Chapter 3
Seda
“Ifinally found you,” whispered a voice.
The little girl opened her sensitive eyes to the glaring sun and watched a cerulean butterfly flutter across the dusty road. She followed it and bent down when she noticed a twinkle, picking up a white gemstone and examining it as if for the first time.
What a pretty rock.
She cradled the rock in her hand, loving how it sparkled in the sunlight and reflected the light onto her and the surrounding ground. She slowly raised her head and looked out into the distance, where she saw a massive tower rising toward a radiant glow in the sky. It was so beautiful.
“Hi there, sweetie, are you lost? Where’s your family?” a woman asked as she approached the little girl, carrying a baby on her hip and a bag slung over her shoulder.
The girl looked up at the woman. She regarded her brown hair, perfectly braided back, and her kind eyes staring down at her. The baby pulled at his mother’s earring, and she softly brushed his hand to the side.
“What’s your name?” the woman asked her.
“I don’t know,” she replied in a weak voice.
The woman reached into her bag and held out a piece of bread for the girl. “Are you hungry?”
The little girl took the bread and munched on it. The soft fluffiness and taste of flour and yeast were heaven on her tongue. She smacked her rosy lips in delight.
“Yummy!” She held out her hand, asking for another.
The woman tittered. “I’ll have more for you back at the Gardvord. Will you come with me so we can try to find your family?”
The girl nodded and placed the pretty, shiny rock into her dress pocket. She accepted the woman’s offered hand and they walked up the long road, opposite the tall tower, toward a cluster of buildings and distant farmlands.
She heard the cawing of black birds in the sky and gazed up to count them. Three birds flew high above, weaving in and out of the shimmering dome overhead.
They reached a tall brick building and stopped at a glass doorway. The woman dug into her pocket, pulled out a card, and pressed it against a small gray box beside the door. It clicked, and the glass doors opened. She followed the woman inside, wondering when she’d get another slice of soft bread.
They walked down a long hallway and entered another doorway, where the woman scanned her card again. The door opened into a large greenhouse filled with trees, and the fresh scent hit the girl in the nose.
“This smells like home,” the girl said. She noted the sunlight filtering through the branches and the earthy smell of dirt.
“Oh, that’s good to hear. Your family must be close then,” said the woman. “Why don’t you wait here with Benny for a moment while I go to call my husband?” The woman pointed to a large cushion placed on the ground.
The little girl sat down on the cushion, and the woman positioned the baby beside her.
She walked over to a nearby wall, picked up a phone, and looked back at the girl with a gentle smile.
Benny giggled and reached for the girl’s dress, trying to put the ends of it in his mouth.
She looked around the area, noticing that the trees were unlike the ones she was used to seeing.
What did they look like before? She couldn’t remember.
“Hi sweetie, my husband should be here soon, and we will try to find your family, okay?” The woman sat next to the girl and Benny on the cushion. She opened her bag again, this time pulling out a banana. She offered it to the girl, who accepted it, and then broke off a small piece for Benny.
The banana was soft and sweet, helping to fill her hungry belly. When she finished, she asked for another piece of bread, and the woman tore off a chunk and handed it to her. She chewed happily.
“Will you help me water the trees while we wait?” asked the woman.
“Oh yes, miss! I would love to,” said the girl with a muffled voice full of bread.
Watering the plants excited the little girl.
“Please, call me Sara,” the woman said. Sara looked at the girl, taking in her fair, shimmering hair, amethyst eyes, the oversized dress, and the eager anticipation on her face as she waited to water the plants.
She had never seen anyone with her complexion before.
“Follow me, sweetie. The hose is this way.”
Sara picked up Benny and then led the girl to the garden hose, where she turned on the faucet. A stream of cool water flowed out, and she handed the hose to the girl, who accepted it with a bright smile.
“While we wait, do you remember anything about where your family might be? What color is your apartment?” Sara asked her as she showed her where to point the hose.
“Hmmm… no.” The girl furrowed her eyebrows and tried hard to think back to what happened before the dusty road. “I can’t remember, but I did find this pretty rock.”
She handed the sparkling rock to Sara, who held it up to her face to get a closer look.
Sara squinted her eyes, observing the shape and the brilliant sparkle surrounding her. “This rock reminds me of a story my mom used to tell me when I was little. Would you like to hear it?” she asked the girl as she flipped the rock over in her palm to see the other side.
The little girl looked up to her and nodded her head. She hadn’t heard a story before; this was exciting!
Sara took a deep breath and said, “Once upon a time, there was a magical Fae who wished to be more. He made a deal with a beast, and his life was no more.”
“What’s a Fae?” The girl interrupted as she watched the woman with rapt attention.
The woman smiled warmly at her and said, “They are mythical beings, believed to be filled with magic.” She raised her eyebrows and twirled her fingers in the air as she held the rock with her thumb pressed into her palm.
The girl giggled and cheerfully jumped up and down, splashing water all around with the hose. She had never heard of magic before, and Sara was funny!
Sara laughed as the water splashed on her and Benny, then kept going, “The beast tore through the lands and ensnared all the men. When the Fae tried to fight back, his magic was stolen then. Four crystals had the power to shield the beast from his plunder. But the crystals went missing, hidden hither and yonder.”
“Like my rock?” The little girl asked with excitement.
Sara nodded. “It does look quite magical.”
She continued her story, “Only a key placed perfectly into the lock could stop the beast’s torment and his murderous aftershock.
The Fae’s never-ending love for mankind allowed him to create one final act of love for the four of a kind.
Only with friendship was the key able to succeed, and the beast was forced to secede.
But now that the beast’s plunder was no more, the Fae went back to wishing for more. ”
Sara looked down at the girl and saw her furrowed brows.
“That sounds so sad,” she said, her lips pursing into a pout. “Why would he still wish for more after that?”
Sara laughed again, “That’s a good catch.
That’s the moral of the story, though. Greed brings ruin, and the Fae didn’t learn from his mistakes.
It’s a good lesson, though.” Sara sighed.
“We must learn to be content and find happiness in the things that we are given and appreciate the things that we have.”
The little girl responded with a bright smile, saying, “I like the things I have. I like that rock!”
Sara handed the sparkling rock back to the girl. “That’s the spirit, sweetie. You should hold on to that tightly. Don’t let it go. It looks very special.”
The girl put the rock back into her pocket and smiled up at the woman, eager to tend to the trees and continue playing with the cool water.
As she watered the plants and waited for Sara’s husband to arrive, the little girl’s thoughts drifted back to the voice that had woken her up.
Who was that?