you have hatched...
A young man is on a small fishing boat, casting out his net. The day is bright and clear and warm.
The water begins to bubble and boil not far from his boat.
He watches in amazement as a beautiful bronze castle rises from the sea.
This, he knows, is Hy Brasil, the home of the fairies. He whispers this to himself, then says it aloud, then shouts it joyfully for all the world to hear...
Once every seven years, Hy Brasil rises from the ocean for a brief moment. If you can throw fire ashore, the fairies must grant you a wish. That is their law.
And it is he, Murdo, who found the right spot! For it is different every time! And he, Murdo, who chose the right day, the right hour, the right moment!
He grabs a storm lantern and struggles to light it... and now he can hear the fairies sing, the most beautiful melody ever sung...
Finally, he lights the lantern and throws it as hard as he can. It soars over the wall of the castle and lands ashore.
Murdo yells with excitement, punches the air, dances a jig, and watches to see where the fairies will appear: on the battlements? At the gate?
High above him, a face peers over the balcony. Then another. Another. Soon, there are many. They look at him quizzically.
Murdo cups his hands to his mouth and yells: Gold! I wish for a big pile of gold! As big as my boat!
They don't reply, so he yells it again. And again.
Finally, one of them raises a hand, and opens its mouth. Sounds come out, not singing, not speaking, but sounds. Not language. Nothing Murdo can understand.
Head in his hands, he realises: a chime child. Only a chime child can speak the fairy language. Only a child born during the clock-strike of midnight. Here he is, alone on the ocean, and the fairies can't understand his wish. No wonder there are no stories of fairies granting wishes...
Murdo curses as he watches Hy Brasil sink back down beneath the waves. Some day, he swears, even if he's old and grey, some day he will return to Hy Brasil with a chime child.
Some day.
