For as long as it could remember, Nimio had been alone. It had watched those strange creatures from afar, wary of their glowing sticks and sharp rods, turning its head away whenever they brutally killed an innocent soul of the forest. It had wept whenever they spilled blood, but it did not dare approach, for fear it would become their prey.
But something was different about tonight and Nimio couldn't help itself but glide down the mountain to peek at them and see what they were doing. Thousands of tiny orange lights now illuminated the village, once dark after the arrival of night, and Nimio pushed its tiny hand into one, squeaking when it went right through. He had seen nothing like it before. It was beautiful beyond comparison, but Nimio felt a rising uneasiness in its stomach. If they had the power to bring light into the shadows, what else was going to change? It wasn't sure it liked what was happening, but what could it do? Nimio was a kind creature; it took no pleasure from seeing all the violence around it and it hurt it not to be able to do anything about it.
But even Nimio couldn't deny the atmosphere that night was different from the one before; it seemed like the entire village was alive and many people bustled around, laughing, and hugging each other, all previous qualms forgotten. This, Nimio enjoyed. It was as if someone had swapped the dreary settlement with another, much nicer version. Everyone was happy – and the air crackled with their happiness, making Nimio's pointy hat perk up. Its hat hadn't done that since the first disease had come to this realm and had taken the lives of so many babes. Nimio had to cover its ears so it wouldn't hear their weep; why had the gods been so angry? Why couldn't it help?
A little girl passed right through Nimio, prancing away with a wooden toy clutched in her hand. It looked after the tiny creature, smiling. It knew it couldn't be a part of the celebration, but being around was enough. Many more passed through it, never realizing there was another creature there with them. Before Nimio knew it, the celebration had died down, and it was left standing alone, roaming the empty paths, picking leftover fruits from the vendors' carts, and driving its sharp teeth into them. It had missed apples; they were by far the best things these beings had learnt to harvest and grow with their shrewd observation skills. If something had a weakness, humans analyzed it and taught themselves to take advantage of it. It was a good skill to have, however two-edged.
Nimio stopped when its iridescent eyes cast a light on the same little girl from before, only this time she was sitting outside one of the houses, watching through the window. The wooden toy was nowhere to be seen, and Nimio approached her warily, glancing at where she was so avidly staring. Inside, men and women had gathered for another party and in their midst, a young boy, only a little older than the girl, was squealing with delight as he received a brand-new coat his mother lovingly draped on his shoulders.
The girl sniffled and moved away from the window, puckering her lower lip. Nimio looked at her sparkling blue eyes and saw in them the loneliness it had felt for so long. It was so clear that for a brief second, Nimio was taken aback by the power with which it twisted inside its soul.
The girl looked up and frowned at Nimio. A strange sound came out of her mouth – she was speaking to it. Nimio stared at her, unsure of what to say. It couldn't speak the tongue of humans; it couldn't speak at all.
"Mara," it distinguished one of the words as she pointed to her chest.
Mara – her name. Nimio had a name too, but it couldn't recall who had given it to him. Mara smiled at him and grabbed hold of his poncho, dragging him with her. It followed her diligently, glancing back to the mountain. It would still be there when it returned, but Nimio wasn't sure it wanted to go back.
It grabbed Mara's hand with one of its own and smiled when the little girl grinned and pointed to an apple cart.
"Apple?"