“Oh, look! It’s Lucy.” Carlyle exclaimed out of nowhere.
He jumped up and opened another window. I watched as a giant giraffe-like creature lowered its head into the opening. A part of me wanted to run away, but I had a feeling this beast was nothing to fear. She looked infected with her yellow body and black spots. Her hair was more purple spikes than strands and her ears were green and circular. Her face was rather small, but her black eyes took up most of it. She rested her head on the ledge.
“Carlyle!” A strange high-pitched voice came out.
It spoke again, but it was in their language. I didn’t understand anything else. I ate my breakfast and examined the strange creature before me. I noticed that its skin was actually a peach color and the yellow and black were tiny feathers. The black spots weren’t actually black either, they shimmered with an array of colors. It was much like oil on duck feathers. She was very pretty. I needed to stop letting first impressions take a hold of me.
I finished my sandwich and stood up to the other side of the window. Unlatching it, I stuck my head out. I wanted to see more. On the lawn, there were a few more of these creatures Carlyle called, ‘Lucy’. They were glimmering even more from a distance in the direct sunlight. A thought occurred to me; I grabbed Sebastian’s hand and held it in the sun. I was delighted when it glimmered back purples and greens just like the creatures out in the yard. Everything was beautiful in this world. I couldn’t fathom why my eyes had shown me such misery and disgust when I first arrived. I wanted to leave and go into the city.
“What are you doing?” Carlyle asked. All three of them were watching me.
“She can see now.” Sebastian whispered. He adored me.
“You shine. There’s a texture to your color I never imagined!” I gleamed. I was so happy.
“Oh, Mirabelle! You’ve done it!”
Carlyle ran around the table and hugged me.
“Done what?” I asked. I was still ecstatic.
“You've embraced us. You've opened your mind and you have let all fear and all hatred leave you.”
He was just as happy as I was, but he understood the magnitude of it far greater than I ever could have.
“Can I see your world, now?” I pleaded.
“Do you want to take the fun way down, or the easy way?” Lucy spoke to me.
Her voice hit much harder than when she had first spoken. I started choking on nothing. Sebastian offered me a glass of water. He was laughing.
“Yes, thank you.”
I took it and chugged it down. Lucy looked at Carlyle and spoke in their language. I set down the water and leaned towards Sebastian.
“Your world, it’s just, I can’t even describe it. How are you so fascinated with us when you have this?”
“The same way as you are fascinated with this when you have what you have.”
“Nonsense. Where I live, there are no colors like this. And there are no creatures like this. And there isn’t even…” I took a breath, “…there isn’t even air like this.”
“Likewise.” He grinned.
I gave him a look to try to understand what he meant. It sort of sounded like he was referring to me, but that would have been too much. He had to be talking about my world.
“Are you ready for your day to begin?” Carlyle interrupted us.
He was standing on top of the now emptied table with a hand on Lucy’s forehead. He was petting her.
“Oh, yes, very much.” I nodded.
He held out his free hand and helped me up onto the table. When I was standing, I saw I didn’t have on any shoes. I really didn’t want to wear heels again. I wondered if it’d be okay to go barefoot. I wouldn’t mind.
“What’s wrong?” Carlyle asked.
“Carlyle, I don’t have any shoes.” I whispered to him.
All three of them started laughing.
“You don’t need any.” Sebastian chuckled.
“Ready?” Carlyle asked again.
I nodded my head. I had a crazy shake to my body. I was so excited. This day was going to be completely unbelievable.
“Lucy, if you will.” Carlyle said.
She nodded and stepped back enough to clear the window. I didn’t understand. I had assumed we were going to use Lucy as a slide down to the bottom, hence the fun way. Carlyle edged us closer to the brink of the window. I looked back to Sebastian. He was still sitting there, admiring me.
“You coming?” I asked holding my hand out. He grinned then took it.
“As you so wish.” He winked at me.
“Hold on!” Carlyle yelled.
I screamed as we dove out of the window. Carlyle and Sebastian nearly pulled my arms out of their sockets when gravity tried to claim me back.
“Go with Carlyle!” Sebastian yelled out.
He flew closer and handed me to Carlyle. The last time I had flown with Carlyle, he'd had me bundled in his chest. This time, he held me under my armpits and faced me outward so I could see everything. I did see everything. The world in front of me was just that of a fairytale. I laughed to myself. Yesterday this place had been filled with monsters and my worst nightmares. Today, it resembled what I always imagined Heaven to look like, minus the black creatures. I smiled and laughed uncontrollably.
They flew me up into the clouds and back down again. Carlyle swirled me around and tried to do his best to let me take everything in without it being too much. We slowed down when we were over the center of the city. I saw the people were the same, but the buildings and the colors had completely filled in. There was no such thing as a color scheme, either. Where one building was a bright purple, the next was a dark green. I wondered if that’s why the people were such a black color. That way, they managed to stick out against their surroundings of the rainbow city they lived in.
Carlyle wrapped his arms around my ribs and told me to close my eyes. I didn’t want to. I was terrified that if I did I’d lose the ability to see their world. He squeezed my ribs, ordering me to do it this time. I clamped them shut instantly. I felt the world around me come to a stop. I was terrified that that was it. Had I just lost everything? There was a whooshing sound and I couldn’t breathe. My heart was hurting. It was trying to beat but the force against it wouldn’t allow it.
I gasped when we landed, on instinct not actual fear. There was grass below me. Was I back at home? Something had been holding me up, but let me go. I collapsed to the ground. It was soft and cushioned my fall. Opening my eyes, I saw there was a flower bent in my face. It smiled and giggled when I reached out for it. I was still in their world. I started giggling, too. More flowers leaned towards me to say hello. I ran my fingers across them, laughing some more. This was too much.
“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked.
He leaned over me, blocking the sun from my eyes.
“Are you kidding? How can you even ask that? I’m absolutely wonderful!”
I pulled him down next to me.
“Whoa! Mirabelle!” He laughed.
We rolled over the grass, laughing together. We didn’t stop until a tree got in our way. We thudded against. It grunted at us.
“Oh, my. I’m so sorry.” I said.
The tree shook its branches showering leaves onto us. Sebastian sighed, trying not to smile. He picked a few leaves off of my head. He gave me that look of, ‘What am I going to do with you.’ I loved it.
Reaching up to his neck, I pulled him down. I didn’t care anymore; I kissed him in front of Carlyle. He kissed me back. It was just as good as I remembered it to be. I was blissfully happy. Now I understood what the Minakai meant by me never wanting to leave. I didn’t even want to think about that moment.
“About time!” Carlyle huffed.
He had run over to us. I stopped kissing Sebastian and looked up. Carlyle was glimmering in the sun with his hand on his hip.
“What?!” I laughed.
“Your heart's wishes are very obvious to us. Call it our gift. I’ve been hoping you got what you desir
ed.” He smiled.
I went to smile back, but a glare in the grass caught my eye. I pushed Sebastian away and sat up. There was a look on his face that I didn’t have time to acknowledge. The thing on the ground was calling my name. I walked over and saw it was my necklace. I grabbed my neck and panicked. Snatching it up, I clasped it back onto me.
“What is it?” Carlyle asked.
“My necklace. My mother gave it to me.” I said.
I touched it between my collarbones. It was safe now. When could it have fallen off? I looked around. We were in an open field. It was pure luck that I had seen it.
“Thank goodness you found it.” Sebastian said.
He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He nuzzled my cheek. I smiled. Carlyle nodded and pressed on. We walked back up the hill we had just tumbled down. The flowers were pulling themselves back up again. It was adorable.
“Right. Okay, well this is the equivalent of a park. The... I’ll call them townsfolk, they come here with their children and our pets to play.” Sebastian said.
“Where are they right now?” I asked looking around.
“Well, sleeping of course.” Carlyle laughed.
“Sleep? What time is it?”
I looked back over the hill to the buildings. I had seen people walking around from the air. There hadn’t been that many, but still. Sebastian’s' hand found its way into mine, stopping my thoughts. He locked fingers with me. It felt like they belonged there; they were my missing piece.
“In your world, it’s around 1:00 in the afternoon. In our world, it’s only 5:00 in the morning.” Carlyle said.
He walked me over to some benches. They looked like they would have been made of wrought iron, but instead they were made of vines. Next to the bench was what looked to be some sort of a sundial. It had foreign markings on tiny individual circles that were turning inside of two other pieces. These pieces were also turning, however, they were spinning in opposite directions. To top it off, the sun was casting a shadow on all three pieces to form a perfect line down them.
“This is our clock. This is the day, this is the hour, and this is the phase of the sun. All is essential in our day to day lives.” Sebastian said, pointing to each piece.
“Fascinating.”
Like a child in a candy store, I reached my hand out to touch it. Carlyle quickly swatted my hand away.
“It’s very fragile.”
“Then why is it in a park where the children and pets play?” I looked up at him.
“I don’t know.” He thought about it for a second. “Shall we go into town?” He changed the subject.
“Yes!”
I was back to how I felt this morning. I wanted to learn everything and see everything.
“Good. Now, try not to stare. I can imagine how weird our people look to you, but remember you look just as weird to them.” Carlyle said.
“Right.” I agreed. “No staring. But wait, I thought you said they were all sleeping.”
“They were.” Sebastian laughed.
He turned me around to face the buildings. My jaw dropped. The half breeds I thought I saw yesterday were now normal. They didn’t look like mixtures of creatures from my stories and world, they blended. The satyrs, the centaurs, they were different, but the same. I couldn’t understand the specific difference, there just was one. The dragon dogs ran the streets, barking in their way, and the children chased them. It was the first time I had seen the children. Their wings were curled up like butterflies in a cocoon. The fur nearly covered their entire body and their hair was going in every which way.
When they ran past, I couldn’t help but to laugh. It was heart-warming. Everyone was happy. They weren’t scary or intimidating and colorless anymore. And still nothing but the look of the surroundings had drastically changed.
“You’re staring.” Carlyle whispered.
“No, I’m not!” I whispered back.
My eyes were closed. I was breathing in the moment. I wanted the taste of happiness to simmer for a while.
“Oh.” I mumbled.
Carlyle nudged my side. I opened my eyes and repeated my mumble without effort, or want. I suppose they had noticed me by now. Everyone was starting to circle around us. A few kept on with their day’s business, but I could see the half circle forming.
One of the dragon dogs walked up to me. He was low to the ground, cautious. He sniffed my outstretched hand. At that moment it was as if the entire town had held its breath. A few seconds passed that felt like a lifetime, and the dragon dog jumped up on my legs. He was wagging his spiked tail and his tiny wings were fluttering. I figured he’d be flying if he weren’t so fat. He was adorable.
“Nuisance likes you.” Carlyle bent down next to me.
“So does everyone else.” Sebastian tugged on my shoulder.
“Huh?”
I looked up and the entire town was smiling at me. I took Sebastian’s hand and stood up. Nuisance whimpered, but didn’t back up.
“People of Aegyssus, this is Mirabelle, of… ” Sebastian paused and looked to me to finish the last part.
“America?”
I wasn’t sure what place he was getting at, but I figured that would do.
“Of America!” He said holding my hand up. They all cheered then rushed up to meet me.
I was ambushed with ‘Hello’ and ‘Hi’ and ‘How are ya's?’ It was wonderful. They were all so eager to make me feel welcomed. I touched each of their hands, bowed to some, and kissed others' cheeks. Some touched my hair and smelled my skin. Each one had a huge smile, though. I was overwhelmed.
“How do you like my city?” Came a voice from the back.
Everyone separated, exposing the Minakai. Instantly, the town hushed again. They all bowed. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was shell-shocked with everything I had just experienced. By the time I looked back up to him, he was standing in front of me and holding out his hand. I took it.
“It’s beautiful.” I complimented, bowing my head.
He took a place next to me and we faced everyone together. I noticed now that he wasn’t shining like the rest of them. He seemed to be the only one that wasn’t painted in oil.
“Good. I’m glad it worked. You have much to see and do. I have a lot set aside to make sure it gets done. May I join you for the hour?” He asked.
“Of course.” I said without hesitation.
“Very well.” He nodded.
He turned us so our backs faced the townsfolk. I heard them stand up and start whispering. I wished I knew what they were saying. I felt like they went from accepting me to judging me. It was a bit intense.
“Don’t be nervous.” The Minakai assured. “They already knew you were special before you even knew what they really looked like.”
He looked back and waved to the people, and then he looked at me again.
“Most of them have never seen me before, that’s all.” He whispered.
“Oh?” I whispered back.
“Shall we?” He asked Carlyle and Sebastian.
They didn’t speak or make eye contact. They just knelt and bowed together. It was weird seeing them act that way.
What else is there?
((close your eyes and smile, this is everything you wanted))
“How do you like our parks?” He asked smugly.
The Minakai was walking with his hands in his pockets. I wanted to hold Sebastian’s, but he and Carlyle were walking just behind us. I didn’t understand the Minakai's need to treat them this way. I turned to look at Sebastian, but he would not make eye contact with me. The Minakai cleared his throat. I had forgotten that he had asked me a question.
“They’re lovely.” I said.
Nuisance barked from behind us.
“Ah, I see our Cariage likes you. That is well. They have a keen eye for purity.”
“Care-e-ahhsch…” I pronounced the word out loud to make sure I'd heard him correctly. It was difficult with his thick accent to understand everythi
ng that he was saying.
“Yes. Cariage.” He said enunciating the ‘ah’ more for me.
I repeated it a few times with him to get it right, but I eventually gave up.
“What did you have in mind for us to do today?” I asked to change the topic.
“I was hoping to take you to my favorite spot. The food there is just fantastic.”
He winked at me and stopped walking. He turned to Sebastian and Carlyle and they bowed.
“You shall join us in our dining of breakfast, won’t you?” He asked, standing in front of Sebastian.
“Sir, I have already eaten breakfast, but I assure you, Sir, I will eat again.” Sebastian responded.
I had never heard him speak like that before. It was as if he feared the Minakai. I hated it. I wanted him to show backbone.
“Very well.” The Minakai waved his hand as to dismiss Sebastian. “What about you? Have you, too, eaten already?” He sneered at Carlyle.
I felt like he was the terrible father and I was the ashamed mother. I wanted to jump in front of him and nurture Sebastian and Carlyle and let them know everything was okay.
“Yes, forgive me, I did not know.” Carlyle pleaded.
“Hmm, so it seems.”
The Minakai turned on them and left them behind. I was disgusted. A leader of such a beautiful world should have more respect, not demand this kind of obedience. Not to mention, he said that most of them hadn’t even ever seen him. It just didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to say something to him.
“Mirabelle!” The Minakai yelled. He snapped his fingers in front of me.
“Yes?”
I shook my head back to reality. I hadn’t heard him ask me anything.
“What kind of food are you hungry for?” He repeated, leaning directly in front of my face.
“Oh. Well, we all ate together.”
I pointed at me, Carlyle, and Sebastian. They both seemed to be shaking their heads. He wasn’t my leader; I didn’t have to treat him like one.
“Are you declining my offer to have breakfast together?”
He raised his eyebrow trying to intimidate me. It wouldn’t work.
Monsters & Fairytales Page 24