I was born from a laugh in New York City in the late springtime. Her name was Hannah, I was told later, and her quiet little giggle sent a scurry of air out her open window and down to the street below, where an ivory blossom on a leafy green tree was coaxed up, up and away, towards the full moon on a cloudless night.
As the blossom hit Pixie Hollow, fairies started to arise from all over and meet at the sparkling fountain of dust. I floated down to the stump of a big oak tree, still in my tree blossom form, and immediately a weathered sparrow man came and sprinkled dust all over me. Under the watchful eyes of every fairy in Pixie Hollow, I folded out of the soft cream-colored flower and became Scarlet Aspenhorn.
Queen Clarion laid out a circle of mushrooms around me, each with a representation of a different talent. She wished me good luck on finding my talent, and every fairy seemed to hold their breath as I turned towards the first mushroom.
I headed for the water bubble first, but no luck. The water fairies sighed in disappointment as the bubble burst all over the small brown fungus. I felt guilty, but Queen Clarion nodded at me and I went on.
The flower wilted, the tornado burst into a hundred specks of earth, and the circle of light dimmed at my touch. The small little chipmunk, trembling from cold, was my last hope.
I approached it nervously, feeling hopeless and embarrassed that I hadn't yet discovered my talent. This is the one, I kept telling myself, but somehow I still couldn't believe it when the chipmunk seemed to smile and darted over into my arms.
All of the animal-talent fairies cheered and poured over to greet me. I smiled and shook the hands of my new comrades, feeling like I belonged, I wasn't the freak who didn't have a talent. I was an animal-talent fairy, and proud of it.
There was only one other animal-talent who had arrived within the last month, and her name was Lucinda Dazzlethorn. We bonded immediately, each contributing something to the other: Lucinda showed me the ropes, and I gave her a loyal friend.
That was a few months ago now. With the help of all of the nature-talent fairies in Pixie Hollow, we have turned spring to summer to fall. It's late October, my sixth month at Pixie Hollow. A few more animal-talent fairies have come, but Lucinda is always my faithful friend.