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The long
awaited age finally arrived, I had turned six years old and Father would
now take me to the farm along with my big Sister Fely. This could be my
chance to see one of the Encantos I had been hearing them talk about when
they returned from their visits to the farm!
It was still
dark outside when I woke up that morning. We must be at the farm before
sunrise to gather dry leaves. We would burn the leaves and let the smoke
drift through the fruit trees. It was good for the trees and kept the
insects away from the fruit.
Father
climbed coconut trees and cut down the dry palm fronds, which I dragged to
where Sister Fely was building the piles to be burnt. It was a teamwork
without any instruction. The silence must be maintained, if I were to see
the Unseen.
As we were
having lunch under a shade tree, Father pointed his finger to the top of
one of the coconut trees. Sister Fely giggled but I did not know what was
going on.
I started to
pout when my father told me to take a "Siesta", or nap, after
lunch. But this time he said, listen to the wind and the birds singing. I
did as I was told and felt rested by the sounds. By the time I went back
to my duty, I had forgotten my initial goal in coming to the farm.
I was having
a good time just being with the two dearest people in my life, when Father
stopped me on one of my runs with the coconut leaves. He said someone was
riding on the coconut leaf I was dragging and that I should not run so
fast or else he might fall off. I turned my head quickly and there he was!
A boy Dwende (A Fairie People), smaller than I was, naked and skinny, with
very dark brown hair and skin. He looked at me with his big eyes as if
waiting for my next move. When I smiled I noticed a look come into those
eyes that seemed to say, 'We had been waiting for you". Then he ran
off to join two others who appeared to be wrestling under the coconut tree
that my father had been pointing at earlier. I looked up to
see my father smiling too and nodding.
We finished
our job and headed for home. I now knew why my new friends were not easily
seen, they blend in with nature, and they have no clothes on!
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