The Diary of Joy

Autumn

26. Peace, the year of the Phoenix

Dear Angel, 

I am happy to inform you. that autumn has finally arrived and I can't be happier about it.

Although mom and the other fairies love spring, my favorite season is autumn. I love how beautiful the leaves are painted. To me, they look like a delicate masterpiece.

It's impressive how the same tree can have so many colors and hues. I am left breathless by its picturesque beauty.

Don't get me wrong, mom does an awesome job as a flower fairy, but there is something about the work autumn fairies do that makes me feel comfortable, safe.

One time, I even had the honor of seeing them hard at work. It looked so fun. The way they painted, their brushes gently stroking the leaves, it all made it look like a perfect dance. It was a dance of beauty and grace.

There were more than ten of them working on the same tree, and most of the time they were just a blur of motion that my eyes couldn't catch.

While my mother's work is all about precision and balance, the work of the autumn fairies is a beautiful chaos.

They start with a plan that much is obvious, but soon enough they just start splashing around giggling excitedly.

That made it clear why the leaves were in so many random colors.

When I was young, I often wondered about that. I wondered what kind of magic could make such wonderful patterns and hues, but now I know that it's the strongest magic ever, the power of game and playfulness.

The fairies made their job into a game, it made them happy. That's why the work they do always makes us happy. A part of their soul, their joy is in the leaves and others can feel it, especially other fairies.

Even now, when I watch the trees change their gowns for the wonderful autumn garments, I remember the moment I witnessed with a huge smile on my face.

It's one of the things that fascinated me the most when I was young, and I guess it still holds a certain power over me.

Anyway, besides my obsession with leaves changing color, another thing I love about autumn is harvest time.

All those delicious products that mother earth provides for us and that we get to pick and eat, make my heart soar from joy. I guess for me, harvest time is similar to human Christmas.

It is the time that we receive the most precious gifts, and it is also the most festive time of the year. Starting from tonight, we will have special harvest festivities that I simply adore.

There is always dancing, playing games, and eating delicious treats. I mean who doesn't love eating delicious food?

One thing I am especially looking forward to every year is grandma's pumpkin pie. My elf grandma makes the most perfect pumpkin pie that ever was or that ever would be.

Anyway, every year Echo comes to pick me up, and then we go to the first of the year's festivities together, it's our traditions. Every year it starts the same, with the pumpkin picking, and it's awesome.

Seeing its majesty makes me believe that I know where the origins of some of the human fairy tales are. Like that story that Peace loves so much about the girl, the pumpkin and the fairy, I think this is where it originates from.

Some cunning humans, from times long ago, must have witnessed this ceremony of ours, and that's how the original tale started being told.

For, you see, the pumpkins are sometimes very large and they float in the air surrounded by sparkling magic. The harvest fairies fly next to them to make sure that everything moves in the right direction.

This, to a human eye, which is known for seeing more than there is to see, the transfer of the pumpkins onto a carriage, must have seemed like a transformation. It must have looked as if the pumpkin turned into a carriage, thus the pumpkin turning into a carriage tale.

I am not sure about the girl and the glass slippers, though. They probably used their imagination to make up that part.

Although, it could have something to do with the cleansing ceremony the harvest fairies do after the harvest. You never know how humans might distort even the simplest images. Perhaps for them, the fairies splashing their feet in the lake, looked as if they were wearing glass slippers, who knows.

Still, it is funny to think that something as normal as harvest can be a basis for such tall tales. I feel like the true nature of things is much more beautiful than what those tales make it up to be.

Nevertheless, there are many more things to see and experience, and I am glad that humans don't get the chance to spoil it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my brothers and sister, but they are not completely human. Having grown up in a magical world, they are more in tune with it like me, like all the rest of us.

They have a better understanding and a healthier relationship with all the magical beings.

They are special. They would never do those terrible things humans do, and they would especially never twist what harvest is all about.

But I am getting off track, again, Echo will be here soon, so I better start getting ready.

He hates it when I am late, and he has to wait for me, but I can't help it. I have difficulties choosing what to wear. After all, it is a special occasion, and I have to look my best.

Echo is a boy, he doesn't understand how difficult it is for girls to look perfect. I am sometimes angry that beauty and elegance are expected from girls, but not boys. It's easy for Echo, he doesn't have to go through all the trouble.

All he needs to do is put on the clothes that his mother prepared for him. Yes, he doesn't even choose his clothing, he wears what his mother tells him, and has no worry on his mind while I fret about my dress, hair, fairy makeup and so on.

Anyway, I think it will be a lot of fun joining in on the festivities, it always is. That is unless I am very late, and Echo keeps grumbling about it.

Still, I will be with my best friend, doing something that we both enjoy. What more can one wish for? It's perfect.

Spending time with the ones we care about, meeting up with friends and family, those are the small things that make life truly magical, not power or prestige, but love and friendship.

Love,

Joy