Submission (#2074) Approved

It was another beautiful, spring day in Faerindell and Xhaiden was looking to start off this day just right. He stumbled out of bed and immediately rushed down the stairs. His older brother Fiorello was making pancakes and it was the first aroma to hit the kittom’s nose.

“Now, now, a samurai cannot start the day without a warm breakfast don’t you think?” Fiorello turned to look at his little brother as he sat at the table. “We can thank the farmers for harvesting the wheat to make flour for our pancakes. Oh and for the butter from the cows! And we can thank our wonderful faerie neighbours at the meadow for providing us with some delicious jam to top our pancakes with. They are always so generous when we mention that our mother is Aletta.”

Xhaiden was already putting some onto his plate, barely listening to the words his older brother spoke. “Yeah…” he shoveled some food into his mouth. His golden eyes were already looking outside at the trees. They were swaying ever so gently due to the spring wind that blew. Little pink petals danced in the breeze.

“You really are one of Monteblanc’s kiddos.” Fiorello snickered as he flicked his brother’s nose, “He’s a dreamer. Every time mother prattled on about something he wasn’t listening. He was always looking off into space. S called him out on it he would say something about his music. Something he saw inspired him and now he has to make a song about it.”

Xhaiden rubbed his nose, wrinkling it with some disdain. “Well I have a big day today!” He exclaimed, “Dad is coming home. He promised we were going to the Sylvan Meadow today to play the faeries a song. He said it was just going to be me and him today.”

“Oh well that’s nice of you two. I’m sure the faes will really love that. Are you going to bring your drum then?” Fiorello motioned to look at the tiny drum that was sitting in the living room of their cozy, cottage home. It was decorated with many breeds of flowers. All of them hand raised by their mother and left with the children to care for while she was absent. Since she was on tour it was up to Fiorello and Xhaiden mostly to keep watch over them.

“Yeah! He said we were going to do a duet. I’m not sure what we’re going to play but I want to make the faeries happy! They’re always so nice to us.”

With that the front door opened and Ulysses bolted into the kitchen. “I’m hoooooommmeeee!” He hollered as he jumped into his preferred seat at the table. Without even hesitation he was piling pancakes onto his plate.

“DAD!” Xhaiden swiveled his head and watched as the Firefly Musician himself strolled calmly through the door.

“Hello Xhaiden, Fiorello. Isn’t it a lovely day out?” Monteblanc chuckled as he set his bags down. He braced himself as his small look-alike leapt from his seat to give him a warm hug. It was nice to see his son again.

“Yes it is, did you pass mum on your way?” Fiorello asked, brushing his bangs out of his face, “Would you like some pancakes? They were just made.”

“Sadly not. I was hoping to see her before she headed out to Silveil again. Always tragic when I cannot see her lovely face.” Monteblanc sighed before shaking his head. “I’ll skip on the meal thank you. If my little firefly is ready I’d like to go ahead and take him up to the meadow. I hear the faeries are absolutely eager to see us perform today.”

Xhaiden nodded enthusiastically. “YES! I’m going to grab my drum right now.” The Kittom darted towards the living room table where his drum was sitting and grabbed it. He used a sling to attach it to his back, steadying himself.

“Good, good! Let’s go. I can’t stay long in Faerindell you see. I promised some of my band mates I would be on the way to Bellmoril by the afternoon. I just couldn’t break my promise to one of my children though.” Monteblanc looked over to Ulysses. “Now you behave while I’m gone Uly. If you give your sister Maelie any more trouble I’m going to tell your mother. You don’t want to get on the bad side of your mum. She’ll get the faeries to play a trick on you!”

Ulysses stuck out his tongue. “I promise dad I will be good!” He then proceeded to eat Xhaiden’s share of pancakes.

With that the father, son duo were off towards the faerie meadow that the Sylvan Meadow village was known for. Beautiful, tall trees framed the cobble stone road they walked upon. Their leaves were sporting very bright hues of pink. It was that pleasant time of year where the flowers were blooming, the cows were mooing, and everyone was chipper and delightful!

It wasn’t long before they reached a beautiful garden being tended to by some peculiar creatures. They were regarded as fae children or faeries. Once they looked up to see Monteblanc and Xhaiden they all began to crowd the area. “Ohhh look it’s Aletta’s husband and child! Hello, hello!” One of them exclaimed, shaking Monteblanc’s paw upon arrival. “Are you here to help us today?”

“Yes we heard you were going to be playing a song for us today,” another one chirped as it sat upon Xhaiden’s drum. Xhaiden looked up at the creature and smiled brightly at them.

“Would you also help us water the garden? Sometimes it’s really hard to do all alone!” Another one motioned to look at all the flowers that still needed watering.

“Yes, we did come here to perform but we would love to help you water these plants. Could you show us where we could place our instruments before we do so? I would hate to see the little boy’s drum get wet. They are very hard to come by.”

Without hesitation one of the faeries worked their magic and had the Elnins’ belongings magically float to a tiny wooden platform that must have been set up moments prior for their future performance.

Xhaiden looked up to see a watering can hovering above his head. He reached up for it and grabbed it. “Okay where should I start?” He asked one of the faeries closest to him. They motioned for him to follow to a small group of pansies and forget-me-nots that had just freshly sprouted. They came in many colours from blue, to pink, to orange to purple!

The small Kittom couldn’t help but be in awe, taken back by the beauty of them all. “Do you really take care of all the flowers here?” He asked the faerie.

“Yes, we take care of them every day. That way our world can remain beautiful. The flowers are very important to our ecosystem. Without them the world would be a very cold place.” The faerie explained, producing a wooden watering can out of thin air. “The ecosystem here is very delicate. If you remove one thing it all stops working.”

Xhaiden heeded the warning from the faerie and began watering the flowers. “Well we can’t have that! That would be awful. It would make my mother very upset. This place means everything to her!” The Kittom bounced from flower patch to flower patch, making sure that every plant and flower got it’s much deserved drink of water.

“And the flowers thank you for your help!” The faerie giggled, going back to their duties.

It was maybe an hour or so before all of them had finished watering the entire garden. “You’re not too tired to play for us still are you Mr. Monteblanc?” The faeries asked as the Elnin sat down on the wooden platform.

Monteblanc grabbed his instrument and shook his head. “No, I would be delighted to play for you still lovelies! After all I promised my son we would perform for you and so we shall.”

The faeries began to flutter excitedly, taking a seat in front of the platform. After a hard few hours of work it was delightful to be treated to some music.

“Are you ready Xhaiden? We have to give them a good show.” Monteblanc winked at Xhaiden as he began tuning his string instrument.

Xhaiden nodded and gently patted his drum. “I’m always ready!” He started off by playing a soft beat, something familiar that he and his father had been practicing before. Monteblanc followed his son’s lead and together they began playing wonderful music for their faerie friends to enjoy.