The thin wheels of the baby blue bike swerved playfully as if in a dance from side to side. It was speeding like a serpent down the hilly dirt road, all the while pulling a deep wooden wagon full of vibrant flowers of various beauties behind it. Despite the rain, the young woman glided down down the quiet Emery Way Road with a steady pace, without any seeming eagerness for a destination. The young tree's surrounding the road provided a canopy of green above her, shielding her from the ferocity of dark clouds. Green eyes like the wet and shimmering leaves above her, looked up to watch as the sun began to fight its way through the vast cloudy barrier. It was the middle of morning in the middle of the week, and she was headed to her shop, as she did each day.
Aria Larithlyn shared many features with her mother and so many of her brothers and sisters, like the light blonde hair that fell to her waist in steady waves. On this day, she had hastily tied it behind the nape of her neck with a thin rope. Yet the wind still grabbed at loose strands, forcing them to follow its current. Aria carried on without a care over windblown hair or the dirt stains on her elegant pale peach flowing skirt. She had tied a knot in the skirt's thin material against her thigh, making it shorter for the long ride into the city. Emery Way was one of the many roads that bridged the divide between the massive metropolis of Librium and the outer country side that was once called Pennsylvania. Living alongside such towers and bright lights would have been too much for the nature bound Aria. She preferred the two hour bike ride into the city. She would prefer riding her horse even more, but had decided that the city was no place for old Melda, her Kiger Mustang horse.
Aria sped off Emery and towards the highway that would lead her to the entrance of the city. Her expression was serious and somber as she rode through the rain beside the metallic vehicles of various colors and shapes, a symbol of a human luxury and a symbol of destruction. Often, she imagined she was still on Emery way, painting over the cars in her minds eye with beautiful trees. She would appear a girl, maybe sixteen. But in a world where humanity was no longer the dominant race and where the supernatural was normalcy, most knew different. Aria's pointed ears, height and dress told a different story. The thirty-seven year old elf was merely a child to the elven community, impressionable and innocent. On the contrary, the humans who had come to know her found her wise and trusted her maturity. Coexistence, when everything was such a contrast, from beliefs and lifestyles to food and style, was a surprising feat. Yet they had learned to find a common ground.
Aria pulled her bike alongside "Floral Essence" on Terrandale Avenue, one of the main streets in the vast city of Librium. The old man who owned the neighboring bakery waved from the porch with concern in his eyes.
"Best get inside. You're soaked!"
"Morning Vince" Aria looked down at her wet clothes, she had barely noticed the rain after a while.
"Its alright! I don't mind it!" She yelled back to him.
"You should just get in a damn cab already,damn crazy elves" He retorted.
Aria smiled and shook her head as she locked her bike. She unknotted her skirt, carried the wagon of flowers and entered her second home, her own shop, through the back entrance. The shop had been her most significant attempt to live among the humans, but she couldn't have done it without her sister Anneliese, and the amazing powers she possessed. Anneliese had given life to plants and multiplied them, in a way that Aria could never have done by hand. She set up the register and turned on the lights and the fountains, before she flipped the sign to open and opened the door, at precisely 10 AM. Aria had no watch, and to the annoyance of all humans who had befriended her, she paid little attention to the cell phone contraption. Her sense of time, through the sun's placement and through her own minds clock was flawless. Aria turned to her shop, her indoor garden and let out a content sigh. She rubbed her hands together, preparing herself for a days work with people and flowers, her favorite things.
As one would enter the shop, they would indeed be walking into an indoor garden, yet they would very much feel outdoors. Customers entered on a stone tiled floor with elven inscriptions and quotations. The stone pathways led through staggered rows and columns of flower pots and hanging flowers, leading to crystal fountains of intricate design and flowing water. Vines, and wreathes of flowers decorated the walls along with framed images of the elven forests and communities. Within the labyrinth of vibrantly colored flowers were shelves made of crystal that housed many elven hand made artifacts and home decor. Wooden arrows were inscribed with directions to different parts of the shop. The rotating stand of hand made greeting cards was made of vines. Stone steps led to a second floor, which housed a gallery of elven photographs and paintings as well as old artifacts including weapons and musical instruments. In a way, it was a museum of the life Aria and her sister had led in Elyria. Aria loved to share her livelihood with the humans, and learn things about theirs in turn.
Aria sat on a bench with a beautiful painting of mountains on its seat. She looked out the window, watching as humans and "others" passed by. She thought of the man she used to love, Rilien, and how he couldn't stand living here. There were times where she felt the same way. Yet he hadn't given the human's or this life a chance, and he'd grown cold, going back to their home land alone. Years later, she was still haunted by him, and by her own brother. Srindin had fought against the humans so valiantly in war. He was a hero. But the war was long over, and he was still overcome with a dangerous hate. He had traveled all the way here only a year before, to warn Aria and Anneliese to leave the humans, or to loose themselves. She had never fully understood his threat, but had learned to fear her brother who had turned so dark. Reflective as she was, Aria tried not to entertain these thoughts and stepped away from the window before walking behind the service desk.
Fri Mar 13, 2015 7:22 pm by Guest
