The Night

Chapter Two

                I spent the next night in his company as well.  I asked him more about himself, such as what he did during the day since I had only ever seen him when the sun was down.  However, he told me that during that time he didn’t even exist.  When he said that, I was slightly taken aback, but he hastened to explain.  “It’s as if I fall asleep only I don’t dream, and I wake every day at dusk when I need to do my job.”

            “How do you know what sleeping’s like, then?” I asked him.

            “Believe it or not I used to be human, and I still am just not in the same way,” he answered.

            “What happened to you?”

            “I was cursed,” he said rather hesitantly, “by a fairy.”

            I was too afraid to ask him what he could have done to anger a fairy, unless she was an evil one.  I had come to the sudden realization that I now believed in fairies when I hadn’t five minutes ago!

            “So by cursed you mean…”

            “Well I still have my body, but I don’t eat or sleep.  I can never get sick, grow old, or die.  In a way you could say I’m already dead, although I’ve been alive for hundreds of years.  I still miss my family, even though they’re long gone…” he sighed.

            So many of his human characteristics have been taken away, but he obviously was spared his emotions.  I wanted to give that cruel fairy a piece of my mind for what she had done to him.

            “I’m sorry,” I said softly, squeezing his hand.  He smiled weakly, and I could tell that he was still hurting behind his kind expression.

            He unexpectedly leapt up off the bench we were perched upon.  “I want to show you something!” He announced.

            “What?” I replied hopefully.

            “Come!” He grasped my hands and lifted me from the bench as I caught his infectious grin.  After running to the tiny pond outside of the park, we sat down together in the prickly long grass.  

            “What is it?” I asked.

            “Shh…” he put a finger to my lips.  Then he softly sang this melody in a language I had never heard of.  I couldn’t understand it but I swore it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.  His singing voice was haunting but in the most ethereal way.

            He continued his ballad for the next few minutes while I shut my eyes and let my ears absorb this new magic.  I could have listened to his voice for an eternity if I had the choice.

            “Open your eyes,” he whispered in my ear after he finished.

            The first thing I saw when I opened them was the pond lit up in a supernatural glow: a light blue color reminding me of teal, but not even that gives it justice. It was a shade I’d never seen before, but so beautiful.

            “This…this is beautiful,” I started to say.

            “Just keep watching,” he smiled.

            The pond began to ripple, as if a skipping stone were tossed into it. From the depths of the pond arose tiny creatures that looked like fireflies, but upon looking closer they were actually tiny people with fragile-looking wings.  They emitted the same unique colored glow as the rest of the pond.

            “But I thought…” My mind went back to what Night had previously stated about the fairy.

            “Not all fairies are like the one who cursed me.”

            “Can they lift your curse?”

            “No,” he chuckled. “These are only minor fairies.  Their magic is immensely limited.  Goodness, I have more power than they do and I’m not even one of them.  But my curse cannot be lifted, believe me I’ve tried.” His smile had swept away from his countenance.

            “I can’t imagine how painful that must be….have you had any friends or are you always alone? If you don’t mind my asking?”

            “I don’t mind.   Not everyone can see me, you know.  They’re either too absorbed with the world, with themselves, or with others to notice.  If you’re open to something other than your own bubble of comfort, if you’re open to nature, mainly the night, then you can see me.  For that’s what I am.”

            “So that’s how I can see you?”

            “Precisely.  Sometimes innocent children have seen me but they got frightened and ran away.  Others have watched me from afar, but they never spoke to me.  One might talk to me for one night and I’ll never see them again.  It’s been forever since I’ve had a proper friend.”

            “I’ll be your friend.”

            He looked at me with his sky-like eyes: dark violet, nearly black. “Thank you,” he replied.

            All of a sudden I felt exhausted.  I yawned without covering my mouth.  “Sorry,” I apologized, mid-yawn.  I pulled out my cheap ugly phone out of my crimson jeans back pocket.  A white 4 AM illuminated the front screen.  “I should probably go home now, I’m tired.”

            “Right,” he replied, “I wish I could get sleepy.  May I walk you home?”

            “Of course!”

            When we got there he said “You have a lovely home!”
            It wasn’t lovely at all.  It was small and dilapidated.

            “Don’t tease me!” I punched his shoulder.

            “No, I’m serious, you should have seen mine.”

            “Heh, I bet mine’s still worse.”

            Night shook his head, “Well, thank you Crystalina, for keeping me company.”

            I smiled.  We had gone around back where I had left so I wouldn’t wake up my mother; if she were even sleeping at all. “Good night, Night.”  I almost started laughing; it sounded so silly.

            “Victor,” he said.

            “What?”

            “Victor.  You can call me Victor.  That was my real name….”

            “Well, bye then Victor.  See you tomorrow?”

            “I’d like that,” his lips curved into a half smile.

            “Okay,” I crept into the house.  The back door led to the laundry room.  I squeaked the door open and tip-toed up the stairs to my room.  I heard muffled noises coming from the TV, but I knew that my mom was asleep; she often fell asleep in front of it.  I crawled into my warm bed and drifted off minutes later.