Brave New World
With Conviction Now

September24, 1999

Reyna’s body trembled endlessly asshe huddled at the base of a tree. Herscrawny arms wrapped tight around her knees which pressed into her chest. Hearing an owl hoot softly in the distancecaused her to sniffle and she wiped her nose on the shoulder of her shirt. It was sticky and hard from having used it asa tissue for the past several hours. Shedidn’t know how long she’d been in this forest. Her father had brought her here earlier in the evening, just as the sunwas setting, and told her they were going to a zoo that was in the center ofthe park.

Theygot to the zoo, but it was closed. Asign on the gate said the zoo gates closed at 6:00 P.M. Reyna and her father hadn’t arrived until6:30. Reyna was sad she couldn’t see theanimals, but thought they’d come back tomorrow, or the next day. Her father told her to wait at the gate though,and said he would replace someone to open the gate for them. The sun was still in the sky when he lefther, but it had long since set.

She’dwaited outside of the zoo for a long time. It felt like forever for the small seven year old. Eventually, though, Reyna realized her fatherwasn’t coming back for her and made her way into the park in hopes of retracingtheir earlier footsteps and replaceing her way back home. The task proved to be impossible forReyna. Her eyes drooped with exhaustion,her feet ached with all the walking, and her muscles started to shiver from theearly Fall cold.

Whimpering,Reyna curled farther into herself. Ifshe could just make it until the morning, she was sure she’d replace her way outof the park and back to her home. Theforest was dark though, and Reyna hated the dark. She could only hear things around her. Things like leaves rustling, owls hooting, thepitter patter of smaller animals, and the groaning of the trees. Reyna didn’t know how the trees could groan,only that they could. A fly pricked atthe skin on her knee and Reyna’s hand lashed out to smack it. The fly was too quick and her knee stung fromthe impact.

Takinga shuddering breath, Reyna tried to discern the shapes and shadows aroundher. She could see a few benches andlamps not too far from her, but the lamp wasn’t lit and the bench was occupiedby a snoring man covered in newspapers. Something deep in Reyna’s belly told her the man wouldn’t hurt her ifshe went up to him, but her parents always told her not to talk to strangersand that man was definitely a stranger. Looking in the other direction, Reyna could only make out a few treesbefore they blended together in the dark. She was about to return to her huddled position when she saw somethingflash in the corner of her eye.

Atfirst, when she didn’t see the flash again right away, Reyna thought it was atrick of what little light the moon gave her. That feeling in her belly flared up again and told her to keep lookingin that direction, and this time Reyna listened to it. The silver streak appeared again, closer thistime. Reyna stood up, not sure if sheshould stay and replace out what caused the flash, or run for safety. Before she had time to really decide thesilver flash stopped and stood a foot away from her.

Thesilver flash turned out to be a head of messy hair. Attached to that hair was the body of aman. Reyna’s breath stopped as she tookhim in. His skin was dark, almost asdark as the night surrounding him. Hiseyes seemed almost as silvery as his hair but flashed yellow when they focusedon Renya. Her mouth had gone dry a whileago, but she gulped anyway. The stingfrom the swallow bringing Reyna back into the present. The man stepped closer. His steps were slow and his hands wereoutstretched, which Reyna took as a sign of peace. Still, her mouth tightened and her browsfurrowed with every step he took. Thecloser he got, the better Reyna could make out more of his features. His ears, which were mostly concealed by hishair, were pointed. Shifting from onefoot to the other, Reyna tried to remember what she’d heard about creatureslike Fairies and Elves. She’d never metone before, but Reyna would bet that this man was one or the other.

Hewas less than a foot away when curiosity killed the cat. “Are you an Elf or aFairy?” She asked, completely forgetting about the stranger rule. The man stopped, eyes widening slightly ather straightforward question. Chucklingdeeply, he smiled so wide Reyna could see most of his teeth. His canines were sharp and longer than ahumans, but even with that extra hint, she still couldn’t be sure what type ofcreature he was.

“Howdo you know I’m not a Vampire, little one?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. His voice was smooth and soothed Reyna’smind. It was like listening to rainpouring from a gutter spout and Reyna thought he could probably make it soundlike waterfall if he really wanted to. Blinking slowly, Reyna took a second to remember that he’d asked aquestion.

Returninghis smile just as wide, she proudly responded, “Because you have pointedears! And Vampires don’t have pointedears. Only Fairies and Elves do.”

Theman chuckled again and bent down so they were at eye level. “You sure are smart aren’t you? I bet you read a whole bunch.” At this Reyna nodded her head furiously inagreement, thinking of all the times she’d snuck into her parent’s room andtried to read the books there. “Whydon’t you guess then? You tell mewhether I’m a Fairy or an Elf.”

Reynahummed with frustration, but decided to play the game anyway. With a now pouting mouth and even morefurrowed brow, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest and lookedover her new friend again. Reyna hadnever met a Fairy or an Elf in person before, but she had seen a few on T.V.before. Fairies always seemed so talland skinny to her, with long, bony fingers and everything about them seemedpointy. Her new friend didn’t seem verytall. He was much taller than her, yes,but who wasn’t? Nor did he seem skinnylike a Fairy. His shoulders were broadand his body reminded her more of one of those football players her fatheralways liked to watch. “Are you an Elf?” She guessed.

Lettingout another chuckle, he bopped her nose, “You don’t sound very sure, littleone. Come on, say it with conviction!”

Browsraised now, Reyna asked, “What’s conviction?” She’d never heard that word before, but she liked the sound of it. “Conviction,” she said again, sounding outthe syllables slowly to let her tongue get the feel of it.

“Itmeans . . . well, tell me what you think I am again, but this time try to makeit sound less like a question and more like an answer. Does that make sense?”

Reynanodded slowly, “I think so.” The twostared at each other for a few moments longer before the man raised his browsand Reyna shook her head, realizing he was waiting for her. “Oh, right! Um, you’re an elf!” She breathed out hard when she finished andwaited on him to tell her if she was correct or not.

Shakinghis head in good humor, he smiled again and told her she was right. Reyna’s smile was so wide she worried for asecond that her cheeks would split open. “So tell me, little one, are you lost?”

Reyna’ssmile quickly disappeared and melted into a frown. She remembered what her mother said aboutstrangers again, but if he was going to do whatever it was that strangers did,Reyna figured he would have already. Soinstead she nodded her head and gave him a broken “Yes.”

Standingback to his full height, the man held his hand out to her, “If you’d like, Ican escort you out of the park.”

“Whatdoes escort mean?” Reyna asked, againrepeating the word after her question and liking the way it felt on her tongue.

“Itmeans lead. Would you like me to leadyou out of the park?” Reyna placed hersmall hand inside his larger one and marveled at the difference in their skincolor; her light against his dark. Theirclasped hands sent a wave of warmth and security through her body.

“I’dlike you to escort me out of thepark.” She responded, smiling widely upat him again. He let out a small hum andgave her a smile in return. “What’s yourname anyway?” Reyna asked him as theybegan to walk down the manmade path. Then, remembering some manners that her mother taught her, “Mine’sReyna!”

Givingher hand a small squeeze, the Elf’s smile widened before he responded, “I’mMelchiorn, and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Reyna.” Reyna squeezed her hand back and repeats theword ‘acquaintance’ as they make their way through the park.