It was silent as she wandered through the streets of Cileria. Too silent for her liking, actually. The battle was over, no one fought anymore and even though she and her allies won and got control of the legendary ruby crown she couldn’t celebrate with the others within the ruins of the tavern. Not here, not in this place where she spent the happiest years of her life. As she turns left the women passes her old academy. Just hours ago it was filled with life and the laughter of the students completing their education. Now you can barely even call it an academy anymore, some parts from the wall are gone through the explosions the elietes caused in some places whole rooms are missing. It feels haunted and empty at the same time without the teenagers, gods know where they are now. Most of them fought too but especially the first years had little to no chance to win against the fully grown & educated elites, so one supposes you’ll find many of them within the piles of bodies laying outside the city next to the graveyards. She feels guilty thinking of them, had she just made more of an effort to get to know them more, to her they would never be just corpses laying around who gave their lives for her ideology. As she walks on her eyes are drawn to all the well known places who shaped her as a little girl. The shop of the old women who used to give her the little candies whenever she walked by, the then colourful frontage is all monochrome now because of the dust flowing through the air. The always blooming trees from the park look trist and sad without their glorious buds. She inhales sharply as she spots a way to familiar house which is way to destroyed to actually call it a house anymore. But it used to be her everything. She opens the garden door which through some kind of miracle survived the hefty fights and steps into the front yard. Silent tears run down her face as she watches the ruins of what once was her _home. _ It was here where it all started, talking to her parents about the injustice happening. Here she raged to her friends about how much better the elites had it. Here they started to form their revolution, but most importantly here she first met him. She fondly remembers the exact day it was but thinking about it feels like slicing herself open with a blade, now that he is gone. Crouching in front of the flower patch where once grew beautiful roses she sobs like watering the earth with her tears would bring the thorny flowers back. A little voice enters her head, softly it seems to murmur one sentence over and over: _What would life be better if you hadn’t started to think about overthrowing the king. _

Getting louder and louder each time she starts to believe the little voice, and she hates it. It was all her fault, all these dead people and destroyed buildings. All. her. fault.

In manchen Nächten liege ich still im Gras und höre den Bäumen beim diskutieren zu. Groß sind sie die Bäume, alle gehen sie an die stattlichen 10 Meter heran, und breit sind sie erst! Man bräuchte um sie zu umfassen so an die 4 Leute mindestens, doch darin liegt nicht ihr eigentlicher Zauber. Den bekommt man nur zu spüren, wenn du dich ganz lautlos unter einen von ihnen legst und genau lauscht. Manche Menschen würden einfach an ihnen vorbeilaufen, gejagt von ihrem turbulentem Alltag hetzen sie hektisch von einem Ort zum Nächsten ohne die Wunder, die unsere Natur vollbringt näher zu betrachten. Ich bin keiner von ihnen. Vielleicht ist mein Alltag ruhiger als ihrer, vielleicht auch nicht. Wer weiß das schon so genau? Was mich von ihnen unterscheidet, ist, dass ich mir die Zeit dafür nehme. Und dass aus gutem Grund, wenn man nämlich ganz still ist, merkt man, wie wenig still die Natur um uns herum eigentlich doch ist. Und wenn man dann auch noch genau hinhört, bekommt man das mit, was die Natur uns Menschen sagen will. Seien es die Vögel, die jeden Tag ein neues Lied anstimmen, in neuer Konstellation und mit neuen pfiffigen Melodien, von wie vielen Dramen die kleine Meise schon erzählt mit kann man gar nicht mehr zählen, oder das alte Dachsehepaar, das nicht weit von hier in ihrem Erdloch haust und sich jeden Tag aufs Neue über dieselben Kleinigkeiten zankt, dann sich am Abend jedoch kuschelnd immer wieder vertragen. Und die Bäume und Büsche erst, du meine Güte, die sind die gesprächigsten von allen! Immerzu wispern sie ihren Zuhörern kleine Geheimnisse, die sie in ihrem bereits sehr langem Leben so mitbekommen haben, direkt ins Ohr. Diese wundersame Magie entgeht so vielen Menschen, obwohl sie doch mein liebster Teil des täglichen Wahnsinns ist.