Legends of Shoun:
Grandmother Word in the Morning

Grandmother Word was in her house with her cat. She put a pot over the fire and sat down to watch it. Outside, all was mist.

"Oh, a breeze would be nice," said Grandmother Word. The cat only stretched. But outside, the winds began to blow.

"I think I shall walk in my garden," said Grandmother Word. The cat only yawned. But when Grandmother Word opened her door, there was land all around the house, and plants sprang from it. Grandmother Word walked in her garden, picking herbs for her pot and watching the winds stir the mist.

She returned to the fire, feeding the herbs into the pot, and told the cat, "It's still dark outside." The cat slept on, but outside, the sun showed above the horizon.

Grandmother Word tasted the water and said, "The pot is still empty." Beyond the garden, a wood showed through the mist. Squirrels ran in the trees, and there were traps in the branches. The cat just licked itself. But she went out to her traps and found a caught squirrel. She brought it inside, skinned it, boned it, and cut it up. This interested the cat. Grandmother Word fed the meat to the pot and put the rest outside.

"It's quiet," said Grandmother Word. The cat inspected the four corners and the four directions of the house's walls, saying not a thing. Outside, birds flew in the trees, singing, and far away the sea murmured against the rocks.

The cat looked a long time at Grandmother Word, and she looked a long time at the cat. The pot stewed quietly. Then the cat looked away, and Grandmother Word said "I'm lonely."

She went out and stood on her step. The sun, rising, chased the mist back into the woods and the ground. And Grandmother Word's children and grandchildren came to her through the garden path. They carried brown bread and eggs for toasting over the fire.

Together they ate, and Grandmother Word spoke with her children while their children played, and the cat left the house to hunt or sleep in the garden or woods. But after a time, Grandmother Word said, "I would rest." So her children and grandchildren took their leave, and went out into the world. Some went to the plains beyond the garden, where they made gardens of their own. Some went to the woods, where they hunted and trapped. And Grandmother Word slept, while the cat carried on with its own business as cats always do.

[Critics disagree about whether this is a creation legend, a discourse on the relation between attention and perception of reality, or just a little folksy tale, perhaps part of a longer narrative from some lost oral tradition. Grandmother Word is a common figure in the folk-tales of Rysyd and Undn, and is often ascribed magical powers.]