A Message for Queen Lovely Lilly - James Gerard (best books to read for teens TXT) 📗

fat and fresh fish.  Soon after, there was simply nothing left to harvest from the once plentiful sea.  The children could not even wade or swim in the water because it was so very, very cold.

Foster often thought about why they could feel such bad, bad feelings.  Then again, he knew he did not have to think too hard about it.  It was his friend’s decisions that probably helped bring in the darkness: For Queen Lovely Lilly made some bad choices.  Foster, therefore, could not deny their feelings.  As he searched out the reason he went along with her decisions however, Foster found himself just as guilty as Queen Lovely Lilly.

After all, he looked at the kingdom and reasoned it was better than ever.  The abundance of fat, fresh fish, the juiciest and sweetest fruits, the most nutritious nuts, and tastiest vegetables made all the children very, very happy.  Soon after, something else began to trouble Foster.

Not only did he feel guilty, a truth was growing stronger and stronger every day, made his guilty feelings worse.

Foster realized that while he stayed silent when Queen Lovely Lilly decided that the fairies and humans should live together again, he simply should have spoken out when she had allowed more playtime.

While it was true that everything in the world, the world made by the creator, was going so well, there was a time for work and a time for play.  Work produced abundant harvests of so much food season after season.  A lot of the succulent and nourishing fruits, vegetables, and nuts were returned to the rich and brown soil to make the next season’s harvest even better.

The use of the pixie dust made everything even better.  It was as if the food was growing all by itself.  Queen Lilly thought that since everything was so, so perfect that all the children should enjoy more and more playtime.  Foster just went along with the wishes of his best and dearest friend.   

Now, as he stared down at Queen Lovely Lilly suffering so, Foster knew that more playtime led to less work time, and less work time led to the abandonment of work forever and ever.  It did not surprise him one bit when this truth turned into reality, yet that was just part of the truth troubling Foster.

Queen Lovely Lilly had also decided to store food in barns built by Loxie.  At first, Foster thought the decision made sense.  There was so much food, what harm could come from putting some away just in case some horrible, horrible thing happened in the kingdom.  Then Foster realized that such storage went against the wishes of the creator but for some reason he could not go against the wishes of his dear friend and queen.  The other part of the truth sent ache in his heart, the heart he shared with Queen Lovely Lilly.

Sure enough, he witnessed what he believed was the creator’s response to the decision to store food.

The pixie dust, used to restore the human’s land near the sea after that horrible, horrible day, lost its power to grow fruits, vegetables and nourishing nuts.

Now, with the fairies and humans sharing the same land, the barrier shielding the children from the bountiful harvests, Foster knew something very, very bad would happen.

Foster knew it was a matter of time before starvation took hold of the humans.  The food in storage was nearly out.  While he knew that the fairies could survive easily on meager scraps, the humans could not.  If the darkness did not go away and the barrier blocking the harvest did not come down, the humans would flee.  If they stayed, it would be a matter of time before they perished from starvation.  Foster also understood that if they did leave they would be forced to find food and shelter in unknown and cold, cold lands.  Worse, if the humans left Foster knew they would take their love with them and would leave the fairies very, very sad.

Foster could no longer blame Queen Lovely Lilly for the darkness: For he saw himself as a horrible, horrible friend and a child that went against the faith of his father.

“Shame on you,” a voice said.

Foster turned around to see if Leena, Loxie, or Solange had spoken to him but figured they could not speak because of the sadness they were suffering.  He then looked to Cambria who was hovering just above and behind his three friends.

“Did you say something?”

“Hush,” Cambria responded as she placed a finger to her lips, “our queen is suffering.”

“A finder fairy, really,” the voice scoffed.  “You certainly found lots of trouble didn’t you.”

“But I did not mean any harm.  The creature must have made me do it.”

“Excuses, excuses, excuses.”

Tears came streaming out of Foster’s eyes.  The tears ran down the cheeks and splashed down on the chin of his best and dearest friend.

“I am so sorry,” cried Foster.

“How disappointing.  You, all of the children made some very, very bad choices that have made even more horrible, horrible seasons.”

“Please, I beg for forgiveness.  I will do anything to make up for bringing in the darkness.”

“Come to the forest of the mighty oaks,” a voice said.

“I can’t,” cried Foster.  “I cannot get past the barrier.”

“Come to the forest of the mighty oaks,” the voice said again.

“I’m afraid, so very afraid,” he responded.

“Come to the forest of the mighty oaks.”

All of a sudden, a surge of energy entered Foster’s body and mind.  The tears stopped.  The eyes dried up.  A smile came to the face.

“I will obey,” answered Foster.

He flew off in a flash.  Just as he entered the doorway to Queen Lovely Lilly’s house, he turned back and saw Cambria waving goodbye.

Lost Leena

Leena's wings flapped slowly.  She slowly dipped below Loxie and Solange.  A steady flow of tears from closed eyes had drowned the reality that she was about to hit the ground.  Her thoughts were on Queen Lovely Lilly.

Waves of her queen's suffering made Leena's stomach sour with sadness and heart heavy with hopelessness.  A strong storm of sorrow hit her with the thought that Lilly might never stop suffering.  Worse yet, a tornado of terror battered her thoughts with the truth that love and peace might never return to the land.

Suddenly, as if the strong storm had passed, she felt a slight tingling in her wings.

"Leena," a voice called.

She opened her eyes.  For just a moment, a feeling of hope flashed inside her mind.

"Leena," the voice shouted.

"Oh no," she screamed as the ground was coming at her fast.

"Leena," the voice shouted again.  "Flap your wings."

She began to flap furiously.  In a matter of seconds, the free fall stopped just before crashing onto the ground.  Leena then looked up at the feet of Loxie and Solange.  Just behind and above them was the face of Cambria looking down on her.

"Be careful," said Cambia as Leena came to a stop and hovered between Loxie and Solange.  "We really have to be careful with the pixie dust.  Remember, it is almost gone."

"Thank you," Leena said with a smile.  As suddenly as the flash of hope came, hopelessness came back.

"What have I done?" Queen Lovely Lilly whispered then moaned.

Leena just could not understand why Queen Lilly suffered so.  She wondered if her queen felt responsible for the darkness.  That Lilly felt so guilty that her words were a confession of whatever bad thing she thought she had done.  Leena, when it came to the truth, could not really believe that the queen could do anything so horrible as to cause the darkness.  The tears started to flow.  Sobbing began.

"What if it is true?" Leena whispered.

After all, she thought, every time the queen moaned and groaned one could hear the love had gone.  Every time the queen whispered the same words, one knew the kingdom was in serious trouble.  No one could penetrate the strong shield blocking the harvest.

She did not believe, as reported by fairies and humans, that fear was probably the main reason that kept both fairy and human away from the fields of succulent and nourishing fruits and vegetables.  No, it cannot be true, but what if it is? Leena thought.

While the thoughts went back and forth in Leena's mind, she wondered why Queen Lovely Lilly ever agreed to storing all the extra food.  All of it needed to go back to the meadow’s rich and brown soil.  After all she figured, even the wet and wiggly worms in the soggy soil need nourishment from fruits and vegetables.

Worse, why did Queen Lovely Lilly agree to give more and more playtime until no one worked at all?  Could this be the work of the creature or is Queen Lovely Lilly the creature?  Whatever the answer, it did nothing to lift the darkness from the land and the barrier from the harvest.

Then the thoughts going back and forth in Leena's mind came to a stop.  The thought of guilt pointed right at her. It spoke and spoke loudly that the blame for the darkness and barrier could not fall on the innocent heart of Lilly.  In fact, as Leena could clearly feel, she looked at her own heart and realized she was responsible.

She had heard the whisperings of many.

"Just how did she avoid being captured by the nets on that horrible, horrible day?" a voice asked.

"Yes," a voice responded, "how could she have done that?"

"She took Solange to that oak tree and left her all alone."

"She did.  She then she took Loxie there and had Loxie enclose her in a hole where she could not escape."

"Then she took off to who knows where and hid."

"I wonder why she flew away."

"She is working with the creature.  She must be."

"No, she is the creature."

"Yes, she must be.  Solange did die.  No fairy had died before or after."

Remembering such bad words brought even more heartache to an aching heart.

She wondered what kind of friend she could have been to Lovely Lilly by keeping silent.  After all, King Midir objected to Queen Findabhair’s command that humans and fairies live together.  Having done so out of his love for her and the kingdom, the creature became mad.   It fled the queen’s mind then disappeared from the kingdom.  Leena realized if she were a real friend, she should have spoken out of love.

Then Leena saw more truth that it was her that led to the darkness.  After all, she was a wind fairy and knew that there was plenty of work to do every season.  Who would bring in the cool breezes on a hot, summer day?  How could the trees find rest in the winter if there was no gusty wind to remove their leaves in the autumn?  How could any plant find rest in the dark and cold winter without the chilly chill of whirling wind blanketing them in a cover of snow?  What are white, puffy clouds good for if they have no air to move them around the canvas of a blue sky?

If that were not enough to point to guilt, Leena considered why she stayed silent when Queen Lovely Lilly had Loxie build the barns.  As a wind fairy, she had a bird eye’s view of the endless rows of plants and trees with succulent and nourishing fruits and vegetables growing on