When Elysha and Elder Merakia have completed their daily chores, they are left with the final task: making pies and smoothies from the harvested fruits that lie before them in the kitchen.
The little girl rested her arms on the counter, her eyes fixed on the baskets of mangoes, strawberries, kiwis, and blueberries. She saw something moving and picked it up with her fingers. It was a tiny bug with red wings and black dots on them.
*pzzz*
Elysha watched it fly from her hand before turning her attention to her guardian, who was preparing to make the tarts. “What should I do, Elder Mera?” she asked.
Her guardian turned to the little girl and replied, “I want you to wash and sort these fruits at the sink. When you are done, let me know so I can tell you what to do next.”
Elysha nodded, standing on her tiptoes to reach the sink. “Okay, I can do that.”
Elder Merakia gave her a small stool to stand on, and as she began to rinse the fruits, her eyes turned to see her guardian making the pastry cream behind her. From the window in front of her, she caught a glimpse of Micah and his friends playing with each other.
By the time Elysha was done washing the fruits, she turned her head around and said, “I’m done!”
“Nicely done,” she remarked. “Go and wipe your hands with a towel, and come stand next to me.”
The little girl wiped her hands on a soft towel, then walked over to Elder Merakia’s side. Her guardian had just about finished setting up the tart crust. She placed a wooden cutting board on the table and held a knife.
“Now,” she began, “watch me as I cut these fruits. Follow my movements closely.”
Elysha leaned forward, her eyes focused as Elder Merakia picked up a strawberry and placed it on the cutting board.
“First, you hold the knife like this,” she explained, her fingers gripping the handle firmly but gently. “Make sure your other hand stays out of the blade’s path.”
Elysha nodded as she watched the knife move. Elder Merakia sliced the strawberry into thin, even pieces. After cutting a few strawberries, the little girl asked, “Can I try to cut some too?”
Elder Merakia paused and replied, “You may, but you must promise me one thing.”
“Hm?”
“Be careful and take it slow, I do not want for you to hurt yourself.” With that, she opened the drawer and took out a small knife with a rounded tip. “This knife will be safer for you. Let me guide you again for the first few cuts.”
Her guardian placed another strawberry on the board and adjusted the child’s hand on the knife. “Now, hold it like this,” she instructed, positioning Elysha’s fingers. “And keep your other hand like this, so your fingertips stay tucked away.”
“Like this?” Elysha mimicked the gesture, curling her small fingers.
“Exactly. Now, slowly slice through the strawberry, using the tip of the knife to guide your cut, just like I did.”
She followed her guardian’s lead, mimicking the movements demonstrated before her. The knife slid through, leaving a slightly uneven slice.
“Like this?” Elysha asked again.
“Like that, yes,” she nodded. “Let’s keep practicing until we can get enough strawberries cut.”
They peeled, sliced, and arranged the all of the fruits for the tart. When they were finished, Elder Merakia led Elysha through the process of making the smoothies. They blended the rest of the harvested fruits with added banana slices and milk. The little girl watched the colors shifted and blended in the pitcher.
Later, the two of them arranged the sliced fruits on the baked tart crust filled with pastry cream. When they were finished, the fruit tart sat on a serving plate next to the drinks, and Elysha stood with her eyes fixed on what they had created together.
“It’s a nicely done result,” Elder Merakia smiled, looking at the colorful mosaic of fruit slices.
Elysha nodded and asked, “What should we do next?”
“Let’s go outside and eat them on the porch. Where else can we enjoy them but in the pleasant daylight and overlooking my garden?”
~ ❈❇❈ ~
They sat on the porch in the sun, indulging in their treats and smoothies. The little girl’s eyes lit up with delight as she took the first bite of the fruit tart.
“Does it taste good?” asked Elder Merakia, who was sitting across from her.
Elysha nodded quickly and said, “They taste very good and yummy.”
“Please eat with your mouth closed,” her guardian said kindly.
She put her hand over her mouth and swallowed. “Sorry…”
“That is all right, I am only correcting you.” She took a square piece of soft paper from a small plate next to the fruit tart and offered it to her. “Here is a napkin.”
Elysha took the napkin and dabbed it at her mouth. “Thank you.”
She took a sip of her strawberry-banana smoothie and smiled slightly in response, feeling better after all the house cleaning and backyard work she had done earlier.
Elder Merakia observed her positive reaction, took a bite of the fruit tart and replied, “Here is the reward for all our efforts to keep the house and garden clean and tidy. Refreshing and invigorating.”
The little girl nodded her head, and as she reached out to take another piece from the plate, a small, gray-furred Zhivopian jumped onto the table, snatched the slice of tart from her hand with his mouth, and locked eyes with her.
He took a bite, held the big piece in his little paws, and swallowed the rest before saying, “Hmm, not bad! Needs a bit more kiwi, though.”
Elysha stared in disbelief, her mouth slightly open. “H-Hey! That was mine!”
“Can Micah have it?”
“What did you do to have these fruit tarts, hm?” She asked, frowning deeply. “From what I remembered, all you have done was sleeping on the fountain thingy!”
“Well, I can explain! Because Micah did contributed to the work!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Huh? What do you mean? I didn’t see you do anything.”
“Not exactly what you think. My buddies and I helped out whenever we are needed by your guardian.”
“Helped out? Really?” Elysha asked, raising an eyebrow. “Elder Mera, is this true?”
Elder Merakia calmly sipped her smoothie before answering, “Micah and his friends have been frequent visitors to my home in the past, even helping me with chores and other tasks at my request.”
“See? You heard her right! We contribute in our own way.”
“Oh…”
Elysha watched as he and Elder Merakia exchanged some words. She looked down at her glass of smoothie in her hands and thought about his words.
‘I wondered what life was like before I was here,’ she voiced in her mind. ‘What was life like for Elder Mera and Micah without me around?’
Not wanting to dwell on those thoughts too long, Elysha turned back to Micah and saw his pleading face, as if asking permission for another fruit tart.
She sighed, unable to resist and relented, “Micah, you can have more if you want. I’ve never said that you couldn’t have any, you know?”
“Yay! Thank you!” Micah exclaimed with glee, grabbing another slice of tart and left, leaving the two behind to watch him disappeared from their view.
“What a gluttonous child,” Elder Merakia chuckled amusedly. “Even after I gave him and his friends their own share of the tarts, he still came over here to take a few of ours.”
“What? Really?” Elysha flicked her eyes back to where Micah had disappeared. “So he took a few extras from us?”
“Indeed, yes,” she replied as she took another sip from her cup.
As they continued to enjoy the rest of their refreshments, her mind wandered off, reflecting on everything they had done today. From their trip into the woods and meeting Micah, to the chores and tasks they had completed. She also remembered the previous day, the interaction between her and her guardian, and the events that had transpired. For Elysha, it had been a few days full of experiences in her mind.
“What is on your mind, dear child?” Elder Merakia asked, interrupting her moment of reflection.
Elysha shook her head. “Um… nothing really. I was just thinking about what I did today.”
“About what you did today, hm?”
She took a sip from her drink and nodded her head. “Yes, I had a lot of fun today. I went to the forest and met Micah. He helped me try to use theonum magic, and I also helped you with the chores and cleaning the house. Oh, I even met Kitty and went through, um, Micah’s trial.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Elder Merakia said, taking a small bite out of a tart.
“I also remember what we did last night,” Elysha continued.
“What we had done last night? As in the stories I read to you?”
“Mm-hm, I still have pictures of the stories in my head, they felt like the dreams I had. But like a dream that passed so quickly that it is hard for me to remember much of it.”
“Is that so?”
“Even though the pictures of the stories are blurry, they are still inside me,” Elysha said, her hand over her heart.
“How interesting to hear from your perspective,” Elder Merakia said, setting down her cup down on the table. “I find that stories are like seeds. They take root in your heart and grow, even as their images fade. What is it about these stories that stays with you?”
“Um, I think… I think each story you told me is interesting on its own, like the bird story and the girl and the beast story. I want to know more about them because… um, they…”
“They still linger in your mind?”
Elysha nodded, “Yes, they do.”
“The meaning and depth of the stories had a significant impact on you,” said Elder Merakia. “Stories have a way of doing that, don’t they? They stay with us and give us new perspectives on our world.”
“I see…”
The little girl was silent for a moment, her eyes wandering to the colorful garden beyond the porch. “Do you think I will ever have a lot of stories to tell like the ones you told me, Elder Mera?”
“Of course,” her guardian smiled. “Every life is a story, and yours is just beginning. One day, you will have stories to share, and they will be uniquely yours.”
Elysha smiled shyly, lowering her head to hide her face. “Thank you, Elder Mera. I want to make you proud of me.”
They sat in silence for a short moment, the rustle of the wind through the garden brushing past them. Finally, Elder Merakia tilted her head slightly and asked, “Is there anything else you wish to tell me, dear child?”
Her eyebrows knitted together as she thought for a brief moment before replying, “Um, I do have something to say, and I was been wondering if I should tell you this, but…”
“You can tell me, I am ready to listen.”
Elysha looked at her with a self-conscious expression before continuing, “I… I’ve been wondering for some time if there was something wrong with me, if maybe… well… you know…”
She paused, her gaze still fixed on Elder Merakia, trying to gauge her reaction. “That…”
Her eyes shook, flashing back to the events of yesterday. How the pain in her head prevented her from learning theonum sorcery, to her first encounter with the Elder Merakia, to—
‘Hehe…’
She saw a flashing image of the false child, along with their blurred face, giggling and dancing in the flower meadow.
‘Your story, your memories—they have only just begun. In the last stage of your journey, perhaps you shall find the key to your true soul identity.’
‘My true soul identity?’
Elysha’s eyes widened and she clutched her keyhole-shaped stone necklace.
‘What does that mean? Does it mean… that I don’t have a soul identity? Or does it mean that my soul identity is… fake?’
Her eyes still trembled and she let the words come out of her mouth, “... that I could be different?”
“Different, dear child?” Elder Merakia asked softly. “In what way do you mean? Did you feel like something was missing inside of you?”
Elysha hesitated, her fingers curling tightly around the keyhole-shaped stone hanging from her necklace. “I-I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice shaking. “Sometimes… it feels like there’s something missing. Like there’s a hole inside of me.”
Then her head ached as she pressed herself for an answer. “But… but I mean, what does it all mean? I can’t... I can’t seem to understand it!”
Elder Merakia’s brows furrowed slightly, though her expression remained calm. “It means that there is an unknown part of you that feels lost,” she replied. “But now that you have found the question that has been troubling you, you are giving that lost part of yourself time to return. You will continue to explore and seek until you rediscover what was missing from your soul identity.”
“My… My soul identity?”
“Yes, everything that makes up who you are resides within the theonum core known as your soul identity.”
Elysha took a moment to absorb the information, her mind racing. “Then... what am I supposed to do?”
“Do?”
She nodded.
Elder Merakia stood up from her seat and walked up to her. She reached out and gently stroked her cheek. “It’s okay to worry, Elysha,” she said. “It is too early to have all the answers right now, so some questions may be unclear. You have a long story of your journey ahead of you, so take this time to find your inner peace and learn about yourself. There is no need to rush into anything. Keep exploring every day and never stop until you find and understand yourself.”
“But what if I don’t really have a soul identity?” Elysha asked, holding back tears. “What if I never had one to begin with? What if I am different from you and everyone else? That I’m…”
“Dear child,” Elder Merakia began, “even if you feel different, even if you feel as though something is missing, it does not mean you are incomplete or without worth. Differences are what make us who we are. They give our stories depth and meaning.”
Elysha sniffled, her grip on the keyhole-shaped stone tightening. Her guardian’s gaze held steady as she continued, “And if you had no soul identity, why are you sitting here with me asking these questions about yourself? The fact that you are asking questions means that you have the self-knowledge and desire to understand yourself.”
She sighed and added a note of conviction to the tone of her voice, “There are no mistakes in the creation of life. Every being, every soul, has a purpose. Even when the path feels uncertain, even when the truth feels hidden, you are still on a journey to discover your purpose. Your journey—your story has just begun, and you are unique and individual in a way that makes you who you are—you are Elysha.”
The child looked into Elder Merakia’s eyes, tears welling up as her emotions overwhelmed her. “Okay,” she managed to say, her voice choked with tears.
As tears streamed down her cheeks, she placed her trembling hand on her guardian’s and whispered quietly, “Thank you, Elder Mera.”
“No need to thank me, I’m always here for you as a guardian should,” she reassured her with a wink.
Elysha heard these comforting words and smiled softly through her tears.
*hic*
Overwhelmed by her emotions, she could no longer hold back her tears and began to sob. Elder Merakia took her in her arms and embraced her warmly in the quiet, emotional moment.