TWENTY YEARS LATER
Nine years. Has it really been so long? I was just a boy then, only eleven years old. Definitely not ready for what I was about to overcome. If I had only known then what I know now, I would've just stayed asleep in the gutter.
My name was Jacob. I lived in the streets of Luana City. I was just a boy. Just a boy.
I remember the first day very well, and although it was not the most exiting I had ever had it was the first. The one I am least likely to forget no matter how old my mind becomes.
I woke up, like any other morning, in the back alley my few friends and I called home. I had no parents to look after me, only memories of what they once were. Now that I really think about it, I believe it was better that way. You can get angry at parents, but memories are always pleasant.
It was just after dawn and all of my friends were still sleeping, in fact most of the city was still sleeping. I always woke up early, I liked it, the grand city was silent even if for only ten minutes. It was the time before the drones of our society awoke to scribble their lives away and after the night patrols had come in to rest for the day. Of course, I didn't care about any of that, I was eleven. All I knew is that no-one would bother me on my way out of the massive city gates.
There are not alot of natural fields left in the world. Even now I think I had found the only one, but then I didn't have parents to nag me into dull submission. I went where I wanted to go. On this glorious morning, away from the hulking machines and metal towers that plagued the rest of the world, I set out to do what anyone in my situation does.
I ran around like an idiot. No, really. I even took my pants off and put them on my head. What!? Don't give me that look, I was a kid! It was fun! The point, however, is not what I did but what I found.
Like most little boys with pants on their head, or anyone with pants on their head for that matter, running around blind will lead to tripping and falling flat on your face. Which I did. It was at that time the first of a million miracles occurred in my life.
When I lifted the pants from over my eyes I saw something nobody had ever seen before. Something small, in the shape of a human, and it was glowing... Pink? I blinked a few times but it remained there, and it whispered to me.
"Hello."
Now, I'll be honest with you. I really wasn't that scared. Okay, I was scared a little, but I'll tell you why. You may look at something like that and be in awe. You might be curious, you might be a little afraid. To eleven year old me, who had barely been two miles outside my hometown in my entire life, one thought crossed my mind.
'OMG teh blinking pink thingy are going to eat mah brains!!'
So, I did what any eleven year old boy does when faced with brain eating doom. I ran, pant-less mind you, to the other side of the field. Arms waving frantically in the air, running blind. I didn't get very far, I tripped, again. Yup, fell flat on my face. Again.
Something amazing happened. The little pink thing flew over to me. I didn't even realize that my knees were scraped until I had turned over. The pink thing did notice, it creeped up onto my leg. I was petrified, but to my astonishment the little thing did not try to kill me. She tried to heal me. I guess she was just trying to let me know she was friendly. It did the trick. She flew up and hovered a few inches away from my face, and that's when I saw that she was in fact a little girl.
"Are you okay?" She asked me in a whispery tone.
I nodded, still amazed by what I was seeing. She began to introduce herself.
"I bet you were pretty scared, huh?"
Again, I nodded. I was STILL scared.
"My name is Sylvia, Queen of the Fairies! Nice to meet you!"
If anything, Sylvia was quite happy and bouncy. So I decided I nice thing like her couldn't be a nasty brain-eater. I reached out my hand, she landed on it and proceeded to sit down. She looked content, I must've looked dumbfounded. I had never even heard of a 'Fare-E' before, now their queen was resting in my palm.
"Where did you come from, Sylvia?" I asked her.
"I could ask the same thing to you, little boy."
"Jacob."
"Little Jacob." She giggled, which of course made me grin.
One question nagged at me, something I should've asked Sylvia as soon as I had met her. Instead of, y'know, running away pant-less.
"Are there others like you?"
Sylvia's smile disappeared. At first she wouldn't look at me, but when she finally did I think I saw a tear in her eyes.
"There used to be," She explained, "there used to be hundreds! And I was their queen!"
"What happened to them all?"
"A long time ago, a very very bad man wished them all away. I would be gone too, but I was too powerful..." She trailed off.
We both sat there, looking at each other. I think she was just as surprised to see me. Suddenly, she threw her arms up into the air.
"I used to be THIS BIG!!"
We both laughed a little. Then she asked me the one question she should've asked as soon as she'd met me.
"Jacob, where are your pants?"
--------
(a little boring, but it brings up key points in the story. Stay tuned, it all gets better from here!)
Nine years. Has it really been so long? I was just a boy then, only eleven years old. Definitely not ready for what I was about to overcome. If I had only known then what I know now, I would've just stayed asleep in the gutter.
My name was Jacob. I lived in the streets of Luana City. I was just a boy. Just a boy.
I remember the first day very well, and although it was not the most exiting I had ever had it was the first. The one I am least likely to forget no matter how old my mind becomes.
I woke up, like any other morning, in the back alley my few friends and I called home. I had no parents to look after me, only memories of what they once were. Now that I really think about it, I believe it was better that way. You can get angry at parents, but memories are always pleasant.
It was just after dawn and all of my friends were still sleeping, in fact most of the city was still sleeping. I always woke up early, I liked it, the grand city was silent even if for only ten minutes. It was the time before the drones of our society awoke to scribble their lives away and after the night patrols had come in to rest for the day. Of course, I didn't care about any of that, I was eleven. All I knew is that no-one would bother me on my way out of the massive city gates.
There are not alot of natural fields left in the world. Even now I think I had found the only one, but then I didn't have parents to nag me into dull submission. I went where I wanted to go. On this glorious morning, away from the hulking machines and metal towers that plagued the rest of the world, I set out to do what anyone in my situation does.
I ran around like an idiot. No, really. I even took my pants off and put them on my head. What!? Don't give me that look, I was a kid! It was fun! The point, however, is not what I did but what I found.
Like most little boys with pants on their head, or anyone with pants on their head for that matter, running around blind will lead to tripping and falling flat on your face. Which I did. It was at that time the first of a million miracles occurred in my life.
When I lifted the pants from over my eyes I saw something nobody had ever seen before. Something small, in the shape of a human, and it was glowing... Pink? I blinked a few times but it remained there, and it whispered to me.
"Hello."
Now, I'll be honest with you. I really wasn't that scared. Okay, I was scared a little, but I'll tell you why. You may look at something like that and be in awe. You might be curious, you might be a little afraid. To eleven year old me, who had barely been two miles outside my hometown in my entire life, one thought crossed my mind.
'OMG teh blinking pink thingy are going to eat mah brains!!'
So, I did what any eleven year old boy does when faced with brain eating doom. I ran, pant-less mind you, to the other side of the field. Arms waving frantically in the air, running blind. I didn't get very far, I tripped, again. Yup, fell flat on my face. Again.
Something amazing happened. The little pink thing flew over to me. I didn't even realize that my knees were scraped until I had turned over. The pink thing did notice, it creeped up onto my leg. I was petrified, but to my astonishment the little thing did not try to kill me. She tried to heal me. I guess she was just trying to let me know she was friendly. It did the trick. She flew up and hovered a few inches away from my face, and that's when I saw that she was in fact a little girl.
"Are you okay?" She asked me in a whispery tone.
I nodded, still amazed by what I was seeing. She began to introduce herself.
"I bet you were pretty scared, huh?"
Again, I nodded. I was STILL scared.
"My name is Sylvia, Queen of the Fairies! Nice to meet you!"
If anything, Sylvia was quite happy and bouncy. So I decided I nice thing like her couldn't be a nasty brain-eater. I reached out my hand, she landed on it and proceeded to sit down. She looked content, I must've looked dumbfounded. I had never even heard of a 'Fare-E' before, now their queen was resting in my palm.
"Where did you come from, Sylvia?" I asked her.
"I could ask the same thing to you, little boy."
"Jacob."
"Little Jacob." She giggled, which of course made me grin.
One question nagged at me, something I should've asked Sylvia as soon as I had met her. Instead of, y'know, running away pant-less.
"Are there others like you?"
Sylvia's smile disappeared. At first she wouldn't look at me, but when she finally did I think I saw a tear in her eyes.
"There used to be," She explained, "there used to be hundreds! And I was their queen!"
"What happened to them all?"
"A long time ago, a very very bad man wished them all away. I would be gone too, but I was too powerful..." She trailed off.
We both sat there, looking at each other. I think she was just as surprised to see me. Suddenly, she threw her arms up into the air.
"I used to be THIS BIG!!"
We both laughed a little. Then she asked me the one question she should've asked as soon as she'd met me.
"Jacob, where are your pants?"
--------
(a little boring, but it brings up key points in the story. Stay tuned, it all gets better from here!)