This is a story I wrote for a weekly contest. I hope you enjoy it.
Zuri prepared herself for the ceremony. The Ceremony of Wisdom was a momentous event in a young pixie’s life. Zuri, along with the other young pixies, had spent their youth studying the scrolls of wisdom with Madeleina, the most ancient of the elders. Zuri was confident that she understood history, all of it, from times most ancient until the end of times. Still, the thought of the ceremony made her nervous, so she headed over to the Hall of Wisdom to gaze at the scrolls a bit more. Upon entering the hall Zuri saw a figure at the other end and exclaimed, “Beau!”
“I see that I’m not the only one lacking confidence for tonight’s ceremony,” he replied with a grin.
“Remembering all of history is a big responsibility,” she agreed.
“We have been studying the scrolls for fifty years,” he added optimistically, “I’m sure we learned something.” Then with a smile and a wink, he flitted off.
Zuri was still feeling unsure of herself, so she decided to fly around the grove and clear her head before the evening’s festivities. Before long she was lost in her own thoughts. History was so fascinating. The way the stories unfolded, and how each story intertwined with the others. It was mesmerizing to think about it. Madeleina said to think of it as a tapestry. Each individual represented a thread. As the threads are woven together, they create the beauty of a complete tapestry.
Eventually Zuri realized that she was no longer within the bounds of the grove. She looked around for familiar trees or landmarks, but there were none. Fear creeped up as she frantically searched for something to indicate where the grove was. That fear intensified as a strange noise filled her ears. She feared knowing what was causing the noise, but curiosity won out, and she cautiously peered between the trees. Horror filled her heart as she saw a large, metal monster devouring the plant life! As the monster turned, she realized that it had a giant on its back.
Zuri flew back behind the trees to think. The scrolls had said nothing about giants and monsters. There must’ve been something in the scrolls about this. She needed something, any small bit of wisdom to guide her through this. As she was desperately searching her memory for clues to this bizarre situation, she heard a voice say, “Momma, look what I found!” Next thing she knew, everything went dark.
“That certainly isn’t any insect I’ve ever seen.”
“Momma, she’s a pixie!”
“Oh, Krista, pixies don’t exist. They only exist in fairy tales.”
“Well, tell that to her.”
Zuri had apparently passed out. When she came to, she was in a cage, listening to an exchange between what seemed to be a parent and child. Zuri’s fear was nearly consuming her as the child approached the cage. She wanted to flee, to fly away back to her grove, but she couldn’t. She was trapped in a cage, and her fear kept her paralyzed. The child, Krista, looked her in the eyes and asked, Are you a pixie?” Zuri pulled all of her strength together and nodded. Krista shouted with glee, “I told you! I told you!”
That’s when the day’s events took their toll on Zuri and she fell to the floor of the cage sobbing. “Oh, no! Don’t cry! We’re not going to hurt you!” Krista began to open the cage, “No Krista, you don’t…” but the cage was already open and Krista was gently pulling Zuri out. “Why are you crying?” Zuri let all of her feelings pour out to these strange giants,
“The Ceremony of Wisdom is tonight, but now that I’ve wandered outside of the grove, I don’t know if I’ll get there in time. And after seeing giants and monsters and all of the horrors outside of the grove, I’m starting to doubt the scrolls. I’m not even sure if I’m worthy to participate in the ceremony.”
Krista looked longingly at her mother who said, “That sounds like a lot to deal with. Let’s see if we can help you make sense of some of it. You think we” she gestured at herself and Krista, “are giants?” Zuri nodded. “We are humans.” Zuri’s face lit up with recognition. “What monsters did you see?”
“There was an enormous metal monster eating the grass!”
“Ah, that’s a lawnmower. Krista’s dad was using it to cut the grass so it doesn’t get too high.”
“Zuri looked horrified. You cut plants?” She seemed at a loss for any more words.
The elder human said, “I understand that you can live among wild plants and animals without any trouble. Humans are not as nimble. We have to do some unpleasant things to accommodate for our limited abilities.” Zuri was still horrified, but these humans did not seem to be intentionally harmful. She really wanted to get back to the grove, so she ventured a conversation, “My name is Zuri…”
“I’m Krista,” the child offered, “and that’s my momma, her name is Anne.”
“The scrolls mention humans.”
“Scrolls?” Anne inquired.
“Yes, the Scrolls of Wisdom. That’s what the ceremony is about. It’s a right of passage where underlings, like myself, demonstrate our knowledge of the scrolls.”
“What kind of knowledge is in the scrolls?”
“History!”
“Oh yes! The scrolls possess all of the history of Pixiedom! All that was, all that is, and all that shall be! It’s wonderful…only…”
“Only what?” Krista chimed in.”
“This!”
“What do you mean?”
“This is not in the scrolls!”
Krista and her mother looked confused. Anne finally asked, “How could this be in the scrolls if it hadn’t happened yet?”
“Everything is in the scrolls! According to the scrolls, I was to perform well, aside from a couple of mistakes, and rejoice at the reception. Nowhere in the scrolls did it say anything about getting lost, or trapped in a cage, or captured by humans!”
“I’m so sorry!” Krista wailed.
Zuri, partly exasperated, partly dismayed at upsetting Krista said, “It’s not your fault. This day had gone awry before you came along. Now, I’m just not sure if I can ever find my way back.”
Anne said, “Tell me everything you can remember about home, and let me see what I can do to help.” Zuri told her about every hill, tree, and unique landmark around the grove. From there, Anne entered the information into a geo-locator site on the internet. It took some time to narrow down possible locations, and they had to use satellite images to find what they were looking for. Eventually, they were able to find the grove. “That’s it,” Zuri exclaimed excitedly.
“That’s a little over three miles away through the woods.” Anne said. “You really did wander off, didn’t you? It’s going to be difficult for us to navigate through the woods, but the GPS will make sure we can get you home.”
“Thank you, so much.”
After leaving a message for Krista’s father, the trio set off. Anne took the lead with her cell phone’s GPS guiding her. Krista followed behind with Zuri flitting along beside her. While hiking along Anne asked, “So these Scrolls of Wisdom…they tell you the future?”
“In a manner of speaking. The scrolls are a record of everything. As pixies, it is our sacred duty to protect and preserve that knowledge.”
“But who writes the scrolls? How can anyone know what’s going to happen before it does?”
“The elders, of course. Some are gifted with the Sight. Others are gifted with Scrying abilities. Others are gifted with Clairvoyance. All of them tend to the scrolls and study the stories of history and how they weave together.”
“So the scrolls are written using magic?” Zuri hesitated. Magic was an integral part of pixie life, but the way Anne asked the question made it sound as if magic was evil. Anne continued, “I’m only curious because I’ve never seen magic before.” That took Zuri by surprise. She couldn’t imagine living without magic, and the shock was clearly evident on her face. “Like I said before, humans have limited capabilities.”
Zuri, now starting to feel sorry for the humans said, “Magic is part of our lives. It is so integrated into how we live, most of us don’t even think about it.”
“That’s so interesting. I wonder if you could teach us.”
“You’d have to ask the elders. Like I said, it’s part of who we are. We don’t even think about it.” That’s when Zuri spotted a large familiar spruce tree. Her face lit up and she started flitting toward the grove.
“Wait…” Anne called after her, but Zuri was too excited to hear her. A few moments later Anne and Krista cleared the foliage to find themselves in a small clearing nestled among the trees and vegetation. A small brook ran along the edge of the clearing. A tiny village formed from forest mushrooms, logs, and other forest debris littered the ground. An ancient juniper tree twisted its way from the center of the village through the canvas above. A small opening at the base of the juniper was adorned with runes, indicating that it was an important place. The scene was so perfect, it looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Elder Madeleina was standing anxiously near the opening in the juniper, the Hall of Wisdom, “Zuri, where have you been?” She scolded. “The ceremony has already begun! You will be needed shortly. Are you prepared?”
“I don’t know,” Zuri replied meekly.
“What do you mean, Dear?”
Zuri began sobbing and poured out the events of the day. When she finished she said, “Elder, how can I go into that hall and profess my knowledge of the scrolls if I doubt their wisdom?”
“Oh, my dear child. I hoped this day would never come. Follow me.” Zuri followed Madeleina. They went straight passed the main hall and into a forbidden archive. There she handed Zuri a volume of the scrolls she had never seen before.
“What’s this?”
“Read it. The scroll will make things clear.”
Zuri read it, mesmerized by the words. When she finished she looked at Madeleina with shock and disbelief. “It’s all here! Getting lost, being rescued by humans, all of it! But…the rest…”
“Yes, my dear. Long ago we thought we could evade the inevitable by hiding the truth. We were wrong. We caused your fate by trying to hide it from you.”
“But the scroll says the entire village is to set off on long journey! Why do we have to leave?”
“The humans will come.”
“But the humans were kind to me. They helped me find my way back.”
“This is true…this time, but humans long to wield magic. If we stay here, many pixies will be lost to the humans’ desire for magic.”
“Lost? You mean…” Madeleina nodded, “Oh no!” Zuri gasped. “Elder Madeleina, can you forgive me for doubting the wisdom of the scrolls.”
“Of course, child. We must doubt the scrolls. Doubt is necessary. Not all prophesy comes to be. Our choices shape not just what happens now, but future events, current prophesy, future events, and future prophesy.” She then opened another door in the archive. “These are the scrolls of prophesy that never came to be.”
Zuri was astonished at the immense size of the room and number of scrolls. “Our choices change things?”
“Oh yes. We will cover that in the next level of your studies. For now there are more pressing matters. There are not many places left that can support magical creatures. We must find a place where the humans cannot find us. Your task now is vital. You must take the other younglings to distract the humans while the elders work on an obfuscation spell for our travels. Let us get started.” Madeleina took Zuri’s hand, entered the main Hall, raised her voice and simply said, “It it is time.”
Zuri and the younglings flew out towards Krista and Anne while the elders started preparing the spell. “Hi again,” Zuri said enthusiastically. “These are my friends: Beau, Matthieu, Laetitia, Aron, and Liliana.”
Krista and Anne looked a bit startled, then Krista said, “Nice to meet you.”
“Are there any elders with you?” Anne asked.
“Oh no,” Zuri replied. “The elders are much too busy right now.”
“You mean with the ceremony, right?”
“No, no…we have guests! We must prepare!”
“What do mean ‘prepare,’” Anne asked skeptically.
“Tonight we have a Pixie Party,” Zuri said grandiosely. The other pixies began cheering. Krista and Anne looked at each other. Then Krista said, “Weren’t there six of you a minute ago?”
“I’m sure Aron just went off to get supplies for the party. He’ll be back.” At that, the other four pixies began flitting around, hanging holly and other decorations. One by one they each disappeared along the way until Zuri was the only one left.
Krista asked, “Where did everybody go?”
“That’s an interesting question,” Zuri replied.
Then Anne asked, “What’s going on? What’s happening to you?” Zuri’s body had become translucent due to the obfuscation spell. It was obviously time to bid farewell to the humans.
“Thank you for bringing me home,” Zuri said.
“But why are you disappearing?” Anne asked.
“Do you remember what you told Krista? Pixies don’t exist.” With that, Zuri faded away.
Comments