Umber (47.25 — Oleander’s Story)

August 31, 2012 § Leave a comment

” ‘Thank you, thank you,’ my father and sister said to the tiny fellow.  ‘Now, can’t you please help us out of this bog,’ they implored, but the little man shook his head.  ‘I’m afraid you’re going to sink,’ he told them.”

“Well, then, how did they get out?” I asked.

“They didn’t.”  Miss Brigid dabbed at her eyes.  “They sank lower and lower until they were swallowed up, out there in the black bog in the middle of the night.  By the time anyone knew they were missing, they were gone.  No one ever found a trace of them.

“That’s terrible, Brigid!” my mama said.

“But wait a minute,” I said.  “If no one ever found a trace of them, then how do you know what happened to them?”

Miss Brigid smiled a sly smile and said, “When they disappeared into the bog, the little people led them through an underground tunnel to a rocky invisible island near the port of Killybegs.  A lot of ships foundered there, since their navigators couldn’t see the island, being invisible and all.  The sailors who went down with the ships live on the island, though you can hardly call it living.  They only have sand and feathers to eat, so they are always hungry.  But they welcomed my father and my sister, and told them they could have all the sand that they wanted.”


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