The Little Fairy
Chapter 16

The next couple of weeks flew by. It felt like it had only been a few days, but here I was standing in a back room in the community center, pacing back and forth as I practiced my speech. I was interrupted by a knock at the door and Sarah's blonde hair peeking through the crack as she opened it. "Hey," she slid through the slit she had made and closed the door behind her. "You feeling okay?"

"No! What if this doesn't work and all of this was for nothing?" I threw my hands up in the air, a loud sigh passing my lips.

"I still think you should use your power." She crossed her arms and watched me pace the room.

"I'm not going to." I stopped in my place and glared at her.

"Alright, no need to be upset with me." She put her hands up defensively and backed out toward the door. "Rally starts in 10 minutes." With that, she left the room again, leaving me with my thoughts.

"Okay, Kreya." I said to myself, jumping around and shaking my hands to try to hype myself up. "You can do this. It's just talking to a few people about the environment." I took a deep breath and twisted the handle, ready to start the beginning of what will hopefully begin my career as an environmental activist.

I finally made my way to the stage, peering out around the corner, I could see maybe about 20 people. Marjorie and Don were in the front row, conversing among themselves, Marjorie's face a light pink.

"Hey," Sarah's voice popped up behind me, scaring me enough to jump and grip the wall next to me.

"Hey, sorry." I held my hand to my chest, trying to soothe my breathing back down to normal.

"It's going to be okay." She put her hand on my shoulder, her eyes peering into mine.

"I know it will. It helps to see Don in the front, and that there are not that many people here." I pursed my lips, clutching the papers in my hand.

The lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the crowd. "I guess that's my cue." Sarah patted me on the head and went out on stage, waving to the crowd.

"Hello, everyone!" She started, her voice going back to the deep southern drawl she used with Marjorie. "I have a very important friend here tonight. She has been working hard and studying the environmental impacts that our waste has had." She paused and scanned the crowd. "I hope you all will show her the hospitality and kindness you have already shown her the past month." She opened her arm toward me, ushering me out. "Everyone, Kreya!" She stepped away from the podium as I approached, clapping lightly with the crowd.

I cleared my throat; the feedback of the mic echoed through the room. "Hello... Everyone." I swallowed, my throat drying up from anxiety. I took a swig of the water that was on the podium, trying to calm myself. "I am here today to teach you about the beauty that is planet Earth and the things we could do every day to change the way we treat it."

I scanned the room, most people's faces were blank, except Don's who smiled so bright it almost lit up the room and gave me two thumbs up. I took another deep breath and looked down at my notes again, reading the first couple sentences before peering out to the crowd again, ready to finally start.

"Oh my God, Kreya, that was amazing!" Sarah enveloped me in a hug as I exited the stage. "I felt like you really got a lot of their attention!" She was almost bouncing in excitement.

I leaned against the wall, the adrenaline finally wearing off. "I think it did too, and I didn't even need to use my powers!"

"Oh these people were easy to persuade, they're the most liberal ones here, which means they're open to change for the better and actively want to make the world a better place." Her excitement died down, followed by a forlorn look that passed quickly over her face.

"So how are we going to get more people who aren't... liberal?" I pushed off the wall and started walking to the door that led outside.

"Should be much easier now that we had one, word'll spread fast, especially here." She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, her hip bumping into my side as she swayed happily to the truck.

I looked up at the stars that had started to litter the sky, the new moon almost invisible against them. "Can we go to the diner? I could use a nice meal after my success tonight." I looked down to meet Sarah's gaze.

"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea, what do you think, dad?" Sarah looked at him through the windows of the truck.

"I say I could use one of Arthur's steaks and his mead that he just finished brewing." He beamed, opening his very loud and creaking door.

"Oh, Arthur makes mead now? I'm down to try that!" Sarah and Don continued to converse about random topics on our way to the diner.

I watched the streetlights breeze by quickly as we passed them, the excitement of the day finally taking its toll on me. I closed my eyes as the bump and slight rock and growl of the truck lulled me to sleep.