Entry III: Twilight Ember, A Memory of Sparks

Recorded by Aisling, Keeper of Memories

This time, when The Grove called to me, it called me to a knoll tucked behind a row of birch trees. The grass draping the hill invited me to sit a while.

I sat, pinched the blades of grass between my fingers and toes, closed my eyes, and inhaled. The air before me shimmered as a rift appeared. Unraveling space and time, a single glowing crimson thread of light spiraled through, a coil of light wrapping itself into a celestial seed, the color of love and longing.

I sat up in anticipation. Love stirred me. Longing tightened the muscles in my chest. I drew my knees to me and held out my hand to receive it.

I felt my body lift, but the prickling of the grass beneath me remained, the blades still crisp between my toes. Eyes still closed, chilled cherry and tart citrus stained my lips.

I was elsewhere.

Though I didn’t know where I was, I did know when. The glow of fading fireworks hovered in the air. This was the festival of lights on the night of the summer solstice. The red flavored ice cup in my hand matched the stain on my lips. The people around me sat in groups illuminated by multicolored sparks. One particularly bright flash drew my attention to the man sitting next to me. He winked at me and I flushed at the memory of the last time he’d winked at me.

The memory came in flashes. Dancing by the river, running home in the rain, standing closer than we should have under the portico of my house. He somehow still smelled of cinnamon and cardamom. My breath came shallow and fast. I stood beside Taren, our backs against the door, our fingers never quite touching. I burst into laughter realizing how wet I was and how wild I must have looked. He cocked his head in curiosity. I couldn’t stop giggling, so he winked. “Next time.” Then dashed back into the rain. A thunderous burst of fireworks wrested me from the memory. I turned in embarrassment as it faded.

I turned to look at him and our eyes locked. I was glad for the darkness obscuring my burning crimson cheeks. I tilted my head skyward to settle myself. His eyes remained on me. I breathed deep, soaking in his gaze. I remembered dinner: black pepper and cayenne sizzled on my tongue, cardamom cutting through like lightning turning night into day.

The sky flashed.

Fireworks boomed above the humming of the crowd and cicadas, but my world fell silent as my fingers met his, finally, fully. Sparks surged from hand to stomach, igniting electric butterflies.

I crinkled my toes and giggled to myself as I had in my youth, effervescent. I closed my eyes and breathed deep, flashes of soft light dancing behind my eyelids.

I opened my eyes. The fireworks were gone, replaced by the sparkle of fireflies in the grove. I settled into the knoll of grass, my giddy smile lingered. Goosebumps prickled my skin. I ran my fingers up and down my arms, biting my lip to keep myself from laughing at the shivers it sent up my neck. When I’d settled again, I rose from the knoll and walked homeward. I wanted this memory tree close to me. I buried the seed in the twilight soil and offered a memory of my own: A kiss from my first love in a field full of fireflies.

At once, I knew this seed’s name.

Twilight Ember.

I spoke it aloud, and a bright, new memory tree curled from the ground, its leaves glowing deep crimson, pulsing like embers through their veins.

I marked the place on my map, then tapped the tree for ichor, surprised by the spark that leapt through me as the crimson liquid pooled at the bottom of the glass. I felt the thrill of the memory return. I smiled, but only for a moment, before remembering my immortality and that these sparks belong only to mortals. I placed a hand on the ache now in my chest and the other on Twilight Ember. The tree pulsed, the light radiating in answer. The ache grew. I knew then I would not return to this tree.