Dryad

New birth

Months passed, but he didn't come back. He would contact us through letters and occasionally send something just to remind us that he was thinking of us. Spring began to turn into summer, just like every year, my third summer away from home, when I began to notice that my scars were paler than ever, and my hair was so long that I could weave all the rocks and shells I dig up into it when I have the chance (which makes the fairies especially happy even though I'm not allowed to touch their hair). The centaurs fight every time when we gotta agree on whom should I tame first.

That morning I took the liberty to take my baby to Vadim's yard. Tarlow was already gone when I woke up, and I don't have anything else planned anyway. My tree grew tall, taller than me even though it is still thin, but what pleased me the most were the small round fruits on the branches - seeds. My chance to survive and restore what was lost:

-You could plant them here.-Celestina spoke up, but I had a slightly different plan.

I would like to plant my own trees, but not here. Their country is a little further away:

-What is it? You don't want to plant them? That tree is the only reason you're alive.

"Home.", I showed her with my hands:

-Isn't your home here?

"My home. My forest." I showed her, this time in slightly more precise words.

Celestina couldn't understand why, I could see it in her eyes. She thinks that I will leave them after everything, and that would be almost like treason on my part:

-You would go back there? They tried to kill you.

"Briefly. A visit.", I explained as best I could:

-We can help you. But only if you promise to come back to us. You know what happens if you don't keep your promise to the fairies.-she warned me.

The fairies helped me gather the seeds from all the branches when they were finally ripe enough and led me back through the elven settlement and the wild forests and their meadows to the moon gate. Tarlow didn't know I was going, I couldn't tell him because I knew he wouldn't let me go. He would think I wanted to leave him. It was so unusual to go back, but I never forgot their smell or how they looked.

A large overgrown meadow across the hill – this is now what used to be my forest. Grass and brambles covered the remains of the trees. Anyone who doesn't know this place wouldn't say that there was a forest there:

-We will plant them here, but there will be more seeds next year. It will take time to replace the entire forest.-Celestina explained to me.

I raised my left hand, on which a green spot had already formed, overgrown with small shoots of moss. No matter how small and young the forest is, each new tree will help me recover my moss and mushrooms.

I didn't intend to go down among the people, but a familiar face came to me. A little taller and a little older, but just as innocent. If he still thinks I'm a fairy, someone is going to have to talk to him. Words weren't really necessary, they never were no matter how many times he asked me something without thinking, and he knew he wouldn't get a voiced answer. He crawled up to me and hugged me. I wish he never has to grow up so that all the bad things can't corrupt him. I don't want to have to hurt him one day:

-We were looking for you. We thought you were dead.-he told me in a language I hadn't heard for a long time, but I couldn't forget its sound.

I had to pinch his cheeks to make sure they were still as soft and give him some of my flowers and then show him my round blond baby:

-It's a baby fairy.-he said and took him. I can somewhat understand how the boy mistook him for a fairy, but this is getting absurd.