It was a cold still night. The old woman sat huddled in her cloak, the rich red showing signs of its age. She pulled it closer as she watched the blue and orange flames licking and biting at the logs until they began to burn. She smiled as the warmth reached out to her ancient bones.
Frost was in the air. The glittering stars forewarned of snow to come. Quietly the Gypsy children gathered round her, the older ones bringing wood for her fire, and then seating themselves in the circle of its comforting warmth. The younger ones nestled like fledglings in the warm folds of her cloak. The author was one of those children.
Although the village children were afraid of the Phuri Dai, the Gypsy children knew there was nothing to fear from the old woman with the magical tongue. They had come to hear the legends and stories of their people, told through the centuries by such as Phuri Dai. Seated on an upturned apple crate she stirred the fire.
In a scene as old as the Gypsy race itself, the people waited. As the flames grew higher, her tongue loosened and the stories unfolded. Come turn the pages and enter the world of the author's childhood.
FOLKLORE - ALL AGES
ISBN: 978-0-9802881-8-6
Paperback - 90 pages with illustrations. Original Artwork by Annette
