Piper: A Comedic Tragedy

 [ Spring]

“I remember..” my grandmother’s pencil-thin brows condescendingly rose with a tilt of her pointy nose to the ceiling, staring me down.

“Oh, mother. Leave her alone! ” My mother shooed the air as she placed a plate of sliced black beans with a side of fresh honey in the center of the table. Smaller dishes of sweet & savory treats like moss salad dressed with sap and slivers of rice or my favorite; salted pumpkin seed soup.

“Well! The past isn’t all that life is about, Gramma! ” I said enthusiastically but also gave her a wide death stare with a cunning grin while I helped mom serve beverages.

“It’s in Pix’ nature to explore and discover anew! .. For an elder I’m surprised you don’t agree with The Old. ” This made Gramma glare back at me with lines and a dot for a mouth from all the pouting she’s done over her stretch of centuries.

Her older brother Bewlyn fluttered down the hallway, swiftly passing over the kitchen table to snatch a slice of bean before dashing out the front door. I just rolled my eyes. “Bewlyn!!” mother cried, shuffling to the front door to see her eldest son stray more & more from the nest, fading into the clouds.

With a sigh, she turned to call in the twins “Come inside dears, it’s time for lunch!”

The two were somersaulting into each other, causing SunBeam’s tuft of glowing goldie locks and MoonShine’s curly midnight blues to create a hue of marbled galaxies. They abruptly rolled to a stop when mother called for them. Some of their pixie dust glittered the grass with excitement as they both darted inside.

“Food, food, food!” they chanted in unison, like most of their speech was. They were both still small enough to fit into one chair together. 

Mustard Seed then began to fuss and fidget in her cradle made of tree bark, bordered by the sweetest cotton. “Oh, you two. You’ve upset little seed. ” Mother said, gently cradling Mustard Seed in her arms, thus causing her long, matriarchal wings to sparkle & flutter with pure joy.

 [ 160 years earlier]

“Where is her stone??” Rosemary anxiously looked at all who surrounded her bed; Birdseye the kin’s father, little Bewlyn, Rosemary’s mother, the doctor and even a monk.

Her eyes sparkled with tears of joy that she had already shed, but there was no smile or light in her expression. More so the sweat of dread. “Where is her stone?! It ought to be Garnet! ” Rosemary’s voice grew as everyone continued staring, looking around at each other then back to mother & child. Some expressed shock and bewilderment like Doctor Oak and Brother Marionberry. Whilst Rosemary’s family grew more worrisome in the face, Birdseye silently tearing up.

Answer me!!! ” Rosemary’s wings fluttered in anger, the infant starting to curl and fuss in her arms.

The doctor finally advanced forward and gently caressed the second time mother’s quivering shoulder "Rosemary.. Birdseye..” Dr. Oak gave an inclusive glance to the father “She- …Hum.." he began anxiously and looked down at the baby, anticipating Rosemary's reaction "..Just wasn't born with one."

"JUST!" she yelped, "HA!” Slowly, a loud silence fell upon the chamber. Rosemary’s eyebrows worked slowly as hot tears of anguish fell on her newborn’s forehead “She’ll practically be a common house moth. Defenseless..”

The mother slowly looked down at her fresh, innocent child. The stone that centered her own collarbones slowly boiled to a deep and somber swirl of glowing royal blues, purples and reds.

Delicately petting the top of her daughter’s tiny pine green hairs, she began to weep. The feelings of Rosemary fell like an avalanche. Love swelled within her just as great and warm as it was for the birth of Bewlyn. But she could not bear the idea of her own child not having their stone. It was like being born without wings. How would Piper survive?

  [ Present Day]

“Dammit!” I stomped and clutched my hair. Dust slowly billowed up my legs. I've been trying to weave a blade of grass for the last hour. A few books strewn about me in a frenzy; How to Grow Your Fellow Plants, Plants By You, Stone Hone and Why Did The Caterpillar Cross The Leaf? : A Step by Step on Stoning Nature.

“I’m doing everything the books say!” hovered over a page, I face my flat palm up in frustration. Moonshine sat on a pine cone, swaying his tiny legs "Perhaps you need more dirt!" he smiled, believing that he was being useful. "M-More." I raised my eyes slowly towards my little brother, amazed "DIRT?! The grass is practically drowning in it!”

He just shrugged and looked down at toes that wiggled and swayed “.. Should you ask Father Marionberry? ” He shrunk a little, not wanting to get snapped at. I ignore him for a while, but then blink in realization and suddenly met the gaze of Moonshine "Yes, maybe you're right.. They are pretty knowledgeable up there. I just wanted to manage on my own. ” With a defeated pout, I sat criss-cross sap-sauce and plopped an elbow into my knee.

Glaring at the blades of grass.

After supper that evening as the sun started to go to bed, I headed up the hill, a wavy path leading to the monastery. Giving one side of the oversized French doors a push, my lips stretched to a smile when I entered a tall room full of flickering candles and a few incense scattered about. One sat atop a high stack of books, smoke reaching the ceiling. I let the door slide quietly closed behind me and I followed the center of the pews on both sides, looking around in the hope of finding Father Marionberry.

It was as if the spirits of the church had heard my wish because there with a group of four very loved candles that whispered sweet nothings into the Father’s ear as they burnt over the book he was reading, appeared before her. His forehead rested in his palm, his fuzzy eyebrows bent in concentration with small, oval silver glasses that reflected tiny imitations of fire. I stared at him from behind a bookshelf, nibbling my bottom lip anxiously, wondering if I should disturb him or come back in the morning. He was in his white nightgown and pointed slippers, after all. But before I could even decide to take a step forward or backward, Father Marionberry spoke.

“Good Evening, child.” his voice was soothingly aged “How is your mother?” his eyes adverted over the spec’s rim to see the girl approaching in front of his desk. “She’s good. Taking care of Mustard Seed mostly.” Petite but well-used hands lay flat on the desk and Marionberry noticed small lines of the earth under her fingernails. This made him smile and drop his gaze to the book, but not really to go on with it.

“That’s wonderful to hear. I so wish I could have been present for her birth like I had the rest of you Pix-kin.” Piper shrugged with a smile “Hey, don’t worry! She’ll have you as she grows.” Father nodded softly, sending back a smile, "Indeed. Why have you come so late, dear?” He leaned his elbows over his book making it flatten and quietly crinkle.

I shyly drew swirls in the dust of his granular desk “Well.. I wanted to ask if you knew anything about my stone.” I waited and watched the wood a bit more before Father leaned over his seat with a gentle sigh. "I have done much more research on our stones, since your birth than during my 600 years." He started thoughtfully, "I discovered that there's some sort of.. I wouldn't call it an heirloom.." Father Marionberry dragged around for a while, patting his chin "Genetics? ... Recessive trait! That’s it. He saw my eyelids fall in the midst of a little boredom with the ease of which he became distracted. He cleared his throat “Well. This means that one of your great-great-great…well, Nature knows how many great ancestors has also been born without their stone. It is a very unfortunate gene to be passed down..” he gazed sympathetically as I processed his information. "But there is something that can be made." Father said enthusiastically, suddenly, frantically looking for documents and licking his fingertip to thumb through the pages. “Made?” I muttered. Marionberry turned a very old book to face me, pointing, tapping like a mad man.

“It says here ‘A Pixie who lacks their stone can formulate a handcrafted replacement. It may consist of precious, rare stones, gems and minerals found throughout our lands.’” He smiled and leaned back, leaving his presentation to sink further in. My eyes glistened with flames and broadened with sudden hope.

"It is a complicated but possible feat." Father Marionberry said mutely.

I stared at the book, reading the sentence over and over again. "I must do it. May I borrow this tome, Father? I promise to bring it back.” I clutched the edge of the desk to white knuckles. This was it. This was all I needed.

Marionberry immediately nodded “Certainly, my dear! Run along and start studying! I'll pray on your behalf.”

With a joyful leap I hover over his desk and hug him, "Thank you, Father Marionberry. I will return from this escapade successful! ” Filled with thrill, hands on my waist. Heart bloated proudly.

 “I trust you will, child.” Marionberry patted my head with an affectionate grin.

He was my GodFather after all.

That night, I knocked on my parents' door to explain the findings of Father Marionberry. “Um..hi.” I grinned and approached the end of the bedposts with a chest full of words.

Having acquired a basic understanding, Rosemary stared at her daughter, who suddenly appeared smaller than usual. She fiddled with her fingers briefly before scooting down to the foot of the bed and cupped Piper’s hands into her own “I knew one day we’d find an answer.. A kind of medicine.” She smiled with the twinkle of a proud tear. “You can do it..” Eyebrows furrowed and she leaned closer to her second born “Don’t let anything hold you back. You fight. For your destiny.”

The urgency and love in my mother’s voice gave me a jolt of energy. Both beaming, we squeezed each other’s hands “I will, mama.. I will.”

My jawline tight with determination.

The following morning, I wasted no time. Filled a leaf knapsack with essentials for my long journey ahead. A water flask, sunflower seeds wrapped in a finer, more delicate leaf by my mother and a small healing kit. A long pointed porcupine needle I had found lying in the woods was towering out of the rucksack’s opening.

This would be my spear.

I could smell my favorite meal being made and this made me smile. Taking the leaf bag and myself into the kitchen, I watched my family looking calmer than customary.

 The twins whispered happily among themselves, which was not often the case. An exquisite design was seated before them, on which they worked together. Mother stirred a pot of salted pumpkin seed soup; hand on a hip. Nature, she does so much work. And loves so strong, I thought. A lump swelled in my throat so I quickly turned to my tiny sister.

Mustard Seed rested solidly, deciding whether to look at Mom or flick her tiny hands and legs at the mobile that hung over her cradle, but, soon discovered that she could do both. Comprised of twigs, agates, feathers, leaves and one spider and two bumblebees; deceased. The mobile rattles ever so gently and relaxes more than just the baby.

Bewlyn had surprisingly yet to escape the cabin today, sitting at the table munching on an uncooked pumpkin seed. He was the first to hear me and stretched back to see “Mornin’”, he looked at me longer. Longer than he had looked at me since I was 60. Before returning to his pumpkin seed, a grin grew.

Finally. Thank Nature. My father is here to see me off. I squeezed the stalk handles of my pack, then suddenly threw it onto the table and crashed into his back, squeezing him “Dad.."

Birdseye chuckled. From the impact of his child's embrace, he dropped the few twigs he held for the fire that conveniently fell in their place. “Hey, Pipe. I’ve missed you all, so. ” He turned to share her affection and caressed the back of her grape sized head.

Birdseye would be gone for a month or so every season. It had just turned Spring when The Ant Colony needed assistance guarding their Hill from a strange, hairy creature the Pixies hadn’t discovered till now. Moths and Hornets also joined in on the riot. Yes, insects fought among themselves, but they also understood that they had to co-exist and all needed one another. Whereas Pixies held the position of mediators.

The Pepper family surrounded the kitchen table, enjoying their last meal together before Piper was to leave the nest. Before Bewlyn she thought and chuckled to herself, sipping an acorn shell-full of soup.

After breakfast, Sunbeam had crisscrossed all the chalets, casting her voice here and there. “Gather! Everyone! Please~ Piper is leaving today! ” She twirled and flew in circles, unable to contain her excitement for her eldest sister. “I want her to have as many hugs before she heads out, okay?!” Sunbeam said, hovering over the cottage-folk. Tears had already started when Mom joined the rest of the villagers who welcomed her with open arms “It’s okay, Rosemary, dear, Piper will be safe and come home in no time!” they encouraged Mother. I blinked “I know we look alike, but dam..” with a chuckle and a hop into the flight, I start to pass out hugs. Wishing everyone well on their own endeavor, promising to come home.

Father Marionberry stood on the sidelines, watching the nearly grown pixie saying goodbye. As daring as a honey-badger, the Father believed with certainty that Bewlyn would have found a Hive or Flock to assist with battles or protection. A humble pride swelled in his heart as Piper drew near to him. She simply held him. He then heard a sniffle and beamed “Oh, child..” he patted her back “You’ll be back and we shall all be waiting for your return. Ought it be an adventure?” Father encouragingly tapped the tip of her nose, making her smile, “I suppose..” she fiddled with her fingers and sighed “I just.. I don't want to be injured or eaten. That needle is really my only safeguarding."

This caused Marionberry’s stomach to tighten with a knot of laughter, but he doesn't dare in such a serious situation so he bit his lip and held her shoulder in substitution.

“Piper.. Nature is your protective force. I thought you knew this. ” He knitted his brows questioningly “You are wise and strong. Anything placed before you may not be easy but never unconquerable. ” The smaller pixie nodded in acceptance “I trust you, Father. I trust Nature." Her smile was unclear, but her last embrace was true.

It was the Sun’s bedtime. All the cheers, tears and farewells had come to an end. I sat silently in front of a small fire which I had succeeded in burning out of some dry grass and the reflection of the Sun through my flask of water. Thankfully, before he had started getting sleepy. My thoughts were endless like the sea. Pulsating waves with uneasy currents that took me deeper into my trance. But another part of me could feel a fiery sensation buzz within my skin and muscles. It brought a smile to my face.

It was just me now. At the summit of a kind Willow Tree, who allowed me to rest on her branch for the night. Gazing over the expanse of land I grew up on, which was now my adventure map.

“A complicated but possible feat..”

I mumbled to myself, watching the Sun finally turn off its last beam of light to let the Moon shine.