Once there was a boy named Arthur Kirkland. He had a loving family. But one day, when he was four years old, his parents abandoned him. Why? Well, Arthur Kirkland was special, he was blessed with sight, meaning he could see faeries. However, when he began talking about them to his family, they grew concerned. They thought him to be a witch, and at that particular time in England, people burned witch's at the stake. Because his parents loved him very much, to keep him safe, they abandoned him in a forest outside of London. And in this forest, our story begins.
Arthur sighed to himself, another unsuccessful hunting trip. Now ten years old, Arthur had grown up in the forest, and learned to live off the land. "I guess I'll have to find some berries again for dinner tonight" He thought to himself, but then he saw Miss Fairy, she was his best friend in the forest and when he couldn't find any food, she helped him!
"Hello Miss Fairy, can you help me today? It seems that I can't find food." He asked
"Of course Arthur," she replied, "I'll be right back!"
"Thank you!" He called after her, but she was already to far to hear him.
Arthur sat down by a tree to wait for Ms. Fairy to return, when he heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. He grabbed a relativity sharp stick and pointed it at the bushes, "Who's there?" he called, sounding more confident then he felt. "Show yourself!" When out of the bushes emerged a young boy, only a few years older then him, possible thirteen. "Who are you?" Arthur asked the strange looking boy, his hair was shoulder length like a girls, and he wore a blue dress like a girl. Yet he was definitely a boy. He also had sky blue eyes, the bluest Arthur had every seen.
"I am Francis Bonneyfoy, from France, my parents are here to tour the English countryside and cultivate their relationships with English nobles. And who are you?" The strange boy asked, leering over Arthur, waiting for an answer.
"I'm Arthur Kirkland. And this is my home, so why are you here?"
"Mon Dieu! You are living in this forest? Who are your parents? Surely you're not a runaway!"
"I am not a runaway! I live here all by myself! I don't see how it's any of your business!"
"Well... it may not be my business... but... where are your parents?"
"They're... they're dead. Ever since I was four." Arthur didn't want Francis to know that his family thought he was a witch, or mad, or both.
"Oh... Je suis désolé"
"I can't tell what you're saying, please speak English."
"Haha," Francis laughed, "Someone is demanding"
"I am not! What are you doing here anyway?" Arthur asked, this girly boy was so infuriating!
"Well, I hate to admit it... but..." He started strongly, "I'm lost." He finished, muttering and looking at his feet.
"I can help you get out of the forest, if you like, but... how long are you staying in England?"
"Oh, please help me out of the forest, my mamanmust be very worried. And I don't know, why?"
"Well... I was hoping you could come and see me again tomorrow, only if you want to, of course..." he asked, blushing madly. Not living with people had made it difficult for Arthur to show any displays of affection, even to friends.
"Oui! I would love to! So help me out of here, and I will see you tomorrow!"
"All right, follow me." Arthur said and started walking out of the little clearing and into the deeper wood.
Life went on for the two boys like that for two months. Francis would come to find Arthur, they would play, and Francis would have to leave again. But before showing him the way out of the forest, Arthur would always ask if Francis would come back to see him, and Francis always said yes. They had a few misadventures, one of them included frog catching. No one caught any frogs, but a rather large bullfrog jumped on Francis, earning a very loud scream from him. Also earning him the nickname "frog". Another time Arthur asked Francis why he was wearing a dress, a very mortified Francis replied, "It is not a dress! It is a tunic!" Arthur asked him what what the diffrence was and Francis had no answer for him.
But their happy days were not to last. Soon it was time for Francis to go home. He went into the forest and found Arthur asleep in a clearing. He did not want to wake the sleeping boy just to bring bad news, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of parchment and a pencil stub and scribbled:
Cher Arthur,
I'm sorry that I have to leave like this, but I did not think it was right to wake you up just to say goodbye. I wanted to thank you for being my first actual friend. I also don't want to go, and I have no clue when I will be back, but I promise, one day we will see each other again.
You're Friend,
Francis Bonneyfoy.
He put his little note under a rock to make sure it didn't blow away, and ran home, all the while hoping that Arthur could read.
Soon Arthur woke up, seeing that Francis wasn't to be seen, he looked around franticly for Francis. Francis was always there waiting for Arthur to wake up if he accidentally slept too long. Then he spotted a note under a rock, he scrambled to get it and skimmed it over. When he finished reading it, he flew into a fit of rage! Punching the tree trunks, kicking up large rocks, screaming, crying, yelling. After a while of this, he sunk down against a tree and started bawling. But soon he thought of something... "I promise, one day we will see each other again."
He would see Francis again! That is what kept him going, so he waited, and waited. He waited until he was fourteen, then he started loosing hope, but continued waiting. While waiting, he started to grow bitter about friendship and love, stared to think it was just a game someone played with you, for their own personal enjoyment. Arthur started to feel angler towards Francis, after all, why hadn't he come to see Arthur yet , come to apologize properly? Little did Arthur know, Francis wouldn't come back into his life for another six years.
