The Fairy On Fire

Chapter 2 - The Egg

Next day my spell has protected everyone from taking the egg up. After school I walk over to the hole again. And there in the shadow of a tree stands a person. Caleb.

I'm thinking really hard. How can I save the egg, when Caleb is here? How do I say that he should go home? "Flame?" He calls my name when I turn around to walk away. Oh damn! I turn to look at him again. The memories from yesterday come back. "Did you really mean the things you said yesterday?" He asks me. I don't know what to say. I think I hoped that he couldn't remember. "Yes." I look down on my feet. He smiles. "I hoped so." I look up at him. "You mean... That you meant it too?" "Yes." Oh. My. Gosh. Caleb really likes me!

He looks at my face. "What are you thinking of?" He asks. "I'm thinking of...." What?! What do I say?! "... Why did you come here yesterday in the first place?" "Honestly?" He asks. "Yes." I'm even more confused now. "I followed you." "You did WHAT?!?!?!?" I'm really... Really... -what am I really? I don't know. But he can have seen me making magic and throw spells. And the roof climbing. "I'm sorry." He says, looking quite embarrassed.

"I just-" "For how long did you follow me?" I interrupt him. "I saw you when you climbed down from the roof." He says looking at his feet. I'm relieved. He didn't see me when I threw the first spell. "OK." I must sound really relieved because he asks me, looking quite suspicious: "Why are you so obsessed about why I didn't saw you when you were on the roof?" I'm screwed. Again.

"I'm... I was..." "You were what?" I sigh. "Can you keep a secret?" Can't believe that I'm doing this! "Yes." "I was making a..." "A what?" He will not let it go. I look him in the eyes. It feels like I've known him all my life. It gives me some courage. "Don't say anything before I have explained it all." He nods. "Just so you know, I've never told anyone about this, and telling you this means that I trust you." He nods again.

I think he can feel how serious I am. Oh well, here we go: "I was making a spell, to protect the egg." I look at him to see his reaction. He looks SO confused. I wait until he looks right at me. "I'm a fire-fairy from one of The Hidden Worlds Charn, which got destroyed by a man from another world. My parents and I escaped from the explosions and ended up landing here with a meteor."

I take another break. He looks even more confused now. I sigh again. "Now you know what I am. I've never told anybody. Only me and my parents know." He just sits there, starring at me. "Please, say something Caleb." He opens his mouth. Then he shuts it again. He did so 4-5 times more. Then he says: "Wow." I look at him in disbelieve. Doesn't he have any questions? I'm a bit scared that I broke down his mind. It's a quite lot to hear at once. He opens his mouth again.

"You're a fairy?" I nod. "I don't believe you." He says, just starring at me. "You want a proof?" I ask. He thinks about my answer. "Fairies don't exist." I begin to laugh. "How can I sit right in front of you right now then?" "You're a human." He says with shaking voice. "Normally I would've been very upset being called a human. But since it's you, and you're a human, it's ok."

I smile at him. "Prove me wrong." He says. "As you wish." I answer with a smile, close my eyes for 5 seconds and feel the warmth in my hand. My little flame is dancing in my hand. I hold it up to him. He just looks at it in disbelieve. "Wow." "You believe me now?" "I'm... -I'm... I don't know what to say." I laugh, feeling a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. "You're a fairy." "And you're a human." I laugh.

"And you aren't from this planet." He says. "I'm not from this universe." I smile at him, a bit sad. That woke him up. "I'm... I'm... And you... You are... You are a...." He can't say it. I put out the flame. He's looking at his feet, thinking. "Then, do you have wings?" He asks all of a sudden. I nod with a smile. I think it's falling in place in his head. "I've fallen in love with a fairy." He says. Then he looks up at me, smiling all over his face. "I've fallen in love with a fairy!" He shouts.

"Shhh!" I say, trying to be serious, but his face makes me smile almost as much. I begin to laugh again. "And I've fallen in love with a human." He bends down and kisses me. It came as a shock. But after a few seconds I relax. He's finally mine AND he didn't run away, when I told him about my secret. We kiss until I have to catch my breath.

I'm smiling all over my face. And he smiles back. "I've just kissed a fairy." He says, laughing. I laugh too. I'm so happy. I can't remember being so happy since I left my own world behind. This is just perfect. I lean forward to kiss him again. He tastes like... Like... Like home. I finally found a home in this world.

We sit down leaning onto each other watching the sunset. "Flame?" "Yes?" I look up at him. "Do you want to..." He's looking nervous. "What?" "Do you want to... be... mine?" It takes a few seconds to sink in. "You mean like... Girlfriend?" I ask. He nods, looking away. I place my hand on his cheek to turn his head against me. I smile a little. "Yes. Yes I do." He kisses me again, this time even more wistful. I'm the happiest person in all of the worlds!

After a while I suddenly remember (again) why I was here in the first place. The egg is still lying in the bottom of the hole. "Caleb, we must save the egg!" "Which egg?" "The stone! It's a dragon egg!" "Wow." I sigh. "You need to help me. We must get it to my house." "That's a way." "I know... Wait, do you know where I live??"

His cheeks turn red again. "Well, yeah... I followed after you one day after school." He says. I'm just starring at him. "Why?" "I wanted to see where you lived, I guess" He's so cute like that. I giggle and give him a fast kiss on him cheek. "Let's go then!" He looks relieved that I'm not mad. "OK. I'll get it."

Before I can say anything he's down in the hole. I smile and looking over the edge of the hole to see him having trouble with the egg. "It's very heavy. Puh!" I giggle again and jump down to him. "Here, let me do it." He looks at me with a confused face. "OK, but it's still very heavy." I giggle and lift the egg. "Yeah, right. Heavy."

I take it up and begin to climb out of the hole. "How... Oh..." He says. "A little magic trick." I smile at him. "Do you want to go to my place?" I ask him. "Oh... Yes, of course!" "Fine, we'll wait here until it's really dark. Then we'll take off." "Okay." He climbs up beside me and sits down, clapping on the ground to make me sit too.

We sat like that for half an hour, his arm around my shoulders, my head against his chest, and the dragon egg on my lab, just staring at the stars, which began to show above us. "It's weird. The stars looks so different here than in Charn." I say. "Hm, I would have liked to see Charn. It sounds so magical and mysterious." I laugh. "So did some people in Charn think of Earth. The mysterious little planet in the Milky Way. The little planet where the humans are so stupid, that they are destroying themselves."

Caleb looks at me. "How do we destroy ourselves?" "You know, damage your nature, using more time on weapons than on medicine. Something like that." I say with a sad smile. "Humans just can't see how much they are destroying. Think of how many animal species who are no more because of man."

He's silent for a while. "Do you think it's dark enough now?" I look up. "Yes. Do you still remember the way?" I ask. He smiles. "Yes. Yes, I do. But I don't have a bike so I can't follow you" "You can take my bike. I'll fly" I wink at him. "Oh-ok... I think." He's confused again. "But where are your wings?"

"On my back?" Now it's my turn to be confused. "Are they invisible?" He ask with big eyes. I start laughing. "No, silly. They are made of fire, so I can just... yeah... you can say... 'turn them off'." "Practical." I laugh at him. "It's weird to talk about this with someone who doesn't really understand." I tell him.

We walk over to my bike. "I'll fly just above you." I say, gives him a fast kiss, and then I'm in the air. It's nice to fly again. I look down on Caleb, who just stands there, looking up at me, full of wonder and fascination. I giggle and fly down so I'm hovering just above him. "Or you can fly with me." I say. He looks unsure. "How?"

"Take my hand." I reach down to him with the hand that doesn't hold the egg. He looks even more unsure. "Do you trust me?" I say. He looks deep in my eyes. "Yes." He takes my hand and I fly slowly upwards. He says a little sound when his feet stop touching the ground. I smile at him. "Just look at my face, Caleb." I tell him. He looks up at me. "Don't let me fall." He says with a bit panic written his face.