Submission (#1347) Approved

The sun was barely peeking over the farmlands when Marco stirred from his slumber. An unfamiliar sight greeted him as he sat up from the bed and looked around. There was quite a noticeable lack of shades of red. Instead, through the window and even in the room he saw a medley of flowers in different shades. They reminded him of rainbows that he could feel and smell.

Marco was far away from his home in Bellmoril. Today he was in Faerindell to help with harvesting. While he was still a small kitten, he had come to Faerindell full of energy and with the drive to do whatever he could with all of his might!

After getting dressed and ready, Marco stepped out of the inn he was staying at and began making his way towards the nearby orchard. On the way Marco had to pause and blink, his eyes still needing time to adjust to all the colors around him. Before coming here he had almost forgotten colors like blue, purple, and green even existed. Though oddly enough, while the flowers called faerie shrouds hung in a variety of colors all around, the trees were mostly pink. That part sort of reminded him of home. Every so often as he made his way out of town and towards the orchard he would see a tree with green leaves hidden behind pink trees.

Marco felt like he had been walking for ages. Over stone bridges, weaving through other elnin and kittoms who had come to help with the harvest, Marco had finally made his way to the orchard he was to help at today. Just like the trees he had seen on the way here many of them had pink leaves on dark brown branches with just a handful of green leafed trees. The only difference between these trees and the ones he saw on the way here was that these trees had many red, juicy looking apples hanging off the branches as well as leaves.

A bright smile appeared on the kitten’s face. Now was the time to prove how helpful he could be! Marco scanned the area and saw the area where the adults were picking up baskets. He confidently stepped over towards the basket area and began to pick one up before he felt someone pat his head.

“You’re a little small to be trying to pick apples.”

The smile on Marco’s face disappeared as he turned to look at who was talking to him. It was a pink and white adult who was laughing softly, taking the basket from Marco’s paws.

“How about you join the other kittoms and help sort the good apples from the bad ones?”
“I can help pick them!”
“Picking apples is for the adults. You can’t reach the branches yet. You’ll be most helpful with the other kittoms. Run along, now.”

The elnin patted Marco’s head again before stepping away with the basket he took from Marco. The kitten huffed, having no intention of being just an apple sorter. He was going to pick them! And the apples he picked were going to be the very best! When he felt no one was looking Marco picked up another basket and dashed away into the orchard field.

When he couldnt hear anyone else’s voices and all he could see were apples, flowers, and pink leaves, Marco knew he was in the perfect spot. The kittom set the basket down and looked up at the large tree he was standing next to. Marco rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and began climbing up the apple tree. He calculated each move, and before long he had made his way onto one of the higher branches that had many apples to harvest.

Before he tried to start picking apples, Marco took a moment to admire the scenery around him. Sitting on a higher branch on one of the more taller trees, the kittom could see above the treetops of the other apple trees and see the surrounding area. His eyes had finally adjusted to all the different colors, and now that he got a look at the land it really looked like Faerindell was made up of many different floral rainbows. The world around him was so colorful that the stone houses that poked out from the lush flora stuck out like a sore thumb. Their only saving grace was that some of them had walls covered in moss and ivy, as if the vegetation was trying it’s best to reclaim the area.

Marco shook his head. He could stare more at everything later! Right now he had a job to do and a point to prove. The kitten began to slowly make his way away from the trunk of the tree farther onto the branch to reach the apples. With every move he felt his balance become shakier and shakier. He wasn’t about to give up yet though! Marco reached out his paw towards the closest apple and.. Slowly but surely… he managed to grab it! Success!

Or so he thought.

While it was true that he managed to grab hold of an apple, his hold on the tree branch had all but disappeared. It wasn’t his own strength that snapped the apple stem to take the apple off the tree. Instead it was his own weight and gravity. Marco realized that he was now falling out of the tree with the apple in his paws. The fall felt like forever, even though it was only a few seconds, and with a loud ‘OOF’ both he and the apple landed perfectly into the apple basket. Slam dunk?

Marco took a few moments to gain his composure back and remind himself that he was not dead. The only thing that hurt was his back a little and his pride. At least no one had been around to see that, right? His hopes were shattered as he poked his head out of the basket and saw that the pink and white elnin from before was now standing next to him. Marco immediately retreated back into the basket, bracing himself to be punished. Instead, the elnin reached down and picked Marco up, who was still holding the apple.

“You’re not hurt, are you? Do we need to get you looked at?”
“No, I’m fine…”
“You could have gotten real hurt, y’know.”
“I know… are you going to make me sort apples? OR kick me out? Please dont kick me out!”
“Nah, I won’t do either.”

The elnin set Marco down and motioned towards the basket for him to drop the apple in. Reluctantly Marco let go of the apple, but the kitten was surprised to learn that he wasn’t getting removed from helping out with the rest of the harvest. Instead, the Elnin (who would later introduce himself as Taako) taught him the perfect way to pick an apple off the tree as long as Marco promised that he wouldn’t try to pick anymore apples until he was older. Marco agreed and asked if he could carry the now full basket back to where all the apples were being dropped off. Taako allowed it and supervised the kitten practically dragging the basket all the way back.

Marco hadn’t helped as much as he wanted to during the harvest, but being an honorary basket boy was better than being an apple sorter. When it was time to go, he was a little sad to leave the pink and floral land of Faerindell so soon. Admittedly, all the pink now reminded him of his new elnin friend, and who knew when he was going to see him again. But now, Marco had a new reason to look forward to the harvest next year!