Where is this place? What am I doing here? Why am I here? What happened to me? The Life and Death of The Last Water Nymph By Shinieris

Infancy

Chapter 1 – The Spring of Malka Kuri

My name is Sidney, Sid for short.
I was born and raised near Broomwich in England.
This July, I will be 9.
But there is a problem…
This isn’t Broomwich.

This is a place straight out of fairytale, or maybe some place with unicorns and dragons.
Just in front of me, is a bunch of fairies, dancing around a forest spring.
They are singing in an enchanting voice, but the words are foreign to me.

When I stepped out of the ditch that I mysteriously fell into, the fairies stopped singing.
They chattered excitedly among each other.
Their words melodious, enchanting.
Like the chirping of spring birdies, or the happy whistles of a nightingale.

They looked at me strangely and then said,
“Ku kree, a human!”
“A human fee fuu.”
“A human haa lee!”

“Hello”
I find it hard to speak, for some reason, my voice felt weird.
“Where am I?”

“Human ask where lee wee!”
“Kulu ku human ask where huwee!”
“Where else but the spring of malka kuri, huwee!”
The spoke excitedly as they flitted about.

Spring of Malka Kuri?
I walked closer.
Suddenly they scattered and disappeared into the bushes.
My surroundings became dark, and only then I realized that it was night.
It was the fairies that gave off light.

Suddenly from my left a voice said,
“Bathe in the fairy enchanted Spring of Malka Kuri huhuli. It shall give you the power to pursue your wishes, huwee!”
I looked to my left, but there was no one there.

My feet dragged me forward, towards the fairy springs.
The water was clear and as I cup it and gently let it fall back into the pond, it felt cold in my hands, and as the droplets fell, it sparkled in the darkness.
If this is not magical, then what should it be?
If this can fulfill my wishes, will it take me back home?
No, do I even want to go home?
To that wretched place, where nothing but suffering exist for me?
Is going home one of my wishes?
Should I not wish for something more?
But what is my wish?

I took off my pants.
I took off my jacket.
I took off my shirt.
And I noticed something was wrong.
I took off my underwear.
“It’s not there!!!”
I screamed.

What’s going on?
Why is my little friend not where it should be?
Am I cursed?
Is this a nightmare?
How will I take a piss?
Alright, calm down a bit.
Maybe I dropped it somewhere. Let’s check for my little friend in the ditch just now.
I searched and searched.
“It’s not there!!!”
Where did I drop my little friend?
Did I drop my butt too?
I checked my backside.
Phew, my butt is still there, but it feels a little fuller, hm.

I squeezed my butt.
I felt fleshy, probably bigger than Clarina’s or Cherise.
Of course, I wouldn’t know.
I’ve never seen them in the flesh.
I squeezed my butt again. I wonder if it’ll explode if I pressed more.
That would be bad, wouldn’t it?

I took off my remaining clothes.
I arranged it neatly by the grassy side of the pond.
Then, expecting cold waters, I slowly entered the pond.
But it wasn’t cold at all.
It was actually warm.
It felt good.

I cupped the clear, sparkling water in my hands.
I raised my face and let the water drip onto my dirt-covered face.
This feels good.
In Broomwich, there are no ponds that are not black, oily or dirty.
So this is a fairy’s pond?
Will I find gold here?
Oh no, that’s leprechaun.
Are fairies the same as leprechauns, I wonder?
Will they be mad if I try to search for gold here?

But that’s not my concern.
The fairies said that the spring will grant me the power to fulfill my wishes.
But what is my wish?
Maybe to no longer work sewing clothes in the darkness of night?
Maybe to no longer dig for coal?
Maybe to spend my life just resting like this?
What is my wish?
Will I know my wish if I can dream again?

When was it that I stopped dreaming?
Was it when I broke Mistress Elise’s Vase?
Was it when father hit me for falling sick?
Was it when Mistress Elise fired me?
Was it when the coal mine collapsed and I spent weeks in darkness, drinking filthy water and eating freshly caught rat raw?
Will I start dreaming again?

I washed my face and submerged myself in the warm waters of the fairy pond.
I stayed underwater for some time, it never occurred to me to emerge and breathe.
I thought, it would be best if I stayed here.
I did not know what to do.
I did not know what I want to do.
I did not know what I should do.

Maybe I will find out if I stay here longer?

How did I get here?
Did I escape from the coal mine again?
Will father get angry when he found out I escape again?
Is he beating mother again?
What will happen to Clarise?
Will she need to work too now that I’m gone?
But she is so small, will she get a job at the mansion?
Will Mistress Elise hire her?
Maybe I should go back?

I must’ve fallen asleep inside the pond.
It was morning.
How come I didn’t drown inside the pond?
Or did I die and came back to life?
If I die, will I return to life with the power of the spring?
No, I can’t assume so.

I wonder how many times I have contemplated suicide.
But if I had died, who will help father?
And the priest at the church said all who killed themselves shall go straight to hell.
If so, will by living, I go straight to heaven?
Maybe I have died?
Maybe the tunnels collapse again?
Is this heaven?

Morning turns to night.
Night turns to day.
It turns to night again.
Yet my head is still under the water of the pond.
I wonder, how many days have I been here?
I do not feel hungry.
And so I have not eaten.

Time seems to pass quickly.
How long have I been sitting in this pond?
Has it been days, weeks, months?
Why am I not dead yet?

I raised my head out of the water.
I still had no idea what I wanted to do, what my wishes were.
So I intended to ask the fairies if they have something I can do.
But they were nowhere to be found.
I also took out the weed that somehow got tangled into my hair as I searched for them.
Before long, I went back into the spring, as it was a little cold without clothes.
It seemed like the clothes I left outside the pond had rotted.
It fell apart the moment I picked it up.
Not knowing what to do, I slipped back under the blessed waters of the fairy spring.

*I thought of going for the Japanese web novel style. It's not as taxing on the brain as full length novels, that's for sure.
**As always, comments and feedbacks are greatly appreciated. Praises help me write faster. Constructive criticisms help me write better. Thank you very much for reading.