Oh, dear reader, I was right! Lorenz and I found the next stone giant, but oh, so much more than that! We followed the river through the forest, and well… I think we may have found the reason why Flame and I are green…
Bright and early, as promised, we set out and made our way to the first stone giant. From there we followed alongside the river’s path and Flame came with us, running ahead as if leading the way. All the while Lorenz checked the drawing and marked away in his little notebook. He seemed certain we were on the right course and showed me how our path matched the line on the page.
It was a sunny day, with a gentle breeze, and all the green things looked so lush in the swaying dappled light. We walked for a long time, the sound of the river gently trickling and gurgling over the stones and fallen branches, and Lorenz began to sing a song I did not recognize with words I did not understand. He began to teach it to me; it’s a lovely tune, melodic and lilting, with a quiet melancholy underneath that somehow makes it all the sweeter. I was going to ask what the strange words meant, but Lorenz stopped suddenly. I moved around the trees to stand beside him, and as I did I could see why he was still.
We stood on the edge of a large pool. Slowly it spilled out, creating the river behind us, and farther ahead it was replenished by another stream that splashed down in a short waterfall. At the center of the pond was a little island covered with grass and wildflowers, and upon it stood the stone giant we had been searching for. Oh dear reader, this would have been enough all on its own, but even more incredible was what floated all around it upon the water: lily pads and flowers… not so unusual except that they were enormous! Oh goodness, they were almost as large as Lorenz and I, and it made me feel just like the tiny maiden from the story.
I watched as Flame trotted forward and began to bat at the water from the shore. Lorenz slowly stepped out towards one of the great green leaves. Oh, I warned him to be careful. Surprisingly, it held his weight, and when he had a firm footing, he turned around and offered me a hand. Oh goodness, how strange it felt as the lily pad rolled beneath my feet; I nearly fell in but Lorenz caught hold of me. Once I assured him I was steady again, we slowly began making our way towards the little island with the giant, moving from lily pad to flower and so on. It made me wonder if this was how it felt to be a bumblebee or a frog that plays amongst such plants and flowers all day.
The stone giant was just as it appeared in the drawing from the little men, its face and arms held in the same unmoving pose. How long had it stood there, marking the way to whatever lay beyond? Lorenz pointed up stream, noting that there was still one more point on the map. I asked if he thought it would be another stone giant. He granted that it might be, but… perhaps not. He pulled out the key we had found in the fall. The same markings were on this giant too, though they varied slightly at the sides… the key, the mirror, and now two stone giants, all with the same vines, and on the other side of the key head, the Green Sister.
We knew we could go no farther that day, not if we wanted to make it back before nightfall, but we did have a little while before we needed to turn back. Lorenz decided to go for a swim — though only after we made certain there were no giant fish in the pool as well. I lay down in one of the flowers as he swam from one side of the pond to the other, and I watched as a little bird, a swallow, flew overhead. It made its way to a vine that was growing on the far bank. The plant seemed comfortable in its home so near to the waters, and it was covered in ripe green berries. The swallow began pecking happily at the fruit and as it did, a most remarkable transformation took place: the blue plumage shifted and turned to a deep emerald green.
Oh! I sat up so quickly I fell out of the lily and into the water. Lorenz laughed, but I was too focused! I kept trying to point to the bird, only to realize that Flame had ran over and frightened it away. I told Lorenz what I had seen as fast as I could. Oh goodness, could it be!? Had the fruit changed the creature? Lorenz and I got out of the water to look at the vine. It seemed normal enough, though neither of us recognized what kind of plant it might be. I suggested we wait a moment; perhaps another bird would return. Over a quarter of an hour passed. We held very still, and this time I made sure to hold Flame in my arms. A small group of little swallows flew down. Most had green feathers, but one was blue, and Lorenz and I watched as the transformation occurred once more. Oh goodness, how amazing! So the berries do change the birds! Had they changed Flame? But Flame glowed like the mushrooms in the grove. Did the birds glow? Did the berries? But I was green, and did not glow. Oh goodness, I felt so close to something.
We waited until dusk to see if the birds and the berries would glow, but they did not. It was a bright night and Flame, with his green light, led the way back to the cottage. Before returning back to the manor Lorenz had a cup of tea with me. I told him how funny it all seemed and how strange I felt. My whole life I wondered why I was green, but now that we had maybe found the reason, well, there seemed to be so many more questions… I felt we were missing something… He agreed and suggested that the answers may lie with whatever was upstream. But that trip will take more than a day, dear reader. Based on Lorenz’s calculations, we shall need to plan to stay in the forest overnight. Oh goodness, my heart quickens to think what we might discover! I am glad we found the second stone giant; our hopes were not in vain. Now we must hold on to that hope until our next journey into the forest this coming summer.