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Once upon a time, there was a forest in a very remote mountain. The forest was so huge that nobody living in it knew where it ended, and the mountain was so remote that nobody living outside it knew where it was.
Deep in the heart of the forest there lived two tiny fairy sisters and their mother. The elder sister was called Forestie. She had eyes as blue as the sky and long blonde hair running down like a waterfall. The younger sister was called Roamy. With sparkling dark eyes and short black hair resembling that of a naughty boy, Roamy looked very different from her sister. Everybody in the forest said that Forestie was beautiful and Roamy was ?C lovely.
Forestie and Roamy loved each other. Every morning after breakfast they would wave goodbye to their mother and start their wandering of the day. Sometimes they would climb into the top of a very tall tree to visit some birds living there and learn singing from them. Sometimes they would play hide-and-seek with the rabbits or the deer. Sometimes they would sit quietly in the shade, watching the ants hustling back and forth, or having a nice chat with the squirrels or the hedgehogs.
When the sun set and everything in the forest became a bit misty, they would go home hand in hand. There was nothing to worry about: everybody in the forest knew the two little fairy sisters and adored them. When it was really dark, the moon would come out and send them home with her silvery light. After dinner Forestie and Roamy would snuggle close to their mother, listening to stories about prince and princess in ancient times or asking all sorts of questions. Forestie would always ask: ??Mum, will I grow up to be a very beautiful girl???, and Roamy would always ask: ??Mum, will I be able to leave the forest and see what is outside??? Deep in her heart, the mother was praying: Let time stop now, let my daughters stay like this with me forever. But she knew this was impossible and she always answered her children??s questions with a smile: ??My children, whatever will be, will be.??
It was like all of a sudden that Forestie and Roamy grew up. Forestie was now 16 and Roamy 15. It was a beautiful midsummer night with silvery moonlight and fragrant air. There was a gentle breeze brushing against the bushes and the grass as if singing a song. A perfect time to hold a birthday party ?C Forestie??s 16th birthday party. It was a grand occasion: Everybody in the forest was there and everybody gave their presents and best wishes. The birds, the rabbits, the deer, the squirrels, the hedgehogs ?C you just name them ?C all came and they sang and danced and drank??
When it was about dawn, when everybody was so exhausted and was ready to have a sound sleep, there suddenly came a prince with his escorts. The prince, as in every fairy tale, was very handsome, and as in every fairy tale, when he set his eyes on Forestie, they fell in love with each other at the first sight. The prince said his castle was at the edge of the forest and if Forestie and her mother didn??t object to it, he would hold a grand wedding ceremony the very next day because he couldn??t wait to start his happy life with Forestie.
This was great news to the whole forest and to everybody living in the forest. The mother, of course, felt a bit sad, as every mother would feel before her daughter??s wedding. But she knew that sooner or later Forestie would leave her and start her own life and she could see that the prince was really a very nice young man and really loved her daughter. Nobody had time for sleep now because there were so many preparations to do for the wedding ceremony.
But where was Roamy? Roamy, for the first time, wandered in the forest without the company of her elder sister. She didn??t know how to tell her feelings. She felt glad and excited for Forestie, for she quite liked the prince and would like him to be her brother-in-law. But she also felt a bit lonely and sad, for she knew that the wedding would put an end to all the wanderings she had had with her sister hand-in-hand. Yes of course they could still take a walk around the prince??s castle or even in the forest from time to time, but that would be very different. And Roamy began to feel very uncertain about herself and her future: am I going to come across a prince and marry him and settle down comfortably somewhere in the forest? She couldn??t help asking herself this question again and again.
Then she heard somebody called her name: ??Roamy, what are you doing there? Roamy, come up here.?? Roamy looked up and saw a very good friend of hers waving at her from the top of a tree. It was the Skylark. Roamy climbed up and sat close to the Skylark??s nest. They sat in silence for some time and then Roamy asked Skylark: ??Skylark, you??ve flew to so many places. Tell me what there is outside our forest. Is there still another forest with fairies like me and birds like you or is there a totally different place with totally different people??? Skylark looked into Roamy??s eyes and said after a short hesitation: ??Roamy, I know ever since you were a little girl, you??ve been wondering what the outside world is like. Well, let me tell you, outside our forest there is a place called the ocean????
??The ocean? What is that???
??The ocean is a vast vast area of blue water and white waves. In the ocean there also live fairies. Whether they look like you I don??t know because I??ve never come across one, but I did hear they sing once or twice. In the ocean there are no birds but there are loads of fish ?C they don??t fly like us, they swim.??
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It was time for the wedding ceremony. Everybody said that Forestie in that white gown was the most beautiful bride they had ever seen and the prince was the most handsome bridegroom they had ever seen. Nobody doubted that thereafter they would live together happily. But where was Roamy? Roamy was nowhere to be seen.
The Skylark brought a letter to Forestie and her mother. It was from Roamy:
Dear Mum and Forestie,
Forgive me for not saying goodbye to you. I am now on my way to the ocean. Skylark told me the ocean is a vast vast body of blue water with white waves, strange fairies and fish. I must go and have a look myself before I decide what to do with my future. I know I might regret my decision, but I know even better that if I didn??t go now, I would regret even more for the rest of my life.
I love you both.
Yours forever,
Roamy
发表于 2005-5-30 22:41
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发表于 2005-5-30 23:12
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