Serena's Song!

So beautiful… so vibrant… so lifelike!

‘Serena, The Songstress’ the statue read…

Who was she?

The tale began long ago, in London’s teeming, grimy, slums.

Serena, a guileless youth… later fondly known as Serena the Songstress, was one of hundreds of starving, street urchins… sentenced to exile in a horrifying new land… enduring… barely surviving, a harrowing, sixteen weeklong, voyage… crammed in with 198 other convicts… moaning with sea sickness and hunger! All on a trumped-up charge of stealing a horse, when all her tender heart sought was to comfort the poor malnourished creature!

One bleak, frigid morning, long ago in 1822… the lucky ones who had survived the trip, sailed into Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). Blinking apprehensively as she stepped into the blinding sunlight, Serena believed she was a lucky one! Pallid, she staggered off the ship of nightmares. Her indomitable spirit rose again within her… sighing, she tipped her face to the sky… her heart skipped as hope of a fresh start was born!

Soon… as a convict, recently assigned to a small family of Free Settlers living on 100 acres, she journeyed inland… to a vibrant new world!

Farewell to the crowded, sweaty, quarters… penned like pathetic, helpless livestock… fearing she’d not awaken tomorrow.

Beside the Derwent River, she travelled in a small wagon pulled by a carthorse… a surprisingly rejuvenating experience! What a beautiful beast! What luscious green rolling hills! Sunlight glinted like diamonds on the nearby water. Crisp country breezes lazily caressed her face.

Thankful to be assigned to live with a decent family… life as the only convict girl on the farm meant work was incessant, gruelling… cooking, cleaning, gardening… however, they all slaved through each daylight hour… not just her! Life was tough, but she was free from the squalor of London. During her meagre, free waking moments, Serena dreamt of a brighter future… of one day being truly free!

Years flew by like flocks of galahs… and Serena discovered a love for all God’s creatures on this wonderful earth. She chattered to the clucking chooks… giggled with the goats… but the bay-coloured brumby, Sam, was her favourite! The mere sight of his reddish-brown flanks and sooty coloured mane and tail cheered her heart… even after the most trying, tiring day.

Sam seemed to eagerly await her… just as he anticipated his master Jack, the farmer’s son.

The cadence of life continued… like the mobs of kangaroos bounding across the paddocks… better times arrived and the small, struggling farm grew into a flourishing property. The family had become Serena’s family… London was but a hazy memory.

Then came terrifying clashes between the settlers and aborigines… warriors silently appeared in clearings… naked grease smeared skin, decorated with red ochre… hair and beards hung in long black locks! Serena was bewildered about the right and wrong of it all… couldn’t everyone live together in peace as in the animal kingdom?

During one conflict, Jack and Sam were out drafting the cattle. In the melee Jack, thrown from the brumby’s back, landed hard at the edge of the herd. He narrowly escaped being trampled by the spooked beasts. Jack’s injuries were severe (especially for those days). Months inched by... Jack remained chained to his bed, unable to stagger to his bedroom door.

Heartbroken that his beloved master had forsaken, abandoned and deserted him, the beautiful, bay brumby, Sam pined. He ignored his oats… took too few sips of water. Soon, the family grew alarmed. Would he survive Jack’s lengthy recuperation? Everything was to no avail! When all seemed lost, Sam began to make an inexplicable recovery.

One night as a thunderstorm was approaching, Jack’s father, Ned visited the stables, to check everything was secure. Soft singing met him. Nearing Sam’s stall, a lullaby wafted on the air.

Sweet, sweet Sam

Dear, sweet Sam

Please come back now

Yes, you know how.

We all love you…

We all need you…

It’s time to live your life again…

Dear, sweet Sam

Sweet, sweet Sam…

Ned smiled to himself and crept silently out of the barn…

Legend claims…

Jack and Sam recovered… however, the nocturnal lullabies crooned by Serena the Songstress miraculously restored the ailing brumby! Her tale was passed down through the generations... a small statue was erected in a formal garden, gracing the tiny, country township which sprang up in the intervening years.

And so, the spirit of Serena’s Song lingers still to this very day… inspiring passersby along their way.

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Written for Mackenzie Davis' Official (Unofficial) Exphrastic Challenge!