Coamhain - Summer Solstice

Coamhain - Summer Solstice

         “Mom.”

         “Mom?”

         “Mom!”

         Meriel watched her twins jumping in front of the car she had needed to rent this summer. Her faithful station wagon had finally stopped running. Dead. Without warning, or hesitation—just like her dreams.

         “Mom!”

         Meriel stared at her redheaded daughter who was screaming while dancing around her brother. Soon the ritual would begin. Devlin would deck his sister for making him part of her faerie court and Keara would scream bloody murder. Gosh, was she really a mom? Maybe her car had finally grown as tired of the twin’s antics as she had, satisfied to remain in a dismantling yard until it dissolved into a pile of rust.

         “Keara, quit prancing and get in the car.”

         “Mom!”

         “Now! Devlin, close the trunk and let’s go. No more messing around, I want to get to the beach before nightfall.”

         “Mom?”

         Meriel inhaled deeply, allowing her brain one last bit of oxygen before the meltdown. “Yes Devlin?”

         “Do we get to stay at the same beach house?”

         Meriel gazed into his ebony eyes, smiling at her husband’s expression staring back. “Yeah sweetie, it’s daddy’s day, where else would we go?”

         “Sweet.” Devlin jumped in the car as Keara let out a war shout.

         Meriel shook her head. Sweet? Sean should have been able to see them grow up. She set her course west, another summer ritual started long before the twins, when it had just been Sean, and the beach and her. She grew wistful as she approached the rocky shoreline. Sheets of glowing color were already spreading across the cerulean sky, infinite hues danced like sprites upon the face of incoming waves.

         Meriel sighed, remembering a time of love, not this mundane existence now ruling her life. She glanced at her watch, they’d made excellent time. She glanced again. Time had stopped…like her car…like her life. Why was it her watches always stopped on this day marking Sean’s death?

         She ripped it from her arm. “Kids, want to see time fly?”

         Keara piped up as she jumped from the car. “Mom, that’s dumb, we can’t see time.”

         “Wanna bet?” Meriel tossed the watch as hard as she could, hearing it break when it landed on the rocks.

         Devlin smiled. “Sweet mom. Hey, now that you stopped time, can we go to the bonfire?”

         “Alright, make sure you and Keara don’t get in the way of the Summer Solstice celebration.”

         “But that’s why we’re here.”

         “I know, you can join if they ask, just don’t intrude.”

         Keara let out a squeal as they ran toward the beach and bonfire. Meriel thought she heard a thank you as they disappeared into the encroaching darkness.

         Memories flooded her thoughts while she watched the flames dance for the longest day of the year, a celebration of the sun’s disappearance into darkness. Soon her vision hazed as the fire lulled her mind. Mist floated upon the face of the water, making its way ashore, absorbing Meriel in an evanescent moment of transformation.

         “Meriel.”

         She turned toward the haunting wisp of a voice.

         “Meriel.”

         Meriel walked through the mist forming on the beach. The voice lost its ethereal quality, solidifying with each measured step, as she moved to the rhythm of a different time.

         “Meriel, you must pay attention. I know you are excited, however tonight we also celebrate Coamhain, you must be ready.”

         Meriel stared into the wizened face of the druid before her. His blue eyes pierced through the grayness of gloaming until they penetrated her mind. “I am sorry, please forgive me.”

         “Do not be sorry my child, just pay attention. Tonight we celebrate a sabbat, the union of the god at the peak of his power and the goddess awaiting birth of her abundance upon our land.” The druid offered Meriel a little smile. “We will also join your father’s mighty clan with the clan of O’Connor through your marriage union. You are the King’s daughter; your offspring will be as the bounty of the goddess to Ireland. You are a child of elemental water, ‘Meriel our shining sea’. The fruit of your womb will bear your warrior blood far beyond our shores. Come, you must prepare your offering.”

         The tribal drums beat a message that quickened Meriel’s heart; soon the pipes joined their haunting sound, piercing the night with a melody of her ancestors. Meriel slowly walked toward the assembled on the cliff’s edge. Oak leaves from the sacred grove adorned her plaited hair. A branch of hazel lay tucked among her bouquet of summer blooms for fertility.

         Sion gazed at his bride-to-be as she neared the fire’s edge, its glow setting her brilliant red hair aflame until it resembled a fiery crown. Her blue-green eyes sparkled as if the stars lay in them the way they danced upon her ocean at night.

         Meriel’s vision wandered from the druid to Sion’s black hair and coal-colored eyes, his skin shone translucent against that darkness, as if he lived among the shadows of the night. She was happy her father had chosen Sion as her betrothed and that she actually loved him.

         Their marriage ceremony ended while Coamhain continued. Meriel watched her father and Angus of the O’Connors write the treaty joining their tribes on boar hides, one copy would remain with the King; the other would be used to signify Sion and Meriel’s union.

         The druid gathered the assembled together, took a sea-worthy wooden bottle and placed the union treaty inside, then sealed it. He showed the newly formed tribes the seal, then blessed it. The seal would remain unbroken, the union of Meriel and Sion intact through eternity.

         The druid climbed aboard a small boat and was rowed offshore beyond the breakers. There he lifted the blessed bottle and threw it into the sea. Meriel’s sea. His prayer for the tribes echoed through the summer night. “The god and goddess are joined in the heavens, be it so with their servants Meriel and Sion, a union of sea and land, never to be severed.”

         Meriel gazed into the face of her new husband in an attempt to know his emotions. Sion sighed as he stared into Meriel’s shining face, knowing it would forever make him happy. Hers was a face that would remain strong and fight against their foes, then grow tender when the battle was done. Her face would be the one to adorn their children. Sion lovingly gazed into the face of the woman he would always love through eternity.

         Meriel stared out to the darkened sea, the impact of the druid’s words resting upon her cheerful heart. Their union now could never be severed.

         The mist rose from the face of the water, engulfing Meriel in its cloak of haze, as if hearing the thoughts of her heart, sanctifying the marriage of their souls. Meriel knew this gift from the sea would always transform her.

         “Mom! Come quick! Keara found something that washed onshore while she was dancing in the waves. Mr. Oakson said it looks like an antique bottle or box. Hey, do you think there could be a pirate map to hidden treasure inside? Wouldn’t that be sweet?”

         Meriel shook her head of the mist that had consumed her. “What Devlin?”

         “Weren’t you listening to me? Come on mom, Keara’s gonna freak or something if you don’t stop her.”

         Meriel walked to the fire’s edge and the assembled celebrating. She watched Mr. Oakson studying the object as he turned it his hands. She wandered closer, soon recognizing the knotwork of her heritage engraved into the ancient wood. She let out a cry realizing what he held, then sank to the sand unable fully to comprehend the meaning filtering through her head.

         Devlin sat next to his mother and rubbed her hand. “Mom, are you alright? Do you need a doctor or something?”

         Meriel stared into the depths of Devlin’s black eyes, then to her daughter with the brilliant red hair. There was definitely a message inside that bottle. One promised long ago on the night of Coamhain when more than the symbol of the god and goddess were joined. It spoke of a mighty union destined for greatness far beyond Ireland’s distant shores. Meriel’s bounty stood before her, the images of Sion and Meriel, the images of Sean and Meriel, the fruit of their womb. It was a message only she and Sean understood, and with hope, one day their precious children

         “I’m fine sweetie, just a little overwhelmed sharing this special night with your dad.”




Word count 1423