Keep in mind that this is from a sprite's point of view, so the writing will have words that are a bit elementary! I'll write more intellectually once I switch to another point of view in a later chapter.
Today, a young man by the name of Lucas hired my brothers and I to help him on his farm. I'm a brushing and petting sprite, so I was hired by Lucas to help with his animals on a hot summer's day. I was finally old enough to be hired for a job, so I was really excited and nervous and scared.
When he first calmly walked into our cozy little tree, the first thing I noticed about him was his eyes. They were bright and blue, just like sapphires. They were just as shiny, too. I thought his face was super cute because of his shy smile. His voice was very feminine; it so feminine that I had to do a double-take to make sure he was not a girl.
It didn't matter.
I was just hired to help him with his chores on the farm. I wasn't there to date him, after all. Of course, I wanted more than anything to date him, but I was a boy and a Harvest Sprite and he was also a boy but a human- two things that conflicted. Nobody knew I was gay, and if all one hundred of the sprites found out… Well, I would have no more friends or brothers, and there would only be one hundred sprites left.
Lucas was possibly one of the nicest humans I had ever met. He smiled at us a lot and even talked to us. Most people don't talk to us, so it was a nice treat for once. It was soothing, listening to him as my brothers and I milked the cows. He treated all of us kindly, and he was a great leader. I had discovered that working wasn't a chore at all- it was so much fun! All was well until I absentmindedly smiled at his voice.
"You like him, don't you, Canal?" Johnny asked me, knocking into my shoulder with a pestering grin. I widened my eyes in surprise and accidentally pulled on the udders of Milky too hard, sending milk flying into all directions as it made the cow yelp in alarm and charge around the room. It stepped on some of my brothers and sent the luckier ones flying in all different directions. The cow's milk landed on my brother, Pompom.
"I'm lactose intolerant!" Pompom screamed, frantically running around one of the cows in circles while pulling on his lime-green hair. I always knew he hated milk, but I had no idea he couldn't drink it. I couldn't do anything but watch behind my hands as I utterly botched up my very first job.
I felt terrible; it had all been one big mistake! Even more chaos soon erupted as our leader, Canary, trudged towards me. He was not wearing a happy face.
"Canal, Lucas's family saved you from the other world and this… this is how you thank him? By causing a riot?"
My eyes welled up with tears. The attention of every single one of my brothers was on me. Like always when I cry, I began to hiccup. It was just one hiccup, then another one five seconds later. No, it was a barrage of erratic hiccups. They would not stop; it was the most embarrassing moment of my life! I could hear Johnny, Pompom, and Kali laughing at me from behind as I turned away from them. I sniffed and hiccupped at the same time. It didn't feel good at all.
"Hey, what's the matter?" I heard a calming woman's voice say to me as a warm hand patted my back and a shadow fell across my entire body. Still with a bad case of the hiccups, I slowly turned my head to look behind me.
There he was. Lucas looked down at me with a small smile, that cute smile… It soon became my only focus, and after being entranced with it for about a full minute, my hiccups slowly faded.
"…Little buddy? Can you tell me what has happened here?" he asked me, crouching down to my height. "I closed my eyes for five seconds, and when I was startled awake, I saw a fiasco!" he said with a laugh.
"I- I-"
I couldn't speak, even though my hiccups were gone. I took a breath and looked over at Johnny. I knew that if I told on my brother for teasing me, all of my brothers would hate me because they would think I was gay.
Then again, they already did hate me. I did not have anything to lose, so I told him everything that had happened play by play. He looked at me intensely during the entire time that I talked, so that made me sorta nervous. He nodded throughout my rambling explanation then stood back up once I had finished. He dusted off his jeans.
"I don't see why his sexual orientation should matter," he announced proudly so every single one of my brothers could hear. I could just about die at that point of embarrassment, but I curled up into a ball and waited for the rest to come. That was how things usually went with me. I wouldn't do anything to stop stuff from happening. I would just wait them out until they were finished. That was how it had always been. That was how it would always be. I guess some sprites never change.
"He was doing a fine job at what I requested for him to do until one of his brothers distracted him. He is a hard worker, and being a hard worker is what I hired all of you for. Let him do his work, or I demand a full refund."
I saw my boss' eyes bulge out of their sockets.
"But- but-" Canary stuttered, mouth agape. Lucas grinned lazily and sat on top of his shipping box inside the barn. He was so carefree, laidback, easygoing, and cool. I wanted him to notice me before, and it was really nice how he stood up for me. I liked that feeling. Maybe he and I could be friends, at least! That would be so cool if I could make friends with a human.
Lucas pointed back to his cows and yawned. It was still early, and he had gone to bed super late he had told me. He even said he only got two hours of sleep, which I thought was crazy talk! All of the Harvest Sprites are required to receive exactly twelve hours of sleep, no more and no less. Only the leaders get to sleep in or stay up late. I sure wished I could be a leader. That way, everyone would be treated fairly and I could stay up late and I could boss everyone around and-
"Hey. You heard the man; get back to work," Brushy snapped at me, pointing to the cow. He always had been a bit of an uptight brother of mine. I sighed and shook my head out of the thoughts, turning my attention back to the cow to see if she had more milk to offer or if I had just wasted it all.
Most sprites are all diagnosed with ADHD. Even I have it, but mine isn't as bad as most of the sprites' disorders. While we are all hard workers, we're pretty weak and often dawdle off. That's why we all have a leader. The leaders are some of the few Harvest Sprites that don't have ADHD, making them stronger and third in command- only upstaged by Guts, and then the Harvest Goddess herself. Sometimes I think that Canary actually does have the disorder, but maybe he's just loud and noisy. Even if I couldn't be a leader since I had ADHD, I would try my very hardest and make the Goddess proud of me. Someday, I'll stand out from the others.
"Wow, good work!" Lucas commented, beaming at me as I milked the udders. I turned my head to look at him, trying my hardest not to go crazy over a simple little compliment. After all, it was my first compliment directly received on a job well-done! I gave him a small smile and nodded in thanks.
"Well, that's all the time we've got for today," Canary announced, pointedly looking at his watch. He turned to Lucas and gave a formal, brief nod.
"It has been a pleasure working for you. Do you want us to help you tomorrow?" his big voice boomed. The leader's regular inside voices always sounded like screaming to me. Lucas nodded and petted his cow, Milky, on her side.
"Just… make sure you get every last drop of milk tomorrow," Lucas snickered, winking at me. I felt embarrassed as my leader apologized for the incident yet again, but Lucas claimed he had only been joking.
I must not have been paying attention, because when I finally snapped out of my reverie I had apparently been taking, I was the only Harvest Sprite in the barn. I felt sleepy, but I jumped to my feet and frantically looked around for whoever was there other than the cows and sheep.
"Hey, little buddy," Lucas called out. I whipped my head around to find him still lounging on the shipping bin. Oh, no! I had missed the teleportation with the rest of the sprites on the way back! My boss would be so mad at me…
"Oh, m-my! I must leave before it grows even later," I stumbled over my words. Lucas laughed and flopped my hat the other way so that the ball at the top was over my eyes. I had to cross my eyes to see it, but I still felt it there. I jumped up in the air, and it turned back to the usual way. Things were so weird when they were even the slightest bit off-course. I didn't like when people flopped the ball on my hat especially, since it's my most treasured item. I wouldn't yell at Lucas over it, though. That seemed silly.
"Don't worry little guy. My sister gave me a teleportation necklace so we can go back together. I'll just tell them you were cleaning up the rest of the milk since you had missed a spot."
Lucas would lie to cover for me? Lying was bad! Lying was something the Witch Princess would do. However, it was a harmless lie, and he was trying to be kind to me… Whether I had a choice or not in the decision to lie, my answer was clear when he picked me up in his arms, carried me outside, and teleported.
I hate using the teleportation stone necklaces, because it always feels so cold on my skin when I do it. That is why we sprites do it the natural way, because we teleport in flocks and it does not fatigue us that way. Being in Lucas's arms was very warm, however, and I almost wanted to fall asleep there…
But I was a sprite.
"Well, we're here!" he announced, set me down, and opened the door. Guts widened his eyes once he saw me.
"There you are!" he shouted, still in his usual cheerful voice.
"We were worried. We thought something terrible had happened to you."
While Lucas explained the situation with our lie, my brothers- the sprites on my team- motioned for me to come over to them.
"Get back in line!" Pompom hissed through his blotchy and swollen face still messed up from the milk. I squeaked- it's a bad habit, really- and lined up with all of the sprites. We continued to parade around the area as usual, training our legs for work in the usual single-file line.
Once Lucas finished negotiating with Guts, the farmer turned to me and waved on his way out. I didn't wave back because I was in training, but I couldn't help my wonderment of what tomorrow would bring…
Hey guys! I know I haven't written anything in a while, but this idea had been floating around my head and computer for MONTHS and I just couldn't NOT write it. Apologies for my very long absence.
This story is going to deal with a topic I am extremely passionate about- gender and sexuality. I know this topic makes many people uncomfortable, but I feel like it needs to be talked about because it really isn't as taboo as society makes it out to be.
I'll definitely update this story, but I'd appreciate it if you'd review so I could see your interest in it! Even if you don't have a account, I really wouldn't mind a gray-faced anon at all. If it seems like nobody is really into it, I'll probably just scrap it.
Thank you so much for reading my story so far!
If I decide not to scrap it, keep in mind that each chapter will have a different character's perspective- or maybe even switch to third person. Just because I can.
Anyways, if you would ever-so-kindly click that little gray box below, I would forever be in your debt.
