The Origin of Childhood

8

A couple of days later, we wake up and have a look at the outside. It seems sunny, time to take a walk to the park. And so we do. However, just minutes later, I start to see some grey clouds coming up in the sky. Dennis tells me there is a slight chance of rain. We then find a bench under a tree, but at that time, I still don't see a droplet of rain. Dennis decides we should go for a longer stroll, towards the edge of the city. We leave the park westbound and go into a metal recycling center.

Once there, we ask the owner if he has any raw metal pieces. He says yes, and we come to the selection of metal things that were made. However, we weren't interested in getting any of them as much as we were in having a look at them, and so we walk further, into a small bus stop. Once there, I come across Anne. I ask her if she has a copper wand for us. She says she has not one, but three spares, and is happy to give one to us. Once a bus arrives, Anne steps in. We follow her.

Once Anne gets out of the bus, we follow her into her house. She grabs the copper wand and gives it to us. She then starts a conversation with me about how fairies can be used for traveling to the past. She tells me fairies are effectively just the immaterial remains of people who passed away, and that there is a special spell just to 'ride' the fairy back to the day the fairy showed up. I ask her: "When does the fairy actually appear after a person passes away?" She answers: "Well, it happens on the exact day that happens."

Then I ask her: "Can you stop the time-travel earlier than the day the person passed away?" She answers: "Definitely! You just perform the same spell you did to start it." Then comes the real question: "How do you start the time-travel with a fairy? She answers: "Well, you just hold the copper wand to the fairy, and hold the other hand close to the fairy, with the palm pointing to it. You constantly hear a low hum from the fairy, so you can perform this spell whenever the fairy is close to you." I then thank her for the information. She says: "This was something I really forgot to tell during the meeting. Sorry."

Once the conversation is over, we have another look outside. The predictions from the beginning of this day came true as I see a shower outside, through the windows! Dennis tells me the rain will continue at least for this hour, but I don't want to wait that long. In fact, Dennis then tells me the rain can take the entire day to finish. I decide I have to stop the rain from continuing any further. Anne tells me she can do so, but I decide to take the task. I ask Anne if we can help each other, and she answers: "Well, I don't know what can result from that, so we're not going to take the risk."

Then, I perform the sell to remove the clouds from the sky. It has to be done outside, so that the rain could be clearly heard. I actually discovered this while performing the spell. When I try it inside, it doesn't work at all. However, I go outside, and the clouds just disappear in front of my eyes, and so does the rain! Anne thanks me, and we all walk back to our home. Midway, however, there is still a but of rain, though much less severe. Anne decides it's her turn to stop it this time. She tries to perform the spell, but nothing happens.

She then asks why it doesn't work this time, and I tell her the rain isn't bad enough to be heard. She tells me: "We just have to move forward.", and we find a rain shelter below the roof of the building. However, the rain never seems to stop, so we later continue on our way. Then, all of a sudden, we hear the rain getting more intense. Sanne performs the same spell se did before, to let the clouds disappear. It worked very well this time, and we arrived back home almost completely dry. After that, I give her an apple as a reward.