The Diary of Joy

Friendship

8. Peace, the year of the Phoenix

Dear Angel,

I feel like every day of my life is truly magical and not only because I have magic but also because I am surrounded by so many wonderful people.
Of course, there are some bad apples, but I like to focus on the positive, on the good ones.

Today mom's friend Tinky-Linky came to visit and I must say that every time I see her I am even more impressed by her, I can see why my mom chose her as her best friend.
There is this special bond between them that I am yet unable to understand, where they don't actually need to talk to be able to know what the other one is thinking.
I wish to be able to have a friendship like that, one day, and who knows maybe I will, with Linky's son. We are already getting along better than I ever expected we would and I guess you never know where a life long friendship could blossom.

Although, if I am being honest, I didn't expect us to be friends after meeting him for the first time.

I remember that day like it was yesterday.

Mom told me that I was about to meet someone new and that I was supposed to be on my best behavior because they might be a bit different from what I was used to.
At the time, I knew her friend Linky and I knew that she also broke the fairy rules and fell in love with a wood nymph but I had never met her husband or their son before that.
I had heard some rumors that they were being punished by nature for the 'unholy union' and that their son was different but I had no idea what to expect.

At first, they kept him isolated since they were afraid he would face even more teasing than I ever did, but on that particular day, Linky had decided to introduce him to me first since I was the wisest one of all my siblings.
I guess she probably thought I would be less likely to laugh at him having experienced so much ridicule myself, and she was right.
If I am being honest, I expected a boy cowering behind his mother's dress but what I got was a hybrid with an attitude.

The moment they entered our house I could see what my mother meant when she said that he was different.
Not only was his skin of light bluish color but parts of his skin were also covered in a scaly growth that reminded one of tree bark.
He mostly had it on his hand and feet, but he also had two growths on his forehead reminding one of the horns.

I couldn't help but stare.
It was something completely new to me, and I was not sure what to think.
That was until he started talking.

"What are you staring at!?" He yelled at me.
"Nothing," I answered.
Feeling very uncomfortable I lowered my eyes and tried to think of a way out of that uncomfortable situation.
"Well stop it!" He said.
"You are rude!" I said.
"No, you are rude! It's not polite to stare at people." He said.
"I wasn't staring," I answered.

"Children, children why don't we all do the polite thing and introduce ourselves," Linky said.
Not wanting to upset his mother he extended his hand and said: "Echo."
"I am Joy," I said as I accepted and shook his hand.

At that moment, I was pretty sure that we would never be friends, but not because of his unusual looks or the fact that he was the first-ever fairy nymph, it was because I didn't like his attitude.
He was so rude to me that first time we met and so moody and unapproachable that I thought we could never be friends.

As you can see, I was completely wrong.
He is on the way to becoming my best friend.

What I learned about him over the years was that he gave everyone an attitude because he was trying to protect himself from being hurt.
Since an early age, he was different from everyone else and while for me that difference wasn't always obvious, for him, it was literally written on his forehead.

Still, in the beginning, I was too young and naive to understand his behavior, I just thought he was being hostile to hurt me. However, once I was able to understand the truth, our friendship started growing.

Of course, we had our bumps on the road over the years but nothing we couldn't handle.
The biggest problem between us occurred when I beat up a fairy for saying bad things about him and calling him a 'demon fairy'.
He got so angry with me that we didn't speak for three days.

You see, Echo is very proud, and he prefers to fight his own battles.
Me interfering in his 'battles' as he called them was seen by him as a sign of weakness from his part.
Honestly, I just wanted those mean kids to stop teasing my friend, I didn't know that I would hurt his feelings in the process.

Anyway, as I was saying aunt Linky came to pay a visit to mum, and they spent most of the time whispering quietly to each other, probably discussing their deepest secrets.
"Aunt Linky where is Echo?" I asked worriedly because my friend hadn't come along.
Most of the time he would come by with his mother, or he would arrive a few moments later, but yesterday there was no sign of him anywhere.

"Oh, sorry Joy, I forgot to tell you. Echo couldn't come now, he is spending some time with his father doing the wood nymph stuff." She said.
"What exactly is wood nymph stuff?" I asked curious about what my friend was up to.
"If I am being honest, I am not exactly sure. All I know is that my dear Syllis came to me and told me it was about time the boy learned about his roots, I think he meant literally, I am not sure. Anyway, Echo wanted me to tell you that you will meet up later today." Linky said.

Before I had the chance to ask her anything else, she started chatting with my mom excitedly and I didn't want to interrupt them, especially having in mind how rarely they got the chance to hang out.

I really wanted to spend some time with Echo, but it was good that he was spending some alone time with his dad because he still struggled with his nymph part the most.

You see, most people don't know that there are both male and female nymphs but since the females are in charge of their society it was mostly believed, by all magical and non-magical creatures alike, that there were only girls which is far from the truth.

Echo's dad Syllis is an awesome being, but he mostly shies away from non-nymphs except of course from his family.
Maybe that has to do with how people stare at him every time he shows his face in public.
In their defense, it is difficult not to stare since he is so different from anyone else.

His body is a darker shade of blue than Echo's and even his beard is in the same hue of blue.
Parts of his body have the same scaly structures as Echo's and his skin is covered in strange patterns that seem to be etched into it.

I don't know for sure, but I think that his people didn't treat him well and that was why they lived near our home and not in the forest that he so much adored.
As far as I can understand, the females of his species are not very nice to the males and once he met my aunt Linky, who is the kindest person I know, he couldn't help but fall in love with her.

I have to ask mom to tell me their love story once again because I don't remember the exact details.

Anyways, later yesterday I did get the chance to spend some time with Echo, and he seemed very happy that he got the chance to learn more about his father, even about himself.

Oh, dad is calling. I better get going. It's probably time for Silly Games (I'll explain tomorrow).

Love,

Joy