Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

had been replaced with a bright yellow sundress.
“Um, can everyone come to the kitchen please?”
    Charlie’s curiosity at Ever
had him leading the pack into the kitchen. He stopped short. Mina bumped into
his back, but she was momentarily stunned as well.
    Ever had transformed the
country kitchen into a happy garden full of plants of all kinds. Bright paper
lanterns hung from the ceiling with little tea lite candles burning. On the
kitchen table in the middle of the room was a picture, framed in mint green, of
her mother laughing and hugging Mina and Charlie.
    Mina remembered that day. She
and Charlie were thirteen and five. That windy day, they had gone to the park
and were trying to fly Charlie’s homemade cardboard kite. Of course it didn’t
fly, but that didn’t stop them from trying to get the diamond shaped piece to
go up in the air for more than five seconds. Just when Charlie was about to
cry, the kite had taken off and hung in the air   long enough to make him smile.
    That had been a good day,
filled with lots of laughs and memories. Mina wasn’t sure where Ever found the
picture, but she was glad she did. It was a great one of their mom. That’s how
she wanted to remember her.
    “Ever, it’s beautiful.” Mina
softly touched the edge of the frame and then ran her fingers over the blooming
flowers that curled around the table. It took her a second to realize there
wasn’t a single vase in the room. Ever had made all of the flowers appear and
bloom magically. “Thanks.”
    Ever blushed. “I felt it was
only right to honor your mother’s passing with a celebration.”
    “A celebration?” Nan asked.
“That doesn’t sound like the right kind of thing to do at the moment.”
    Ever looked like she was
struggling to hold back a snappy retort. She took a deep breath and slowly
explained. “Well, Fae live for a very, very, very long time. Deaths aren’t
usually sudden and unexpected. By the time we pass on, we’ve lived a very long
and fulfilled life. The passing of Fae is usually a great honor. I know her
death was sudden, but I want to give tribute to your mom with the best the Fae
can offer.” She gave a stern glare to Nan, and Mina knew there would be no
arguing this.
    Unsure what to do, Mina took
a seat in one of the kitchen chairs that had been pushed to the side, and
Charlie scurried up next to her. Brody and Nan sat in the row behind Mina and
Charlie, while Ever stood in the middle of the kitchen next to the table and
cleared her throat.
    “Um, sorry. I’ve only been to
a few of these. And I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare.”
    “It’s fine,” Mina reassured
her.
    Ever smiled wide, and her
hair moved about as her wings started to flutter in excitement. She smoothed
her hands over her dress before turning to a small pearlescent seed on the
table in front of the frame.
    Ever waved her hand, and the
seed moved to float above her fingertips. “Once upon a time, there was a seed.
Small, insignificant, helpless. But Mother Earth took it into her womb and kept
it warm and protected.” Ever cupped her hands over the seed and continued the
story. “Then, Father Sun spread forth his love from above and nourished the
seed with light and sent the rain and whispered for the seed to bloom and
grow.”
    She opened her hands
slightly, and bright green vines began to stretch out of her hands. “Our path
dictates how strong we will be and how tall we will grow. Will our life grow
into something beautiful, or will we develop thorns for protection?” The vines
bloomed into bright pink flowers with orange tints. “Each journey is
different.”
    Mina turned to watch her
younger brother get up and spin under the giant flower buds that continued to
blossom and erupt. He held his hands up in the air to catch the colorful burst
of Fae pollen. Nan and Brody followed suit as each they stood and stared above
them in wonder.
    Nan squealed as some of it
touched her lips and she tasted it. “Cotton candy?”