Earth spirit Stories

1880s Nebraska My lover calls to me from beneath the rolling prairie. She whispers through the switchgrass, begging release from her earthly bonds. From my porch, I observe meadowlarks perching atop the single, enormous cottonwood that overlooks these plains. Dawn light illuminates chartreuse and cerise buds erupting along its bare branches. My heart flutters, and I smile. “Soon,” I speak aloud to the breeze. Twenty years...