A Night to Remember

	Sitting alone in the middle of a forest clearing, Silque settled down into a more comfortable position within her flower.  Looking up expectantly she waited for the colorful pyrotechnics of the yearly fireworks display to begin.  It had been decades since she had wandered off the trail, and a young school girl had suddenly found herself planted to the ground with no way to move or even call out for help.  While still a high school senior at heart, Silque now appeared not as a human, but as an alarune.  Over the years, as seasons changed, she slowly lost hope that anyone would find her, and had accepted a fate of being forever alone.  Her slender legs, formerly the envy of her class turned into a single stalk fusing into a massive brilliant blue flower.  Her hair went from a beautiful midnight black to a leafy green mess, and her voice, once lovely, forever gone.  A human girl turned into a legend, a plant woman.
	As the seasons had passed, she came to terms with her new state enjoying the rains as they fell upon her and sated her thirst.  In the summer she’d spreader her arms wide and welcomed the sun to her bosom as it fed her.  She had grown satisfied with merely watching the seasons change year after year, yet deep down in her heart the crushing loneliness often grew impossible to ignore.  While she was able to tamp it down, it came to head during the new year when people in the area around would launch fireworks to celebrate the coming of a new year.  She would, year after year, look up at the fiery flowers in the sky and sob silently as the thoughts of her being forgotten.
	This year had chalked itself up to being yet another year of crushing loneliness.  Despite this, Silque continued to look forward and anticipate the fireworks every year not because she enjoyed the garish explosions and loud booms, but because it was the last thing connecting her to a happier past.  Her anticipation finally broke as she heard the first whistle from down the valley.  Her eyes searched desperately for the spreading light of fireworks.  Suddenly the valley found itself awash in the beautiful techincolor display of the booming fireworks.  Tears streaming down her face, Silque found her self enraptured yet again by her only connection to her humanity.
	Yet, for some reason, this year proved to be different.  Something was off, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it till she saw the figure within the display itself desperately weaving in and out of the explosions.  This did not appear to be part of the show, yet the bluish glow surrounding the figure as it juked in and out of the explosions proved to be an excellent addition to the show, adding a more emotionally jagged edge to a usually jovial event.  A pause in the fireworks seemed to give the figure in the air a second of respite when suddenly a massive boom came from below.
	Almost as if in slow motion, the firework exploded beneath the figure illuminating a pair of vibrant bluish purple wings that were visible from a vast distance.  With that single explosion the fire works ceased, but the glow from the now stricken harpy continued to waver in the sky.  No long was the flight erratic and powerful, now it was limp, defeated, and clearly no longer in total control.  She could see the harpy arch across the sky at one point framed against a full moon.  She was going down, and there was nothing Silque could do but watch in utter horror.  Slowly, almost painfully, she watched as the poor demi-human sank lower and lower, when suddenly it gave a heave to one side.  Was this it?  Was she finally going to end her flight forever with a crash into the hard cold ground below?  Once again time seemed to slow down, as the figure shuddered and heaved again to the side, and the motions suddenly became clear as her course changed almost directly for the clearing Silque had called her home.  Her horror was only amplified as she realized someone was about to crash her proverbial pity party, and there was nothing she could do to help.
	With dozens of meters to spare, the harpy cautiously tried to flare her self for a landing in the clearing, but it was obvious she wasn’t quite in control anymore.  What had turned into a smooth landing devolved into a crash as one of her wings suddenly gave out, and she plummeted towards the ground and directly towards the alarune.  With a silent scream Siqlue could only watch as the harpy barreled towards her, and her world went black she felt the impact of the wounded harpy she had seen just a few minutes ago in the middle of a firestorm.
	The sound of chirping birds and rustling feathers brought Silque back to wakefulness and pain.  Groaning silently and grasping her stomach in pain, she found herself crumpled up inside her flower.  The impact had knocked her out cold causing her to retreat back into her flower.  Cautiously opening up herself to the world once again she was met with a pair of electric purple eyes peering in at her.  The harpy from last night had not only woken up before her, but actually appeared no worse for wear.  Looking her over, Silque noticed the harpy was indeed a Thunderbird of legend with a hint of static electricity around her, and deep blue feathers to match her stunning eyes.  Though all was not well as her eyes were drawn to a ragged burned wing.  This was likely the cause of the crash from last night, but happily the young harpy appeared to have no broken bones.
	Tearing her eyes away from the wing, her eyes came back to rest on the Thunderbird’s face.  Youthful, full of energy, and life it felt like she was looking into a mirror of her younger days.  She dared not reach out or make any movements lest she scare away the new being in her tiny little universe.  Her gaze was so intense, the harpy blushed and looked away, and for the first time in many years Silque with tears of joy streaming down her face heard someone speak….




“I’m sorry about last night, are you okay?”