Bright Days Out of the Cold

I woke up one evening with short, stubby fingers and a coat of light colored fur that made the room warmer than the usual chills that occupied the room. I could hear rhythmic, shallow breaths from the area next to me, and looked to see dark hair peeking out of a bed that was about as tall as my eyes were. The boy was pale and swaddled in a woolen blanket almost as washed and faded as he was. His eyes were closed and eyebrows scrunched, glistening with beads of sweat that fell down and stuck his short locks onto sunken cheeks. It was a disappointing sight.

I turned and examined the rest of the room. It was the same. Walls a dry yellow and about as plain as they could get, what with the lack of anything. I waddled over to the wooden door and quickly stumbled down the stairs as fast as I could with these new legs.

Downstairs was as boring as the room was, but outside…. I took a deep breath, feeling the gentle breeze plant a sweet kiss against my lips. The village was beautiful with the gentle orange of the light dancing across the roofs. I turned and took in the vivid colors of the cottage I had just left. The outer walls were so bright: so much so, that the window to that dull, yellow room stuck out like a sore thumb.

I walked for a long time, if only to take in the fresh smells that drifted along the air like leaves. As I walked, the sounds of chatter had gotten louder, and eventually I found myself in the middle of the bustling town square. There were merchants, bakers, librarians, housewives, and every type of person I’d ever heard of, except for any kids. I tried to greet some, but only quiet squeaks came out of my mouth, and they all walked past.

It was only after the sun had set that I stared at the dull yellow colors again. But this time, they were colored with a pinkish light and I had found myself thinking of fluttering yellow leaves and the smell of fresh bread.

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You’re an elf, aren’t you? What are you doing here?

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The next few days were much of the same. I woke up in that same colorless room, checked on the sleeping boy, then made my way through the village. What creature I was…I still didn’t know, but I had seen a lot more than I had in my entire life.

Everyday I was able to find something new; a stand full of fresh fruit, a huge hole in the ground with enough water for the whole town to keep getting buckets every single time—I had even tried to get to the bottom, but this body didn’t do any better in water—and a building full of more books than I had ever seen. Apparently, it was where the librarians were from. I went wherever my new legs could take me.

It was on a day where the sky was darkened by clouds and gusts of wind cleared the cobblestone streets of the regular motley of reds, oranges, and browns, that I heard a yell from beyond the stone walls. But it wasn’t the usual type of yells I had heard, the ones that were pleasant and mixed with giggles from the town square. Instead, it grated at my ears and I instinctively reached up to cover them. However, my arms were too short to even reach them—wait, those aren’t in the right place—but by then the sound had already stopped.

What was that? It sounded like a yell, but…it made me shake in place. Fear? Something must have made that sound. Maybe it was…scared? A message of sorts? In that case, I had to go and help.

The stone walls that surrounded the village were probably about the size of 5 of me stacked on top of each other, but this body was a lot more agile. I found out a few days ago when I fell in the infinite water hole that I could jump really high and my hands were about small enough to grab onto tiny stones that jut out from the sides. It had taken me a few hours—ones that I didn’t want to waste down there—but later I had used my newfound ability to climb onto the roofs. The view from the roof had been beautiful: the gentle drift of the sun making its way back down into the earth, the hues of pink and blue, meeting at a rich pur—oh right, climbing.

I made quick work of the wall, able to make it to about half its height in the first jump and then hoisted myself from rock to rock. I was able to see a sliver of green before I made it all the way over. Well, that was new.

These things were trees, I knew that, but these were the trees I’d only seen in the books I’d read before. I thought that real trees were like the ones in the village—a few orangish or brownish leaves and nothing else—but now, over the top of this wall, green stretched as far as I could see, with distant mountain ranges that were surely much smaller than the entire…forest. I assume this is what I should call a forest, and not the clusters of 3 dark trunks with leaves floating off like in the square.

But if a forest was real…what else in those books were real? The witches, the ogres? Wait, that yell then…. I immediately barreled through the leaves, the bushes, the branches—strangely enough, I couldn’t feel my lungs at all, and I never had to stop or slow once. I didn’t know exactly where the source was, so I turned in random directions and hoped to hear any indication of where the danger was. Huh, danger? Danger is something people are scared of, but getting hurt or losing a limb wasn’t that scary to me, especially with the new body I was given. Everyone in the stories worshipped the heroes who conquered the danger, so I was definitely doing the right thing, right?

I sped up when I saw a sliver of red hanging down from a branch. These eyes were sharp too, I suppose, and maybe it was what made that sound. No witches, no ogres, no hungry wolves, no danger. Why was it scared? I leaped and grabbed it with my flubbing fingers, missing a few times before securing it in my hand, er—paw. I don’t think it was something alive, and it felt more like fabric than anything that could be alive. It could be a dead snake.

“Boo!”

This time I was able to grab onto the branch first try.

“Wow! You can jump really high! You must be really good at hide and seek.”

Even though I couldn’t feel my heart beat, my mind shook at the sudden intrusion. I almost found myself instinctually breathing fast, but I recovered quickly remembering that this body had no such limits.

Within a few moments, my vision cleared and I saw a child that was probably around the same age I was. His short blonde hair was the same lively color as the outside of the cottage, and I felt an odd pang of familiarity. He stared for a few moments before saying, “Oh, did I scare you? Sorry, but I thought it would be funny. Anyways, are you a rabbit? No, you’re too big. And your teeth are too sharp. Are you an elf? But those usually run away really fast when they see a human, so you’re probably the first I’ve seen up close. Oh, I’m Blaze, by the way. That’s what everyone calls me. It’s becau—”

“Labu. Bu!” I tried to speak, but those were the only noises that came out of my mouth.

“Labubu? Is that your name? Nice to—ohh sticks, I gotta run! Actually you can come with me if you want! You can join the next—” His voice faded as he ran, and I watched his back get smaller and disappear in the cover of leaves.

He said to come with him, right? He was running so fast, does that mean that there’s danger somewhere? Oh no, witches, wolves, vampires? With my speed, I swiftly hopped onto the ground and it only took a few long jumps before I felt a hand grab onto my arm and tug me into a bush.

“La–!”

“Hey! Labubu! That’s a mouthful, can I just call you Lu?” Lu– “Like ‘la’ and ‘bu’ but combined so I don’t just take one part of your name? You’re really fast! It might be impossible to catch you, but maybe you can be the seeker. It’ll be more fun if it’s hard! Well, at least that’s what Toma likes to—wait, shh!”

Shh?

Suddenly, I heard leaves rustling in the distance. Beside me, Blaze was crouched and had a big grin on his face. Was it normal to smile when you were in danger? I adopted a similar expression, and this made Blaze start laughing.

“Lu! Your smile is so—haha!”

The crunching sounds of the leaves became closer. The danger was approaching and Blaze didn’t care! I wasn’t ready to fight vampires! What should I—

“Blaze!” I heard a voice call from nearby. “You’re so loud! I could hear you blabbing all the way from the village’s entrance!”

Blaze slapped his hands over his mouth, trying to muffle his giggles to no avail. He seemed to realize that too after a few seconds when he called out, “Wait, Toma! This doesn’t count! I found an elf! And he hasn’t run away!”

Huh? Did Blaze know this guy? Then, why was he hiding? “Bu?” is what ended up coming out.

The boy threw another grin at me before standing up. “It’s alright, Lu. I already lost, but now I can introduce you to everyone!” He stepped out of the bush and waved his arms. “Toma! Everyone! Over here!”

I batted away the clumps of leaves from my face and hopped right next to Blaze. Coming through a tunnel of trees with beams of light shining through—probably the brightest part of the forest—was a crowd of kids running towards us with a tall, red-haired boy at the front. For some reason, I recalled the faint smell of bread. The group got closer and crowded around me, touching my ears and pinching my cheeks. I just stood frozen in place, only now realizing that humans were seeing me now. Why?

“Woah, is that a real elf?”

“It looks more like a giant rabbit.”

“Hey, why hasn’t it run away? Don’t you guys think that’s a little weird? It’s kinda scary….”

“Who cares? Magical creatures are getting harder to come by these days!”

“Wait! Blaze was the one who found it right? Blaze, where did you get it?”

The children’s gazes swept over to Blaze, who didn’t react at all to the sudden attention. Instead, he stepped beside me and said, “Everyone, this is Labubu. Lu, these are our friends.”

The red-haired boy stepped forward. “Lu? Already gave him a nickname, huh? Well that means you’re already part of us. Nice to meet you, Lu, I’m the oldest in the group. Everyone calls me Toma.” He then stuck out his hand.

“La?” I replied. At this, the kids began to chatter.

“I’ve never heard an elf speak!”

“Wait, do you think he can actually understand us?”

“I mean, the books say magical creatures can understand anything.”

“But I don’t think he speaks our language.”

“And he’s not taking Toma’s hand though, so…?”

Oh, a handshake. A faint memory resurfaced in the back of my mind. I hadn’t done one of those in years, but I still remembered learning how to do it. I took Toma’s hand before he could withdraw it and firmly grasped it before moving my arms up and down as far as they could reach. It was a little different since this body was a lot shorter, and I had to use two hands instead of one, but the motion was the same. The one who had taught me this…he said…wait. The one who had taught me this…. The smell of bread…just who—?

A sudden cry from the group made me jolt, but not enough to jump into a tree like earlier.

“Wow! Shake hands with me too!”

“And me!”

“No fair, Toma! I met him first! I want to touch him!”

I let go of Toma’s hand, and brought my focus back to the group. All of them were of different ages, most looking a lot younger than Blaze. Another new thing today. I felt my mouth stretch wider than it had ever been before.

“Aww, he’s happy!”

“His smile is kind of creepy…. Oww! Hey!”

“His mouth is really big. Do you think he can eat more tomatoes than—”

“Benny!”

“Hehe, sorry Toma.”

A few minutes later, I learned the names of all the others in the group. All of them had some type of nickname that they had gotten after joining the group, most of which weren’t close to their real names at all. It was nice to know that I already had a nickname myself, but…Lu—

It was nothing. I couldn’t be happier.

We played the game that they were playing before, which was hide and seek. Blaze was appalled when I said I didn’t know what that was, so he explained the rules and took me with him to different hiding places in the forest. It was…fun. Fun. I never thought I would be able to use that word again.

We played game after game, and soon enough the sky began to turn that lovely pink and I realized I had to get back. My heart sank at the thought and I felt my ears drop to my shoulders.

Blaze and I were hidden behind a large brown tree trunk this time, and I could see the light spilling from the foliage get dimmer as the minutes passed. “Bu. Labubu,” I tried. His blue eyes immediately turned to me and I pointed towards the village.

“Huh? Are you saying you have to go home?”

“Lu!” I replied and nodded. I couldn’t help but crack a smile at being understood so quickly, despite the disappointment I felt of having to leave.

“Ooh, where do you live? My home’s there, but do you think you could point me where yours is too? I promise I won’t tell!”

What? Again, I made a noise and pointed towards the village.

The blonde cocked his head. “Wait. You live in the village?”

I nodded. Blaze’s eyes widened and caught the glimmer of the little light that peeked through the foliage. It reminded me of the illustrations of the sea in the book about mermaids I had gotten when I was young.

“What? Does that mean all elves live there too? Can you guys turn invisible? Is that why it’s always the same season in the walls? That’s so cool! So it’s your magic that—”

“La!” I cried out, more frantically.

Blaze stopped talking, but seemed to understand. “You have to go now, right? I shouldn’t keep holding you…but wait! Please come back tomorrow! Today was so fun!”

I…could come back? I guess there weren’t any rules against that. Once more, a huge grin broke out on my face and I placed a paw on Blaze’s shoulder. “Bu!”

The corners of his mouth turned up too, and soon his expression was a mirror of mine. “See you later, Lu!”

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I’ve come here to make a deal.

A deal? With me? I don’t have anything to give.

It’s not anything that you’re thinking of.

Really? What do you want then?

I’ll tell you. But you have to promise me not to tell anyone else.

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