The next morning, Freya traveled by bus to the school, reading inside for the first time.
'Whose notebook is this?' She checked the cover again, but there was no name or tag. The paperclip seemed to hold something, but it was gone.
She opened it, not recognizing the handwriting, yet it looked familiar. Her eyes trailed to the characters. It wasn't a diary, otherwise, she would never read past the first few lines.
'I wonder if this person visits the library regularly. Maybe I should make a poster about finding this.' Her eyes found the first lines.
There, in the forest where bushes were the thickest, and the trees were the tallest, lay a village. It wasn't a village like any you could see. It was tiny. The houses were made of dirt, leaves, and sticks and small as one's palm.
Freya smiled, as it had been a long time since she had read a children's book. 'Just who could have such a gentle story?'
One huge tree hosted many houses inside its hollow trunk as well. But who would live in such a small place? Dwarves? Sprites? Fairies? No, they were Brownies.
The girl giggled as an image of the chocolate cake came to her mind, but the messy and small scribble at the edge of the page ensured her they were small imps or cute gremlins.
There were tens of them. All tiny and small as a hummingbird. Even their noses were pointy, as if they kept poking it where it didn't belong. Their ears didn't fall behind. Some small like leaves and some long like rabbit ears.
They lived day by day in their small houses, collecting raindrops, nuts, and berries. They were happy. There were no problems in their lives. Their Chief watched over them.
However, the Chief wasn't the highest-ranked among them. One Brownie stood higher than any Brownie in the houses. This one stood so high he could touch the sky. That's how high his house was. Away from everyone on the ground. So close to the clouds.
This Brownie had a name like no other Brownie. They called him Azure, for he counted the stars. Other Brownies before him counted the stars. Because he counted the stars, Azure was sleeping during the day, not knowing what sunshine meant.
Each evening, the Chief would come, saying, "Count the stars, like your father, and his father, and his father before you."
Azure would nod. "Yes, I'm counting stars this night." And so Azure stared at the sky, counting stars.
Night by night, he would stand and count. How many nights did he count? He lost the count of that, but never the count of the stars.
One stormy night, he couldn't count, so he sat outside of his house under a leaf umbrella, waiting for the clouds to clear.
"Why does Azure wait?" he asked, with nobody to answer him.
Only the Chief came to visit him. But the Chief only said to count the stars. The Chief said nothing else. The Chief never stayed to talk with Azure.
The wind howled, tearing leaves off the tree. Tearing leaves and taking them away. Taking them away, even if Brownie was holding one. The wind tossed him up and down. Juggling with Azure like he was a ball.
His tiny clothes almost ripped off his body. His flat hat flew away from him. Azure couldn't see where his home was and count the stars as well. Azure could only wait for the wind to put him down.
The wind calmed after a while, losing its wild howl. The small Brownie finally landed on solid ground. Azure held his umbrella tight. He was alone.
Far, far away from his home.
Far, far away from his stars.
Clouds raced high in the sky until they were no more. The azure sky appeared, but stars hid.
"What is that?" Azure asked, stretching his short neck. "Is that a gold star?" He covered his eyes. The light hit his eyes. It hurt, but he couldn't deny one more look.
"It's beautiful," Azure whispered.
Azure saw the sun for the first time. Azure's father never told him about the sun, so Azure's father never saw the sun too.
Azure felt hungry after watching the sun. He looked around, heading to where his nose pointed. Soon he found strawberries. Azure loved strawberries.
So the little Brownie climbed the stem. It went slowly. Azure never climbed a stem before. A bit by bit, Azure reached the strawberry. There he sat for a while, resting. He ripped the stalk, repairing his clothes first. He ripped more before he got to strawberry.
He took a big bite, chewing. He took another bite, and then another. That's how hungry he was. He ate and ate until he was full. Then sleep patted his shoulder.
It wasn't night. He shouldn't be awake, but he was curious.
"But what it is when it's not a night?"
He didn't know. The Chief didn't tell him. His father didn't tell him. Maybe they didn't know.
Azure climbed down. As his tiny feet touched the ground, he heard a cry.
"Uaaah!"
He looked around. Could it be a spook?
"Uaaah!"
The cry came again. Louder and more scared. Spooks can't be scared, right? Spooks are supposed to be scary, right?
Azure got worried and curious at the same time. He followed the voice, pushing blades of grass with both hands, moving forward step by step. He nudged another blade away. Then he saw it.
A Brownie like him, but not a Brownie. He was as tiny as him, but not Brownie. His ears were pointy but very short, and his nose was so short too. He had long, golden hair like the shining star above them now. The golden hair tangled with roots. The poor not-so-Brownie couldn't get free.
Azure stepped out from his hideout, and the other not-so-Brownie noticed him.
"Uuaaah!" he screamed, falling back.
"Don't worry," Azure said. "I want to help you." He came closer.
The golden Brownie uncovered his eyes. Azure awed. The blue eyes stared at him. It was like seeing the stars outside of the night.
Azure came closer and closer, step by step. He played with the golden hair, moving strands back and forth. One by one, he freed them.
"Now, you are free," Azure said, getting up.
The Golden Brownie sat up, turning around. His hair flew around him like a veil.
"Thank you. Thank you." He stopped. "Let's be friends. My name is Sol."
Azure watched Sol with a wide mouth. Azure never had a friend. He only knew about friends from books his father left behind. The friends were special.
"Yes! Let's be friends!" Azure crowed, his hands aiming for the sky. "My name is Azure."
"That is a nice name. What Sunnie are you?"
"I'm not Sunnie. I'm Brownie."
This time, Sol's mouth turned oval. "I didn't see Brownie before."
"I didn't see Sunnie before too."
They laughed. They headed into the forest, sparkling in the morning dew.
"What Brownies do?"
Azure thought. "We eat. We sleep. We dance. But Azure never danced. What do Sunnies?"
"We do what Brownies do. But some Sunnies sing too. But Sol never danced or sung. Sol has to watch the sun."
"What is the sun?" Azure asked.
Sol pointed toward the sky. "This is the sun. Why Azure doesn't know the sun?"
The Brownie's face turned sad. "Azure has to count stars. Like my father, and his father, and his father before Azure."
"It's the same with Sol. Sol's father, and his father, and even father before his father watched the sun."
"Why do you watch the sun?"
Sol shrugged his shoulders. "Sol doesn't know. The Chief said it was always this way."
"Azure's Chief said the same."
They continued in silence. How strange.
Brownies didn't look like Sunnies.
Sunnies didn't look like Brownies.
Yet they seemed the same.
"Can Sol see the stars with Azure?"
"Of course!" Azure lit up. Nobody before wanted to watch stars with him. Azure was very happy.
Together, they talked about the sun and stars.