A Solstice Story

The White Lady wanders through the world on Solstice Night, her heart as cold and lonely as the dark night.  

Stars sparkle in the sky above.  The crescent moon sails on silver clouds and its light catches on the snow-crystals floating through the air, blown by the wind from the branches of sleeping giants.

As she wanders through fields of star-dust, an owl flies silently overhead watching her wandering.  A fox hides among the hedgerow, watching the White Lady pass.  A deer stands in stillness inside the edge of the wood, watching as she wanders close to the forest.

She hears music, so soft at first she cannot tell from where it comes, but the song grows and she follows the music, drawn deep into the woods until she finds a great ancient Pine. 

The music stops and she sees at the base of the tree a bundle tucked into the needles and roots.  She picks up the bundle only to find that it is a small child.  It is the child of Hope, the child of Light, the reborn Sun and the gift of the new year.

The White Lady holds the child close and smiles as she carries it back to her home to care for it, and the Green man, having seen all that has happened, smiles at the light that begins to glow brightly in her heart.