The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

The Moon's Tear

Ferry was quiet ever since Oona has left. He walked behind everyone, keeping his gaze down. Baldie noticed his sorrow but didn't say anything. The others yammered, anxious to reach the world of humans. Even the fairies. Izzy and Rosemary looked like they could hardly wait for their reunion with Ben and May. All of a sudden, the world of humans had turned into that place where they felt good and safe. It felt like home.

Ferry missed home just as much. He missed Ben's gentle voice and May's warm smile. He missed his room and the swing under the old walnut tree. He even missed the anthill that used to appear on the back wall of the house for as long as he could remember ─ which refused to die, to his father's desperation. He even missed his father. Yet, his mum was the one te missed the most. Even though he knew she wasn't his real mother, he still missed her warm embrace and her gentle caress.

But now, the closer they came to the Door between the Worlds, the more unsteady his pace was.

"Ferry, keep up!" Matilda shouted at him a few times.

But he couldn't care less. All he could think about were Baldie's words, echoing in his head again and again ─ When the Moon is rising high/Look to the Fountain through the Blue Eye.

Now he knew where the Fountain of Truth was. He even had a plan. He stopped, the plan growing bigger in his head. The others observed he was missing and stopped, too, turning back. 

"What is it, Ferry?" asked Baldie.

He hesitated for a moment. Then he took a long breath and said, "I need to go back to the Blind Alley. Don't worry. I just ─ I have something to do. See you at the Door between the worlds," he added, taking a step back. "I'll be back before you know it."

Matilda's eyes were wide with amazement, "What? What are you talking about?" she said, stepping closer with a menacing pace.

"Ferry, don't do this! Come with us," he could hear Baldie's firm voice.

"I can't leave yet, Baldie..."

Everyone turned to him, "You can't go back there, it's too dangerous..."

Matilda let him know she wasn't joking, "Ferry, get back here this instant!"

"Ferry, we're so close. There isn't much time," Baldie tried to persuade him.

But Ferry took another step back. "I'm sorry, Baldie... I need to do this."

"I can't let you do that," said Baldie with a strange look on his face. "I failed once. It is not going to happen again," he said, heading towards him at a firm pace.

But Ferry was faster. He attached the blue feather to his head and vanished before everyone's sight. Then, he headed towards the Blind Alley without looking back. He could hear his friends calling him, begging him to come back. He clenched his fists and began to run. His decision was made ─ he was going to help Oona find her mother. He owed her that much. But first, he needed to find her.

He looked for her in the Secluded Forest, in every napping shelters he met on his way, and at The Hornless Unicorn.

He didn't have a clear plan, though. Ever since he heard Baldie talking about the Fountain of Truth, he had no peace. Behind the veil of his invisibility charm, it was easy for him to slink between the Fae People. But the closer he got to the Fae Queen's Palace, the more the hubbub and the frenzy grew.

He knew that soon, the Moon will grow high in the sky. He knew that the Door between the Worlds would close after the Moon would set. And he and his friends would be stuck in fairyland for a long, long time. Maybe forever.