The Wind

The wind itself is a force to be reckoned with. We have stopped talking about it having a Spirit, or thinking about it as an entity, or considering it much at all. We may think of it as it gently lifts our skirts on a summer day, as a caress perhaps, or as it lifts the Stars and Stripes to regally flap in the air over a sacred place. If we were sailors we would think of the wind differently. Energy, and power, transporting us. And if we were Birds. Like Windslow, we would have respect for Its currents and call it Friend. If we lived in the Midwest, and had experienced a tornado, or in the South, a Hurricane, we would not think so kindly of the Wind and may even feel afraid when it begins to blow.

That night in the Baggaraggs, a wind began to blow, indeed. Some say the saw the Maple lift its Hoary arm to part the Forest curtain, and allow it to enter. Some saw nothing, because they peacefully slept.

Whatever the reason, a Wind like none other began its work in The forest of the Baggaraggs...and the first indicator that something bad might be afoot began with the Goblin Lantern of Prunella Fig-Pink. It cast a rather beautiful Pink glow around the entrance and home of Prunella, illuminating the grounds and casting a serene shadow into the Forest itself.

Goblin Lights are interesting objects and are valuable to have. They DO NOT GO OUT. They do not require electricity, batteries or solar panels. I don't know how they work, and I don't think you do either, so the explanation for what is to happen next is...inexplicable. The forest is a dark place and as I have said before, it likes it that way. And so it was into total darkness it returned when the Goblin Lantern of Prunella Fig-Pink inexplicable blinked and went out.

At that moment, The one good eye of Peg the Pie-rat popped open, and tried to adjust to the darkness, and could not.

At that moment, there was a whirling sound that swept past the Home of Prunella Fig-Pink and rattled a shutter.

"Must be a mighty storm comin," thought Peg. She wondered about the darkness, and tried to sink back into slumber, and could not.

She squirmed a bit in the covers, stretching for a soft spot, getting comfortable, again.

The Wind spoke at the windows, opening them a inch or so with its mighty strenght, and filled a white curtain full of itself, like a ghost with a bulging belly. It whipped full, and then cracked! leaving the curtain finely shredded, hanging in thin strips, looking like long, unraveled bandages. The Pie-rats started. Some yelled out in Fear. But none could see.

Around the room it roared, tossing the cake to the floor, tangling the faded streamers and knocking over the chairs. The cabinet doors in the kitchen opened and slammed shut as the kitchen window opened, and blew the pots and pans to the floor.
The front door creaked and rattled as if a mighty hand was trying at the lock and then blew open in a rush of broken sticks and leaves and biting, jagged snowflakes. Big Punzee rushed forward to brace it up and shut it once again.
"What's happening?" big Punzee yelled above the malestrom to Peg-leg.
"Some kind of a storm or somethin'," replied Peg.
Above them,were sounds of something falling onto the roof, and together, as if in one motion, the rats hunched their shoulders to ward off the unseen falling objects from above. The floorboards moaned out in pain, and the wind spoke in a high pitched voice that sounded for all this world Like "GOOOOOOO!."
Fatigue and disbelief clouded the mind of Peg-Leg the Pie-rat. Rats, nearly blind in the blowing darkness, stumbled into each other and cried out in fear.