Song: Hush by Claire Wyndham

That night we sit around the fire. The fire hurts my eyes almost as much as the sun so I keep on the sunglasses. And the heat from the flames is amazingly warm, how is that possible. His friends are still here and he has to remind them to be nice yet again because the girls are always snickering behind my back. They all eat meat from wild animals but I can't bring myself to do that. I feel that is a disgrace to nature; I mean in my world we are friends like they actually communicate with us. Luckily, Silver remembers what I said from earlier and he hands me a bowl of food grown from the Earth.

When everyone is done eating they stay around the fire. We are listening to people tell stories about the land and old ancient tales. This little girl comes over to me and taps me on the knee. She also has the nice dark skin like Silver. Her hair is fixed in braids, onyx black and so long that it almost reaches her stomach. She is a little shy.

 "Hi...I'm Kaya...are you a real fairy...and if so where are your wings?"

My wings, just thinking about them rings tear to my eyes. I would give anything right now to have them back. "The Chief called me a fairy. I don't know what that is but I do have wings...well did. I lost them when I fell from the rushing waters. I wish you could have seen them. Oh, they were this amazing bluish color and they shimmered when they moved so gracefully. Oh you would have loved them."

Harper and her friend Lainey start cackling hysterically. "She thinks she is a fairy. This is only getting better and better. I bet you think you're a vampire too right, that's why you are so freaking ghostly white and..."

"No the flames from the fire does; the sun just so happens to really hurt alright," I snap back.

"The flames...seriously, what are you like a weirdo albino girl or something. And why the sunglasses for realtake them off its dark out for crying out loud," she says rather rudely.

I start to take them off but Silver stops me. "Don't, leave them on. Ignore them." So I leave them on which is probably for the best because I already know my eyes will be glowing and then I will have to try to explain how is that possible and when I say it's because I'm not from here or that I am a fairy as the Chief says they will all only make more fun of me.

The little girl left when Harper and Lainey started talking to me but now she returns with something in her hand. She comes over to me and smiles. She holds the thing with one hand while opens it with the other and she smiles up at me. "Like this...this is a fairy," she says with the sweetest voice and points.

I admire the figure on the paper. She has long green hair and wings of green and yellow. I think about Jade all of a sudden. I bet she is more than happy that she won the quest. She is probably right now with Scolecite and my heart aches. The fairy on the paper has little pointy ears and I reach up to touch mine. Mine are just ears, with a very little point, nothing like the one I am looking at.

I turn the page to find more of the winged beings. They are depicted so pretty that I almost feel that if I could make a wish at that moment I could be within the pages with them. I so miss home right now. Home is nothing like here. I turn the page and the sight takes my breath away; there is a dragon looking back at me. I touch the page softly and I don't realize a tear falls until I see it drop onto the page causing a few little circular wet spots.

"Rowan," I say in a hushed whisper. He looks a little like Rowan. However, Rowan has dark blue eyes, almost like mine. His wings are also more massive than on the paper and Rowan looks friendly...nothing like the dragon on the paper in front of me. There is something  about this dragon that only brings back more memories of being on the quest and that fatal mistake  that I made.

"No that is a dragon. This is a book about fantasies, haven't you ever seen a dragon before," she starts to laugh but when she looks back up at me she sees me crying. "I didn't mean..." she quickly tries to apologize for making me cry but it's  not her fault.

"No...no...it's just..." I look up at Kaya and back down at the winged creature. I trace along his head  with my finger tipall the way down his back to his long tail. In my mind, I can feel the roughness of his skin. "I have a dragon back at home; his name is Rowan."

She gives me this look, a sense of wonder. "Are you serious...there are no such things as dragons...only in the books." She slaps herself on the front of her head and starts shaking her head. I have never seen anyone do that before and I'm starting to wonder if she is ok.

"I beg to differ. They are very, very real." Of course it's really hard for me to prove it to her.

This time Silver jerks the book out of my hands. "Will you please stop putting all that nonsense into my little cousin? There is no such thing as dragons or fairies or whatever else is in this book,"
he says with a layer of coldness to his voice. Great he doesn't  believe me either.

"But I'm not lying...it...its all real. Why would I lie about that?" I look at him in disgust. Why would I even think of lying about something that is very much real. I have no way to prove to them,  mo matter  what I say they  will never believe. 

The girls start laughing again and I am at my last straw. I am about to snap.

"That's enough for now alright. Kaya put the book away we are all done for the night." He hands her the book and gives her this look then flashes a death glare at Lainey and Harper. The rest of the group around the fire goes silent.

Kaya looks down, quite sad looking and looks back up at me. "I'm sorry Azurite...they don't believe you. I believe you though." I see it in her eyes, that there is a part of her that really does want to believe me. She stands up and takes the book back with her.

I stand up and stomp off. Why should I even sit here and listen to anything they say; it's not like anyone listens to me anyway. And those rude girls, laughing and making fun of me every time I open my mouth. I have had enough that is for sure.

By the time I get back to the room, Silver is right behind me barging his little way into my space. "Azurite, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that is all fantasy...it's not real...none of it. Stories made up by people's imaginations...none of that is real...you know that right." His eyebrows almost come together as he looks back at me just waiting on me to agree with him but how can I when I know the real truth.

I look down and then back up to look at him right in the eyes. I glare at him trying to measure him up. "Then why are you going to help me get back home? If you truly don't believe anything I say...why? Why are you doing it?"

He looks down. I watch him as he bites into his lower lip and then looks back up at me. "Because the Chief is my Grandfather and if he says take you home, then I have to do as he says."

So thus place is a little like home after all,  there is someone that is in charge and everyone seems to follow orders. Well maybe, just maybe for once I don't need anyone's help.  "Maybe I don't need your help. You take me back to where you found me and I will get my own way back."

"Yeah right...like you can climb the side of the mountain with rushing waters falling."

"I climbed that tree didn't I, all on my own. Believe me climbing the falling waters is nothing...just take me there."

He shakes his head and starts to laugh but when he catches my reaction he stops. "Fine...first thing in the morning alright we will head out."

"No...I want to go while it is dark...I can see better that way." Which was very true my eyes are great at night.

"Are you always so freaking demanding." When I don't  respond he says, "Fine we will go tomorrow night if and only if the water isn't rushing more."

"Fine...I guess I will have to wait till then. Now if you don't mind please leave me be." I hold my hand up and sweat him away.

"Whatever you say ma'am." He turns around in one full swing and is out the door to leave me there all alone.

I walk over to the soft place that I was laying on earlier and I climb up and lay down. I try to go to sleep but seeing the pages with all the winged beings and then the dragons only makes me cry more. I have to get back home; I just have too.