The Fairy & the Farm. Part XI: The End

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February 27th 2007

Published: September 9th 2007

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Maps, maps, maps

This nautical chart depicting the Angolan coastline, was one of the many maps the fairy and the ghost browsed.

They found a map of the crossroad between Africa, Asia and Europe where someone had jotted down sharp lines for borders; “Modest claims by Theodore Herzl”, it said.
The map wasn’t of much help to them. They opened an atlas named the “The spread of the humble Jihad” and they looked at a map that depicted the Mediterranean Sea with Arabic symbols and swords drawn on it.
“I recognise this sea, but not all these symbols.” The ghost said.
They went through a number of atlases and maps until they finally found a map that the ghost recognised. It was a map in old Ionic Greek that depicted the known world of 405 BC.
“There it is!” Adonis pointed on the map.
“Where?” The fairy couldn’t see where he pointed.
“There!” He moved her hand to the place on the map.
“That’s called Tunisia today.” She said.
“Tunisia? But why?” The ghost whispered.
“A lot have changed, Adonis. Empires rise and empires fall. Humans are just like the clouds; sometimes in groups, sometimes alone, sometimes merging and sometimes dissolving. During the last 2500 years many different people have lived and ruled in the land that once was yours. You said it

Too Long To Walk

It would have been a long walk back to Tunisia if Adonis would have walked. Luckily there were other means of transport invented during the last 2500 years.

yourself, a lot had happened here in the last 500 years, so why not in Carthage.” The fairy explained in straight forward manner.
“Yes, I know things change, but not my dear Carthage - The shining city. Our goddess told us it would never fall.” The ghost of Adonis uttered upset.
“Everything change. That’s the beauty of life.” The fairy said then explained how he could get down to the airport and catch the right flight.
“You really think so?” Adonis whispered.
“Of course. Otherwise you can always stay here, and continue to haunt for eternity.”
“Well now, when I come to think of it, maybe I should stay? It’s not that bad after all. The crime is on a constant rise, but that only means more ghosts for me to play with, which is a good thing. Isn’t it?” He whispered.
“Fine. If you decide to stay, then stay. It’s a great place to stay in.” She said and picked from her bag; the shell she’d been given by the penguins.
“Could I ask you a favour?” She asked the ghost.
“Certainly you can”. Adonis answered.
“Could you whisper into my shell?” She asked and explained to the baffled

The Shell Whisperer

Nothing special, just an aquatic voice recorder. Who hasn't got one now-a-days.

Adonis why she needed his voice.
A minute or two passed while Adonis considered what he would whisper. Then with a whirling sound his whisper spiralled into the shell.
The fairy took the shell to her ear and listened.
It sounded similar to one of the genie’s peculiar spells, only more hushed.
“Listen.”
The fairy said and held out the shell for Adonis to listen himself. As he put his ear to the shell he started laughing.
“I’ve never heard myself recorded like this before. I sound so funny.” The ghost continued to laugh with his whispering voice.
“So what did you say?”
The fairy was curious.
“”I told myself what I just realised. That I don’t long for Carthage anymore and that I don’t crave for anything at all, any more. I’m feeling so at ease, like I’ve made peace with myself. It feels like I’m dissolving.”

The voice of Adonis died out in an echoed whispering and utter silence prevailed in the dark cellar.
The fairy collected the atlases and maps spread out on the ground and put them in a neat pile next to the ladder, then she started climbing.
As she got out of the

Ouma - in charge of the royal Potjie-pot

Ouma, had a week spot for the Spirit of Ubuntu. Finally she had someone at the farm that she could really talk to. "Mmmhumh!"

trapdoor she saw the spirit of Ubuntu next to a smiling old woman in an unpretentious dress. Dowon stood next to them with a big black potjie-pot in front of her on the ground.
“Ouma here says she wants to help you prepare your ingredients. She said something about some spirit, but I’m not quite sure what she’s talking about.” Dowon said.
“Mmmhumh.” The old woman mumbled.
“I just finished the pot.” Dowon lifted the heavy pot from the ground.
“So if you have the ingredients we can start cooking.”
“Mmmhumh.” The old woman mumbled once more and blinked at Dowon and the fairy, then tilted her head, looking like an owl, giving a warm smile to the spirit of Ubuntu.
“Oh, thank you both so very much. I’ve got everything with me, but the milk. It’s outside with Daisy.” She said.
“Then let’s go and get it.” Dowon said and lifted the potjie-pot, and they walked out of the storehouse.
“Mmmhumh.” Was all Ouma said before she too, joined then on the outside.

Five small, downy, clouds decorated the ocean-blue sky, like five small islands shrouded in mist.
In a semi-circle surrounding Daisy, all the creatures of the

Potjie-pot

A great meal was prepared by Ouma for the big celebration. It contained whatever your stomach desired, since Andre' had put some magical spice in it.

farm had gathered.
Aviwe and Wanga were showing Buffy the prototype to a set of mechanical wings. The Pipemaker explained something to Daia, in his normal protracted manner. Shalom had made friends with Hookah - the extremist duck. Droppy was playing with Theo and Lucille, and Illiona and Sophie stood chatting to the Observer, who for some reason had found his way to the farm. Twiggy - the pig, explained the political guidelines of the “Baked Cookies - No Cooked Bacons”-foundation, for Jackie and Asavella. Brutus was teaching two of the geese (Sparkle and Estrella) how to bark, but Yvonne and Glen both disagreed on the importance of volume over length.
Colin, Lazarus, Yamyam, Heloise, Posy and Florid, yes even the unnamed woman was there, though she stood in the background chewing on larvae.
Next to Daisy in the middle stood King Proteus holding the green little genie in his hand.

“We all came running as a torrent of strawberry milkshake came gushing down the hillside. Apparently this little fellow tried a few old dairy-spells he’d learnt, but didn’t know how to stop them. Luckily, I’ve stopped his milkshake-magic now.” He said and the genie looked very guilty as

King Proteus

In his Knights Templar garment.

he tried to hide in Andre's hand.
Worse was it for Daisy, she had shrunk to half her original size and glared angrily at the little genie.

“Rumour has it, that you’ve already gathered all the ingredients. Which was much faster than I’d ever expected, I must admit.”
“I guess I’ve been very lucky.” The fairy answered then picked out the objects from her bag, and placed them one by one next to the buckets with chocolate milk.
“Impressive.” King Proteus said, as he saw the objects.
“None of the objects are really needed, but by collecting them you’ve confirmed that you’re a real fairy. Since all fairies show respect to all beings, no matter if it is plants or insects, animals like us or life forms from the otherworld.” He explained.
“The other reason to why I gave you the quest was because I like to have friendly and curious individuals around, and I’d hoped that this quest would take you quite some time to solve. Which it obviously didn’t.” King Proteus said, then explained for everybody what the different objects were. As he got to the bottle of Klipdrift he put it behind his back, and then

Buffy & Timna

Trying a new techique of Yoga called African Kamikaze.

laughed.
“This one, was more like a bonus to myself.” He said and smiled.
“Of course I would have healed your wings anyway. Have you got them with you?”
The fairy hastily picked them out of the magical bag. They looked even worse than before. One had fallen apart into three separate pieces, and the other one had had most of its edges crumbled off. Everybody looked with scepticism on what was left of the fairy’s wings.
Everyone except the King.
“HA, HA, HA!” He started laughing.
“HAA, HAA, HAA, HAA, HAA, HAAA!” His warm laugh turned louder and louder as the wings started to glow and transform.
Louder and louder.
To the tones of the laughter the wings grew in size, and changed colour and patterns like someone was turning a kaleidoscope.
“HAA, HAAA, HAAAAA, AAAAAUUUUUUMMMMMM!” As the laugh turned into loud vibrations the wings suddenly started to flap, and lifted into the air. Gracefully flying above the crowd for a moment, then gently, with a silenced flutter, landing on the fairy’s back.
The fairy started slowly to glow and the sound ended. Everybody around her stood amazed by what was happening.
She cautiously tried her left wing.
“Flap,

Wings in the sunset

High above the sunset birds, the fairy flied. But since there was a bit of a nip in the air, she decided to return to the ground.

flap.” It sounded.
Then the right one: “Flap, flap.”
Then with a jump, that wasn’t more than a step into the air, she lifted and flew above them. Higher and higher she flew, until the whole farm looked smaller than a breadcrumb.
She laughed loud to herself.
For so long had she yearned for this moment, when she could fly freely in the air once again.
When she slowly descended back to the ground she noticed that the young gardener had joined the large crowd.

“This is a good cause for celebration.” The King told her as she returned and everyone cheered and threw festoons into the air.
“Of course you’re more than welcome to stay, even though I do understand if you want to fly straight home.” The King expressed.
“I’ve just had a word with our travelling gardener here and it seems like he needs some help with the garden. When he got here the garden was truly forlorn, and he has done a great deal indeed. But I know by heart that the garden needs all the attention it can get, since thegardener is frequently busy writing.” He said and laughed, and the gardener could but

Let the festivities begin

A big celebration party begun as the fairy got her wings back. People came from far away to share their happiness with the inhabitants of the Fynbos Kingdom.

agree.
Then a great party ensued, that went on for days and days, and once more protea nectar was drunk in tremendous amounts, and this time, everybody was happy.

PROLOGUE

Two months passed, and the fairy worked hard in the garden. Weeding where the daydreaming gardener had forgotten and sowing new vegetables and herbs when Glen told her it was time.

Late one Sunday the gardener told the fairy that he had to go away the next day, since his visa was about to end.
He had bought two tickets to Namibia, in case she wanted to join him, even though he knew that she could fly there faster by her own wings.
The fairy told him she wanted nothing more.
Early the next morning they packed their bags. The fairy had given the magical bag to the King, along with the pipe and the flute since she didn't need them any longer. As they were about to leave, the King came with the crystals that the fairy had picked in Crystal Valley.
“As you know you can plant these seeds, and they will grow into huge clusters of crystals. I know a few

Guess the instruments

How many instruments can be seen in the picture? And what are their names? Add a comment and help to expand my volucabary. ;-)

ghost towns in Namibia that needs some colour. Take them.”
He helped them to put the crystals into the fairy’s bag.
“It looks like you’re on your way somewhere?” The young man said to the King.
“Yes, I have a bone to pick with the devil.” He said and turned to the fairy.
“This time everything went alright. I managed to heal your wings. But that devil has caused too much trouble for us here in the Fynbos Kingdom, and to the people of Cape Town, too. One too many times.” He said and sounded very convincing with his fist raised in the air.
“So I will settle this once and for all.” He told them and straightened his shirt.
From his left side hung a quiver full of the stone fish’s pearl-tears, and a newly made slingshot. At the other side of his belt hung the pipe of King Mtesa, glistening, and over the King’s shoulder dangled the magical bag.
He gave them a sturdy handshake before he went.
“I think we’ll meet again. Sooner than you might expect.” He said with a smile and marched off, towards the Devil’s Peak.

And about his extraordinary meeting with the

Steps of Determination

With the pipe and the flute by his side and accompanied by the brave; Brutus, Heloise and Theo. King Proteus marched towards Devil's Peak for a final showdown.

Devil, you will have to ask him yourself.

The End

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