Abigail | Putri Marin

Chapter 8

  "So, is it tiring to fly?", I ask on the way to the library. "Well, it is like running you know. A faster way to transport or move but take up more energy.", Joy said as he enter the library first while I hold the door for him. "You haven't my first question though.", I said as I light up a candle and brought them closer to him while Joy sat on his butt on the floor. It's quite an amusing sight to see as I try not to crack a smile.

   "Which question was it again?", He asks as he looks around the library seeing the glass-made roof that allows the moonlight to shine through it. "Do you have a pack? There's rarely any animals here since the crash.", I said as I looked at the creature in front of me and observed every detail about him. His scar, the brown color of his fur, his tall antler, and his dark hooves. "Well yes, but I'm lost.", The deer said now bringing his eyes to mine. "I'm not from this side of Earth.", I looked at the deer shocked for the second time that night.

   "You mean you're from-", I was cut off, "The other side? Well yes. In my side this side was called the other side. But it will only be logical if my side is called the other side in this side. If that makes sense.", Joy said seemed unamused by what he had said, the complete opposite of what my reaction is. "How did you get here though? I mean is that side far? How was it like there? What're you doing here-", I was cut off once again as I was bombarding Joy with a million questions.

   "Woah, slow down there little girl. Catch some breath", He said with a sassy tone in his voice. I mean who could blame me? Curiosity gets the better of me, everyone knows that. But this deer in front of me is a stranger, a stranger. "To answer your questions let me just tell you a story.", Joy said and I sat on a chair in front of him waiting patiently for him to tell the story. The story that may hold the information I've been wanting my whole life.

   "I am a Silver Deer.", He said as he closed his eyes and slowly his antlers turned from dirty white to pure silver and so does his fur. "This is my full transformation.", He said as he is now covered in silver fur, silver eye color, and silver antlers. I gasped at the beautiful creature sitting in front of my bare eyes. Every part of him shinning so bright with the moonlight through the glass roof.

   "My pack survived the crash generations ago", Joy started as he turned the shadow from the candle into a show. I stare in amazement at the show in front of me. "Now if I remember this was a story my family had told me. My pack was on the safe side. The side where humans live peacefully in, everything was perfect.", The shadow moves into humans holding hands signaling peace and everyone living happily.

   "Until the crash happened.", The shadow becomes dimmer as the image of a meteor crashing the Earth shows. "Kingdoms are fighting and arguing. Food was gold back then, no, diamonds! The war happened.", People were shooting arrows at each other, families were hiding, people are stealing from every house and fire was everywhere. My eyes teared up the second time that night with the image shown from the shadows.

   "But over the years we've regrown, the war was over. But the kingdom was separated.", The shadow turned to walls that seemed to cover each kingdom. "Though people had forgotten about the magical creatures, people thought they had died many decades back. We didn't, we took shelter during the war into the forest.", Joy said as now the shadow was showing a pack of Silver Deers running from the chaos that was pictured earlier.

   "I grow up with my family telling us this story, how we lost connection with the humans.", Joy said as the shadow turns into a child deer growing up into an all-grown-up deer. "But a couple of months ago, war happened once again. I was separated with my pack while a wildfire happened and those only happen during wars.", The shadow turned into a deer -Joy- running from the wildfire, "I found a river that was in between two broken walls, I follow it and here I am.", Joy said one last time before the candle died.

   I stared at the now-dead candle and stand up to turn it on once again. "You don't have to turn it off now.", I said as I come back with a burning candle. "It adds to the dramatic effects.", Joy says as he a laugh escapes his lips. He transforms back to his normal state, brown fur and white dirty antlers with brown eyes, quite a magnificent sight to see. I sat back down to the chair as I see the clock, 4 a.m. "Don't you miss your family?", I asked him while I sat down next to him on the floor. "Of course, but I knew the day will come where I'll be separated from them or something like that.", He said shrugging his shoulders once again.

   I hummed as we both looked at the fire on the candle dancing as it pleased. "Do you want to be friends Joy?", I ask as I gave him my hand for him to shake. He seemed to hesitate at first, but gave in at the end and shook my hand back. "Friends.", I smile at him as I got up from the floor and grabbed the candle. "Welp, Mother is going to wake up soon and I don't want to get in trouble. It was nice meeting you Joy.", I said as we both walk back to the entrance of the library and got out of the old building.

   "Nice meeting you too.", Joy said before he gave one more look and went back to the dark forest. I turned the candle off and slowly came inside the house. I climb back to my bed and cover myself with the blanket, slowly drifting to sleep.