Auz Burger

CHAPTER TWO The Birth of a New Day The flower Neevya had chosen as her bed for the night opened as soon as Father Sun peeked over the horizon, and a Wake-Up Faerie sprinkled rays of sunshine over its lustrous petals. Like the Wake-Uup Faerie, Neevya harvested beams of sunlight, but was thankful she didn’t work in the Day-Dawning Department. She couldn’t fathom how anyone could enjoy waking up while it was still dark outside, even if it was to birth a new day. As the pink lily’s petals stretched to greet the morning, so did Neevya. First her pale yellow legs, each one in turn, then her arms together, and finally her multicolored wings, which shimmered in the sunlight. She loved sleeping safe and warm, enveloped in the luxurious embrace of the flowers of the Ayin Wwoodland. But the thing she loved most was waking to a brand newbrand-new day full of potential. The lily’s stem bowed to drop Neevya gently to the forest floor, where the young faerie scooped a handful of dew from a blade of grass and splashed it over her face. It was much colder than she anticipated, and her yelp startled Ol’ Grum, a wandering gnome who’d ventured out of his kingdom of Gwyndovia and had been staying in Ayin these last few months. He, like many other gnomes she’d encountered, seemed to think all of Faeyelwen was his for the napping. She’d heard of an elderly gnome who was found curled up on main courthouse steps of Dravolin, the kingdom of dwarves, the strictest race in Faeyelwen. Had Kearoth, the king of the Faeries, Kearoth not stepped in, that old gnome might have gone on trial for laziness. And Neevya giggled to herself as she recalled a lanky elf with knobby knees enacting the story at the most recent winter festival. “Uh- hum. What’r you gigglin’ on about? Can’t you see I’m busy here?” Ol’ Grum muttered. He’d arrived with a gnomestool slung over one shoulder and declared that wherever he laid it down was his home. And who was Neevya to argue? She, like the other faeries, was a custodian of the forest, not its owner. If he wanted to stay, then he could. Maybe—just maybe—he wouldn’t be so grumpy when he left. “You faeriey-folk, always flying about with your magic this and enchanted that. Can’t you just take the time to sit down for once?” Ol’ Grum said, rubbing his eyes. “There’s nothing like a fine sit-down after a good night’s sleep to prepare an old gnome for the day ahead.” Neevya hoisted herself into the air and hovered above the squat gnome’s head. She bent forward to look him right in his small, beady eyes. Commented [AB1]: It sounds like this is the King’s name, so I’ve moved it here. If it’s the name of the region he rules over, I’ll adjust it to “Had the king of the Kearoth Faeries...” “We each have a unique purpose, Mr. Grum, and mine is to bring nourishment and lifeforce to the plant-dwellers. When might I find time to rest? Not when Father Sun is awake, I’ll tell you that. Furthermore, there’s grass to comb, shrubs to feed, blossoms to scatter, and buds to hatch. Do you think a beautiful forest like this happens by magic alone?” “Doesn’t it?” said the gnome, spluttering into his wispy grayish-white beard. “No, a lot of hard work goes into keeping the enchanted forest… well… enchanting. It simply won’t do, lying about in a flower bed all day like some I could mention. Especially with Spring upon us.” Ol’ Grum got to his feet and wrung the dew from his dark hat, then pulled it down so hard over his head that his ears stuck out under its large, floppy brim. It had been pointy when he’d first arrived, but nowadays it flopped over to one side, and he pulled it down hard over his head so that his ears stuck out under its large floppy brim; he did his best to prop up its peak, but it still looked like a wilted weed, no matter how hard he tried. “Spring, you say? It’s about time we had some change in these parts. Winter’s too cold for my liking. Snow’s all well and good. Pretty, if you like that sort of thing, but you can’t beat a good bit of sunshine.” He locked his thumbs into his weathered tan-and-gray suspenders and tilted back on his heels as he sniffed the air. “Well, I’ll be. The scent of Spring is in the air.” The very thought of Spring made Neevya’s heart soar. Spring was a time for new growth and change;, a time to let go of old ideas and to create new, beautiful visions that would form the foundations on which the forest would thrive. It was also the busiest time of year for Neevya and her workmates from the Sunbeam Sector. There was much new life to assist into the world, and nurturing new seedlings and sprouts was a vital part of their jobs. Likewise, itIt was also the Sunbeam Sector’s responsibility to help awaken those plant- dwellers that lay dormant through the winter. The forest must wake up, and although winter had its own chilly charms, Neevya would take blossoms over icicles any day. “You’ll see, Mr. Grum, this will be the most splendid Spring ever.” “Well, you’d better get a move on then, hadn’t ya? No point flapping your wings in my face when I’ve got some good resting up to do. And just think, you could be out there talking to blackberries, or whatever you lot get up to.” With that, Ol’ Grum sat back against his gnomestool and yanked the brim of his hat over his eyes, leaving just enough of a gap that he could watch the faerie zigzag off through the pollen-laden air. “Bah, faeries.”