Tour Guide

"Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. This phenomenon marked a new age of human history, the revelation that we were not alone. This phenomenon coincided with the arrival of the Elhokai people, on this spot, 8th of March, 2019."

Todd read the words off the brass plaque; the raised text illuminated by both the stars in the night’s sky, and two small garden lights mounted either side of the concrete pillar at the base of the memorial. He didn’t have to read them, of course, he knew it off by heart now, like his childhood telephone number, or the national anthem, or the lyrics to ‘War Pigs’.

"Now, records state that it was a hiker leaving the park who first sighted the clouds...but if you ask us locals, it was a couple of kids who snuck out to drink their parent’s beer under the stars..."

The crowd chuckled. He continued.

“The cloud formation appeared for almost ten minutes, rolling and churning over these hills, visible for miles around. And like the plaque says, while the clouds coincided with the arrival of the Elhokai, there is no direct indication as to where exactly they came from. The Elhokai even confirmed that the clouds were not a by-product of their arrival here, that clouds of their lands look like ours, our normal ones I mean.

“Anyway, when the clouds dissipated, a single being was standing in this spot who had not previously stepped foot on this land, this country, this planet...”

He pointed to the statue mounted atop the concrete pillar. It was a bronze likeness of a tall, lithe man, clad in a robe-like tunic, with long flowing hair, chiselled facial features, and pointed ears. The statue held a staff in one hand, and extended the other in a gesture of greeting, a human gesture of greeting, anyway. Almost everyone in the group whipped out their cell phones to take photos of the monument.

“...Ulyar Braern Mordithaas was chosen to be an emissary of the Elhokai people – a race of what we would consider Elves within our own mythologies. Their world - along with its people - was dying, and he was given the seemingly impossible task of finding a new home for them. Employing the use of a trans-dimensional incantation, he explored a reported one-hundred and fifty-five thousand, three-hundred and forty-two multiverses until he found a world safe for his people - ours.

“And while it would have been a lovely spot for the Elhokai to enter our world, it’s still something of a surprise to us locals that this was the spot - not in New York, or Washington D.C, or downtown LA, but here in Decorah, Iowa of all places, that the first Elhokai refugees arrived.

“Now I know we all lived through it, we all saw the news coverage and the YouTube videos, and we all basically watched it happen in real time, but I get paid by the word, and we still have some time til midnight so bear with me, folks. The ‘hiker’...”

Todd used air quotes to punchline the previous joke in the tour’s script. The crowd chuckled again, and Todd continued, again.

“...called the police, and after a couple of minutes of them speaking with Ulyar, they realised it wasn’t a case of a LARPer lost in the woods, or some kind of prank. The cops called the FBI, and before long the park was swarming with emergency services staff, the National Guard, CDC field agents, Homeland security, and members of the Parks Department. The area was on lockdown until he could be cleared from being a threat.

“After six hours of testing and interview, he was taken away to a secure location, where he met with the President of the United States. After a lengthy discussion, the President granted Ulyar and his people emergency refugee status, and a mammoth task of helping them integrate into our world began. I guess that makes it two walls that he couldn’t build...”

The crowd chuckled yet again, and Todd continued, yet again.

“All said and done, the remaining Elhokai were migrated to our fine city, almost ten thousand souls spared a grim fate, and thrust into a world as alien to them as they are to us. Now, back to the reason you’re all here...”

Todd glanced at his watch. 11:59.

“It’s almost time, they should be along any minute now...”

Todd held a hand up to the star-lit sky. The speech he was giving was meant to be timed out to conclude on the stroke of midnight, to finish as the clouds began to roll out of nothingness and into the sky. But the more Todd gave the tour, the more he realised that the clouds almost never appeared at midnight on-the-dot. A handful of times they’d taken upwards of fifteen minutes to occur. They couldn’t come quick enough, these days.

He looked around the small crowd of sightseers gathered in front of him. A cluster of Chinese tourists, their group leader rapid-firing Todd’s words on to them in Mandarin. A handful of empty nesters with well-developed tans, their early 2000s digital cameras poised and waiting. A couple of dude-bro looking young guys. People of all races and age groups. And a cute girl in a knit-cap, hovering near the back of the crowd. Hmm.

Todd dropped his skyward gesture, the clouds unwilling to stick to the script. He turned back to the tour group.

“Looks like they missed their cue. Does anyone have any questions while we wait?”

A murmur passed amongst the group before a portly boomer in a Hawaiian shirt that seemed wildly inappropriate for the season as well as the occasion, spoke up.

“What do the locals think of them?”

A pretty standard question, a very complex answer to try to cram in before the show began. Todd, unlike the clouds, stayed on script.

“It was a very sudden event for the people of Decorah to wrap their heads around, a lot of unwanted national and global attention, not to mention the population doubling in a manner of weeks. Most people were stunned by the event, some people were indifferent, and unfortunately, some people didn’t take kindly to the city’s newest members. But after an adjustment period where we learned to get along with one another, quite a few of the Elhokai actually ended up moving on to other states and even countries, and nowadays they seem to be regarded like any other citizen of Decorah, more or less...”

“Does anyone give them shit?”

Urgh, just let it go...

“I can’t honestly say...maybe you should ask an Elhokai. Maybe one of them should be giving this tour!”

While his first answer was to the Boomer, he made the last comment to the group, with as much light-heartedness as he could manage; an attempt to get a cheap laugh, and to end the Boomer’s conversation. It was late, and besides, he wanted to avoid any controversial discussions from taking root. Some muted chuckles, with one or two tour members looking offput or feeling awkward. Thanks, guy.

“That’ll be the day...”

God damned Boomer. Todd exhaled hard, let the comment go, not wanting to bite. Unfortunately these kinds of remarks popped up from time to time, and not just from the post-world war II generation. Though it was disappointing and distressing to hear, a small part of Todd felt like he understood the attitude. After all, the influx of Elhokai into the local community changed everything, including flooding the job market with people who could use magic to solve their problems, outshining their human competition. Todd was lucky to have landed this job, as mundane as it could be.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, but according to his watch was only three minutes, Todd felt the air grow thicker. This was it. Finally. Thank goodness.

“Can anyone else feel that? Feel it getting more humid? Like we’ve stepped off a plane into the tropics? They’re coming.”

The tour group craned their necks up, scanning for activity, while Todd checked his phone. He didn’t need to look; he’d seen it so many times he’d lost count at this point.

Without sound, a small purple dot appeared miles above their heads, and began to bloom. The crowd gasped as it grew quickly and quietly - looking like some practical special effect from a fantasy filmy from the eighties. It looked almost like dense, billowing smoke, expanding until the stars were blotted out. Vibrant lavender light pulsed within the clouds, and the field below their feet glowed in a khaki-indigo hue.

The crowd applauded, and Todd yawned. For the next ten minutes they all took group shots, selfies, fancy DSLR landscapes, and TikTok reels of the clouds; Todd moving from group to group, juggling multiple phones and cameras before finally, the light within the clouds began to dim.

“Get your last shots in folks, they’re almost done!”

Todd stepped away from the group, pacing closer to the monument, and went back to social media apps on his cell, figuring there to be at least a couple of minutes before the spectacle was over. A soft voice close to him almost made him drop his phone.

“You don’t seem too captivated by the clouds.”

Todd looked up, his heart slowly descending from his throat. It was the cute girl, standing to his side, eyes fixed on the clouds.

“Huh? I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there...”

“I said you don’t seem too captivated by the clouds.”

Todd scrambled to put an answer together that wouldn’t end up with a bad Google review for his employers.

“They are very beautiful; I’m just...checking in with my boss.”

“Oh...”

She looked down from the stars, and Todd felt all the air go out of his body. Her eyes were stunning. Stunning yet...odd. He couldn’t properly discern their colour due to slowly fading light the clouds cast on everything beneath them, but they almost looked entirely white with the exception of the pupils. While their colour appeared cold, they projected a warmth and kindness, an odd kind of familiarity.

They seemed to see directly into Todd, like they had a silent dialogue reserved only for lovers to share. They had barely spoken, but he felt like he was looking into the eyes of someone he had a long, deep connection with. Someone who knew him and all his flaws intimately, and loved and championed him despite them. Someone his soul was entwined with. He was entranced, his mouth hanging open.

“...that is a shame.”

She wandered away from Todd and the monument, watching the clouds begin to recede. My god, he thought, she is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. It took him a good minute to calm his heartbeat, and to get his wits back about him. He cleared his head, and then his throat.

“Sorry folks, show’s over! If you’ll follow me, we’ll head back to the pickup point. Thank you again for choosing Decorah Midnight Tours, I’ve been Todd and it’s been a pleasure showing you the magic of our clouds...”

The group followed Todd down the footpath from the monument, out of the park, and into the parking lot. They shook his hand, patted him on the back, and some even tipped him as they hopped into their tour buses, ride shares, and rental cars. Todd made his way back to his own vehicle.

“I am Fae.”

Todd almost dropped his keys. He spun around. The cute girl again!

“Excuse me?”

“I am Fae. You are Todd?”

She was talking to him again. He felt a faint warmth begin to spread over his chest. She walked slowly over to where he stood, almost seeming to glide.

“Yeah, Todd.”

“I am Fae. Thank you for the tour!”

Normally, when faced with speaking to a woman he found attractive, Todd was a mess – regularly managing to get both feet in his mouth at once. But there was something about this woman that made him feel...open?

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Is this your first time here? Are you on vacation?”

“No, I moved here a couple of years ago, I just have not seen the clouds yet. They were...beautiful.”

Todd caught a strange cadence in her voice, an almost Scandinavian accent. Her tone was different too, most group members reacted to the clouds with joy or excitement or wonder, but the impression Todd was getting was that she had been profoundly moved, awed by the experience.

“Do you do other tours of this area?”

“Just this, I’m afraid. We’re a small company, only three of us.”

“That is a shame.”

An idea occurred to Todd.

“Well, uh, it might not be as much of a phenomenon as the clouds, but have you ever been to Green Bark Diner, over on Water Street? They have really good coffee and pie. I was going to grab some, you could...”

“Are you asking me out?”

“Kind of. Yes. If you’re cool with that, if you’re not seeing anyone...”

“I am not. And I have been here a little while now, and have seen that place quite a few times, but have not been there. I would like to go.”

Todd tried to hide the smile he felt surging from his heart up to his face.

“Do you have a ride? Or could I...”

“I will meet you there.”

“Oh, sure. Well I’ll meet you there...see you in a few minutes!”

Todd smiled at her, and when she in turn smiled at him, he felt a trembling in his chest, felt his cheeks flush.

“I will see you soon!”

He climbed into his car and started it up. As he slowly drove out of the parking lot, he waved at Fae, who waved back. He contemplated cracking his window, asking if she wanted a ride again, but she was already looking at her cell. Probably checking where her Uber was.

A short time later, Todd sat in one of the comfy booths that lined the front windows of the diner. His backside had barely touched the seat before he spotted Fae walking toward him. He immediately stood up.

“Hi!”

“Hello, Todd!”

She smiled, and he almost melted like a candle being lit by a jet engine.

“Please, take a seat!”

She sat down opposite him, and he handed her a menu.

“Oh I do not need that; since you recommended this place I will have whatever you suggest!”

“You sure?”

“I trust you.”

“Okay, I’ll get you a cappuccino - they have great beans - and a slice of their key lime pie, it’s amazing. They make everything in the pie from scratch, using ingredients they get from their own farm!”

“That sounds good!”

Todd signalled the waitress, and made their order. He turned back to Fae.

In the warm lighting of the diner, he finally got a proper look at her. Her face was kind, her skin a glowing olive, and those eyes; they weren’t white, they were an almost ice-blue; piercing and somewhat ethereal, inviting yet still a little strange.

“What is it, Todd?”

“Oh nothing, just, you have really pretty eyes. I’m sorry, you probably hear that a lot.”

“Sometimes...”

She made a slightly shy grin, and Todd was overcome with a strange feeling, a sudden urge to shield this woman from any experience that could ever make her feel anything except happiness and wonder and joy.

“So...”

“So...what, Todd?”

He smiled. She was different to every other woman he’d spoken to before, well, the few he'd summoned the courage to.

“So...I’m trying to think of something to ask you that isn’t just boring ‘getting-to-know-you’ kind of stuff. I feel...this feels different. I feel comfortable with you, like I’ve known you forever! Like all that usual small talk would just be...a waste. I can’t explain it, maybe I’m just projecting...”

“Or maybe we are just really comfortable with each other?”

She looked right into his eyes, and for the first time he didn’t feel vulnerable with being locked in the gaze of an attractive woman. She was radiant, like a beacon of pure hopeful light amongst a deathly black fog. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

“Maybe...”

“I will go first, if that is okay?”

“Sure.”

“So tell me the truth, Todd...are you really not fascinated by the clouds?”

“Yeah, well, I mean I was at first. But after seeing them four nights a week, every week, for the last year? They’ve kind of lost their magic.”

“Was that a pun?”

Todd laughed.

“Not intentionally, but yeah, I guess it was.”

A brief silence passed.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty and all, and the first time I saw them, yeah, I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. But I guess it’s like a lot of things, the more you’re exposed to it, the more normal it becomes.”

“That is true...”

“You seemed to enjoy them, though.”

She exhaled, like the very thought of the experience took some mental fortitude to reflect on.

“I do not think I know any words to express the feeling they gave me. Nothing else I have ever seen has made me feel the way those clouds did. To say they were beautiful feels...trite? I think I will probably come on your tour again some time.”

“As long as you don’t get sick of hearing me give the same speech each time.”

She giggled. He almost imploded.

“Okay, my turn. What are you doing here, in Decorah? I don’t mean what you do for a living, but you said you moved here recently, what is it that brought you here?”

“I want to help people. I have seen a lot of sadness, and pain, and a lot of the dark side of what people can do to each other. I want to help, and I want to heal, and I want to bring light to as many people as I can. I see the world as being out of balance, and I want to do what I can to tip things back towards equilibrium.”

“Well, mission accomplished with me, you’ve definitely brightened my night already, and the pie hasn’t even arrived...”

She blushed, and Todd was enraptured.

“Bad joke, sorry. That’s a really noble goal, I wish I had that kind of certainty...”

Todd was cut off as the waitress brought over their food and drink, along with a couple of glasses of water. Todd thanked the woman, and waited for Fae before digging in.

“Go on, tell me what you think.”

Fae picked up a fork, sliced off a portion of the pie, and took a bite. She closed her eyes, savouring the flavour.

“Oh my goodness, that taste is wonderful!”

“Right?!”

Todd took a bite of his own slice, washing it down with coffee.

“What were you about to say?”

Todd searched his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I was gonna say, I wish I had the kind of certainty you have. I had some vague idea of what I wanted to do with my life and then boom, the Elhokai show up, and everything kinda went to shit.”

She took another forkful of pie, and chased it with a sip of coffee. She pointed at the food.

“This is all good. Why did everything go to shit?”

“I dunno...okay; I was set to enrol in college, but the funding was slashed - just like funding was slashed everywhere else - when they showed up. I wanted to go into engineering, or sciences, but all of a sudden, I’m missing out on scholarship to a guy who can enchant metal to dance around like it has a life of its own, or some girl who can blow fire from her fingertips.

I studied hard in high school, and I mean I busted my ass. I could have been playing video games and smoking pot with the other guys, or chasing girls, but I had a vision, I wanted to be an inventor. I volunteered my time and energy to learn as much as I could, all with the goal of a college education at the end of tunnel. But no, we gotta put the Elhokai first.

“So, plan B - I try to go into entry-level jobs in the field, but...same deal there. Not to mention the priority given to them so they can integrate quicker and support themselves. I mean, I’m all for them becoming a functional part of society and everything, but is it fair that I had to miss out? Is it fair that I have to miss my one opportunity to a good career and a decent wage? That I’m stuck running some bullshit rinky-dink tour because of some fucking Elves?!”

Todd stopped himself, feeling he’d gotten too comfortable too quickly.

“I’m sorry, that was a bit too real.”

Fae put her fork down on the table, staring into the coffee mug.

“No, I understand. I am sorry to hear you had to go through that, Todd.”

She paused, and took a steady breath. She looked up from the table.

“But I thank you for allowing me to see your vulnerable side. Please allow me to be vulnerable with you also.”

“Of course...”

She took off her knit cap, long blackcurrant locks spilling down her shoulders. Todd didn’t think it was possible, but she somehow got even more beautiful. He felt his palms begin to sweat, could feel his pulse in his neck, in his wrists, imagined he could see it bouncing the chest of his t-shirt in and out, in and out. She tucked her hair back behind her ears. Her pointed ears.

Oh.

No.

“My name is Faethurin Xur Adwaelyn, and I come from the Yllamora forest, of the Elhokai Nation.”

FUCK!!!

How did he not pick up on this?! Her accent, her unique way of talking, the fact that she’d only been in Decorah for a couple of years?! He was immediately overcome with a feeling of shame and disgust.

“I am SO sorry! I feel horrible for what I just said!”

“I know.”

“I can understand if you’d like me to leave, or if you’d like to leave. I’m so, so sorry, Fae!”

“I know you are. I am here because I see something within you. Remember what I said before about balance?”

Todd nodded, internally grateful that she was still willing to talk to him.

“I meant that. Of my people, I am one of the few whose abilities are limited. I cannot cast inter-dimensional spells, or summon the elements, or change my form. My power seems somewhat trivial by comparison.”

“What can you do?”

“I can see into people, I can see their truth. I can see the real face behind the mask they wear for others. And despite some darkness inside you, I can see great light, great potential.”

“You can?”

She nodded.

“But that light will fade if you allow the darkness to feed upon it.”

Todd dry-swallowed. She sipped at the coffee. Todd gulped from his glass of water.

A moment passed, and while Todd felt appalled at his own thoughts and the horrible way he’d spoken of Fae’s people right to her face, she seemed to still be interested in sticking around.

“Look, I uh, said and thought some horrible things. But that isn’t who I want to be. And I barely know you, but I want to know more. I can be better. Can I...do you mind if I try this whole interaction again?”

Fae smiled, and reached across the table to touch his hand.

“I would like that!”

Todd’s world became drowned in beautiful, warm light.

© Paul Martyn, 2023