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The Fallen Faerie


by blackwell

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Aneilla was lost. She sat upon her light pink cloud, her long golden hair framing her glowing but worried face. She was only a few years old, and had somehow lost her mother during the Faerie Festival, and now was all alone. Around her neck was a glass orb, a strange light shinning from it. Her mother had given it to her, and she wore it every day.

      As she floated around, tears fell, and she began to cry. Then, she slipped, falling down. She tried to take flight, but she didn’t have the heart. As she fell through the sky, she closed her eyes, hoping her mother would catch her. She never did, and as she hit the water, she wished her mother were there.

     **

      A water faerie found a light faerie floating in the water. Her clothes were torn, and she had a strange necklace. Pulling a bottle from her belt, the water faerie poured it on the wings of the faerie. After pouring the remainder of it in her mouth, the water faerie carried her to shore. As soon as she was safely on the land, the water faerie swam away. That is the nature of the water faerie, to come, to help, to not take thanks and leave.

     **

      An Acara walked along the shore. Suddenly, she gasped. There, only a few feet in front of her was a light faerie. She was glowing faintly, and she seemed to have fainted and fallen from the sky. She needed immediate care; the faerie might be permanently hurt. She picked the faerie, and began to journey home to care for her.

     **

      Aneilla blinked sleepily. She was inside some sort of neohome, and there was a mug of tea next to her. This wasn’t where her mother was, and her mom would never find her here. She got up, grabbed a blanket, grabbed the tea, and flew out the window. She was going to find her mother, whether she was well or not.

     **

      Aneilla sat huddled next to a shop, a ragged blanket covering her. Her hair wasn’t the golden shade it should’ve been, but a dull yellow. Her eyes were grey, and her skin was fair, not glowing like it should be for a light faerie. The brightest thing about her was her necklace, the one she had ever since she was a little girl. She had been cold, hungry, and poor her entire life, and had never had the strength to fly since she had fallen from a cloud.

      “Hey!” a blue Nimmo in a school hat yelled out from his shop. “Get out of here! No loitering!”

      Aneilla jumped up, terrified. She ran, the Nimmo throwing school supplies as her as she ran. A pencil hit her wing, and she cried in pain, and kept running. She was scared. Finally, after she was sure she was safe, she took shelter under a tree. She took off her blanket, and examined her wing. It looked extremely grey, which was the effect of pain on light faeries. When they were sick, hurt, or sad, they turned grey.

      She took the pencil out, her face covered with a look of pain. She ripped part of her blanket off, and tied it around her wing. Then she put the blanket back on, and headed to the Soup Kitchen.

      There was an extremely long line outside the kitchen, so she resigned herself to wait. She had never been there before, but she was in so much pain, and she was so hungry.

      Hours went by, and she was cold. As the night fell, she was finally at the front of the line. There was no one behind her, and she was the last one.

      The Soup Faerie’s face popped out of the shop. “Sorry,” she apologized. “We’re closed. Come back tomorrow. We’ll be open then.”

      “Please,” Aneilla begged. “I’m so hungry.”

      The Soup Faerie peered at her. “Are you a faerie?” she asked. Aneilla nodded. “Come in,” the faerie said, looking worried. Aneilla hurried in. “Take off your cloak,” the faerie commanded, feeding wood to the fire. Aneilla obeyed. The faerie gasped. She looked at herself, and realized she was almost as grey as the grey faerie.

      “We need to get you up to the healing springs, pronto,” the Soup Faerie claimed.

      “Um,” Aneilla said nervously. “I can’t fly.”

      The faerie stopped in her tracks. “You can’t fly?” she gasped.

      Aneilla looked down. “I just can’t,” she said nervously. “Never had learned.”

      The Soup Faerie opened her mouth, and then closed it. “Follow me,” she said, leading Aneilla into a bedroom. “This is my guest bedroom. You can stay here.”

      “Thanks,” Aneilla murmured.

      “By the way, I’m Sara,” the faerie said. “Let me light your fire place, and then I’ll be right back. You go to sleep.”

      Aneilla nodded, and sat on the bed. Sara lit the fire. “Bye,” she said, and left the room. Then she popped her head back in. “By the way, cool necklace,” she said, and left.

     Aneilla fingered her favorite necklace. “Thanks,” she whispered, and fell asleep.

      The next morning, she woke up, the sunlight streaming through the windows. She hadn’t slept this well in years, and she felt a little better.

      Sara entered the room, carrying a box in her hand. “Good morning,” she said cheerily. “I’ve made a decision,” Aneilla sat patiently, waiting. “First, I’m taking care of you for now on. You’re going to help me, and be my apprentice.”

      Aneilla smiled. “Cool,” she said softly. “Thanks.”

      “Here,” Sara said, opening the box. She pulled out a long sleeve button up purple shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. Then she pulled out some shoes, and a light yellow apron. “Put these on,” Sara commanded. “And meet me in the kitchen.” She left.

      Aneilla put on the clothes, and admired herself in the mirror. They were still warm from the drying, and for the first time ever, she felt confident about herself.

      She walked into kitchen. Sara was already there, and her sleeves were pulled up. Aneilla pulled her sleeves up too. Sara opened a wooden crate, and pulled out a bottle of golden liquid. “Drink this,” she commanded, handing Aneilla the bottle.

      “What is it?” she said in her soft voice, swishing the liquid around in the bottle.

      “It’s a healing potion made from light and the water at the healing springs,” Sara explained. “I got it from my friend, Nereid, who’s the Healing Springs Faerie. She told me you need to drink two bottles per day, and that you should put new bandages on your wing injury once a day. Here.” She took a dark purple strip of cloth and wrapped it around the wing injury.

      Aneilla pulled the cork out, and drank the concoction. It slipped down her throat, and suddenly she felt her skin become extremely bright, and then it faded away. “Thanks,” she said.

      “I’m going to teach you all about my job,” Sara explained. “Today, you’re going to hand out soup. Watch me. See, you put it in this bowl, and give them this much. They don’t get to choose which kind of soup, and only give one bowl per person.”

      Aneilla nodded. “I’ve got to go make more soup,” Sara said. “Call me if you need any help.” Then she left.

      Aneilla opened the door. Outside was the longest line of neopets, all looked sad, tired, and hungry, just like she felt yesterday. “Here you go,” she said, handing a bowl of soup to a hungry looking Aisha. The Aisha took it, and left, with out a word. The next neopet came, and the next, and the next. None said a word, but each was as hungry as the next. Eventually, Aneilla didn’t say a word, just passed out the soup, and watched them leave.

      At the end of the day, she closed. She didn’t feel any better, and felt even more depressed seeing all those neopets so sad. She had to do something.

      “Would you like to work in the kitchen tomorrow?” Sara asked, coming in as she wiped her hands on her apron.

      Aneilla thought for a moment. “No,” she said, drinking her second bottle of medicine. “I want to hand out soup again please.”

      “No problem,” Sara said. “Just be ready tomorrow.”

      That night, Aneilla took a while to fall asleep, the image of the sad neopets stuck in her mind.

      The next day she opened the door, a smile on her face. “Here you go,” she sang, passing the soup to the poor neopet. “I hope you like it!”

      The neopet looked slightly stunned. He gave a half smile. “Thanks,” he murmured, and then left. She greeted each neopet with the same overly happy greeting each time, and each neopet gave her a half smile.

      The day after that, when she said hi, everyone actually smiled at her. She felt so happy to be making a difference, and she was getting better every day. She was a little less grey every day, and a little more happy.

      One day, when she was walking towards the door, she began to float a little. She gasped. She could fly! She had never been able to do that before!

      “Sara,” she said, many months later. “I’m going to Faerieland. I’ve been offered a job running the Wheel of Excitement.”

      “That’s great!” Sara exclaimed with a smile. “I’ll miss you.”

      “Thanks for everything,” Aneilla said, a smile on her face and confidence in her steps. “I’ll miss you too! Bye!”

      With that, she flew away, leaving Sara alone. “Oh no,” Sara said, picking up something from the floor. It was Aneilla’s favorite necklace, the one her mother gave her. “This will give her reason to come back,” Sara said, nodding. She opened the door, and saw the neopets.

      A Kougra looked at her with a sigh. “She’s not here?” the neopet asked.

      “No,” Sara said with a sad smile.

      “Bummer,” the Kougra responded.

      “Sorry,” Sara apologized.

      “I like you too,” she said quickly. “It’s just, she always was so cheerful.”

      “I’ll keep that in mind,” Sara said, turning to get soup. Happiness, she thought, pouring the soup into the bowl. The best cure when you’re sad.

The End

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