Elisa was in the hospital, to get her tonsils out, following some very bad infections. She was nervous, but in somewhat good spirits. She was a rather ‘nerdy’ girl, though only ten years old. Rather pretty with long blonde hair and of slight build. “…Do I… really have to… go through this?” She trusted her father and mother on this… but it didn’t take away her general fears of the situation. Maybe a book would help calm her down. She didn’t bring one, but… she did fine one that had apparently fallen by the side of the bed.
“The Harpy Handbook…” She laughed a little inwardly. “Let’s see- huh?” The book seemed to be sealed shut. She pried at it as best she could with her fingers, but the book just refused to open. “How… peculiar.” However, the girl was not one to accept defeat, particularly when finding an usual challenge as this. Given it was a ‘handbook’ of sorts, did that mean only a Harpy could open it? She wondered if there was some way to ‘trick’ whatever it was that guarded the pages inside.
“HI!” A voice called out.
“Huh? Uh- Hi…” She glanced down to see a boy about her own age. It wasn’t unusual for all the other children to run around the free corridors when they could.
“I’m Ricky!” He grinned. “What you in for?”
“Tonsils… you?”
“Appendix,” Rick smiled. “Why do we get stuff that needs to be removed anyway? If you think about it, its so weird. Oh! What you got there!”
“Um… a book. I can’t open it though…”
Ricky started to try prying and pulling it open. He gave quite a strong effort but suddenly felt an odd ‘shock’. “Ow! Uh- felt funny. I had to let go!” he said.
“I think there’s a trick to it… maybe a feather opens it?”
Rick suddenly smiled. “I know where I can get some! Hold on.” He vanished for a moment running down the corridor… then returned with a pillow. “Hospital contraband. We’re not allowed fluffy feathery pillows but people bring em in all the time.”
Elisa thought that Ricky was quite smart. It didn’t take too long to pull at a thread and slowly remove a feather. Elisa poked at it with the feather but… it didn’t do anything. “Could be a fake book,” said Rick. “You know, like- it doesn’t have any pages in it.”
Elisa sighed. Though when she thought about it, how would a harpy even ‘read’ such a book? At a thought, she placed it on her feet… and then waved the feather over the cover. There was a sudden soft glow as the book opened.
“Whoa! You got it open!’
Dear Candidate,
I have heard your pleas and extend my invitation to join us with a wide wing welcome! As is customary, you get a day to decide if the harpy life is for you or not. I have made some basic changes to minimise disruption to your life while you decide. Everyone will be accepting of your situation while you enjoy the freedoms of being a harpy for the day. This handbook contains the basic role I expect of you if you choose to continue, some general rules of conduct, and some grooming notes for your new body. Oh, and please keep this book away from human hands.
To accept this new life, simply accept the key token that I will be sending to you. If, however, you have decided that this is not for you, just send the messenger away. I will gladly accept and look forward to your decision either way!
Lots of love,
Queen Fetoria, The Harpy Queen.
PS. If you rather consider another form, feel free to visit the other realms! Your harpy body should be acceptable in most places. You might have to prove yourself to the others, but you’ve already proven your value to me. Best of luck!
The two children stared in wonder at the note. “Weird book, eh? Is it some kind of role playing game? Does it contain any magic spells? There must be something cool inside!” Ricky started to flip through the book curiously. The pages were so thin and delicate, that even the softest breeze moved the pages. Soon the boy was just waving his hand over it, to move from one page to the next. Was this book really designed to be moved by the wings of a harpy?
Elisa watched as the pages came to the middle point. “Looks like a whole bunch of rules… how to fly in formation, table manners… some kind of ranking system… must be a game someone made?” Elisa wasn’t sure what to make of it. “I can’t read the magic stuff… um…” She landed on a page that looked to be some kind of… map? “Weird…” So this was someone’s attempt to try play a game?
“We should totally try one of the spells! Maybe something that means we wont have to have our operations?”
It was a hope… “Hm, what about this spell? Its only a few words…”
With the utterance of those words, the children instantly vanished, along with the strange handbook.
