The Neverending Grey Day

     Pulling the covers tighter over her head, she tried to ignore the ringing of the phone. Ring. Riiing. RIIING. It just would not stop, so she pulled out a hand from under the covers, grabbed the phone, and put it to her ear. “Hulo,” she answered. An obnoxiously happy voice came through the line, returning the greeting, and following it with a “How are you? I thought I would stop by a little later! I need some help with a recipe.” It was Jhuidah. Baelia knew that Jhuidah was just using the recipe as an excuse to check up on her. It wouldn’t work though, a grey faerie will not just magically become happy from baking a cake. “... are you still there?” asked Jhuidah. “Oh. Yes. Sorry.” She let out a barely audible sigh. “That would be fun, but I can’t today. I have plans. Maybe some other day.” The line was silent a little while, before Jhuidah replied. “That’s too bad. I guess I’ll check again tomorrow. It’s supposed to be sunny all week, maybe we could take a trip to Kiko Lake!” Baelia mumbled something affirmative, and hung up the phone. Great, a full week of sunshine.

     She had barely made it out of bed when the first visitor arrived at her door. She ducked under her kitchen table, making sure she wasn’t visible from the window. “Baelia!” Someone shouted. “Do you want to play some Gormball?!” Oh, it was Ember. Really, Gormball? Who actually likes having a wet ball explode in their face? Baelia thought to herself, but stayed silent. She knew that if she just stayed completely still, Ember would think that she wasn’t home, and come back another day. She could sense that Ember was looking in through the window, so she pulled her feet closer to her body and tried to be as quiet as possible. After a little while she could hear Ember’s footsteps slowly fading away. Getting up from under the table, she started making her first cup of coffee for the day. Her heart still pounding a little faster than normal, she breathed a small sigh of relief. Alone again. While the coffee was brewing, she made herself a healthy veggie deluxe sandwich. She considered making a grey sandwich, but that felt a little too depressing. Not everything had to be grey and dreary.

     Finishing up her breakfast, she stood up to go and get dressed for the day. She tried to avoid looking in the bedroom mirror, as the sight of her broken wings just made her sad. Would she never get a new name, so she could be whole again? After putting on her regular grey dress, she covered her wings with a grey linen cloak. A walk might do her good, she thought, if she could just avoid all the sunshine and all the happy, smiling people. Exiting her home, she nearly stumbled upon a small Ukali asleep outside her door. It had been coming around every single day just to lay outside her door snoring, occasionally opening one eye, smiling at her. Some called them luck dragons, although she had not seen much of any luck. “Leaving so soon? Hmm?” it said, speaking to her for the first time. “I was just going to… I was just…” she answered, bewildered. “Sneak away?” it retorted, laughing. “That’s okay, I’ll see you when you get back from your quest.” It closed its eyes, and started snoring almost immediately. What a strange little creature, she thought to herself, as she started off on her walk towards Neopia Central.

     She hadn’t gotten very far before she felt a chill creep up her back. It was that feeling of being watched, without seeing anyone. She must be imagining things, she thought, while picking up the pace. Hearing a cackle from behind her, followed by the words “Hey look, it’s that weirdo without wings. Let’s get her!” made her stomach drop. She recognized that voice. What were the dark faerie sisters doing here? Never mind, this wasn’t the time to think about that. It was time to run, and fast! They chased her through the Neopian Bazaar, past the Petpet shop, the money tree and the Neopian bank. Ducking into the bookshop, swiftly closing the door behind her, she could see through the window in the door how the dark faeries ran past the entrance. Thank Fyora they didn’t see her enter. She turned around to see Lanie and Lillie standing together hand in hand, down a corridor of books. “Come and play with us,” they said in unison. “Not today, sisters,” she replied, heading for the back of the store. Leaving them behind, she dragged her fingers along the old bookshelves, occasionally stopping to pull some old, dusty books out and flip through the pages. Nothing really seemed to interest her today though. But wait, what was this? A locked book, with a mysterious symbol on the cover? How strange. She thought she had seen all the books in the store, she did already have 186 books at home that she had bought here. Picking it up, she heard the bookshop owner approaching. “What’s this book about?” she asked him. “Oh, that’s something special,” he replied, lifting one eyebrow. “What’s so special about it?” she asked, her curiosity piqued. “Well,” he said, leaning closer before he continued, “the stories you’ve read are safe. In the ones you’ve read, have you ever felt like you were in them?” “Sure, of course.” “And when you stopped reading, you were back to being yourself, yes?” he asked with a wry smile. “Yes of course, they’re just stories,” she replied. “That’s what I mean. The ones you read are safe,” he said, taking the book from her hands. “And that one isn’t?” “Don’t worry about it.” Putting the book back on the shelf, he turned around and walked away. Staring at the book for a moment, she did not want to let it go. It called to her in some weird way, and before she knew it she had picked it up, and left the bookshop without paying for it. It was starting to get dark outside now, the long shadows helping to conceal her from anyone that tried to follow her. A storm seemed to be brewing low on the horizon…

     Exhausted from the long day, she threw herself down on her sofa as soon as she returned home. The Ukali was gone from the porch, but she expected he would be back in the morning, as usual. Pulling a blanket over her tired legs, she picked up her book and absentmindedly started flipping through it. She had a thought to herself, that just as she was reading about others, others might be reading about her. But that couldn’t be true, could it? Could someone have been with her the whole day, just following along as she hid from the dark faerie sisters in the bookstore? Were they with her when she picked up the locked book with the mysterious symbol on the cover? No, that’s impossible. She wished for nothing more than for someone to give her a new name, so she could regain her wings and actually protect herself again. Without a new name, and new wings, she was powerless. But it could not be so, that someone would just read about her and not know they, too, were a part of this story? That they were the ones who had to give her a new name? Maybe they thought her story was just another story, not knowing they had the power to save her and make her whole again. The rain had started pouring down outside now, smattering against the windows, but she no longer wanted the weather to match her feelings. She wanted to live a full and happy life again, having fun with her friends, without fear of being caught by the dark faeries. “So, will you say my name?” she asked to the empty room, hoping for a miracle.

     The End.