The Diary of Joy

Echo

16. Peace, the year of the Phoenix

Dear Angel,

I have told you a bit about my friend Echo before, but I feel like I should tell you more because besides the bumpy start of our friendship he is now my closest friend. He is my confidant and the first person I go to when I am feeling blue (which can sometimes cause me to turn blue since I don't yet have complete control of my powers).

Life hasn't always been kind to him and after he realized that I wasn't anything like the other children who teased him about his looks, he became my kindest friend. It was amazing for me to note the difference between how he behaved when I first met him and how he behaves now. It's like night and day.

As I told you, I guess he has always had to put on a tough act to hide behind when the world became too much for him when the other kids were too mean or they simply ran away from him. Before he met me, every new person he met was rude to him so I guess he just assumed that I would be like everyone else. Luckily for both of us, I am unique.

Having a fairy-nymph as one's friend is always exciting and I am not sure what is more fun, his personality or the unusual powers that he sometimes shows off. Honestly, I feel I like both equally since they make him so special and different from anyone else I know.

It's unusual how although I am a half-fairy and we have a strong connection with nature, his connection is even stronger. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that he is or at least can be, physically part of nature, I mean part of a tree or a plant.

But if I am being honest, the first time that happened we both got scared because we couldn't understand what was happening. Having fairy blood mixed in with nymph blood made his powers almost as unpredictable as mine and that is why his parents couldn't prepare him for what happened that day.

We were just sitting under the weeping willow because that's my favorite tree and Echo always tries to make me happy when something strange started happening. It took my brain a few seconds to register what was going on and when I did I was stunned into silence.

Echo started panicking since there were suddenly vines coming out of his nails and he didn't seem to be able to control them as they spiraled upwards. It looked to me as if the vines were trying to connect with the branches of the weeping willow.

"Don't panic. You are making them grow longer!" I screamed.

However, it was too late, the vines had already grown enough to reach the lower branches of the tree and started intertwining with it as if trying to reconnect. It was so strange to see my friend in such a different light and so scared. Especially having in mind that Echo was never scared or at least he never showed it before.

Resourceful as I am, I sent a cloud of my special type of fairy dust into the air knowing that one of my parents would spot it and come to the rescue. How did I know that? Because they always do.

Anyway, in a matter of seconds, my mother flew in and I was relieved to have an adult present because as the vines and the tree branches were making a deeper connection, Echo started panicking even more. There was nothing I could say or do to help him calm down.

Mom quickly assessed the situation and for a second she had a contemplative look about her that I couldn't really understand at the time and that I now know it means she is communicating with aunt Linky telepathically. Anyway, mere seconds later aunt Linky and uncle Syllis arrived.

As soon as they appeared uncle Syllis realized what was happening and the next thing I knew he went to Echo and started whispering something into his ear. My guess would be nymph secrets that he wasn't allowed to talk about and soon enough the vines were retracting and Echo was back to his vineless self.

"What happened?" I asked as curious as ever.

"You know how sometimes you can't fully control your powers and you do something you didn't mean to do?" My mother asked.

I nodded my head vigorously knowing exactly what she meant. One time I wanted to magically conjure a real flower and ended up with a handful of flour.

"Well, it's the same for Echo only even more difficult since both fairy and nymph magic are strong and need to come out from time to time. It is different for elves since for them magic is part of who they are but it can stay inside for a long time without any problems." Mom explained.

I didn't fully understand what that meant, but I was just happy that my friend was back to his old self and that he was no longer scared. He even seemed joyous to me.

He explained later that the vine incident was the first time that his nymph powers came out. Because of their tendency to come out early, they had already started thinking that he might not have inherited any of the nymph powers so he was very happy to find out that was not true.

"It so cool. I can feel what the trees are thinking. Not only that I can feel its roots and every little branch and leave. It's amazing! Sometimes I can even convince the trees to move around a bit!" Echo once told me.

"Convince? Do you have a conversation?" The curious me asked.

"It's not a conversation but something like that. They can't understand words so we communicate in pictures. I create a picture in my mind of what I want them to do and send them that picture. Sometimes they think my idea is fun and do it immediately, other times we have whole picture conversations until I manage to convince them." Echo told me.

I found that fascinating because it was so different from the type of magic my family and I did. For us, it's so individual but for Echo it's like they are working together, him and the trees communicating and sharing their powers. I find that connection endearing.

Of course, I would never use that word in front of Echo because that would offend his pride but it's the truth. The way he is with the trees is the cutest thing ever.

What also helps is the fact that his parents are so supportive and do their best to help him develop all of his talents. They try to be the best parents they can be although their beginnings were as hard as mom and dad's. Anyway, I'll tell you more about that one of these days.

For now, I have to go and check up on Mischief, I have a strange feeling that she is up to something. Whatever it is, I will probably not like it. Maybe because I don't think most of her 'jokes' are funny.

Always your friend,

Joy