189. Pebblesbright
My sisters and I wanted to thank the cooks
for having prepared such a succulent meal for us and for having put up with
Alpin. We sent carefully selected flowes and fruit to all of them, but we
thought we ought to give Finisterre Fishfin something a little more special,
since he had suffered Alpin so dramatically. Thus we went, accompanied by
Cespuglio, to the Green Rock of Hope, hoping to find pebblesbright.
The Green Rock of Hope is a large geen rock
in Minced Forest round which we used to play at granting wishes when we were
little. When a nice human passed by, we would do him or her a little favor or grant
a tiny wish. A teensy-weensy one, we weren’t capable of much more back then.
Like if a lonely kid came by wishing for someone to play with, we would show up
looking like normal kids and play with him until had to go home. Or we would
make someone find an antique coin, a gold bracelet with a broken clasp, a
plastic Indian chief with a coloufully feathered war bonnet, a modest star-shaped
silver charm with a ruby in the centre or a keyring with no keys but a blue
enamel rabbit hanging from it. We favored someone who was not going to dig up
the place looking for more coins, of course. What we gave had to look like
something someone had dropped.
As for pebblesbright, these are tiny stones
that make things they are in contact with flourish longer than they would have.
Pebblesbright are known as the bloom on stones. For instance, you place a
pebblebright in a vase with flowers and they bloom until you tire of them and exchange
them for others. Or you bind pebblesbright into a garland or a wreath and the flowers
remain fresh while these stones remain among them. Pebblesbright also are good
for preserving fruit. Put a pebblebright in a basket or barrel and you have no bad fruit that will spoil the
rest. And if you keep one in your pocket, you look younger and fresher yourself. We knew
Fishfin didn’t have one of these, and we thought he would like one to preserve
algae with.
The catch about pebblesbright is that they
are, as you may have guessed, not easy to find even for fairies. It helps that
they go unnoticed by the human eye, for if not, there wouldn’t be a single one
left for us to find. But our Uncle Evenfall, who is a very clever man, and
knows about everything that goes on at twilight, once told us where and when
pebblebrights show themselves.
“Like a seed. Like a stone. Like
a pit. Like a fruit’s bone. I spotted it because it shone, when the sun up
hopped, or down it dropped. Twilight late or early morn, seek pebblebright, the
bloom on stone.”
Now most people go seeking for fairy
treasures during the equinoxes or solstices, or on special days, like St.
John’s Eve and this is a lot of fun, but according to Uncle Evenfall, it’s best
to get a headstart.
“Though
a pebble in your hand won’t squirm, the early bird gets the worm. A sun or moon
ahead of the rest, it is best to start a quest. Fairy treasures would sorely
hate, on special nights to show up late. They make ready to be found hours
before the go horns sound.”
And as to the where, one had to go to places
of hope or lucky places where wishes had been granted or fulfilled. You knew a
pebblebright when you saw one because it made you feel better the moment you
saw it. And when you touched one, you immediately looked healthier.
“Find
one in places where one can hope to, where wishes are granted or have been
known to. Your heart will leap when you recognize it, should you see one, be sure to
prize it. One touch and fresher than a
lettuce, fresher than a fig, even the lame of both legs can dance a jig.”
Hence we had gone to our Geen Rock of Hope.
And were we lucky? We found not one, but six
pebblesbright! Something utterly unprecedented.
“Have they always been here? And we never saw
them?” asked Cespuglio marvelling. He was so happy to have his.
“One for each and one for Fishfin,” said
Thistle. “And one for…whom?”
“What shall we do with the sixth? Should we
leave it here or take it too?” asked Heather.
“Take it. It’s rude to reject a gift, and
that is what these are, since they have chosen to show themselves,” I said.
“You keep it, Heather. You’ll find someone right to give it to.”
“No,” said Thistle. “I know her. She’ll give
it to the first person who crosses her path. And being first doesn’t always
mean being worthy.”
“I’ll only give it away if the first person I
see is one, and not two people or more,” said Heather. “That will be the
signal.”
On our way back home, the first person we saw was a crowd of people in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts dinking cold beer they had brought in an ice bucket. So far, okay. But…the ground of the clearing they were partying on was strewn with empty cans they had discarded right there.
“Choose,” said Thistle. “Which of these shall it be?”
Heather studied the people before her both
shyly and doubtfully. She wasn’t able to pick just one.
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