Paracelsus Problems

I knew this would be another mistake as soon as he walked in and immediately caught my eye. Almost as if he knew who I was, where I was and why I was there. I shifted uncomfortably, hoping the person I was serving would hurry up. His eyes were still on me as I walked away with table three’s order and disappeared into the kitchen. I took a deep breath, told Mother table three’s order, and then helped my older brother carry in the wood he and Father had just cut. 

It was for the oven since we’d burnt all the wood from yesterday. We’d been cooking and baking since 5:00 this morning, and the oven was hungry for more. The fire also heated the stove top, so we couldn't do anything if the fire in the underbelly of the oven went out.

“Felice, can you help me with the drinks? This jug over here needs a litre of cider and table one needs more water.” Mother said and I nodded heading over to pour the drinks and then deliver them. I found the keg marked ‘cider’ and poured the jug full. Then I pulled out an empty pitcher and submerged it in the water trough kept clean for drinking. As I pushed the door open, I spilt some of the full water jug on my front, soaking my apron and dress. I sighed and carried on to the table, trying not to spill any more. 

I was used to things like that happening. Despite my name meaning lucky, it seems like I was the unluckiest person in the world. I lived in an inn and the only room that leaked regularly was mine; everything I tried to help out with the serving, people stood up right in front of me causing me to tip the tray I was carrying; I spilt water; I slipped on anything that wasn’t the floor and I couldn’t walk safely in my own shoes. Once I had almost fallen out of my window. The one that was so high up I had to stand on a chair to see out of it. Now you try and tell me someone up there isn’t messing me around.

Thankfully I made it to table one without any more spillage and carried on to table five. I placed their pitcher down carefully, trying not to cause any more problems. As I crossed the room back to the heavy wooden door that led back to the kitchen, I could feel someone watching me. I looked around and caught the eye of the boy who was looking at me earlier. He had blond hair, sky-blue eyes, a tall, broad figure, and what seemed to be an expensive shirt on. You could tell by the colour it wasn’t cheap. You don’t get that high-quality dye from the market.

I pushed through the door and into the kitchen where Father was helping Mother with the pies. We were making blackberry and apple pie this week, which was a big hit. I offered to help and the rest of the day passed like any other. Well, except for the fact that the pitcher that I had delivered to table five was cider vinegar and not actual cider, the rest of the day was ok.

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The next time I saw the strange boy, he was with some friends in the woods. I was out collecting firewood for our fire when I heard laughter. I went to investigate and there they were, a pretty-looking girl, him and another boy. My eyes widened as I realised what the other boy was. He was a gnome. Tall, green and mossy, he made no sound on the ground as he jumped around with his friends. 

The girl let out a tinkling laugh as the Gnome fell backwards. But something about the laughter wasn’t right. It was almost as if she was gurgling, but it still sounded light and humorous. Then I realised that her hands were webbed. An Undine. What was the boy doing in the middle of the woods messing around with an Undine and a Gnome? I felt a strong burst of wind rush past me and I fell over from the force, tripping into the clearing the creatures were in. I was in plain sight.

I stood there frozen, them staring at me and me staring back. Then the Undine bared her teeth in what was clearly not supposed to be a smile.

“A Human,” Her slightly raspy voice said acusingly, “What is a Human doing here?” Then she spotted the small bundle of sticks in my arms.

“Aspen, do you think those sticks were collected with the proper respect paid to the trees that dropped them?” She continued, turning slightly to the Gnome but still keeping her eyes on me. The Gnome tilted his head to the side, considering me and the sticks.

“No, probably not. She doesn’t look the type to do things properly. I’d say she just snatched them up without thinking about it.” His voice was like an earthquake; powerful and deep. A tremble ran through the ground at every syllable, making my knees feel weak.

All my life I’d heard stories about the Elementals, warnings and cautions spread at every chance. ‘Don’t forget to thank the trees when you’re collecting wood; it might anger the Gnomes otherwise’ ‘Don’t swim without checking for signs that an Undine might live there, you might get your legs taken or eaten’ and mostly, ‘whenever a strong gust of wind suddenly appears, run and hide inside. There might be a Sylph about.’ The Sylphs were thought of as the most dangerous since they looked the closest to humans. They would often walk among us freely, but they were horrible creatures without souls who didn’t care about us, measly humans. All they wanted was to take our voices so they could live longer.

I shuddered, thinking maybe the sudden gust that caused me to fall into the clearing was summoned by a Sylph. The Udine noticed my shudder and smiled a purely evil smile. Undines were known for tricking people with their smooth-tongued villainy, causing them to fall into pools inhabited by the also-souless creatures. Apparently, Gnomes were the only Elementals with something resembling a soul.

“Cirrus, how about you take her away before she does or says something she’ll regret. And make sure she doesn’t collect any more ‘free’ branches.” She turned to look at the boy, apparently called Cirrus. He smiled languidly at me and strolled over.

“Hey, I saw you at the Inn in town. Your family owns that place, doesn’t it?” His voice was a perfect blend of rich deepness and boyish playfulness. Up close I could see that his blond hair was streaked with subtle strands of silvery gold, making the Maplewood colouring of the rest of it stand out.

I nodded quickly, realising I had been staring at him without answering for too long to be normal. He laughed, a bright bubbly thing that echoed around the clearing. He put his arm around my shoulders, leading me back into the cover of the trees.

“So, do you normally hang out with deadly Elementels on Tuesday afternoons?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light and casual. I was actually freaking out inside, mostly because a supercute boy had his arm around my shoulders and partly because I wasn’t entirely sure this boy was human. He laughed again, throwing his head back.

“Well, when you put it that way, I can see why it’s not a common hobby. The thing is, I’ve known those two for almost my whole life. My parents were quite close with theirs so we just all ended up hanging out a lot. Nixi isn’t as bad as her bite once you get to know her and Aspen is just a ball of mossy fun. He was just messing around with you in the clearing. You don’t really need to ‘pay’ for those branches, although a simple ‘thank you’ wouldn’t go amiss.” He looked at me, his eyes sparkly and deep.

“Ok,” I said in a small voice. I was a bit nervous to get involved with another boy, seeing as the last four encounters weren’t so great. The first one ended up being hanged in the village common for stealing money from the Lord who owned the town; the second one ran away to join a band of highwaymen, stealing and killing willy-nilly; the third was decent, his only flaws being that he didn’t really care about me and had a terrible habit of sleepwalking. He was found one day in the local river, aways downstream. We all assumed he accidentally fell in there during one of his nightly strolls. 

And the fourth one, well he was a piece of work. He approached me first, asking if he could book a room for his father and himself, saying they were only going to stay a week. The next day he wanted me to show him around, sweet-talking me and buttering me up. For what I couldn’t have guessed, but I didn’t exactly object. The day after that he stole half of our money, a dozen horseshoes from the blacksmith and he and his father walked away with half of the town’s valuables. They disappeared in the night, them and the valuables never to be seen again.

So, you can probably understand my trepidation with this new boy.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Cirrus asked me, taking his arm off my shoulder to look at me. I thought for a moment, realising I still didn’t have enough sticks.

“No, I think I’ll be ok. I need more firewood so I’ll have to stay out a bit longer. You can go back to your friends if you want.” I said, trying not to look at him in case I said something stupid.

“Nah, it’s ok, I’ll keep you company for a bit.” He turned and smiled at me flashing perfectly white teeth. His front tooth was slightly crooked, but that made him more perfect. I blushed and looked at the ground. There was a stick near a tree that looked just the right size to fit in our fireplace so I walked over to collect it, very aware of Cirrus’s eyes on me. I was determined to be graceful, so I bent over very carefully. Then of course I fell over.

Thankfully I narrowly missed the tree but instead fell on the branch which pierced my hand. Cirrus rushed over and helped me sit up.

“Are you ok?” He said, looking at my bleeding hand. I could see the jagged hole the stick left in my hand and I almost burst out crying. I shook my head and put my other hand over the injured one, rocking back and forth to keep from screaming or wailing. Cirrus sat down next to me and rubbed my back.

“If you don’t tell anyone, I can… help you. But you’ve got to promise that you won’t tell.” Cirrus looked deep into my eyes and I nodded.

“Sure, I promise.” I croaked out, still cradling my injured palm.

“Ok, but you’ve got to let me see your hand.” I held it out, my arm trembling a bit. He put a cool hand over it and concentrated hard. Suddenly I felt a light, cool breeze on the wound in my hand and the pain drained out of my palm. I looked up at him in surprise, gasping as he took his hand away to reveal my fully healed hand.

“Wha- How- What?!” I said, shocked. My fear suddenly returned, reminding me that normal boys couldn’t magically heal your hand. Cirrus smiled shyly.

“My- My mother was a Sylph so I sorta have some powers. It’s not much though. And I’m sorta still human as well. Or, I’d like to think I’m mostly human. You still won’t tell anyone, though, right?” He frowned at me shifting away a bit.

“Um,” I said, thinking about my choices. On one hand, there was this amazing half-Sylph boy who obviously cared about me and on the other hand, possibly a problem for the village. I mean, a Sylph walking around town? And no one knows that he IS a Sylph? That could be dangerous. Although, Cirrus didn’t really seem dangerous…. But was I willing to make that gamble based on a little scratch being healed? I’d already made enough poor choices with boys that affected the village. But should Cirrus really be labelled as a tricky Elemental? Or could he be different?

“I won’t tell.” I said uncertainly, hoping this was the best choice. I mean, he hadn’t done anything wrong, so surely he won’t be that bad, right? Cirrus smiled his slightly crooked smile again, lighting up our little patch of woods. I felt myself smiling back even though my insides were still knotted around each other.

“So, um, if you’re part Sylph, can you still do stuff with the wind?” I asked cautiously, not wanting to upset him.

“Yeah, I can show you some stuff if you want. I think we’re fairly alone in this bit of the forest. Here,” He said, holding his hands in front of him and moving them in circles, one hand going one way and the other going another way. Suddenly a swift breeze picked up, swirling around us and making my already messy hair even messier.

“And this is the best part.” He said, moving his hands even faster and then muttering something under his breath.

Suddenly I felt the wind wrap itself around my body, picking me up and twirling me around the tree we were sitting by. I giggled, trying to grab a tree branch to stop my twirling. Then, Cirrus appeared next to me, his hand outstretched. I grabbed it and he pulled me towards the canopy, somehow finding purchase in midair.

We burst out of the leaves and what I saw took my breath away. I had never been this high before. Even the church spire was nothing compared to this. We swooped and soared, following the patterns of the airflow. I spread my arms like a bird and whooped with delight. Cirrus laughed next to me. 

I was grinning from ear to ear when Cirrus pulled me to a gentle stop on the ground, right on the edge of the forest. I stumbled, but miraculously found my balance and managed to not pitch forward onto my face.

“Wow.” Was all I could say, still reeling from the height and exhilaration of our little flight.

“I know, right? Anyway, you should probably get back to your family. They might wonder where you’ve gotten to.” He smiled at me again, but something about it this time looked strained. Did he not want me to go?

“Yeah, I guess. Although I’ll be in trouble for not getting the firewood.” I looked at the ground glumly, wishing our magical time didn’t have to come to an end. I heard a whistling sound, like a strong wind blowing through a loose window. Then a small bundle of sticks landed at my feet. They were the sticks I had gathered earlier and dropped at the tree when I fell over. I looked up at Cirrus and he smiled that tight smile again.

“Here you go. Um, I was wondering, Felice, do you want to come into the forest with me tomorrow? At about midday?” He looked at me hopefully, like he really cared about my answer.

“Yeah, sure, I shouldn’t be doing too much tomorrow.” This time it was a real smile.

“OK, great. See you then!” Cirrus said and then he walked back into the woods, leaving me standing awkwardly at the tree line. I picked up my bundle and headed back home.

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The next day I was sweeping the dining part of the Inn when Cirrus walked in.

“Hey,” He said with a slight frown. I looked up and stopped sweeping, noticing that he looked tired today, like he hadn’t slept much last night.

“Hi. Look, I’m really sorry, but since I got back late yesterday and without enough branches, I’ve had to work more today. Sorry, but I can’t come to the woods today. Maybe tomorrow?” I said, hopefully. Cirrus’s face crumpled in genuine disappointment.

“Oh, no, It’s ok. I understand. I won’t be able to make it tomorrow though, so I guess I’ll just have to see when I’m next available. Bye.” He walked out, dragging his feet. I sighed and went back to sweeping.

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Over the next week, I didn’t see Cirrus at all. I went to the woods every time I had a break but he was never there. By the time the next Wednesday rolled around I had given up all hope. I sat crying at a tree, lamenting my boy troubles when I heard a branch snap. I stood up, wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands.

“Cirrus?” I asked, hope in my voice. A figure that was NOT Cirrus stepped out from behind a tree.

“Oh, honey, are you still caught up with him? He only wanted you for a dare and your lovely singing voice. I had dared him that he couldn’t find a human who was willing to give up their voice within two days and he said he could. I won, obviously.” It was Nixi, standing with her hand on her hip and smirking at me.

“How did he know I had a good singing voice?” I asked, my voice wobbly from emotion. I was one more mean comment away from a full breakdown.

“Oh, he heard you singing while you were working one day. It’s no big deal.” Suddenly I felt overwhelmed with emotion. So Cirrus didn’t care about me after all.

Then I ran. I ran and ran until I fell to the floor sobbing. I don’t know how long I was there, but eventually, I calmed down enough to notice a little bench fashioned out of a log. I sat on it and moped. Then I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. I turned around and there was a boy about my age, with wild brown hair like mine and soft brown eyes.

“Are you ok? Do you want to talk about anything?” He asked gently, his voice like soothing honey. I nodded and he sat down next to me. I opened my mouth and everything came pouring out. He was a good listener, and we stayed there talking for ages.

I guess not all boys are bad.