1 Chapter 1
The sun filtered through the leaves, leaving a golden pattern on the ground. The wind rushed through the trees. The sound of birds filled my ears. A terrible sound. A dangerous sound. I felt painfully out of place here. Here in the woods. I was on the edge of the great forest that stretches far into the distance. No fairy has ever been to its edge. Endless. Terrifying. I was accustomed to the moor. The rolling hills and grassland. The open sky above me. No towering trees. No dark corners. And no birds. The moorland was calm and peaceful. It was home. But here I am. In the woods, alone. All of this is because of my stepdad? Does he even deserve that name? He's more like my temporary guardian. I just call him Stone. He sent me out here to gather nuts and berries. But he knows how dangerous this job is for fairies. Not only do you have to be strong enough to cut open the huge nuts, you have to wander through the woods aimlessly.
"Stay on the edge of the woods. Don't, for any reason, venture deeper into the woods. You must make sure you are able to see the moorland for as long as possible." Stone's words repeated in my head. He told me those instructions before ushering me out of the village. At least he cares. Kind of. The wood were beautiful. In their own little way. The sunlight felt nice on my shoulders and the cool dirt and grass under my feet was a lot different then the long stalks on the moor. As long as you didn't wander under a pine tree, you should be fine. I flew on top of a log to get a better view of the forest. Nuts, berries, nuts, berries. Where are you? I scanned the forest looking for the tell-tale signs of a berry bush, or the large brown acorns that line the ground under the giant oak trees. A glimpse of red caught my eye, and there they were! Huge red strawberries hanging off of a small bush. I flew towards them, being careful not to stray too far away from the moorland. The strawberries were as big as I was. Their red skin glistened with dew from the morning. I pulled the knife Stone had given me for this task out of my bag. I started with the tip of the strawberry. The knife went smoothly through the ripe flesh of the berry. I was careful to keep the sticky juice from touching my fingers. I grabbed the tip before it could fall the the ground and rapped it in a clean cloth. I gently shoved the berry into my bag and sliced another piece off. Soon I had gotten enough for my family and started to head back. Before I left I flew to the old oak tree that the moor fairies have used as their source of acorns for years. The majestic tree stood tall on the edge of the woods. I gazed at it in awe. I'd been here many times, but every time I see it, it awes me. I found an acorn that looked smaller than the rest and easier to break open. I grabbed the tools I needed for the nut cracking process out of my bag. A long wooden pole for leverage and a pick axe for digging into the hard shell. I grabbed the pick and struck the top of the nut where the shell met the edible part. I put all my weight on the pick and slowly the shell began to budge. I slid the long pole under the shell as well and used both tools to push the shell upward. Soon the top popped off and all that was left was the nut. I began to pick away at the nut until it broke in half. Now I could remove the meat of the nut from inside. I wrapped that in a cloth and held it under my arm. Now that I was weighed down with all of the food that Stone sent me to get, I headed back home. I broke from the edge of the woods and wove my way along the path worn through the tall moor grass. The yellow grass stems swayed in the wind. Fall had just started and soon winter would be upon us. The doorway into our village was a tunnel made of wood and grass stems woven together. I emerged from the tunnel into the sun filled village. Fairies bustled through the village square. I loved how lively the village was.
"About time you got back." I grimaced at the sound of Stone's ugly voice. I rolled my eyes to myself and turned towards his voice.
"Yup, and I got everything." I said with no emotion.
"Take them to the center." Not even a word of praise. I nodded my head in acknowledgement and headed towards the center. The only moral thing Stone has done since I've known him is run the Senior Center. The center for short. It was a place where all of the elders of the village could get a free meal and a place to visit. But my sister and I were the ones who did everything. I carried my load to the center and walked in through the back door.
"Piper, your back!" Myami, my sister, called from the kitchen, "Just in time too." Myami had unruly dirty blonde hair that's shoulder length and curly. She was only 12 years old and helped me with most of the chores. Myami and I were orphans. When I was 6, Stone and his wife Ann took us in and have been taking care of us ever since. But, sadly, Ann had disappeared 5 years ago. After she disappeared, Stone changed. He's never been the same. Believe it or not, he used to be nice. I sighed and set down my bag on the table.
"The strawberries are in there. Here's the acorn."
"Thanks, you want to start on the strawberry?" Myami asked. I nodded and pulled the berry out of its bag. I unwrapped the three packages of berries. I carried them the cutting board and began to slice them into pieces for lunch.
"How was the forest?" Myami asked. She had always been interested in the woods, but because she was so young, she could not go into the woods yet.
"Same as usual. You know, I don't understand why you like it so much. You've never even been there before."
"I know, but the thought of those giant trees and dark undergrowth. It sounds beautiful. Plus, I can see the trees from here if I fly up to the top of the center."
"Your not supposed to be doing that either," I said, smiling, "But the forest is dangerous, so don't ever go there when you're not supposed to. Got it." I said. Myami gave me a smirk.
"Fine, fine," She had started cutting the acorn into portions for the waiting elders, "It's time, let's go." I grabbed my plate of strawberry slices and carried it out of the kitchen and into the actual center. I carried it behind the long table that was the serving stand. I set the tray down and pulled on the thin gloves I used to serve the elders. The fairies started lining up at the table and I filled their trays. Once the last fairy had been served, we had a few slices left over.
"Lucky, we can eat the leftovers." I said as I was cleaning up. Stone expected us to take complete care of ourselves as well as ur chores. If we didn't find ourselves food before curfew, we would just starve through the night. We finished off the last of the strawberry and went outside to finish the rest of our chores. Everyday went by like this. Long, boring, and tiresome.
The sun had started to set and the village was bathed in an orange glow. I washed my hands and headed towards the house. The day was finally over. I hung my apron up by the door and made my way to the kitchen. The last thing to do was make supper for Stone and Myami. I had grabbed a frozen blackberry from the freezer before I came inside. I set the frozen berry on the table to thaw. While I waited, I walked into Stone's room. I know, a huge risk. But I had been doing this for a while now because of a little book. A diary. Ann's diary. Stone had kept it in his closet. I found it when I was cleaning one day and have read it to pass the time. It was interesting. I stood on my tip toes and grabbed the book off of the top shelf. I carried with me back to my room and sat down on my bed. I flipped to the page I left off on.
Dear Diary, today is June 4th, 1999,
It' has been a year since I left that place. A year since I had returned home. I don't miss it. I feel no guilt for leaving, there was nothing I could do anyway. I had to come back to protect my village. To protect the girls. Life has seemingly gone back to normal. No fairy remembers anything. And the other tribes think that Iskakusa has disappeared from existence. Which is good. Life has been peaceful for the first time in several years. I regret nothing. And I will not return to the others. I've been receiving water-messages from many but refuse to answer. If I did, Iskakusa would be exposed, and it's better off if they think I'm dead. I also am aware that writing in this journal is dangerous and revealing too much information could be my downfall, but I need to get this out. This weight. I can't tell Stone or anyone else in the village. I suppose this is my burden to bear for leaving the effort. As long as Iskakusa remains a secret, I will be happy.
Every diary entry was strange. Was full of secrets and other wonders. I had no idea what Ann meant by the 'others' or 'exposing Iskakusa'. As far as I knew, it was the other fairy tribes that had disappeared. Not us. Everytime I read the diary, I found out something new. What did she mean by, "No fairy remembers anything"? What do we not remember? I heard footsteps approach the house and quickly put the diary under my pillow. I rushed into the kitchen before the front door had opened. I grabbed a knife and pretended that I had been preparing dinner this whole time. Stone entered the house and Myami followed behind him.
"Hey guys, I'm almost done." I said and sliced the berry into thin pieces. I prepared a salad and set the bowl on the table. Then I brought the berry slices to the table.
"Yes! Blackberry is my favorite." I smiled at Myami. She was the only thing that made living here bearable. We finished supper and headed our separate ways. Myami and I shared a room and we didn't mind. We didn't argue often. That was one of the last nights I had with Myami in that house.
