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She
sat crying next to the brook. Was everything really going to come
to an end? Would she never again play or sing here, or hunt for
smooth pebbles? Never again laugh with the little nymphs or see
who could jump the farthest? Little tears ran down her cheeks and
mingled with the clear waters of the gurgling brook.
What had
the Eldest of the elves’ council said? “We must leave
this forest because the humans have forgotten us. They no longer
believe in us, they only believe what they can see with their
eyes. But we can only be seen with the eyes of the heart, and
this they have forgotten how to do. We must die if no one thinks
of us any longer, so let us go to Ophir. That is our only
alternative.” And everyone in the elves’ council had
agreed except for the old and experienced Hazel fairy, who had
always thought differently.
“Let us stay one more week,”
she suggested. “If in this week no human thinks of us or
mentions us by name, then we will go.”
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 Elf
Child had been happy. Surely in one week someone would say “elf”,
if only once, or read their children a fairy tale about them.
After all, there were such nice stories. But today was the last
day and nothing had happened! Everyone was busy packing and it
was curiously quiet in the Elf Forest.
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Even
the usually jolly Elderflower Fairy wasn’t singing. Elf
Child looked at her own reflection in the brook and noticed that
her tears were now like little pearls dancing, rocking and
bobbing towards the village in which the humans lived. Maybe it
was a sign? Elf Child ran to her parents very excitedly.
“Listen,” she said, “I will go to the humans and
wake them so that they are able to see again.”
“You?
What will you do? The humans don’t deserve us,” said
her mother, and her father added, “Come, be sensible Elf
Child. How will you manage what we could not?”
“Dreamer,
dreamer!” her brothers teased and only Elf Child’s
little sister who was just about as big as a hand encouraged her
and said, “I would so like to come along and help you, but
they won’t let me. But you can and will succeed. I know this
from Saron the Wizard! Good luck dear Elf Child and be
careful!”
Elf Child put on her finest dress made of the
sweet, deeply dreamed dreams of the humans, which made her
invisible to the people in the village. For according to the
ancient laws, elves can only be seen with the eyes of the heart.
Light as a feather she fluttered along the path. But her journey
was unexpectedly difficult. She almost got her delicate dress
caught in the thorny blackberry brambles if an owl had not
screeched a warning at the last moment, “Be careful, be
careful!”
Then, just as Elf Child reached the village it
began to snow. Eagerly she knocked at the first door. A man
opened the door, looked around, muttered something into his beard
and shut it. Wherever she tried, it was the same story. Elf Child
was horrified.
“They really can’t see us any more.
Their hearts no longer have eyes,” she whispered and made
her way towards an inn in which a number of people were loudly
celebrating. Elf Child was shivering and would have liked to warm
up a bit, but didn’t feel up to going inside. This kind of
celebration was strange to her. So she tugged at the bell string.
A grouchy innkeeper put his head out of the door. “Who was
that? Just wait till I catch you, you young rascals!” he
shouted furiously. “I don’t have time for such jokes.
So many guests, got to earn money!” He hadn’t seen her!
Even the people in the small market that sold all kinds of
knick-knacks did not notice Elf Child.
They only thought of
their money, their work, their pleasures. They did not think of
others, and little elves, of course, were out of the question.
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 Elf
Child was freezing. She was tired and exhausted when she finally
found the village church. She pushed open the creaking door.
Inside it was cold and still. Elf Child huddled on one of the
empty benches. The snow in her hair melted and dripped on to her
soaked dress. “They really don’t know us any longer, we
are lost. We must go away from here,” she whispered and
looked with big eyes at the old cross that hung over the altar.
“And they no longer know you either,” she sighed and
her eyes dropped shut.
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When
she awoke she was lying in a small bed and next to her lay a big
human girl with long black hair and black eyes. “Where am I?
What happened?” asked Elf Child surprised.
“I found
you in the church and because you were so cold I took you along
and carried you to my bed. And now I am warming you.”
“You
can see me? You can see me with your heart?!!” Elf Child sat
up and smiled. “How late is it?” she cried impatiently.
“It will soon be midnight,” replied the girl and
was surprised when Elf Child started dancing happily about the
room crying, “We are saved, we are saved!” She told the
surprised girl the whole story.
“Perhaps I can see you
because I am a child. But tell me little elf, why did you come to
us humans in the snow and freezing cold?” asked the
girl.
“Because I love you,”
said Elf Child and smiled.
“I too love you,” replied
the little girl and stroked her hand lightly over Elf Child.
The
next morning Elf Child left early for she missed her forest very
much. And she missed her little sister, from whom she wanted to
hear more about Saron the Wizard.
And should you ever miss
an elf, it is wonderful because then they will
always live
with us and never have to go to Ophir.
For
Elf Child (Elfenkind)
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