The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

The second gift

Mrs. Cobbs kept her word. She didn't keep them longer than dinner time. Now, they were all heading home, accompanied by Shadow, who's been sleeping the whole time they were in Mrs. Cobbs's house.

For minutes, no one said a word. Matilda hit a rock on her way with her shoe. She always did that when something troubled her. And Ferry knew what that was.

"I feel sorry for Mrs. Cobbs," she said. "It must be terrible to lose your only child. I think that's why she's talking such nonsense. About fairies and things like that..." she added, peeping on Ferry with the corner of her eye.

Ferry didn't reply. Mrs. Cobbs knew who he really was, and that troubled him. It was not how he imagined telling his friends would be.

Ben shook his head, "Yes, but keeping her husband locked away for so many years doesn't make her a nice person. The poor man should've been put into an asylum."

"Well, yes, but maybe she didn't want to send him away..."

Ferry couldn't take it anymore, "That's not why she keeps him locked," he snapped. "He's just a fairy bait. She thinks that maybe someday, the fairies are going to come after him since he's the one who saw their realm and lived to tell..."

"Yes, you could say that. If you believed in fairies," Matilda laughed. "Oh, wait! You do believe in fairies," she added with a strange glow in her eyes.

"You mustn't laugh about things other people believe in, Matt," said Ben, trying to avoid the inevitable fight.

"But I'm not laughing!" Matt bristled up. "I'm just saying Mrs. Cobbs says a lot of crazy things. Such as Ferry is a fairy. But you're not a fairy, right?" she said, looking him dead in the eye.

Ferry kept on walking without saying anything.

"You're not a fairy. Right... Ferry?" she insisted.

Ferry felt his sight turning blurry, "Would that be that bad if I were a Ferry, Matt?" he snapped back, his jaw clenched.

Matilda was now flustered. She stopped walking, her arms akimbo, "No... I mean... You don't look like a fairy. Do you have wings?" she asked, gaining back her courage.

"No..."

"Can you fly?"

"No!"

"Can you make things appear or disappear?"

"No!"

"Then you're not a fairy," she concluded and carried on.

"Well, if I come to think of it, his hair is shiny during bright nights," Ben interfered. "And he's also the fastest child I've ever seen. And he's the best climber..."

"Shut up, Ben!" Matilda cut him short and Ben turned silent, his gaze at the ground.

"Do you have something against fairies, Matt?" Ferry asked looking her dead in the eyes.

"No," she answered, trying to look calm. "I Just don't believe in fairies."

Then she whistled at Shadow who was chasing a butterfly, and she broke into a run without looking back. When the girl and the dog were out of his sight, Ferry turned to Ben, "How about you, Ben? Do you believe in fairies?"

Ben adjusted his glasses and then scratched the back of his head. That's how he was acting in school when he had to solve a difficult problem in Math classes. "Well, I don't think we're alone in this universe. And I also believe there are other realms right here. And if aliens exist, why wouldn't fairies?" he said, forcing a smile.

But Ferry could tell he was not comfortable with his presence. "Thank you, Ben," he said.

"For what?" his friend wondered.