Serafina Stone

Part 9: The small town of Aldenia

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   We all looked around amazed. Petals from the cherry blossom trees scattered across the stone path. The sky was dark and scattered with stars, showing a hint of light as the sun came up. An owl "who'd" in the distance.

"This is GORGEOUS!" Exclaimed Raven, twirling with her arms out under the trees, the biggest smile across her face.

"It gets better. Just wait until you see the school. It's like a literal castle. And the small suburbs on the way are gorgeous as well. " Nellie said, turning around.

Ziggy, Cedar, Blaise, Mickey and Maisie ran ahead, playing a game of tag.

"Tag you're it!" Giggled Maisie as she tapped Blaise on the shoulder. They ran away and weaved in and out of the trees, giggling and falling to the ground in laughter.

I thought back to the time we first escaped the facility and how happy everyone was. This happiness was so much more than that. Raven was right, Nellie gave them hope. Hope for a better life, a safer place, a place to finally be themselves and not be scared to show their true colors.

I caught up to Nellie and Russ, Raven joining the others in tag. "Nellie, I wanted to say thank you. For giving my family hope and taking us into your home. I know... I may be stand-offish sometimes, but I just want to protect them. They're all I've got..."

Nellie placed her hand on my back. "You don't need to thank me. As far as I know, you're a friend now. You're all friends now. I'd want to protect my family too if they were with me. I'm glad they're all happy." She smiled her warm smile.

Raven caught up to me and pointed to her right. "Look." Her eyes widened in amazement.

A bridge crossed over a creek, leading into an abode of houses in trees.  They circled the full circumference of the tree, and the circumference was huge, as these trees were probably around 300 feet tall. Lights surrounded some houses, making them pop more than others. My eyes widened.

"Ahh. Yes, part of the fairy district. They refer to this small town as Aldenia." Russ said, turning around and walking backwards, motioning to the trees we saw.

"That's also where the mushroom houses are I was telling you about too. Also... where my mother and father live." Added Nellie.

We turned down the path that led down the bridge. "WAIT. We aren't seriously going in there are we?!" Squealed Maisie with excitement.

Both Nellie and Russ nodded. I looked up as we walked under the tall, dark trees. This was unlike anything I had seen before. The houses were like little cottages just sitting in a tree. Lights surrounding the fronts of the home. Fireflies buzzed around. Little shops  and market stands lined along the side of the street . A few mushrooms carved with a door and decorated with lawn ornaments scattered throughout the ground between the trees. Multiple people stopped what they were doing and stared at us walking through, whispering to one another.

We rounded another treehouse to find a woman standing out on her porch, shaking a rug out against her fence. She looked mid 40s, weathered down from worry or sadness. Her golden hair was pulled up in a messy bun, an apron tied around her front. She looked down at us and froze. Nellie stopped walking and stared at her for a second before breaking into tears and running to her.

"Momma!" She cried. The woman reached out to her and hugged her tightly, kissing her head. It was such a bittersweet moment.

"I thought I'd lost you my sweet sunshine." Said her mother, wiping tears from her eyes. "Look at you, all grown up since I last saw you. Well, let me look at you." She held her daughter at an arm's distance before pulling her back in again for a hug. "You're gorgeous. As gorgeous as the lights on a summer's eve." Letting go of her daughter, she looked at the rest of us, then at Russ. "Thank you Russ for bringing my baby girl home."