Chapter Eleven: The Festival of Life

As they were walking, a rumbling started and became louder with every step. Pretty soon Evie could distinguish the buzz of hundreds of voices. Rising above the trees, smoke billowed and sparks jumped up from the direction they were heading. Evie’s own excitement bubbled. The festival was held around a bonfire! She always loved the holidays back home when the entire village gathered around a bonfire to eat and sing. But Evie had never seen trees as tall as these. And the bonfire reached above the peaks! This had to be magic!

As she, and her group, stepped out of the forest into the clearing, she saw more people than lived in her entire village, maybe more than she’d ever met in her whole life. The infectious noise made her and Bridget giggle like giddy four-year-olds. In addition to the talking and laughing, the fire roared and crackled loudly, a hundred sets of flipping sprites wings buzzed, the chattering of sprite voices sounded like chirping birds and the noises of so many people moving around in beautiful clothing rubbed and crinkled. Evie’s own dress made a swishing sound that she loved listening to as she walked. It made her feel like a princess.

Suddenly, it came to Evie why Master Oilreid was having such a difficult time finding his spy. With all of these people to hide among, surely he could never find the one who betrayed them. She shook her head to banish the thought. It really wasn’t her concern. She ought to be enjoying this experience. She’d never have another like it. She hoped they would were going to sing! The voices of all these people together in song would be amazing! It might even reverberate back to her village. Well, she knew how silly that was, but she was allowed to be silly now and then.

Evie noticed Trina smiling at her. Without speaking, she closed the mouth she hadn’t noticed hanging open. When she turned to Bridget, however, she was pleased to find her cousin looking just as amazed and startled. Bridget clicked her mouth shut and smiled broadly. Without a word, she grabbed Evie’s hand and they raced through the crowd, dodging people, until they stood right next to the gigantic bonfire.

Once they made it, however, both of their mouths fell open once again. Instead of the circle of rocks, carefully placed to prevent the fire from escaping the pit, which the counsel of elders always set up before a party back home, an invisible wall contained this fire. The swirling flames came to an abrupt stop not far from where the girls stood. That invisible wall clearly formed the shape of a cylinder. It stretched up to where the fire peaked. The swirls that licked the side of the wall never escaped beyond it.

This close, the girls could feel the heat a little too much for comfort. Amazingly, though, when Evie grabbed Bridget’s skirt away from the wall it had brushed against, she wasn’t burned. The skirt wasn’t even singed. Curious, Evie reached out to the wall. The heat increased continuously as her hand moved closer. It got hotter, that is, until she actually touched one finger to the solid barrier. It felt cool! As she placed her hand flat against the wall, she gasped. Her palm was cool, even though the back of her hand wanted to flinch back from the heat.

Without warning, Evie felt herself being pulled away from the bonfire. She heard Bridget muttering about foolishness. Evie grinned, but didn’t protest. It was getting too hot that close to the fire anyway. Bridget seemed to be pulling the two of them back toward the people they had come with. Evie dug her heels in and abruptly stopped.

On the other side of the clearing she had noticed Trevor. The boy looked majestic, once again, in his same black outfit. It had been cleaned and pressed and he looked much like he had when they had first met him. He whispered and pointed with another boy that had to be a few years older than they were. This boy looked a lot like Trevor. He also wore black, although his outfit had silver embroidery on the sleeves, collar and down the outside of the pants. Together, Evie thought, the two of them looked like the very picture of snobbery.

Bridget looked back to see what Evie was staring at. She waved a hand in dismissal of the boys. Clearly she didn’t care what they were up to. Evie grabbed her arm and pulled her close. With all the noise around them, they had to be head to head to hear each other speak if they didn’t shout. Even that close, Evie spoke loudly in order to be heard clearly. “I just want to know what they are up to. Knowing Trevor, he could be a danger to everyone here if he gets in with the wrong friends.” Bridget seemed to understand immediately. At least she glared in the direction of their traveling companion, distrust plain on her face.

The two boys were obviously interested in something in the forest, though. They pointed into the trees. Bridget nodded to herself and started in their direction. As soon as they began making their way, a booming voice spread through the clearing and all of the people fell silent. Evie and Bridget glanced frantically for the source of such a loud voice. It roared, “Welcome, friends, to the celebration of life!”

Evie turned back toward Trevor, but the boy disappeared into the crowd. She shrugged him off. It didn’t really matter where he had gone. This invigorating party was about to begin. She couldn’t suppress a sudden surge of excitement. Bridget’s face split into an identical grin. Concern about Trevor all but vanished.

They didn’t have long to wait. After everyone stopped talking and shuffling around, the voice began again, “We welcome those who would not normally be in the land of the sprites for this momentous holiday.” The voice paused for a moment while everyone cheered.

Evie noticed Bridget gawking again and turned to look at what her cousin found so interesting. Immediately, Evie’s mouth fell open yet again. The fire continued crackling and swirling, but the chaotic flames formed into the shape of a man’s face. It began to speak and Evie realized that booming voice came from the fire!

“Many of you know the purpose of this festival. For those of you who don’t, I will explain.” The clearing waited in silent stillness except for the crackling of the fire and the man’s loud voice. “The world has changed. Unfortunately, people are moving apart. They focus on differences rather than similarities. This festival is to bring us together again. This festival is to remember how we are all the same and to learn from our differences. We each have strengths. Let us work together!”

A large explosion of sparks flew from the flickering peak of the bonfire.

In the next instant Evie’s eyes began to blur. She shook her head to try and clear her vision, but it continued to blur. A quiet voice said, inside of her head, “Open your mind. Can you learn from a red fox?” It wasn’t her voice. How? She stood in a meadow with tall grass. No. That couldn’t be right. She felt sure that was wrong. What about the festival? Looking up, though, she saw weeds and distant trees. Only the trees were blurring and the colors were wrong. The colors ran together. That shouldn’t be.

Evie blinked and tried to focus on the nearest tree. It was a tree, but the green leaves blurred and the color seemed to change with every movement of the warm, summer wind. What was wrong with her vision? With that thought she noticed the ground coming up to meet her. The ground? No. It couldn’t move. She moved toward it. But, that wasn’t right either. It couldn’t be. She glanced down at her paws in the grass. This close she could see them clearly. Did she have paws? Of course. She could see them clearly past the edge of her pointed snout.

The thought faded quickly as she noticed the movement of the grass around her. Something crept here. Close.

Evie’s mind tried to grasp the meaning of what was happening. Somewhere inside her head the thought kept surfacing that this had to be wrong. But in her conscious mind, thoughts gave way to instinct. She did not think in words. She did not form logical thought. She saw, felt and acted.

It was there. She could feel the way it moved through the grass. She could feel it close. She could not see in the sharp lines she once had. Had she ever seen that way? Her vision remained blurred and the colors blended as they were still. But that was how it was supposed to be. She did not need distinct lines and colors she sensed her prey in the movement of the grass and the smell…That was it! A breath of air revealed the prey moving through the meadow. Of course it did. It always did.

She always used her sense of smell to hunt. She could smell the grass and eight different sweet wild flowers. She could smell the rain in the air and a pile of dung that flies clung to a few steps away. She could smell the minerals in the dirt and..and…she could smell her prey. It moved very close. Instinctively, her legs bent and her stomach brushed the ground. She began kneading the grass with her paws and stilled her slowly swishing tail.

She could follow the field mouse’s movements with her nose, but she stayed flat against the ground. She would pounce when she saw its movement through the grass. It wouldn’t be long now…
Her nose warned her only an instant before she heard the hawk scream overhead. Staying low in the grass she backed away slowly. Although she knew it wasn’t an immediate danger. It was best to abandon the prey if it was being hunted by a hawk. She continued back until she found the safety of the trees behind her. She watched from the woods as the hawk swooped and soared back into the sky with her sadly abandoned prey. She turned to go. She would not hunt further in the meadow today.

After only a few steps toward her den she paused. Something was wrong. Her eyes flickered back and forth through the trees, but it was her nose that did the searching. Her ears pricked up at the sound of a low growl. She had known before the sound, though. She had crossed into the territory of a coyote. Now she was the prey.

She knew she risked her life here, but she felt no fear. She couldn’t have been afraid, that would have required thought. She did not think. She instinctively leaped a few steps back as the growling coyote came out from behind a cluster of bushes. The growling in its throat became louder as it stepped slowly closer. She continued to back up, but she was ready to attack. She knew what had to be done.

In an instant the beast snapped its head toward her, its jaws reaching for her neck. She flipped her body to the side and pounced. There was a moment of clear confusion as her paws landed on the coyote’s head. It pulled back and shook off its momentary loss of concentration.

That was the opening she needed. In an instant she raced through the trees away from her enemy. The coyote didn’t hesitate long, however. A second later he followed right behind her. With every forward movement, his powerful teeth snapped at her back legs. If she faltered one step she would be mauled to death. Somewhere in the back of her head, the part of her that was still Evie screamed for a way out. But the fox didn’t think. She simply ran, dodging trees and rocks better than any human could imagine.

The coyote kept up, growling and snapping. They matched each other stride for stride until the fox began to tire. She had to find a way out. She headed for land that she had marked as her own. She should be safe once there because the coyote was probably just protecting its own territory. It wasn’t the first time a coyote had run her off its designated land. She had managed to escape in the past. She would do as well today; all she had to do was run.

The coyote stretched closer. A moment later she could feel its hot breath on her legs. The low growl turned into a bark as it snapped at her left leg. The pain shot though her back, overwhelming and aching. The coyote began growling again as the animals tumbled from the momentum of running and then being hindered by the fox’s injury. It sunk its sharp teeth deeper into her leg.

She twisted and snapped her teeth backward, catching its ear in her mouth. The coyote released her leg and tried to bite her neck, but it seemed unable to twist its head that far with her still holding its bloodied ear. They both scuffled with back and front paws and the fox heard her own growls as loud as the noises from the coyote.

She acted immediately, without time to think or capacity to analyze. The coyote’s front paw thrashed inches from her snout. She growled deep in her throat one instant before letting go of the coyote’s ear. This animal loomed twice as big as she. Eventually she would loose the battle if she could not escape. With one quick stoke she released the ear and snapped her jaw closed on the front paw. She barely heard the yelping cry as she released and turned to run.

She was aware that there wasn’t a pursuit this time. The injured animal would certainly be behind her, licking its paw. But she didn’t even consider that. She ran as fast as she could. The aching of her back leg made for a lopsided retreat, but the wind licking her fur showed that she clearly made an effective escape. She ran until she came to the lands she had firmly marked her own. She ran until she found her own burrow. Only then did she lie down, wrapping her thick tail around her. She panted and closed her eyes.

Conscious thought hit her like a brick wall. The feelings and impressions that had saved her life minutes before gave way to language. Her first thought was, “I am safe. I got away.” That made her startle. She was safe? She got away? From the coyote? She was not a fox. She noticed the feel of damp earth beneath her and she sat up abruptly, her eyes shooting open. Of course. She sat in the clearing. She could see the bon fire spiralling upward not far from her.

Bridget lounged on the ground as well. She had her legs stuck out strait in front of her and she was fingering her long braid. When she noticed Evie sitting up, she smiled. She said, “You won’t believe what just happened to me. One minute I was standing there listening to the bon fire,” she giggled. Neither of them had ever been talked to by a bon fire before. “And the next I was a hawk soaring over a forest. It was amazing! Did you turn into a hawk too?”

Evie tried to tell her about her experience as a fox, but all the people around them distracted her attention. Some sat or lay on the ground and some still stood, but they all seemed confused. Did everyone there just live the last half hour as an animal? How was that possible?

She saw Trevor and that strange boy again. The boy was on his feet shouting something, but Trevor sat on the ground with his head in his hands, looking thoroughly perplexed.

That’s when the face in the bonfire began speaking again. “Each of you has been given an opportunity most people never have. All of our ideas and actions are influenced by our perspective. It is a rare person who can see through the eyes of another and rarer still who can learn from the experiences of others. Remember what you have seen. Learn from it.” Evie, like most everyone else, stared in awe at that huge face of fire. But, all of a sudden it seemed to swivel toward her. She saw directly into its eyes and it seemed to speak in her head again as it said, “You will need it someday.” After it fell silent and the face melted away to just random flames, a buzz began as the people discussed their stories and started moving around once again.
Evie stared at the bonfire, wondering if she had imagined it, or if the message at the end was really meant especially for her. Could it be possible that whatever it had been knew who she was? She shook her head. No. She wasn’t anyone special. Many of these people were refugee souray, just like her mother had been.

Bridget, as she had so often that night, brought Evie back to reality. She grabbed her arm and laughed, “Now this is the way I picture a festival!” Evie looked around. Off to one side a banquet table had been set up with a hundred different kinds of food. The opposite side had a high platform floating in the air. There were a dozen sprites on it with various musical instruments. Evie didn’t recognize a single one, but she really didn’t know much about music.

She noticed something interesting about the sprites too. They were all different sizes. The tiny ones she had met before fluttered around. But there were also some that would come up to her waist if they stood on the ground and others that seemed a bit taller than her. One on the platform stood half Evie’s height, but more wide than he was tall! Evie laughed in spite of herself. They all seemed so care free and happy. She thought she might be able to live here forever, whatever the adults thought.

The sounds of the band warming up quieted the chattering crowd, but only for a minute. Before long everyone competed hard to be heard. Some people and sprites began to dance. This surprised Evie. Whatever the band on the platform played, it didn’t sound like music. She gazed at them for a moment before deciding that perhaps it was music, but each instrument played a different tune. It sounded awful.

The clearing hummed with chaos too. She expected someone to take charge, like the voice in the fire had. Nobody did, however. When they had festivals back home one of the elders always welcomed them and explained how things worked. Here, everyone seemed to do their own thing. It made the party loud and frenzied.

Bridget grinned broadly. It was just like her to enjoy a lack of order. She never liked being told what to do. Evie tried to ask her what they should do next, but her voice got lost in the bedlam. With a shrug of her shoulders, Bridget began dancing with the sprites on the ground. She spun in circles and hopped from foot to foot, looking absolutely ridiculous. Evie didn’t join her immediately. Instead she watched everyone and laughed.

As much fun as Evie found the center of action, she began to move toward table of food. She felt a little hungry, but her real reasoning had to do with being as far away as she could from that band. It struck her as weird, although not much more so then the rest of this place. She expected sprite music to be amazing and beautiful, really artistic. She had always thought of them so. And she used to think all sprites were like Trina: small and beautiful fairies. It confused her to find that they were as different and unique as humans. The noise of this party began to bother her, though, and she longed to be where she could hear herself think.

She picked up a glass of punch and settled down onto a rock on the edge of the clearing. She could see Bridget through the crowd sometimes. Her cousin still danced around, bumping into people. The feathers and flowers were all gone from her braid. In fact, the braid itself was almost pulled out, with the twists really tight in some places and practically gone in others. Her beautiful dress didn’t seem to hinder her much, but a mud stain kept growing at the hem. Of course, Bridget wouldn’t care. She never cared for how she looked. But, somehow, she ended up looking stunningly beautiful even covered in dirt. Evie didn’t want to get messed up. She’d spent more than enough time filthy this week. Instead, she enjoyed the party by watching the chaos and laughing at the strange sprites dancing around her cousin.

The dancing included nearly all sprites now, because the humans had moved to the sidelines, for the most part. They seemed shy about the lack of order and the crazy music these sprites enjoyed so much. The humans gathered in little clusters to talk and laugh, but the sprites preferred to keep dancing and Bridget stayed with them.

The party didn’t want to die down, but Evie began getting tired. She put her chin in her hands and felt her eyes drooping, despite the clamour of the band and cheerful dancers. In fact, she teetered just on the edge of sleep when she heard voices a little way behind her.