Evermoon

Chapter 24

Frankie woke up with the sunlight filtering through her eyelids, blinking, she opened them, to a bright clear blue sky. She noticed she was no longer in her bed, but on the floor, she could have sworn was carpeted, but was now just the bare wooden bones. She stood up and inspected her surroundings, a small double bed sat in the middle of the room, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe stood against one wall and a dresser and mirror opposite. She walked over to the wardrobe and looked inside, she didn't recognise any of the belongings inside and the clothing looked really old fashioned, one half of the wardrobe had dresses in different colours but the same cut, whilst the other side shirts and trousers hung neatly. She walked out of the room and onto a landing with four other closed doors and stairs leading downstairs, opting for the stairs, she came to another hallway with a door at the end, she walked through and came out into a room she recognised, the shop floor of Stars and Moon Emporium. No one was around, but she exited the strange building, out onto Main street. Once she was outside, she realised she wasn't in her Blairs Hollow anymore, expecting to see the normal row of shops and horizon of houses that dotted the hills of Blairs Hollow, Frankie only saw hills that seemed so high, that it touched the sky in a blend of awe-inspiring colours.

She never truly appreciated Blairs Hollow until now, knowing its true beauty she understood why her family settled here. As she walked along the main road, she walked past shops, that she had never heard of or no longer existed; an inn, all purpose shop, a hardware store and a tailors. She wanted to stand there and take in the familiar and unfamiliar sites, engrave it to her memory like a photograph, just like her visions, it was forcing her in a different direction. Her feet were moving but her mind was elsewhere, she walked down the rest of mainstreet and came to a fork in the road, she walked in the left direction, and continued down the dirt path, she noticed there wasn't another building or house for miles, she looked through the sparsely dotted trees into the far landscape around her. SHe recognised the route, it was in the direction of where her old high school should be, but she had a feeling wouldn't be. She walked until she came to the edge of the forest, something was in there she could feel it calling to her, so she continued walking, through the trees, peaceful, quiet and still, light filtered through gaps between branches and leaves every now and again, as she saw a break up ahead, she began to hear voices. The closer she got, she could hear the sound of running water nearby, sloshing louder, shouts and screams echoed and as soon as she broke through the trees she saw what or who was causing the commotion. It was a beautiful sight to behold, a clear river flowed upstream over different shades of brown and grey pebbled rocks, separating the forest behind her from the rock cliff before her, on top of the cliff, where more trees sat densely packed together, focusing on the sounds, she noticed there was a group of people down at the river's edge as she neared, she saw, some of them were playing, splashing in the water, another two separated from the group, holding hands they began to ascend, high up into the sky and landed on the edge of the cliff, Frankie watched on in awe, as they all chatted away, giggling and having a gay old time! She walked close to the water's edge, close enough to observe, but far away not to disturb, she wasn't sure what she was looking for or how it would work, but she finally spotted a familiar face. Edeline was splashing around in the water with two other people - a man she didn't recognise and woman she knew to be Emilia, Edeline's sister. Edeline didn't look much younger than when she visited her that night in the forest, but she did look carefree and happy. Something fluttered in Frankie's peripheral she turned her head to see what it was, a faint pink light was heading in her direction, it started as a small dot and as it got closer it grew brighter and formed a human shape, wings fluttered at its back and it transformed into a beautiful dark skinned woman, she wore nothing but leaves to cover her modesty, held in place with pretty pink flowers contrasting and reflecting on her creamy brown skin, she giggled as her wings closed on themselves and disappeared.. "Rika!" they all greeted in unison, Edeline splashed her way down to the bank and hugged her friend. "You came!" Edeline said and she was soon joined by Emilia and the man from the river. "It's a union we've all been waiting for." Rika replied, smiling, Edeline glanced up lovingly, to the man who now stood beside her with an arm around her shoulder, and Frankie felt as if she was intruding on a private moment. Soon a few more flashes of colour flew closer, blue, yellow, orange all transforming into human shapes fashioned in leaves held together by flowers of their respective colours. They all greeted each other and Rika continued talking, "The Queen sends her regards, but hopes you will accept this wedding gift as an apology for not attending today's festivities." She bowed her head, and the other faeries behind her did the same, she held out her hand, a rectangular shaped gift wrapped in leaves. "The Queen gave a message: It's within, it's always been within. This is the only thing she could do, use it only when the time is right. You will only get one opportunity." Rika finished. Frankie was confused, the Queen of what and who? Edeline looked more confused, and the atmosphere grew somber.