The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

CLAP!

"You've stayed, but what was the cost of it?" Lavender replied. "Taking the people away from their loved ones? To wring the vigor and energy out of them, drip by drip? How could you look your pretty face in the mirror to know that they were giving away their energy for you to live forever? That's why you need to bring a new human here each Summer Eve; and then another... The Palace is nothing but a shelter for memories. People's memories. Forever stolen."

Saraid wasn't laughing anymore, "Still their memories? Kidnap them? No! I was giving them a better life," her voice thundered. "I was opening their mind. Making them see. And when they saw the truth, they have decided to stay. All the people of Darrah, the City of the Wise, wanted to be a part of our world. They didn't like their world anymore. They wanted to get away from their own kind because the silver became more important than anything. The humans whorshiped silver."

Then she came closer to the crowd, signaling Doruh to step back.

"Do you think the lives of humans, most of them, are beautiful? Do you think there's only love, honesty, and rightness in their world? You couldn't be more wrong. I know each one of you," she said to the ones in front of her. "I know each of your stories, I know your every memory. I've been feeding with them for so long. You," she said pointing at Petrichor. All eyes were now on him. "In your world," she continued, "you were the village's fool. The silly shepherd everyone was laughing of. When I brought you here, your mind opened and sharpened. You saw what love and kindness meant."

Petrichor put his head to his chin. "You are right, Your Majesty. I remember now... And I shall forever be grateful for taking me away from that place..."

"And you," Queen Saraid continued, gesturing Poppy to come closer, "you had such a sad childhood. A child should live in peace, careless and free, away from worries and trouble. Your parents didn't deserve you. Always brash, always fighting, trying to prove the other one was wrong."

Poppy's eyes were now filled with tears, "It's true," her small voice resounded. "They were always fighting. They were yelling and breaking things. I used to hide in the closet, covering the ears with my hands. And I was singing so I wouldn't hear them... Thank you for bringing me here. Being a fairy it's a thousand times better. "

The Queen then took a few steps towards Ferry's group. She stopped in front of Danny. "And you... You've always loved food, haven't you?" Danny nodded. "But the other children were laughing at you, calling you names. You were hitting them to show you didn't care. But at night, in your bed, you were crying in your pillow..."

Danny didn't answer. Instead, he kept his eyes to the ground.

"As for you," she continued, turning towards Matilda's mum, "no one understood you. You had everything. A loving husband, a beautiful, healthy little girl... But something was missing. There was a struggle in your mind. Even getting off the bed in the morning was a struggle. While smiling meant torture to you. No one could see the pain behind that smile. No one could really see into your poor soul..."

Matilda's mum was quiet. Saraid turned to the crowd of fairies. "Don't tell me you had better lives as humans. Being a fairy is purer. More glorious. We have a purpose. We live in harmony with everything around us, be it a plant, a bug or an animal. We love trees, and trees give us life, pith from their own pith. We load our bodies with pure light, pure energy coming from the earth and the skies. As for people... People lie, cheat, and kill. They love power and silver coins. There are plagues and illnesses in their world. And their bodies, once sick, they barely heal. Sometimes, they don't heal at all. When their time comes, they die and turn to ash..."

Saraid's voice sounded calm and confident in the perfect silence that fell. It wasn't a whisper anymore. "As for us... We live forever. When the summers of our lives are running out, we turn into light and stardust and we watch over our loved ones for eternity through every petal and every blade or leaf."