almost as strong as our love for each other. We do everything together. He follows me like a hawk, but I love him too much to not want him around. I never get tired of him, and we never fight. The way I explain myself may make me sound like a loner, but sometimes I get so used to him being there, I don’t even notice. He is my love, my life, he is my Caldwell.