Velana was a bright girl with hair like sunsilk and big staring green eyes which examined all that came her way. When she was but six, her grandmother, in whose house she stayed, put her to herding geese upon the slopes of the valley.
The morning was sharp and full of light as Velana took her stick and opened the gate. The geese, honking excitedly, followed her. She led them up the path, to the high slopes, where the grass was thick and green. Velana sat upon a rock and watched her flock as they grazed upon the grass. The gander, Wank, gave a loud, peculiar honk, and by this sound Velana knew that he had found a particularly large and juicy beetle. The others rushed over to see if they could steal a bite, but as usual, were unsuccessful.
Since she started herding, she had watched and listened carefully, and with growing interest realized that the geese spoke with the sounds they made. This was a new idea to her. At first she wondered why they used sounds to talk with, but later realized they must, for they had no hands and they had no fingers. Recently, while alone with the geese, she had begun to imitate the sounds they made, and discovered that the geese listened.
She also began to make up sounds of her own and she used them to name the things in her world. It was great fun.
Read the full story along with four other fairy tales in Newfound Fables.
In the Kingdom of Forgotten Kings, in the valley of Freymaar, Velana grew up. Her valley was poor, and isolated, and she and her grandmother lived by their garden and herding geese. The community of Freymaar was silent but that was all she knew. Nevertheless love came into her life until…she broke the silence.
Find more of R. A. Blackhall’s works at: