A/N: this was a short story I had to write for my “creative writing” class. I like it so I decide to post it. Please, review it so I will know what you think?

Oh, and for those who are waiting for the next part of “A visit to Hogwarts”, sorry for the delay, but the tennis season began, and so I come home every day at 7:00. Then I have lots of homework, and studying to do: SAT’s and a few AP tests approaching. Arrrg! All right, I will stop whining. Enjoy, and please review, as this took me a while to write. J

Disclaimer: I own the characters, the plot…. But the idea of the elves’ clan (the tree houses, the magic, their long white hairs…) I got that from Mercedes Lakey; the tayledras (spelling?) , for anyone who read her books. For those of you who don’t, well, you should! J

May your life be eventful

“Don’t think! Don’t think of anything. Just feel the magic… the power…” If only it was true. Sigh. I was sitting in my garden, my back comfortably propped up by a huge oak tree. It was warm out, and the sky had just enough white, puffy clouds to predict this new day as perfect. What’s more, school was out for the summer and in front of me lay two months of freedom. A cool breeze ruffled the pages of the book on my lap. Ah, yes, I had once more been reading a fantasy book. Like all of its kind, it had a cover with a young hero wielding a sword and a medieval castle in the background. “Typical”, as my mom would say. She then of course would add, “stop reading this nonsense, it damages your eyesight.” This too was typical, as she said it every time she saw me spread out on my bed like a second blanket, even if from time to time I actually read something that had been assigned to me by one of my teachers. Of course, I would only nod, mumbling something or other under my breath, and continue reading about magic and dragons. But what can I say? It was much more interesting than my actual life. Well, all right, I wasn’t doing much to actually make it interesting, but then, could I just leave, take my car keys, some money, and an old atlas of the USA, and drive where my fancy would take me? No. That’s what I thought. There would be too many problems, the main one being my parents. And anyway, driving across America alone would be quite boring. As if I didn’t have enough of that already. So I spent my free time daydreaming about wonderful adventures, at the same time sad that it wasn’t true and happy that it never would. Although I was, as most adults would say, a silly teenage girl, I knew enough about life to be happy with my own. Under no circumstances would you find me fighting a pack of criminals or stealing dragons’ eggs. Oh no, they were only things I liked to read about.

Another light breeze tugged at my short black hair, which engendered another thought in that weird head of mine. When I had decided to cut it, my mom had said not to. “Darling, you had such beautiful hair when you where a little girl.” Well, now it was short and that was the end of that. I liked them much better that way. And, I thought with a smile, it confused the old little lady near the postal service. She thought I was a boy. But then, she was old, and probably could not have seen a difference between a dog and a cat. However, that didn’t matter. She was always nice to me, and gave me cookies whenever she baked them. And I must say they are delicious. Cookies…mmmmh… delicious…chocolate chip… …

I must have fallen asleep for some time, because when I noticed the world around me, it had changed somewhat. The breeze had picked up and it was much cooler. Dark clouds rolled over the horizon and birds had stopped singing. Ha! A perfect day! And then, something else too was different, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Well, it didn’t matter. I stretched and shivered in my t-shirt, picking up my book from where it had fallen and started to walk around to get some circulation back into my feet. I rubbed my arms, turned around and stopped dead in my tracks. Where I should have seen a glimpse of my house through the trees, there were only more and more trees. I couldn’t have walked that far away! No need to worry, I will just retrace my steps and I will be bound to come out somewhere. This forest isn’t that big; it shouldn’t even be called a forest. Annoyed at this little problem, I started walking in the direction of my home.

A few hours later, I was tired, annoyed, and still walking through that “forest.” I glanced at my watch for the hundredth time, but it didn’t change anything. As much as I hated to admit it, I was lost, and scared. I should have been out of here a long time ago. What is happening! Could I have been walking in a circle that whole time? No, I would have broken some twigs, making my way through the bushes covering the forest floor, and there is no sign of anyone having been through here. The light had dimmed, the trees hiding the few rays of sunlight that escaped the approaching clouds, and I was in no mood to spend the night in a forest, alone, especially in one that was so strange. There were no sounds, and that was scaring me more than the gathering gloom. There are always some sounds in a forest, especially in early summer, little animals in search of food, birds singing, the wind whistling through leafy trees… The more I thought about the absence of sound and the more my ears rang with the heavy silence that surrounded me. This is not natural, I though, blood pounding in my head. I can hear myself breathing, damn it! I considered running as fast as I could in one direction to try to beat the night, but then thought better of it. There was no reason to be afraid, I was in a small forest in the back of my house’s yard, and someone was bound to notice my absence and go looking for me. Right, and pigs will fly.

I was about to continue walking when I stopped dead, hearing a twig snap just behind me. I whirled around as fast as I could to face whatever made the noise, and then just as quickly wished that I hadn’t. I felt blood drain from my face, and I was sure that whatever this thing was it must be hearing my heart frantically beating in my chest, for it wasn’t human. Oh, it had human features, but those high cheekbones, long flowing white hair, and piercing blue eyes were definitely not human. And it was so tall, towering over me head and shoulders, although I was tall for my age too. The scream that I heard must have come out of my mouth, because that thing hadn’t moved its own. I didn’t know what to do. My head was telling me to run for my life, while my legs were fighting not to buckle from under me. Fortunately, I didn’t have to make a choice, as the creature made it for me. It spoke, in a high pitched and melodious voice. In the mist of my fright, I managed to be surprised that I could understand it, but then, maybe it would have been better if I didn’t.

“Don’t be afraid”

“…”

“I summoned you to Cordova because I need your help”

What was I supposed to respond to that? I blurted out the first thing that came into my mind.

“W…who are you? Where am I? How come I can’t get out of here, and where did you come from!?”

“My, my. You are a curious one,” it said in a voice that sounded like silver bells. “I am Alviarin Thichkiel, an elf from the Spring clan. You are now on the border of our clan’s territories, which is why I could appear unnoticed. As I said before, we need your help. I am sorry to have let you wander like that, but there was no other way to bring you to us,” he continued.

As I listed to him, I became more and more astounded. This can’t be true. It only happens in fairy tales! I must be dreaming! I pinched myself. Hard. But the elf didn’t go away. And weren’t elves supposed to be short? This was getting confusing, and I didn’t trust Alviarin one bit, if that was his real name. How was I to know if he wasn’t just some guy who wanted to take advantage of me? In my world, that happened often enough.

“I see you are unsure,” he must have realized that I didn’t believe him, because he flicked his slender fingers and a flame appeared at their tip, slowly wavering in his breath. I was abashed and awed, but I still couldn’t bring myself to believe him…yet. So even as my determination faltered, I said “everyone can do that, you just need a match or a lighter and very dexterous fingers.” He didn’t seem to understand all of what I said, but my tone of voice was clear enough. In the blink of an eye, the little flame disappeared, to be replaced by a bluish, glowing ball of fire, hovering a few inches from the palm of his extended hand. I stared, unbelieving, wondering if my eyes were playing a trick on me. Slowly, I extended my trembling hand toward the source of light, and it gently hopped into my own palm. It felt wonderful. Warm, luminous, comforting. It felt alive. I believed him. I believed him against all odds of something like this happening, against anything my parents ever told me about criminals, and against my common sense. And then I realized that I thought about the elf as a “he,” and not as an “it” anymore.

“So what exactly am I to do?” I asked as we made our way through the thick underbrush. Although it was as dark as it had been before, birds had begun singing again, and I could hear little rodents scurrying on dead leaves. “A long time ago,” he began, walking as smoothly as a cat, “humans and elves freely lived together, peacefully. But then came a time of …discord, and the two races began to drift apart. And as I could see by your earlier expression, you humans have completely forgotten us. Of course, elves live far longer than humans, but their memory too has began to falter. Also, and that might be even worse for our kind, we are beginning to depend on magic far more than we should. Your duty, if you would accept it that is, would be to spend some time with the young of our community to teach them about your kind, and to draw them away from the abuse of magic, which would be easier for you than for any of us, since you do not possess the inborn ability to practice magic as elves do.” I was at a loss for words. That wasn’t exactly what I had expected. What. Did you think they would ask you to fight dragons for them? I chided myself. They would do that far better than you would. And I thought that fighting wasn’t your thing anyway. Well, it wasn’t, but I was still somewhat disappointed.

However, I didn’t have time to delve on it too much, as we soon approached the elves’ “camp.” And it took my breath away. Instead of the little village of earthen huts or caves that I had imagine, I saw elaborate tree houses, half hidden in the dense vegetation. Neat little paths ran from one “house” to another, ending at stout ladders hanging against huge tree trunks. Behind the screening of vines, I could hear the gurgling of a small rivulet, and what I had at first taken for a mound of earth was a spacious communal dining hall. They also had private facilities, thank God!, cold and hot pools to relax soar muscles, and something that could only be called a garden to provide for their food. Well that is what it looked like anyway, a big patch of earth, sprouting with green, brown, and blue seedlings. Little yellow balls the size of my fist were hovering above the field and whistling, startling colorful birds away from the sprouts, and a silvery cloth was floating above the round balls, filtering the harsh sunlight to provide a cool, and semi lighted environment for the shoots.

As I rounded a curve in their leafy labyrinth, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. It seems these people will amaze me at each turn of my life, I thought wryly. Little children, laughing and playing a game with clear stones hanging in the air, or adults going about their business, the elves all had white flowing hair, no matter their age; and they all wore it past their shoulder blades, boys and girls alike. But that wasn’t all; their clothing was a riot of colors, sky blue, bright yellow, or crimson, which made them look like little flowers amid the lush green vegetation. I was glad to notice that although the adults were all tall, their young were of “normal” human size. But before I could get myself lost in admiration of this new culture, Alviarin once again led me away to a pair of younger elves standing at the edge of the clearing.

“This is Soren and Kai Thichkiel, my children,” he said proudly, showing a girl and a boy of about my age, “and this is Lana Riley” he finished, smiling heartily. My mouth fell open at his last sentence, since I realized that I haven’t told him my name yet. How in the world did he know my… but I quickly snapped it shut with an audible click, seeing Soren smile behind her hand and Kai laugh openly. Not knowing what to do I just glared at them but it just made them laugh harder. “Make yourself at home Lana, I will let you decide whether you want to stay or not. I will be back in a while if you have any questions,” said Alviarin, and with that he left.

Now what? I thought, but once again, the elves were quicker than I was. Both taking one of my hands, they dragged me to a sort of leafy enclave where they plopped down, sitting cross-legged and began hammering me with questions. Alviarin was right, they didn’t know much about humans, and were asking very silly questions, such as “do the humans really live all together in one place” and “what are computers and cars”, but above all, they were fascinated with my short black hair. All too soon, Alviarin came back, and I realized that twilight had come and gone. The clan was now illuminated with a myriad of levitating, small glowing balls of white fire. “Mage lights” said Kai, happy that for once, he wasn’t the one who was dumbfounded, although I too had asked my share of questions. “Did you make your decision?” said Alviarin, now in a blue blouse as bright as his eyes, and pants of a deeper yellow hue. I almost didn’t recognize him, as I had met him in his scouting uniform, a mixture of mottled browns and greens. As for his question, I had, but I needed some answers first.

“Is there a way I can tell my parents that I am all right? I don’t think they would appreciate my just disappearing like that.” I asked, worried.

“Do not forget who we are,” he said, a hint of a smile in his voice, “elves have magic. You will come back to your home as if you were never here. Months could pass in Cordova, but none will back where you come from.” “And of course, should you decide to stay, you would be provided with food and lodging,” he added. The elven siblings were looking at me with hopeful eyes, and deep in my heart, I knew that I really wanted to stay. For a little while at least. I smiled, and simply said, “yes,” as Soren and Kai erupted in shouts of joy. They seemed to be happy with my verdict too.

Later that evening, I wasn’t so sure of my decision. Standing in one of those wooden tree houses, I could feel the floor move with the tree swaying in the breeze. That must have been why every piece of furniture was firmly bolted to the floor. But they did make for a breath taking view, and although it was night, far away, I could see a few other faintly glowing globes of lights; “other elf clans” Alviarin had said. I quickly got accustomed to the slow rocking of the tree, and as that day had been quite long, I quickly fell asleep, lulled by the song of the wind.

Standing in the shade of a large tree with my hands on my hips, I whirled around as I felt someone tickling me between my shoulder blades. This was my second day with the elven siblings and I already knew their characters. “No magic I said!” I shouted, as I felt another tickling. Arrrrg! They are worse than little kids! But the fact was, they weren’t. They were 16 and 17 years old elves bent on mischief. Well, at least Kai was. Soren was as calm and friendly as her brother was demented and happy go lucky. Right now, Soren was giggling silently, and watching something above my head, so I slowly turned around, straining my neck to look into the low branches of the oak, and yelped with surprise as Kai swung down from it with his legs. “Got’ya!” he said “Come on, what is life without some spice in it?” he grinned.

A few minutes later, sitting at the edge of one of the cold pools, Soren and Kai were showing me some tricks with magic, such as changing their hair color to match mine with a snap of their fingers, or moving objects through the air.

“How strong is your magic? Do you have some limitations?” I asked, curious.

“Well, it all depends on the individual. Some people, like Cameo, over there” said Soren, pointing to a tall elf boy strutting like a peacock “have almost none; just enough to light a candle. But he greatly makes up for it with his arrogance. While others, like uncle Zanzibar, are strong enough to levitate themselves, and keep spells going on during their sleep,” she finished, a tone of reverence at the name of her uncle.

“What about you?” I inquired.

“Soren is really strong, but she won’t admit it,” said Kai, teasing his little sister. “And I am good too, but I need calm to concentrate, or nothing good will come out of it.”

“I never thought that elves existed. I thought they were only characters from book. And if all elves are like you, then half of the things I read are plain rubbish.” At the mention of other elves, Kai frowned, but said nothing, so I continued. “And anyway, those authors never write about your culture, which by the way reminds me of a mixture of French and some other country I forgot the name of.”

“…” I received blank looks at the mention of France.

“You don’t know where France is?” I asked, bemused, but obviously they didn’t. “It’s a country; a huge clan you could say, and they also have that cheek kissing thing to say hello. We don’t have that in the USA.”

For the rest of the day, we talked about the differences and similarities of our two civilizations. And as Alviarin had said, the elves did use magic for most of their daily chores. Not that they were lazy and used it to have the least amount of work, but because they didn’t know how to do it otherwise. And I didn’t see why they should heat their pools with firewood if they could do it with magic as easily. Later that evening, I had a little chat with Alviarin and “uncle” Zanzibar, the eldest of the clan. What they told me was…unnerving, to say the least, and it saddened me a lot, even if I wasn’t part of their clan. I had believed the elves to be peaceful beings, living off the earth, and practicing their magic as a way of life. It had warmed my heart to think that people could live near one another without automatically fighting for land and power. Well, I was wrong. Very wrong. The elves had as much conflicts with other tribes as humans did in World War II. Some clans tried to be neutral, and they even raised magical shields against the belligerent ones. Unfortunately, magic was a terrible weapon. Far worse than nuclear bombs and machine guns, as you never knew what your enemy could come up with. This is not fair! People should not fight each other. Elves should not fight with each other. No one should fight, especially not for power or land! Back home, I never understood why people did that, and coming here didn’t change my understanding. It only made me feel very sad that beings as august as elves could be as cruel as humans. But I couldn’t do anything except hope for the best and be happy that humans didn’t fight elves.

“What about Soren?” I said, my words punctured by the far away rumble of thunder. Kai had just asked me if I wanted to go on a little “adventure” today.

“She won’t come. She’s too occupied mooning over her boyfriend. Rufus.” I raised my eyebrow at his sudden anger. But then, I realized that for the first time in his life, he wasn’t the “male authority” with his sister. She had found somebody else, and Kai didn’t like it one bit. I felt sorry for him, but there was nothing I could do about it, except accept his proposition and at least make him forget his sadness for a little while. I seem to be unable to do anything a lot these days, I thought ruefully, but it was true, I couldn’t. No need to pull my hair out of my head over that.

“Where are we going?” I asked with anticipation, not even bothering to look at the sky. All right, I too wanted to do something fun, something a little more risky than sit and talk about history and manual work. Fighting and getting killed wasn’t my thing, but exploring an unknown wilderness, searching for hidden secrets and treasures with a friend was.

“So it’s a yes? Great!” he answered, jumping up and down like a little kid. “A few miles from here, there is this really awesome waterfall, and sometime, when the weather is right, you can hear the voices of the people who died there, coming from behind it. It’s creepy, but worth the time,” he said, already walking toward the edge of the clan’s little village. I could see that he already had a backpack, probably full of sweets and some other foods. In that regard, elf kids were no different from human ones.

The hike through the forest wasn’t short, but it didn’t matter. Walking under the huge green trees, thick lianas hanging from the low boughs, was like walking in another world. Born in a little suburban town, I never saw something quite like it, and I loved it. It made me feel as if I was an explorer, searching for El Dorado, or for Lake Victoria. The fact that the sun was hidden behind dark clouds and that the forest floor was suspended in gloom made it all the more mysterious.

I could hear the deep rumbling of the waterfall well before we actually arrived there, but the sudden precipice still took me by surprise, and stole my breath away. We were standing right in the middle of it all, hundreds of feet of water towered over us, and hundreds more fell away under our feet. The water fell in silvery sheets, soaking us with its chilly wetness. Its roar was deafening, and we had to shout to make ourselves heard. There was no word to describe it then, and I won’t try it now. The best I could do is awe-inspiring. A silver lightning amid a sea of green.

A little way off, we sat down to eat, ravenous as we were by the trek. I had been partially right, as Kai did have some candies, but he also had a few elven specialties, little balls of brown, crusty something of the name brri which tasted like a mix of chicken and peaches. Long, slender pieces of orange fruit, juicy and akin to a citrus fruit, quenched our thirst. Chatting with Kai, I felt at that moment as if we had been long time best friends. It didn’t matter that I saw him for the first time less than a week ago, nor that his white hair would have better suited an old grandpa back at home. His long pointy ears were twitching with joy, and that same joy was bubbling in my stomach, even though the sky was turning gray, and a fine mist began to fall. The surrounding vegetation shone, glistening wet. Again, we both approached the edge of the cliff, contemplating that miracle of nature with round eyes.

Suddenly, a loud thunder crack echoed through the air, and we jumped in fright, tethering over the edge. Kai slipped over the slick edge, and I screamed, unable to catch him fast enough. With a heavy heart, I remembered the sheer drop, and it was with reluctance that I looked over the edge. Kai lay in a crumpled form on a ledge half way down the rock face.

“Kai! Kai!” I shouted, choking on my words, hoping against all odds that he was still alive. Faintly over the roar of the waterfall, I heard a low moan. Thank God! The rock from the cliff had fallen away in some places, eroded by the water, so I carefully made my way down to his side as fast as I could, slipping several times, but always catching myself at the last second. Finally, my heart racing and scratches covering my hands, I touched the ground. If you can call a tiny outcropping, hundreds of feet in the air “ground.” This kind of thing never happened to me before, and I was scared.

“Kai, where do you hurt?” I asked, kneeling next to him.

“Everywhere,” he whispered, a ghost of a smile appearing on his pale face. Fortunately, his only severe injury was a broken leg and a twisted wrist.

“Do you have some hospitals here? Or clinics?”

“…?…”

“Never mind.” The place was full of broken pieces of wood, perfect for a splint. Sigh. The shirt will have to go, I thought, but I couldn’t find anything to tie the splint except with pieces of torn out cloth. So I patched him up as best I could, cushioning his head with his bag, and tried to make him comfortable, but in the condition we were in, it wasn’t saying much. Kai’s condition was becoming worse; he couldn’t even light a mage light, let alone heal his leg or somehow call Alviarin. That is how reliable magic is? I thought angrily, having to blame something. The hungry teenagers that we were, we had eaten all the food that Kai had brought, right to the last crumb, but fortunately leaving some water for the trip back. And anyway, it’s not as if we were in the middle of the Sahara. I thought gloomily, glancing at the waterfall. And as noisy as it was, the silence was heavy, almost palpable. At first, Kai had cried out when I had checked for injuries, now he only moaned slowly from time to time, his eyes shut tightly, and it scared me even more than if he had been screaming. I didn’t know much about accidents, but his eyes had a haunted look in them whenever he opened them. Maybe elves were affected differently by pain, but I knew that something was definitely wrong. Slowly, then more forcefully, the rain began falling; a steady downpour, drenching us to the bone. I never felt so miserable in all my life, watching my friend slowly dying. Back at the clan, Alviarin only knew that we went on a little trip, and now, with the rain, they would probably expect us to wait it out somewhere dry. As my emotions from the accident faded away, the true magnitude of the situation hit me like a slap in the face. Here we were, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. No one was aware of what had happened to us, and I couldn’t leave Kai to search for help, as I had no idea how to get back. But most important was the fact that Kai was delirious with fever, and couldn’t summon a dredge of extra strength for some magic. Time passed. It could have been minutes or hours, I had no idea. But I felt as if the situation couldn’t have been worse. I was wrong. At first, I thought it was the wind, whistling through the trees, but the rain was falling straight down, the leaves drooping under its weight. Not a stir of breeze. But the low wail was becoming stronger, and it was coming from behind the waterfall. Oh no! I shivered, the cold finger of fear stroking my back. This can’t be possible! But it was. White, ghostly shapes drifted through the waterfall, moaning and wailing like the lost souls that they were. My tears mingled with the rain. I couldn’t see anything except Kai’s blurry shape, now dead still.

This had been the longest evening of my life, and a longer night still. When I later saw glowing lights moving through the rain, I didn’t know whether it was reality or just a dream. I have never been so happy in my life when those bobbing lights lit up Alviarin’s anxious face. The group had found us by magic, of course, and knowing that, my respect for it increased considerably.

The healer of the clan mended Kai’s leg on the spot, and the young elf became his happy go lucky self again. When we came back, Soren hugged her older brother so fiercely that he checked himself for broken ribs, and the other members of the community were no less enthusiastic. I wasn’t left out, of course, as they congratulated me for splinting Kai’s leg without magic, which for them was unthinkable. But I was a stranger among a tightly knit group of people, and I felt very alone at that moment amid the mass of white hair and blue eyes. I was disgruntled to say that I was homesick. I wanted to eat “normal food” like chicken with gravy again, and hear my mom yell at me for not washing the dishes. As much as I thought I liked adventure, it wasn’t so appealing anymore. If there was one thing I learned, it’s that the best curse for your enemy is “may your life be eventful.” There is nothing better than peace. I thought best for me to leave.

On my last day, Kai tried to put on a brave face, but I knew him too well. H was sad.

“Here,” he said, shoving something into my hand. When I opened my palm, I gasped. Resting on it was a bracelet of pure silver, shining in the early morning’s sun.

“Put it on,” he smiled uncertainly. I did, slipping it over my hand, and to my surprise, it shrank to fit my wrist perfectly.

“If you ever want to come back, just think about us very hard.” “Also” he added “it will always stay cool, unless you’re in danger, in which case it will become tingly.” Again, uncertainty passed through his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure I would like his present!

“Kai! This is beautiful! Thank you!” I whispered. The tip of his ears turned bright red, and I grinned. An elf blushing? Then, in the elf custom, he kissed my cheeks as a goodbye, and it was my turn to turn beet red. But I had an excuse! We don’t do that sort of thing back home. Finally, Alviarin told me to close my eyes, so I did.

Far away, I could hear a voice. Again I heard it, and opened my sleepy eyes onto a clear summer morning. At the edge of the clearing, I could see the back of my yard, and white, puffy clouds scuttling through the blue sky. Then, my dream came back, and I remembered it in all its details. It had been so real. I thought with nostalgia about the elf camp, Alviarin, Soren, and Kai. Was it only a dream?

“Lana!” I heard my mom’s voice, coming from the house. “Breakfast is ready!”

Suddenly, I looked at my right wrist, at the silver bracelet glinting in a sunbeam. And smiling, I picked up my book, which had fallen down on the grass.

“I’m coming mom!”

Please, review, and I will be very grateful to you! J

Else, I won’t know if anyone likes it or think it’s really dumb.

R  E  V  I  E  W  !  !  !  please.