The Weather was mild in the Autumn Equinoce´s eve, when young Kea´s mother sent her to the village with the purpose to deliver a message to her aunt Tellery. After eating a piece of berry pie that her aunt ofered her, she prepared herself to walk back home.
- “ take this oil lamp with you, dear” – Recommended her aunt – “The night might catch you in the way”.
It was a long walk, and in an attempt to shorten the time of the jorney, Kea decided to take a shortcut through the woods. About half of the way, she stood in the middle of the forest, confused.
- “ that´s strange” – She thought – “ I´m sure that the old stone foot-path should be rigth there, next to that tree.” – With an increasing unpleasant feeling, Kea rambled throught the trees, walking deeper and deeper into the leafy oak forest, where the vegetation was thicker, and the trees where older, with twisted and mossy roots. The more she walked, the less familiar the scenery appeared to her. Starting to get scared, and beginning to acept the fact that she was lost, she considered her chances and decided that tbe best thing to do was look for shelter, since it was already getting dark. Resigned, she took shelter in a cozy hollow surface formed by the roots of two very old trees, decided to wait there for the dawn. The night finaly fell - thank god for her aunt´s oil lamp!
Kea was tired of the jorney and her eyelids where starting to get heavy. She was awaken by a peculiar sound – “ Oh Lord! I must have fallen asleep!” – she thought – “ I can only hope that the oil lamp last until daylight!”.
Suddenly, from the darkness apered a squirrel and a red fox. They seemed not to find her presence strange at all, as if Kea had always stood there, in that particular spot since the beginning of times. They approached her with their kind expressions, as if they where welcoming her. She Could almost hear the words that their eyes seemed to speak: Don´t fear, whe are heare to protect you!
Above her head echoed the chirp of an owl, that came to join them. Kea was grateful for their warm, for the night was cold. She suddenly felt safer and comfortable. Snuggled in the middle of the animals, and now feeling calm with their peaceful presence, the tiredness took over her body again, and her heavy eyelids insisted on closing.
Another sound, now diferent, awoke her from that pleasant sluggishness. A sound that was diferent from everything that she had ever heard. Like whispers in the wind, but much more than that at the same time.
That´s when she saw them…apearing from the inexorable darkness of the forest, heading playful towards her, or receding disdainful, spreading their bright auras throughout the blackness of the woods.
Welcome little sister, seemed the wind to whisper.
Surrounded by that profusion of colorful lights, and tranquilized by the presence of the animals, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
When she finally woke up, the sun was shining hight in the sky. She was really surprised to see that the old stone foot-path was right there in front of her. It was unbelievable that she didn´t notice it before. Was she getting mad? She felt like she slept for days.
She decided that all was nothing but a dream, and returned to the road so she could walk back home.
- “ WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN young girl?” – Yeled her mother rather furious, when she finally got to the village – “It´s been more than a week since you left. The men are all looking for you through the woods. Whe where all imagining that you had been attacked by a wolf or something like that. Do you want your poor mother to have a heart attack?
More than a week? – Thought Kea with a shiver. Slowly, from a place in her memory that she didn´t even know that existed, emerged the words that the oldest woman from the village said to her one day. Kea couldn´t tell how that she remembered it. Everybody knew that it was nothing but rubbish from a senile old woman.
- “Time runs differently in fairyland” – she said – “You can spend a night there, and find out when you return, that a 100 years went by”.
* This story and this illustration is deticated to my good friend
Ana de Amsterdam, that kindly acepted to pose as a photographic model to this illustration.
O dia estava ameno na véspera do Equinócio de Outono, quando a mãe da jovem Kea a enviou à aldeia vizinha para levar um recado à sua tia Tellery. Após comer um pedaço de tarte de bagas que a sua tia lhe ofereceu, e tendo transmitido a mensagem, pôs-se a caminho de regresso a casa. – “Leva esta lamparina de azeite” – recomendara a sua tia – “não vá a noite surpreender-te no caminho!” .
Ainda era uma longa caminhada, e numa tentativa de abreviar o tempo da viagem, kea decidiu tomar um atalho pelo bosque. Sensivelmente a meio do caminho a jovem deteve-se confusa.
- “ Que estranho! ” – Pensou ela. - “ estou certa que o velho caminho de pedras deveria
estar mesmo ali ao lado daquela árvore.”
Com uma crescente sensação de desconforto, Kea vagueou, embrenhando-se cada vez mais pelo frondoso bosque de carvalhos a dentro, onde a vegetação era mais densa, as arvores mais antigas e veneráveis, de raízes nodosas e espessas. Quanto mais andava menos familiar lhe parecia o cenário. Já a ficar assustada e começando a aceitar o facto de que estava perdida, considerou as suas hipóteses e decidiu que o melhor era procurar abrigo, uma vez que começava a anoitecer. Resignada, abrigou-se numa reentrância formada pelas raízes de duas árvores muito antigas, decidida a esperar aí pelo amanhecer - graças a Deus pela lamparina de azeite da sua tia! A noite finalmente caiu, e a hora em que o sol dá lugar à lua impôs a sua inevitável presença.
Kea estava cansada da viagem, e as suas pálpebras começavam a pesar. Foi despertada por um som estranho – “Oh céus! Devo ter adormecido!” – pensou – “só espero que a lamparina dure até ao amanhecer!”. Subitamente, vindos da escuridão surgiram um esquilo e uma raposa vermelha, que pareciam não estranhar de todo a sua presença, como se a jovem tivesse estado ali, naquele preciso lugar desde o início dos tempos. Aproximaram-se com as suas expressões bondosas e encorajadoras, como se lhe estivessem a dar as boas vindas. Kea quase que podia ouvir as palavras que eles pareciam querer pronunciar: Não temas, estamos aqui para te proteger!
Acima da sua cabeça, soou o piar sereno de um mocho que se lhes veio juntar. Kea agradecia o seu calor, a noite estava fria. Sentia-se subitamente mais segura e confortável. Aninhada no meio dos animaizinhos, e agora mais serena com a sua presença tranquilizadora, o cansaço apoderava-se novamente do seu corpo, as pálpebras insistiam em se fechar.
Outro som, agora diferente, despertou-a daquele torpor agradável, um som que não se parecia com nada que já tivesse ouvido. Como murmúrios no vento, mas simultaneamente muito mais do que apenas isso...
Foi então que as viu…surgindo da inexorável escuridão da floresta, ora avançado brincalhonas na sua direcção, ora recuando esquivas, espalhando as suas auras luminosas pelo negrume do bosque. Bem-vinda irmanzinha, parecia o vento sussurrar.
Rodeada por aquela profusão de luzes coloridas, e tranquilizada pela presença reconfortante dos animais, caiu num sono profundo, sem sonhos. Quando por fim acordou, o sol brilhava alto no céu e para seu espanto, o velho carreiro de pedras estava mesmo ali, bem à sua frente, era inacreditável que não tivesse dado por ele antes…devia estar a ficar louca! Tinha a sensação de ter dormido durante dias. Decidiu que tudo não devia ter passado de um sonho e fez-se novamente à estrada.
- "ONDE ESTIVESTE minha menina"? - Gritou a sua mãe furiosa, quando chegou por fim à aldeia - "Os homens andam todos à tua procura pelos bosques da vizinhança há mais de uma semana...estávamos já a imaginar que tinhas sido atacada por um lobo, ou coisa pior! queres matar a tua pobre mãe do coração?"
Há mais de uma semana? – Pensou Kea, estremecendo com um arrepio que lhe levantou todos os pelos dos braços. Lentamente, de um lugar da sua memória que ela nem sabia que existia, emergiram as palavras que a velha mais velha da aldeia lhe dissera em certa ocasião. Kea nem sabia bem como se lembrava disso, afinal toda a gente sabia que aquilo não passavam de disparates de uma velha senil.
- "O tempo no país das fadas corre de forma diferente" - dissera ela - "podes passar lá uma noite e quando regressares descobrir que se passaram 100 anos!"
* Dedico esta história e esta ilustração à minha grande amiga Ana de Amsterdam, que gentilmente aceitou posar como modelo fotográfico para esta ilustração.
"(...) Mrs. Donkey prepares her secret recipe with extreme patience. It's a very ancient recipe that has been in her family for centuries. She used all the fresh vegetables in the farm and she expects it to come out delicious for the party later that night (...)"
Hello friends! I know that it's been a while since my las post, but I’ve finally got some time for an update, so here's something fresh new...
Far, far away, lived a very powerful princess of remarkable abilities. She was known as the Virgin Princess of Dudhwa, and became famous for her extraordinary beauty and wisdom. Princess Yamuna served as a priestess of the Sun In a very ancient temple built in the heart of the Indian jungle, and was the keeper of the seven mysteries that could unlock the 4 gates to the other world. Despite her youth, she possessed deep knowledge on the secret arts of magic and held the power to communicate with all kinds of animals that kept her informed about everything that happened in the surroundings of the temple.
(…) Daughter of the Sun and the Moon’s sister, princess Alafiá had a light of her own. Wherever she went, her shine was so bright that enlightened the heart of those who laid eyes on her. Her skin was dark as ebony and her long black hair flowed down her back like a waterfall. Her olive green eyes were kind and used to glow like stars, revealing her merciful and benevolent nature.
(…) This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with a border of daisies.
I created this character for my officiall webpage: 
This is an illustration that i´ve been working on for 
