Berganashio - Chapter 3

Jovie and the two young totters sat near the fireplace in full anticipation for Papa totters story to begin. Jovie had made chocolate chip cookies and they munched on them quietly, as the fire crackled behind them. It had been a long time since they'd had cookies, so it was quite a nice treat after a long day of catching fish for queen Finyellë. There was a black teapot with water that was starting to boil for them to make hot tea. Closing his eyes, as if he was dreaming, papa totter started telling the story.

“There once was an artist. His job was to paint the clouds every day. He flew at the speed of light to whisk his paintbrush through the air, touching all the clouds all around the world. His name was Rigs. He was nearly transparent himself and most creatures in the world could not even see him, but he was there. One day Rigs woke up with a very bad head cold. He could not paint the clouds, as was his daily morning, and evening routine. In fact, the cold was so bad that he could not even get out of his bed. He was terribly sleepy and in a very sickly state. That morning the clouds were very plain during the sun rise. That evening the clouds appeared to be very dull as the sun was setting. All the animals in the world noticed the change. Coyotes howled at the moon that night in extra desperation. They thought the moon would respond to them about why the clouds were colorless that morning and evening. The moon didn’t respond at all to the cries of the coyotes, or any of the other animals unusual groans. The sound of the owls that night were more unsettled than usual. The next morning there were no clouds in the sky at all. Several days went by without any clouds at all. Each day the sun rose and started heating everything up. In fact, because there were no clouds to block the sun, the sun scorched the earth like never before all over the world. Rigs was still deathly sick and could hardly move in bed.”

“Oh no… how’s he going to get well if no one can hardly see him?” Sister totter questioned aloud.

Papa totter smiled and nodded. “You’ll soon learn.” He continued the story. “Before too long the wind caught rumor that Rigs was sick with a terrible cold. The wind was completely invisible but was able to easily find where Rigs was. The wind, in her feminine fashion, she found Rigs in bed. She gently whistled in his ears until he woke up. He woke up and she told him that she’d heard he was very sick and that all the animals were nervous, as there were no colorful clouds in the sky. She started a gentle refreshing swirling breeze around him. She called this breeze therapy. Within a few moments, Rigs was feeling much better. The cold symptoms had been removed from him altogether. He thanked the wind for her willingness to help him get better. Before long, Rigs was joyfully back in the skies painting the clouds all sorts of different hues and shades. All the animals were happy again to see the creatively colored clouds and patterns in the sky. The sun felt less self conscious because he wasn’t burning up as much vegetation anymore due to the clouds being back. He was able to shine unapologetically as he used to be able to do before Rigs got sick. All seemed to be back in order, and indeed it was.” Papa totter looked at the three listeners to see how they responded. They were all smiling. He looked down modestly. “The end.”

Jovie and the two totter children applauded.

“I loved it!” Jovie smiled again.

“Your turn,” sister totter said pointing to Jovie.

Jovie paused. “Well, I’m nowhere near as good as your papa at telling stories, and I can’t promise a happy ending but I’ll give it a try.”

Sister totter clapped excitedly. Brother totter didn’t respond outwardly, but he looked up at Jovie with anticipation to hear her story.

Jovie started a bit soberly. “Once upon a time in a land far from here. There were two merfaries who had two merfarie children. They had a son and a daughter. To explain what exactly merfaries are, they are a cross between a fairy and a mermaid. The the son was just like his parents but the daughter was born a bit different. She didn’t have mermaid fins but instead she had regular legs. She grew up and always felt very unhappy because she was different than her parents and brother. To make matters even worse, one day she tried singing, but realized it sounded like pots and pans tumbling down stairs. Her brother smirked at her and told her that she maybe had other hidden talents that she’d discover one day. Her parents and brother would always sing beautifully together but she could not sing at all. She was heartbroken and became very bitter. The rest of her family would go on swims in the ocean, but she could not swim at all as she only had fairy wings and no fins. Sometimes, she’d sit on the shoreline and cry miserably. When she grew up, one day, unannounced to her family, she flew away from home to start her own life. Little by little, she soon realized that there were other fairies just like her. She started to not feel quite so alone. She encouraged other fairies like her to join her and start a village together. The end.”

The three totters clapped. Inquisitively, papa totter asked, “Is this more of a true story?”

Before Jovie could answer. Sister totter asked, “Are you the fairy who flew away from home in the story?”

Jovie giggled. Brother totter, flatly stated, “I was hoping that there would be trains, or wars, or criminals in the story, but you did pretty good.” He then pretended to make his train run into the fireplace behind where they sat.

Jovie waited for them to stop talking. “Yes, the story is based on all true events.” Her eyes sweetly flickered like the fire behind her. “The fairy who flew away from home is actually queen Finyellë.”

Papa totter nodded. “This explains why she doesn’t like anyone singing here.”

Sister totter shifted, “It’s still a silly rule.”

Jovie’s face became more serious. “The rule exists because if anyone near here sings even a note, then the fireflies leave. They are repelled by singing.”

Brother totter looked up. “If the fireflies left, then the arrows would kill us all!”

Sister totter rolled her eyes as she looked at her brother. “What a drama king…”

Jovie looked at them both. “But he’s right. We would have no protection from the arrows if the fireflies left us… so we must keep them happy enough to stay here… and more importantly, we must keep queen Finyellë happy because without her, none of us would be here.”

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