LEGEND OF THE KEEPERS’ MOONSTONE

Two hundred years ago, there was a village home to a species of human-like figures, who glided in the sky with silky wings fluttering as they bounced from one place to another. They were called The Keepers, something humans called seasonal-born pixies. Their village was called Lexilot. As the lore goes, The Keepers lived a life of longevity as they fulfilled their roles dutifully.

Creative and unique were the Autumn Keepers. With one touch, a leaf succumbed to the colorful red, brown, purple or yellow pigments of the season. Autumn Keepers were warrior-like. They had sonic hearing and sharp vision, which they used to sense intruders from miles away. It was impossible to miss an Autumn Keeper. These pixies were striking in color with their olive complexions and fiery hair. Then, there were the Winter Keepers, known for their strong sense of wisdom. Often, they assumed roles of leadership no matter the trade they desired. They share the same warrior characteristics of the Autumn Keepers, but they were the strongest of all Keepers. They were the guardians of Lexilot, who rode in chariots made of chalcedony and fought against all evil. No one could bypass or fool a Winter Keeper.

The Spring and Summer Keepers were a soft bunch and shared similar qualities with one another. Both were highly creative and aestheticians. However, neither would be who they were if it weren’t for their stark differences. The Spring Keepers were hard of hearing, yet their vision caught the slightest flinch of a shadow. They were hypersensitive to vibrations, movement, and a bleeding heart. Their warmth melts the snow the Winter Keepers often left behind, and they nurture the gardens of the Earth back to fruition. They secreted a perfume that awakened every sleeping beast, and their gentle hands trained the most restless babe.

The Summer Keepers were the direct opposite. Some were nearsighted while others only saw blur. They relied on bright colors to lead the way like the use of a torch in the dark. Their strong hearing was also their greatest navigators. Once the Spring Keepers were done with their work, the Summer Keepers continued where they left off. They prepared the meals for animals and watched over agriculture for the humans. Every now and then, a child was lucky to receive a shiny red apple from the caring Summer Keeper. Near the end of the season, Summer Pixies were hard at work during the Harvest.

Yes, all Keepers were reserved in their characteristics and seasons. However, there were shared qualities that made a Keeper a Keeper no matter their season. All were beautiful, compassionate, mischievous, and hopeless romantics.

Like every lore, the legendary was faced with tragedy. It was a perfect day of work for The Keepers when a storm raged upon the village of Lexilot. It was unforgiving, leaving behind damage and despair. Beautiful homes were blown away. The Capitol, also known as the Queen's castle, suffered much loss as well. There was only one thing left unaffected. The cave that protected The Heart of The Keepers. The Heart was the only gemstone to be a life source for every Keeper on Earth. It was a prism blue moonstone locked inside a glass box. The Keepers were relieved that their life source was safe. However, their brief victory soon turned into grief when another storm caused a great flood that seeped into the mouth of the cave. The rising waters swallowed the glass box with The Heart inside and stole it away as the waters drew back.

That was the last storm, but Lexilot was in panic. The Queen sent out her best warriors to search high and low across all land to find The Heart. Those who were left behind helped the villagers rebuild their home. But it was too late to start over. As days flew by without word of The Heart’s return, the Lexilot pixies slowly died off. Humans and animals noticed a great change on Earth and were soon left to fend for themselves. Soon only two Winter Keepers were left, the Queen and her consort. Bertha the Spring Keeper and her husband Tatfar were also left. The same went for Jolie and her husband Dixon the Autumn Warriors, and Olivia and her husband Dennis the Summer Keepers. There were left with one solution to save Lexilot. Each union reproduced a new bud. Altogether, there were four. One for spring, one for summer, one for autumn, and the other for winter. Once the buds were born, they were given away to humans only the Keepers trusted. The humans promised to nurture and train their buds as they grew up in the human world. This was the promise every Keeper held onto, hoping that their buds would bring home The Heart of The Keepers and save Lexilot.

I am a Keeper, and so are my three best friends.

Neither of us knew this to be true for quite some time. It wasn’t until we ignited a search for our real parents that our past started to unravel in our laps.

I remember waking up, swaddled in a blanket and lying in a twigged basket. Two humans stood over me with their faces beaming down at me. One had long blonde hair and pale blue eyes, and a mixture of shock and happiness smeared across her reddish pale face. The man beside her bent down and clenched a firm grasp on the basket handles before lifting me up and welcoming me into their warm home. From that moment on, I was their second child and their only daughter.

Seventeen years later, I was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Trix cereal while listening to my mom yell at David, my sixteen-year-old brother, for the umpteenth time. It was another typical morning with Dad flying around the house. He was late for a very important meeting, thanks to his habit of snoozing the alarm.

As he slipped on his shiny oxford shoes at the door, his dark eyes instantly spotted me. "Honey, are you sure you haven’t seen my report lying around anywhere?"

I gulped down another spoonful and shrugged. "Honestly," I told him between bites. "Did you check David's room?"

Dad shook his head. "Why?"

I lifted my bowl to my lips and drained the milk out of it. Once my belly was full, I set down the bowl on my lap. "David likes to hide your stuff when he’s mad at you,” I responded. “Remember?"

Dad looked at me, inquisitively. "We haven’t been fighting lately.”

“Yeah, but you took his Xbox two nights ago,” I said. “You’ve also been going on and on about this meeting for weeks now.”

Dad went from calm to pissed.

I stood up and stretched my back, as Dad bum-rushed his way upstairs. Soon, loud voices erupted through the walls above my head. I heaved a sigh, not entirely in the mood to hear my parents and David clawing at each other’s throats. Thankfully, the ding dong of the doorbell yanked me from my thoughts and beckoned me to the door. Soon, I was greeted by a familiar face. Standing on the porch steps was a girl my age with soft pink curls pulled back in a French braid and a matte-nude lipstick smile brightening her face. She was dolled up in a white summer dress with a denim jacket thrown over it. Her outfit was accented with a blush pink purse slung over one shoulder and a pair of nude booties.

"Hi, Ivy!" I beamed with a cheeky voice.

"Hey, Eira!" Ivy responded. "Are you ready?"

I frowned. "For what?" I asked. Ivy was always full of surprises.

“For school..." she reminded with an arch of a pink brow. “Let’s go! We have to pick up Poppy and Carmine along the way."

"Ugh! School..." I let out, half-annoyed at myself. I had a full plan to sleep all day and order-in. "I need a minute. Want to come inside? "

Ivy rolled her eyes. I was always forgetful. “This is why you need to make use of your reminder app,” she snarked.

“All I’ll do ignore the notifications, anyway,” I reasoned as I opened the door wider for Ivy to walk in. She and the girls were always at my place than anyone else’s. Mom was famous among the bunch for her cooking and bakery treats. Dad’s tendency to be a joker was entertainment as the girls snacked on whatever was given to them. David, on the other hand, was a handful because he kept flirting with my friends. In many instances, I wanted to puke on his shoes or wish he wasn’t around when my friends were. Still, they were often amused at the craziness of my home.

As Ivy plopped on the couch and snagged the TV for entertainment, Mom came downstairs and immediately spotted Ivy scrolling through some options on Netflix. Between the TV talking back to Ivy and her concentration, she didn’t notice my mom’s attempt to sneak up on her for shits and giggles. But Ivy was lucky enough to peer over her shoulder in the nick of time. That, and no one could actually sneak up on Ivy. She was far too good at sensing anything around her. Defeated, Mom snapped her fingers and went, “Damn, you're good!"

A knowing grin flashed across Ivy’s face. "At what?" she asked, coyishly.

"Your instincts," Mom replied, as a matter of fact.

I smiled to myself as I rinsed my bowl before tossing it in the drainer. Then I headed to my room to change into a decent outfit for the day. I was still dressed in my pajamas. When my eyes flocked to the flashing green digits on my desktop clock, I was so thankful that I showered earlier. I only had five minutes to get ready. So, I jumped into a simple pair of denim jeans and slipped on a navy-colored plaid shirt. I coined the outfit with a pair of burgundy booties and silver threaded earrings. Then, I pulled my icy blue hair into a bun and used the last two minutes to apply a layer of mascara and wine-colored lipstick.

By the time I made it back to Ivy in the living room, she was a scene deep into her favorite drama series. "I'm ready!" I told her.

“Thank goodness!” she exaggerated.

It was a ten-minute drive to reach Poppy and Carmine. Their houses were situated at the cul de sac of the neighborhood. Luckily, they were already dressed and waiting for us. Both pulled themselves to their feet after sitting on Carmine’s grassy lawn for so long. “What took you two so long!” Poppy moaned. “I could only go so long without having to listen to Carmine’s rants about anime before she remembered I can read lips!”

Carmine shot her a pouty look. “Poor excuse for not being a great listener...”

“Get in, you two!” I told them as I leaned back from the wheel. “We have an entire day ahead of us!”

Carmine furrowed her cherry red eyebrows as she let out a grunt under her breath. “Tell me you’re not actually excited for school...”

“No, but I’m not in the mood to get grounded for ditching on the first day,” I jokingly shot back.

Poppy pipped up. “Honesty, I’d go for a Diner Dog burger right now.” The four of us often played hooky. That was simply our thing. Diner Dog was a hotspot outside of town for the best burgers and shakes within a 25-mile radius. Not many people from our town knew about it. So, it was perfect for a temporary getaway.

Carmine and Poppy hopped in the backseat. As soon as they were settled, we were down the road and on our way to a fresh start. Little did we know that that day was our last day of normality.