Point of View: Seven
A Girl Named Serafina
POPULARITY POLL: 13TH - SEVEN
“SHINY WHITE LIGHTS…”
I remember being utterly shocked when the little girl said that as she reached out toward us. That was the first time that we, the child spirits, met Serafina—the girl with the blessing of the Spirit Lord.
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We were living in a forest that had been designated by the First Spirit Lord as the place where child spirits could grow to adulthood. Since his son became the king, he used his power to decree that only those who belonged to or served the royal family could set foot within it. While members of the royal family did stop by on rare occasions, they couldn’t seem to perceive us properly. At best, they seemed to sense that “something” was out there in the forest.
Thanks to the adult spirits’ magic, monsters were unable to enter the forest at all. This meant we, the child spirits, were never exposed to any danger and could spend our days in peace. But, well, you’d better believe that when three-year-old Serafina showed up out of nowhere and beelined straight for us, hands stretched out and eyes closed shut, we were beyond astonished.
“Does that mean she can see us?”
“Yeah, right.”
“No way!”
At the time, we still thought the young Serafina reaching out in our direction was merely a coincidence. We flew over to surround her and test this theory out, but we were even more startled when she reached out at the exact moments we fluttered around. After a while, we were forced to admit the high level of her perceptiveness.
“I can hardly believe it, but she can see us.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Seems to be the case.”
From that point on, Serafina came to visit us in the forest every day. She’d sit on the grass, resting against a big tree, and chat on and on in words we didn’t really understand for close to half a day. Then, she started listening to us.
The adult spirits had told us, “The spirit language sounds only like crackling fire or the blowing of the breeze to human ears,” but whenever we talked, Serafina would always put a lid on what she was saying and listen closely. It seemed to me that she had the ability to distinguish between the words of the spirits and the sounds of nature.
A year passed by. Serafina continued to visit the forest daily, stretching out her hands to us and talking in her language. By then, all the spirits felt an affinity for her, and when she came to the forest, we would gather around and talk to her about various things.
“The temperature of the spring water has dropped recently. You don’t want to catch a cold, so don’t dip your feet in it for long periods of time, okay?”
“The red fruit in the depths of the forest looks delicious, but it’s actually very bitter, so you shouldn’t eat it.”
“Oh! But the adult spirits said that on very rare occasions some are incredibly sweet. I wouldn’t mind trying one of those for myself.”
The day after we told her that, Serafina didn’t come to the forest. We were worried that something had happened to her, so we all decided to approach the villa. However, the guards patrolling the premises were so intimidating that we had to settle for peering through the window.
However, the next day, Serafina returned to the forest as lively as ever, and my concern turned into a deep frustration that bubbled up inside me.
“Seriously? Did she just get bored of coming here?! Fine, I get it. Young kids have a short attention span.”
“It can’t be helped, Seven. She can’t understand what we’re saying. It’s not like she can have fun with us.”
“That’s right. In fact, one day she’ll probably stop coming entirely, so we have to enjoy the time we have with her now.”
Spirits liked humans, and once they developed an attachment to one, it never faded away. But humans were fickle and prone to changing their minds. That’s why, once she inevitably stopped coming to the forest, we’d have to accept it.
I already know that. I mentally retorted as Serafina happily waved the basket she was carrying from side to side.
“That’s a new basket, I see? Is the reason you didn’t come to the forest yesterday ’cause you were making it?”
Serafina nodded as if she understood what I was saying when I asked the question that had popped into my mind. Then, she wandered deeper into the forest as the rest of us hurriedly flew around her feet to light the path ahead. She walked for a short while before stopping in the area where the tree with red fruit grew.
After a long pause, she reached out and began to gather the bright red fruit. Even though the tree was practically bursting at the seams with them, she carefully selected only a few pieces from each branch. Admittedly, I was a bit confused as I watched her, but I figured it was just her unique way of picking fruit. Before long, the basket was half full.
Serafina smiled with satisfaction before moving to sit in the shade of a large tree. There, she pushed the basket in our direction.
“Are you giving them to us? Well, um, we don’t have to eat like humans do.”
“Not that eating them would hurt us, but we do have a sense of taste and we can definitely tell how bitter those things are.”
“I don’t like bitter stuff…”
Everyone’s faces were scrunched up at the thought as they responded, but Serafina, who couldn’t understand what we were saying, continued to smile and offer us the basket.
Doesn’t look like we’ve got any other choice, I internally sighed as I was the first to put my hand out to grab one.
I reached for the smallest fruit I could find, brought it to my mouth, and bit down hard. However, as soon as I started chewing, my mouth was overwhelmed with an incredibly pleasant flavor.
“Huh? It’s sweet??” I exclaimed, my eyes widening. At my reaction, the other spirits began to reach into the basket with skeptical looks. They tentatively bit into the fruit, only for their expressions to shift to astonishment a moment later.
“What? This is positively scrumptious!”
“Whoa! What’s going on? It’s…good? I’ve never tasted anything like this before!”
“Ahh! This is sooo yummy!”