[ WP ] A fairy tells it 's children a human tale before bed

The warm light of Haze ’ s children flickered over her skin and across the craggy walls of the treehome. Her smile, hidden in the near darkness except when one of the children played over her delicate features, was joy mixed with the bittersweet understanding of every parent: that soon the brightest things in her life ( literally, in her case ) would be torn away by time, and that every moment with her children was precious as a glowing hearthcoal in the grip of darkest winter. 
 
 The oldest ball of light, who was named Ripplewater after the pond where she ’ d mated, just the one time, with his father, was already starting to take on material forms. He astonished her with his ability to hold these forms for several standard droplet-falls ( this was a preferred unit of time in their part of the forest ) before he faltered and flickered back into a dancing ball of light. Haze tried to coax him into the human-like form that for eons had been the tradition of her race, but Ripplewater preferred to mimic the sparrow and the titmouse. 
 
 “ Do you want to hear a story? ” Haze murmured into the darkness, holding out a hand for one of her youngest, Snow, to play across her fingertips. She had grown used to talking aloud like this, talking into the darkness while her children expressed their pleasure or dissatisfaction in movement and modulations of brightness. 
 
 “ About humans? ” said a little voice, startling her. It was Ripplewater, of course ( Haze was not yet accustomed to hearing and seeing him thus ). In the light his siblings cast, Haze could see that for now he looked like a tiny human boy, sitting cross-legged upon a ledge of peeling wood. Ah! The stories were paying off. 
 
 “ Yes, my honeysuckle flower, ” Haze said softly, though her heart beat hard with pride. “ Just one, and then I will sleep. ” Light beams didn ’ t sleep. They would swarm around her in the night, waiting for her to awaken with the rising sun. 
 
 “ Once, ” she began, “ there was a little human larva named Internet. Like all humans, Internet lived in a great big forest made of rocks that were all stacked on top of each other and hollow inside, like enormous stony trees without any branches or leaves. ” It was hard to make sense of such fanciful nonsense, but this was how Haze ’ s mother had described them a long time ago, and Haze had to admit that it *sounded* rather romantic ( until you really thought about it ). 
 
 “ Internet ’ s forest was called City. And in the middle of City was the biggest stone tree of them all. *So tall* that the pointy thing at the top almost poked a hole in the sky. ” 
 
 “ If it poked a hole in the sky, ” piped Ripplewater, “ would all the stars fall out? ” 
 
 “ Nobody knows, ” said Haze. She put a finger to her lips and continued. “ So one day Internet decided to climb to the tippy top of the Great Stone Tree. Yes, my little mossflowers, humans have to *climb* because they are *sticky*. They stick to the earth and anything on top of it, like a mouse or a deer or a gecko does. They can not fly like you or I. ” Ripplewater ’ s wide eyes reflected the light of the others, who were almost motionless around him in their attentiveness. 
 
 “ So it was very hard for Internet to reach the top of the Great Stone Tree. For many phases of the moon, he climbed up the inside of the tree. He passed many strange and wonderful things on his journey, like a *plastic* and a herd of mighty *cellphone*. ” The human words were harsh in her mouth, but they savored of faraway lands and exotic human magics, recalling the innocence and wonderment of her own childhood. “ But I ’ ll save the tales of his exploits for another night. ” Sleepiness was getting the better of Haze, and she knew that Ripplewater must be growing tired of maintaining his physical form. It was time to wrap things up. 
 
 “ When Internet got to the top of the stone tree, he stepped out of the *window* and stood on the top to look around. Everything looked so small to him, so far below! You know what that ’ s like, children, but for Internet it was very surprising. And Internet was so excited that he started to dance. He danced with such wild joy that he forgot to watch where his feet were sticking. And do you know what happened? ” She waited a moment, but Ripplewater said nothing. “ He danced off the top of the Great Stone Tree and fell all the way back down. If a fairy fell like that—if a fairy could fall—we would simply shatter into little pieces of light. But humans, like sparrows and beetles and foxes, are full of dirt and red water. So when Internet crashed into the earth, he burst open like a rain droplet and all his dirt and water went flying everywhere! Kabloosh! ” Haze mimed an explosion with her hands, and she could see the big grin of appreciation on Ripplewater ’ s sweet little face as his siblings bobbed and danced around him. Her heart beat faster with pride. 
 
 “ Humans are the most magical of all the animals, ” Hazel said, winding down the mood after the exciting conclusion of Internet ’ s tale. “ That is why they are the symbol of our people. Wear your human-form with pride, little Ripplewater. ” 
 
 “ I will, Mama, ” said Ripplewater shyly, his smiling face fading and brightening for a moment until finally the little boy vanished with a soft glow, to be replaced, once more, by a dancing ball of light. 
 
 “ Now, goodnight, my sweet honeysuckle flowers, ” said Hazel, curling into a ball. “ Until sunrise. ” She drifted into sleep with the warmth of her children upon her cheeks.
