Sparkler Snapshots

XX | Firefly Hour

"What're these for?" a particularly stout gnome asked her, his squashed face collapsing in on itself in confusion.

"You've been assigned to collecting berries," she replied, her crystal eyes sparkling with amusement as the gnomes burst into protest.

"What? I ain't got time to pick berries!"

"Shouldn't you fairies be doing that?"

"I sharpened my ax for eight hours, and I don't even get to use it?"

"The other tasks are already taken," the fairy said, with a finality in her tone. "Now, hurry up and start picking, or you'll delay the whole celebration."

With that, her wings began to flutter until they were a blur. She soared into the air to greet the birds, who were carrying nuts in their beaks, and directed them towards a large pile that sat at the center of the forest clearing. The birds glided downwards with a soft swoosh, and dropped the nuts on the pile.

"What does it matter if the celebration gets delayed?" the tallest gnome grumbled from the ground, where he and his comrades had been watching the birds and making rude gestures at them. "It's the longest day of the year! That's the point of this, innit? We're supposed to get an extra long party."

"We always get the stupid jobs," another gnome muttered, his brown eyes fixed on the fairy. "No one even eats the berries! They just throw them at the performers."

"Humans do that with tomatoes," the stout gnome said. "Why can't we throw tomatoes at the performers? It would be way cooler."

"Plus, we'd have to sneak around the humans to get tomatoes. Much more fun than picking berries," the tall one added, his eyes following several butterflies which were carrying pixies across the clearing.

"Well, no point complaining about it now," another gnome pointed out to his friends. He began walking to the berry field at the edge of the forest. His basket dangled from his left hand, and his pickaxe was slung on his back. "We should do our job, or those fairies will have our heads."

With a reluctant murmur of agreement, the other four gnomes followed.

Meanwhile, the pile of nuts was growing larger than ever, such that it blocked half the clearing from view. Dwarves marched around the pile, also grumbling about how they were forced to whittle instruments for the fairies to play.

While the dwarves carved unhappily, fairies were darting about, stringing rows of lanterns from tree to tree. They emitted a warm glow which provided light for the evening.

"How many strings do you have left?" called one fairy to another as they passed each other, narrowly avoiding a pair of hummingbirds as they swooped down, delivering nectar they'd collected from various trees.

"Just one," the other fairy replied, and with a swift dive, she tied off the last string of lanterns on a nearby oak tree. A faint snap came from above, and an acorn fell on the fairy's head, knocking her two feet downwards. "Ouch!" she cried, glaring up at the imp who fumbled it.

"Sorry!" the imp called down, not sounding sorry at all. As the fairy glided away, still rubbing the spot where she'd been hit, the imp giggled mischievously under his breath.

After hours of preparation, the sun began to fall in earnest. The gnomes returned with hundreds of berries in their baskets, at which the imps clapped and cheered with delight, eager to begin throwing them. The lanterns hung high above them, the nuts were stacked in a neat pile, and the instruments had been whittled to perfection.