Half and Half

Dawn reached out her hand. Once she had gotten over the shock of seeing such a strange creature, he appeared slightly cute. She pointed her finger and gently stroked the creature's head.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?" Dawn said, trying to make her voice clear.

"Little bit," the creature said in a high-pitched squeaky voice.

"Can you tell me what type of creature are you?"

"My type is Elf," the creature said shyly. Dawn raised an eyebrow. Elves were rare in Telebone. They were small, like this Elf. They lived underground in the roots of large trees, and they rarely came above ground. Dawn couldn't understand what this one was doing here. They mainly occupied sunflower fields, and the West Road was the complete opposite of a field filled with flowers.

"I come here to find help," the Elf said.

"What kind of help?"

"Need to find sister. She in Pixie Grove," the Elf said.

"I have to go to Pixie Grove, too, to find my parents. Do you want to come with me?"

"Yes! Yes! You know where Pixie Grove?" the Elf asked excitedly. Dawn nodded. She did know, technically.

"Us go now!" the Elf said.

"What's your name?" Dawn asked the Elf. The Elf looked at Dawn.

"My name Alinar. Come, come, we must hurry!" And Alinar took off as far as his little feet would carry him, although Dawn could still walk faster than he could run. Dawn giggled at his tiny feet going in a blur. She stopped him, scooped him up in her hands, and slipped him inside her bag, where he then sat down on her folded cotton pants.

"Mmm... more comfy than road," Alinar said. Dawn smiled down at him and then continued walking.

Soon she came to the fork that the Queen had been talking about. But it was getting dark, and Dawn didn't know what was there, or if she would have to face anything dangerous. And if she did, she would not want to do it in the dark. So she sat down on the side of the road in a patch of grass and pulled Alinar out of her bag.

"Me hungry," Alinar said. He then mumbled something in Elf language, which sounded like: "Mee fo gan hoo ha." Dawn shook her head and then remembered something.

She had left her basket outside her house.

When she had the flying accident she must have dropped her basket. She was distracted with finding her bag, and her wing, that she had forgotten to find her basket.

"Um... Alinar?" Dawn said.

"Yes?"

"I don't have any food. I'm so sorry." Alinar grumbled and hopped off into the bushes, leaving Dawn feeling hungry and confused. Did Alinar just abandon her like that because she had no food? Dawn lay down on her stomach and twiddled a piece of dead grass in her fingers.

Then, after a few minutes, Alinar came back. He was holding six large berries in his hands. He ate two and gave the rest to Dawn. Though it wasn't much, Dawn felt that she could finally sleep, and was glad that Alinar wasn't leaving her.

Dawn had a nightmare that night--although that nightmare actually happened to her, when she was eight. She was reading her favourite storybook, Troll Dreams. That was the only book she had, and she read it every day. Then Fanfire came into the room.

"You read that book when you should be doing homework," Fanfire had said, with her hands on her hips. Dawn looked up.

"But it's the only one I have!" she exclaimed. Fanfire shook her head.

"It's time you had a break from that book," she said. "Hand it over." Tearfully, Dawn gave Fanfire the book. Her longing to have it back was so great that she wouldn't talk to Fanfire for five weeks. Those five weeks were the worst five weeks of Dawn's life. It was like Fanfire had taken something very valuable from Dawn; for those five weeks Dawn was depressed and desolate, as if a loved one had been taken from her.

Dawn woke up from the dream feeling shaky. She had the storybook now, and she was careful not to read it when Fanfire was around. She usually read it by candle or lamplight at night, when she was supposed to be sleeping.

Alinar was sleeping under a pile of dead grass, with his little feet sticking out. Dawn tapped him on the head and he opened his overly large eyes.

"We go left fork now!" he said, jumping up. But Dawn sighed. She was still tired, and wanted to sleep a little more.

Alinar pulled her hand as hard as he could, but she was too heavy. He sat down and frowned at Dawn.

"All right, all right!" Dawn said, getting up. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to the left fork.

As she was walking down the narrow path, she realised how quickly the scenery had changed. Instead of old, dry trees, there were bright green bushes with pink blossoms on them. There were fences surrounding houses, and merry patches of sunflowers which were taller than Dawn. The houses were all square-shaped, with a triangular roof. They were only one story high, and the walls were painted white with red roofs.

Dawn walked a little longer, taking it all in, and then she saw a very fat man pruning a rose bush. He was a pixie, Dawn could tell by his pointy ears. He wore a brown shirt and brown pants and black shoes. He had a black beard and was bald at the top of his head.

He looked up at Dawn. His eyes travelled from her one wing to her ears. And then, to Dawn's surprise, he shrugged and continued to prune his bushes, as if a one-winged girl with pointy ears was completely normal to see.

Dawn walked over to the man and said, "hello, sir. Could you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Mixed-up Meadow," he said. Dawn coughed and Alinar mumbled something.

"Um... the Queen sent me here, and I'm looking for some sort of pixie family," Dawn said. The man looked up from his pruning and a flicker of interest crossed over his face. But he shook his head and continued to trim.

"There are a lot of pixie families here. You go find yours. It's none of my business," the man said. Dawn sighed.

"Just please tell me your name," Dawn said. The man gulped.

"That's none of your business!" He nearly shouted. Dawn backed away.

"Alright, I'm sorry for barging into your... private matters. I'll go now, if you want me to," Dawn said nervously. The man nodded his head vigorously and Dawn continued walking along the path. The more she walked, the stranger everything seemed to become. The houses changed colour. Some of them were purple with yellow roofs, and some were green with blue roofs. The flowers were no longer there. In their place were piles and piles of smooth, grey stones.

Alinar whimpered and climbed into Dawn's bag. Dawn sighed and then saw a small boy, about four years old, dropping a ball and picking it up again.

As Dawn walked closer, she saw the boy was a pixie. His brown hair was cropped short, and he wore black shorts and a red shirt. He had a joyful expression on his face. Before Dawn could say anything, the boy waved his hand, and shouted, "Hey! Who're you?"