The Fate of a Faery

“At least I never put shrunken heads in your tea.” I muttered under my breath. 

Pieoura tossed her head backwards. “Excuse me?” The tips of her pale yellow wings were beginning to turn a bright pink shade. 

“Well, you must have heard me! You use to put shrunken heads in my tea when we were little!” I started to shout. “I can’t believe mother and father actually think you’re the most fit to lead Tree Top Kingdom.” 

Pieoura’s face looked like it could catch fire from how burning red it was. She flew closer until she was only a few feet in front of me. 

“You don’t know anything about me, LuLuna. Mother and father had no choice but to leave Tree Top to me. Your careless spirit would cause Tree Top Kingdom to be devoured by darkness.” 

“Oh please, spare me your endless list of scenarios where I’m always the screw up and you’re always the hero.” I rolled my eyes and turned to leave towards the edge of Tree Top.

“I swear LuLuna, sometimes I wonder how you’re even a faery.” 

I didn’t bother looking back to respond. I flew past the mushroom wall and finally out of the Tree Top kingdom. I knew the way to Flora Glen after reading about it’s magical properties used to treat faery’s during the Stone Wars. The glen was also home to the Tree of Wisdom; an old wizard cursed and embedded into the trunk of a tree. 

I needed answers. I couldn’t—no, I wouldn’t return to Tree Top without truly understanding my purpose. Every faery is born with destiny. I am the daughter of the king and queen of Tree Top kingdom, but I felt the farthest from royalty—unlike my sister Pieoura who was designed for the throne.

Flora Glen wasn’t far from Tree Top, but it would take the rest of daylight to reach. After a while I stopped to rest my wings on the branch of a tall oak tree. On the branch next to me was a large, chunky, green caterpillar. 

“Hello little faery, are you lost?” 

I shrugged, “I guess you could say that.” 

“So you’re heading to the Tree of Wisdom?” 

I nodded. All caterpillars had a sixth sense. The caterpillar slowly inched its way down the branch and closer to the base of the tree. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you plan to ask the Tree of Wisdom?” 

“I’m going to ask what my purpose is.” I stood up from the branch and stretched my arms, legs and my wings. 

“You should know, the Tree of Wisdom can only answer one question to each forest creature,” said the caterpillar as it slowly crawled up the trunk of the tree. “It’s answers have driven some forest creatures to insanity.” 

“What’s your point?” I asked.

“The Tree of Wisdom answers your question with complete and utter truth. It knows your past, present, and future. It has infinite knowledge of everyone and everything that lives in the forest. Understand this little faery: some questions we are not meant to know the answers to.” 

But my mind was made up. I had a few hours of daylight left to travel until reaching Flora Glen. I kicked off the edge of the branch and continued flying. As I glided between trees and over clusters of vibrant flowers, the grey clouds overhead were beginning to turn a beautiful cerulean blue. The mushrooms stemming from trees and sprouting below were beginning to give their beautiful iridescent glow.

“Excuse me?” A low rich voice echoed off the trees. 

I stopped and hovered over a patch of clovers and searched for the voice.

“Here little faery, in front of you.” 

It was a sentient tree. Its bark was a deep orange shade with small hints of golden brown. Most of the sentient trees I’ve encountered had grown over the course of hundreds of years. This tree could only be a few decades old. I flew a little closer. 

“Where are you off to young faery?” 

“I’m going to see the tree of wisdom.” I told the tree

“Ahhh I see. You must have a very important question.” 

“It only affects my entire future.” I said.

“That does sound very important. Have you heard about the Tree of Wisdom?”

“You mean about the ability to drive its visitors insane with the “complete and utter truth?”” I quoted the advice of the caterpillar. 

“You’ve been warned and you still wish travel to Flora Glen?” 

“I won’t go back home until I know my true purpose.” 

“Is that your question?” 

“Yes.” 

The tree chuckled. “Do you think you’re ready to hear the answer?” 

I shrugged. “Why is everyone so concerned once I tell them my question?” 

“Those who seek answers from the Tree of Wisdom are never the same once they receive it. The Tree of Wisdom never takes a creatures emotions into account when answering their question. They could walk away liberated or destroyed; the Tree will always remain.” 

I thought for a moment about my question. “Do you think I should change my question?” 

“That’s up to you little faery. Will you return home from Flora Glen, no matter the Tree’s answer?” 

The words of the caterpillar spun around in my head, and now the talking tree was confirming the caterpillar’s warning. The night sky was becoming engulfed in a deep cobalt blue, and I would have to make the trip back to Tree Top Kingdom after my visit to Flora Glen. 

“I should get going.” I told the tree. 

“I hope you find clarity pretty faery.” 

The moon began to peak out from the clouds and illuminated my flight path until I could see a faint green glow up ahead. As I got closer I could see the beautiful radiance of the pools that surrounded Flora Glen. The pools formed a perfect circle around a small island with glorious mushrooms that looked to be anywhere from two to six feet tall, and in the centre was a tree.

The tree in the centre of Flora Glen was the tallest tree I’ve ever seen in the forest. It had to be the oldest living tree here. The giant tree in the centre bore the mark of thousands of years. The bark seemed weathered and rough, and was untouched by man but the years in the glen had took its course. 

“Up here.” A deep, rumbling voice bounced off the surrounding trees. I knew it had come from the Tree of Wisdom. I approached the tree, but couldn’t make out a face anywhere on the trunk until I flew higher. 

“Are you the Tree of Wisdom?” 

“Are you LuLuna of Tree Top Kingdom?” 

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of my name, and everything the tree and caterpillar flew back int my mind. Should I rephrase my question? What if I really can’t comprehend the answer, and I really do go insane?

“You have a question.” 

“Yes.”

“You may only ask one question. I can only give one answer.”

“I know.”

“Some beings have been known to fall into madness after they have obtained my knowledge.” 

“Yes, I’ve been told.” Ugh, another warning. Now I’m really starting to worry. I want to know what my purpose in Tree Top is. How will I ever face mother and father, or Pieoura? What if the Tree of Wisdom’s answer sends me into a spiral and I never feel capable of returning home?

“What is your question LuLuna of Tree Top?” 

I floated there for a moment and thought about my question; the wording of my question. I desperately wanted to know anything that would bring me clarity in my life as the daughter of the king and queen of Tree Top. What was I meant to do? Did I truly want to know my purpose in Tree Top Kingdom, or was there something deeper I was searching for? What did it all mean?

“I am waiting faery.” 

Then the answer hit me. Or should I say the question?

“What will bring my life a deep sense of fulfillment and meaning?” I asked the tree.

The air fell silent, and I could almost hear the grass roots spreading beneath the earth. 

“Hm.” The tree pondered. And then it smiled. “Your greatest sense of meaning will come from devouring the crumbs swept under the table of Gods. Sweet sugar will drip from your pores as you dance with specs of stardust. You will melt the heart’s of penguins and leap with the elk. Galaxies thousands of miles from here will hear the beat of your heart, and intergalactic zebras will see the light of your soul from planets so far, they are merely dots in the sky. Your wings will carry you to other moons where you and golden bunnies will dip your toes in craters filled with the sweetest of wines. LuLuna of Tree Top, embrace every breeze, follow every current, and you will find traces of magic that only your eyes can see.” 

I was not driven to madness. I did not crumble at the mercy of the Tree of Wisdom. Instead I wiped the tear that dripped down my cheek. 

“Go LuLuna.”

So I left. I flew farther and farther letting the glow of Flora Glen fade behind me. The caterpillar and sentient tree were right about one thing; I was no longer the same. Somehow I knew that the Tree of Wisdom was not telling me to go home. Instead I listened to the rustling of leaves. With every gust of wind, the branches on every tree pointed the way. They were showing me the path—my path. 

As I flew, I considered the Tree of Wisdom’s answer. While just hearing it gave my whole body goosebumps, there were a few things I still did not understand, but could not ask:

"I have never seen a zebra, and I have never met a… what did it say? A Pengilum?" I just smiled and shrugged. “I guess I'll know it once I see it!"