The Special Bond | The Inkwell Prompt #61

Olette felt depressed. She felt the fading away had begun. Sighing deeply, she folded her translucent, shiny wings and dropped through a tiny hole where the big trees in the Pixie woodlands overlapped and formed a big canopy. She hovered a little above the ground to pick off an injured bee from a sunflower before dropping finally to the ground.

"Hey you," she whispered to the bee tucked in the palm of her hand. Its buzzing was weak. "Hurt your wings, eh? Let's see how I can make you all better…"

Just then, three faeries flew by, saw her and giggled to themselves. "Talking to a bee? Hahaha," one laughed.

"When do you think she'll ever find her special bond?" Another asked.

"Don't know. You should ask her yourself…"

Those were the words that reached Olette's ears as the faeries flew away to attend to their humans. Olette sighed once more and sat down on a tree root. She stared at the bee, lost in thoughts.

In the fae world, when faeries reach adulthood, they gain the power to form a special bond with a living human. They become like guardians, using their magical powers to help the humans whenever they need it. As soon as the humans were born, they would telepathically send out a signal by their first laugh to draw the faeries to them. The faeries would then find them and the special bond would be formed.

Very few faeries did not form this special bond. They became an outcast in Pixie woodlands. Without the special bond, they lost their powers, became depressed and faded away. There was no such fae at Pixie woodlands except Olette.

Olette reached adulthood two years ago and had not yet found her human. Her peers had found their humans and were running around to attend to their benevolent duties. Olette waited for a year hoping the signal would come but it did not. She flew from one end of the earth to the other, in search of her human, but returned to the woodlands unbonded.

By then, her peers mocked her. Her parents suggested she find her own treehouse as they hoped to bear another fae. Olette became depressed.

The bee buzzed weakly in her palm, reminding her of its presence. Olette spread open her palm, feeling sorry for the poor bee. She lightly touched the crumpled part of its wing and a tiny ray of light passed from her finger into the bad wing. Instantly, it straightened.

The bee buzzed louder and took off from her palm into the air. Olette smiled slightly, amused at the speed at which the bee flew from her palm. It flew around her head before settling down on her shoulder. She felt a trickle of happiness watching the bee but remembered her predicament and doused it.

"You are better now. Go off and do your thing," Odette whispered to the bee.

"Buzzzz…what thing? You just made my injured wing better. I'm indebted to you for life," the bee said, shocking Odette.

Her eyes widened. "I can hear you."

"I had to speak slower…so you can hear. Thank you, my lady fae." The bee attempted a bow. Odette could not believe her eyes or ears. She chuckled, her heart melting with love for the tiny creature. She brought an open palm close to her shoulder and the bee dropped into it. She wanted to see the bee clearly and turning her neck to speak to her shoulder was uncomfortable.

"It's nothing," she said.

"Don't belittle yourself, young fae. It's everything. Was going 'bout my pollen business when my wing got caught on a wisp and I was injured….you look sad. What is it?"

Odette was quiet for a long moment before she answered the question with tears in her eyes. "I-I am unbonded. I can't find my human."

"Ohhhh…buzzz."

Odette nodded in affirmation. The bee buzzed in a circle and stopped in front of her nose. "I have an idea. You helped me so I will help you."

"Thank you but how?"

"What if your human is unable to give the signal?"

Olette stared at the bee in shock. "That has never happened before. Every baby laughs."

"Uhhh…buzzz…I have flown past human houses and seen babies unable to laugh."

Olette stood up from the tree root in excitement and dusted her dress. "Where? Tell me so I can go look, maybe my human is there."

"Buzzz, calm yourself. I hear 'em humans call the place hospi…something. I'll just take you there." Olette and the bee took off into the blue sky in search of Olette's human.

The breeze was cool and the sky blue without a dot of cloud in it as the bee led Olette to a big hospital in the town next to Pixie woodlands. Olette sprinkled some pixie dust on herself and became invisible. Only the bee could see her. It led her to the neonatal ward.

"They are so adorable, are they not?" Olette stared in wonder through the window glass at the babies wrapped snuggly in swaddling clothes and placed in their small cots. The bee buzzed in response.

Olette walked through the neonatal ward and then into the intensive care unit. Her heart warmed up at the sight of a toddler in one of the rooms. She could hear two doctors discussing that the child was put on life support due to a deadly infection and they feared she may never wake up.

"Oh no!" Olette exclaimed.

"What? What'd they say?" The bee buzzed in her ear.

As tears pooled in her eyes, she shook her head. "He's the one," she pointed to the toddler. "And he's dying."

"You sure 'bout that?"

"Yes, yes," she whispered, walking towards the toddler's bed. The mother sat beside her baby, staring at her baby, looking forlorn. As Olette drew close, her wings fluttered involuntarily and shine brightly.

"Your wings," the bee said.

"I can hear him trying to reach out but too weak to do so."

"Well, whatcha gonna do?"

Olette laid her hands on the toddler's chest and light filtered through her hands into the toddler's body. He sneezed and the mother was amazed. She ran to get the doctor.

Olette smiled widely that the bee blinked twice to be sure she was still herself. Her face was illuminated with light and happiness. Olette hovered a little in the air and spinned around, chuckling. When she settled down, she was beaming from ear to ear.

"Thank you, bee. I am finally bonded to my human…."

"You are?"

'Yes. Just now and he's going to be fine. Just like when you were weak but fine after I touched you. I am bonded. Yipeee!" Olette screamed, though only the bee could hear her, and took to the air, sprinkling dust of goodness around in joy.

The end.

^{Photo by: Alyssum Mormino on Unsplash}