The fire, the fire trucks and the huge amounts of water used to extinguish it had wreaked havoc on the forest in a way that Anne had never seen before, even in a disaster movie.
“Tuli, we need to find your companions. We need to find out where they fled to!”
Then a stone moved in the dry creek bed next to the burnt clearing.
“Jiminy crickets, one more day, and I’ll hand in my resignation!” Someone under the stone snarled. “Firemen, what nonsense! More like flood makers! Shame on them!” Came the grumbling voice, and Anne thought she heard a little spitting sound, like someone swallowing a lot of water in a pool and trying to squeeze out the water droplets in their lungs.
“Wow, it’s Gembi, the elf! Take me to him, please!” Tuli climbed onto Anne’s shoulder, who, after carefully propping the brand-new red scooter next to a tree that was intact to a certain degree, started towards the creek bed. Under the stones, she saw a tiny grey-bearded elf squirming angrily.
“Humans! Pfff! They ruin everything, they destroy everything, they spoil everything! Here was this nice little forest, and then…”” “Suddenly Gembi jumped so high that he tumbled backwards into a puddle.
“Woah! And who are you? What are you doing out here and why don’t you go home to your mum? Abracadabra, you dreamed the whole thing”.
But before he could wave his wand, Tuli cried out.
“No! Don’t erase her memories, she is our friend!”
“But Tuli! How long have you been friends with… her?” He said the last word with such contempt that Anne flinched. “All the others had run away. I told them I wasn’t leaving because then the people would win, and that’s all there is to it! Our home is gone, and we are done as well! And your relatives flew away in cowardice as soon as the first cloud of smoke rose. Shame on them!”
“We’re looking for them, Gembi… Help us! This is Anne, we bumped into each other by accident, but then”.
“By accident, huh?” Gembi interjected, “of course. You can never be certain with humans. Go ahead and trust her, and you’ll see. She’ll be just like the others”.
“I’m not like that!” Anne said defiantly. “I wanted to help you, but if you’re so nasty, I’m leaving!” she said, carefully setting Tuli down on a stone and headed for her scooter. ” “As she suspected, Tuli exclaimed:
“Don’t go!” and then turned to Gembi. “Anne called the fire brigade, you silly elf! She’s the reason you didn’t burn your butt!”
“How do you know it didn’t burn? Maybe it did burn, and why is it any of your business anyway?”
“Stop it!” Said Anne with a thump. “If you continue to be so nasty, I won’t help you find the others! I have done nothing wrong; it is not me you should be angry at!”
“I don’t need the others! I’m even glad they’re gone, at least it will be quiet here. You should leave too, and then it will be even quieter”.
Gembi gathered his cloak and hid back under the stone.
“You can’t do anything about it, he has always been like that. He never has a kind word to say to anyone. Once a long time ago, he was offended by something, and since then he just kept going… as if he had to. Come on, let’s keep going, see if we can find someone else”.
“Break a leg!” came a pleasant wish from under the stone.
“Back at you!” Tuli jumped up in a huff. She almost hopped off the stone she was sitting on, but at the last moment her wings snapped into action and she rose into the air.
“Look, your wings are healed!”” ““Lily! Julienne! Bluebell!” Shouted Tuli at the top of her voice, while Anne followed cautiously behind her, dodging the puddles left by the firefighters. Though the whole forest had not burned down, the clearing where the fairies lived and the surrounding bushes were charred and black. It was a sad sight. “Snapdragon! Morning Glory!” There was no reply.
There was a dark silence among the few remaining bushes, which stood out of the ground, blackened by the burnt wood and, the few remaining bushes waved stubbornly in the breeze.
“Hey!” a familiar, sulky voice piped up behind them.
“Now what? What’s up, Gembi? Are you coming with us after all? Don’t you hate us as much anymore?” Tuli turned her pained face towards the elf, her eyes flashing.
“Of course, I’m not coming with you, as if I needed that. But if you give me something to eat, and if you ask nicely, I’ll tell you where your mates have flown off to”.
Anne still had a piece of apple in her pocket, which she quickly gave to Gembi, who immediately jumped on it.
“Well, then…” he said, chuckling, “I heard from their conversation that you’re looking for a new home in the beech woods near the next town. Except that they don’t know what the smart ones like me already know: that forest has also gone by now!”” ““What do you mean it’s gone?” Anne asked. She remembered that when she was little, they used to go hiking there: in that small forest, her father taught her which mushrooms were poisonous and which were edible. They often picked chickpeas, purple matsutakes, lepiotas, and sometimes even porcinis. But they had not been there since last year. Could that forest have disappeared since then? Frightening.
“They cut it all out. Finito! It’s gone. It is now replaced by a shopping centre and a parking garage. Your little fairy friends will be surely surprised when they see it! They can settle in the underground garage that stinks of petrol”.
“What now?” Anne turned to Tuli.
“I have to find them, Anne!”
“But I can’t leave with you… what would my parents say? We have to think of something!”
Tuli was on the verge of crying again.
“Crying, that’s just perfect! These fairies are always whining about something. Do you have any more apples on you, human child?” Gembi pointed to his empty palm soaked in apple juice.
“No”.
“Typical. You humans are completely useless. Look what you have done to our forest as well! Who’s the man in the suit and sunglasses with the big black car who set his garbage on fire here this morning? Is that your dad by any chance?”