Only the Beginning of Adventure
By MGL maeclayre
I am a flower.
I pushed through the earth and grew toward the sun.
Yes. I mean it.
How? This is the story.
The Agelta Drylands is such a bone-dry, miserable drought land which causes suffering to those who live.
An ancient magical being, a wise treant noticed their desperation. Full of sorrow, he was surveying the land and came upon a flowering bud. The surprise and hope grew inside him as he examined the fragile thing.
"There is still life!" He ecstatically exclaimed, taking care of that flower and channeling his magical powers for its survival. Happiness and hope empowered him to create an Oasis, a haven for travelers who pass the land. It will provide temporary shelter.
However, upon creating the Oasis, the treant may have used too much of his powers towards the flower— a girl slowly transitioned from it! The treant's power was so overwhelming that it further condensed into another glowing seed. The seed continued to glow with the growing girl, much to the treant's astonishment!
Then I opened my eyes and saw his confused face.
He was overprotective. He veiled the harsh environment outside the Oasis and I never once defied him as I slept under the shade of leaves, stared at the stars at night, contemplated my existence, and got curious about the glowing seed I have with me! The treant sometimes joked that the seed is my twin. Haha!
As much as I honored the instructions of the treant, sometimes, it exhausted me.
It can't be that bad out there, right?
One day, through the repetitiveness of my life, a stranger arrived. My thirst for adventure grew when he told tales of faraway lands, adventures, and magic. I never felt so left out. Nevertheless, he became my friend, and I found myself longing for his visits in my seclusion.
As our friendship deepened, I showed him the seed that has been bothering me my whole life, thinking that he would help me solve its mystery.
But…
He stole it!
I woke up to find the traitor with the honey-filled words had run away with my seed. Self-pityingly keeping this blunder a secret to the treant, I realized that crying won't solve anything.
"Goodbye, father. I will get it back, I promise," I whispered to the sleeping treant one night after drying my tears.
Heavy with guilt, I stepped out of the Oasis for the first time before I could change my mind.
—
Seeing sandstorms made me want to retreat to safety, but the seed was my only motivation to push my way through the harshness of the desert until I reached the village where I met famished people, with their grimy faces and filthy clothes.
My heart shattered. I cried and almost forgot about my missing seed when, as I turned a corner, I saw him.
I breathed out as I fixed the flower ornament on my hair.
Him! The seed thief!
He was slumped on the ground, clothes contrary to the ones he usually wore. He looked as if light snuffed out of him— his crushed soul lying with him there.
As I neared him, he shamefully held out his hand to give me my seed.
Like him, I almost didn't recognize it. Its light had gone out. It looked dying or even… dead.
"What happened?" I choked back tears, ignoring the seed still resting on his palm.
"In desperation, I thought I could sell the seed because of its peculiarity. Wealthy nobles from distant lands were willing to buy it. Enough to feed my family or even the whole village… I- I wanted to give our family a fighting chance," he stammered, his face red, averting his eyes.
I sat beside him, speechless.
"…They mocked and beat me because it looked like this when I showed them... I'm deeply sorry," he continued remorsefully. Eyes watering, he looked at me.
I took the wilted seed, reached out my arms and hugged him. "I'm sorry too. I didn't know how much suffering you all are having when… I live in paradise. If only I could do something."
As soon as I said it, a bluish-green light escaped my heart, traveled towards the seed, and filled it. We broke our embrace, eyes fixed with shock to the pulsating seed as it shone brighter!
A cute creature made of light, air, and water popped out of it that I almost shrieked. It nodded at me as if it had understood something. I froze in awe when it swished its tail.
Rain which the desert had never tasted fell across the land and fruit-bearing trees and plants sprouted. There will be enough food and water for the famished.
"Today is wonderful and tomorrow will be even better," I said to my friend before parting our ways—- with him promising to never repeat his mistake.
As for the creature… I named her "Dew" because of her resemblance to it.
—
"My little flower. I love you with all my heart because you have saved me."
I don't know why my father, with his deep but gentle voice, said it to me before. Now, in my mind, I see every marking etched on his face. I realize I miss him.
I am Floryn, the flower daughter of the gentle treant, Belerick.
My father said I saved him. But I am certain that he is the savior in this story. For it was his will to save the desert that brought me and Dew to life.
I understand now. Dew is the seed of his will such as I am grown out of his love to save others. Belerick saved the desert people. And for that, all of us are forever grateful.
Dew hops and hovers by my side, trotting happily and sending light and warmness in the atmosphere as my eyes fill with tears of elation.
I have a strong and wonderful feeling that this is only the beginning of our adventure.