One day the hands came again. They sorted through the piles of fiber and picked out several of the longest loops, including Lina. Carrying them out into the sunshine, the hands tied the fibers all together at the top. Curious, Lina watched the face, as was now her habit. It was smiling, so she looked at herself and the other fibers, trying to see what the face saw. To her surprise, she and the other flax plants, once tall, strong individuals standing next to each other in a sunny field, had now become one hank of pale, silky gold, sliding and shimmering through the hands that once had hurt them, but now caressed them.
Lina thought about the first time she had recognized her new self, after the beating, but before the combings. She had thought she was beautiful then. Now she (and the others, of course) were even lovelier. She waited with some nervousness, but mostly with eagerness, to see what would happen next. The hands went through some complicated maneuvers, laying out the fibers in thin layers, then crisscrossing them and rolling them around a cone of some sort, wrapping them with ribbons, and putting them on a stand. They were as tall as the person now.
Lina and the others smiled at each other with deep satisfaction. This was more like it! Now they would delight the eyes of all beholders, as they used to do in their lost field, instead of languishing on a dark shelf!
Privately, Lina thought it was a little crowded, but together, she and the others were a fine sight, and the rumor had now been proven at least partially true. They were beautiful, if not valuable. She sighed with relief.
To be continued. . .
Repairing the Breach,
Debbonnaire
Note to faithful readers: I have been gone several days, and will be gone for a week, and am not sure I will have internet access. So you may not hear from me for awhile. Aren't you glad you aren't left hanging on some horrible cliffhanger? :-)
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