The One About Looking: The Tales of Pesk

There was once a pixie named Pesk. Pesky by name, and, well, pesky by nature. Filled with questions as there are stars in the sky. Pesk just had to know the "why" of everything.

Now, don't get me wrong. Curiosity is a fine thing. Wonderment and exploration are to be encouraged. But when curiosity is used as a path to power... my oh, is that a recipe for trouble! Alas and alack, this was the path our Pesk had set upon. The wee pixie had figured out that knowing the 'why' of a thing often lent itself to knowing how to control that thing. And it wasn't that power was Pesk's goal, it was more that life was more, hmmm, orderly, shall we say, when it could be nudged in the desired direction.

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And so it was that Pesk headed to the Faerieland's Tower of Knowledge, off to find out more answers to the questions of 'why'. It didn't take long for the sprite to take in all that was available, growing daily in skill and power. But still and by, it wasn't enough. What to do?

Soon enough, a rumour floated by. A rumour of a magician of unprecedented skill, a paragon of power, a fearsome fae who knew the very nature of the universe itself. Said to have hidden himself away beyond the Pale Sea, past the Draconis Mountains, through the Snarling Sands and in the deep of the darkest Nightshadow Forest, there to commune with the earth and the sky and the stars beyond.

Well, what was Pesk to do, but follow this rumour. Daunting though the journey seemed, filled with the bravado of one who thought overmuch of their own abilities, Pesk was confident of success. Indeed, months passed. Months of arduous effort, of heart-stopping adventure and brushes with death. It was a challenge unlike any other the pixie had faced and it forced the growth of the pixie's magical skill even further.

Finally, both weary and excited, Pesk found a small clearing in the heart of Nightshadow Forest.  There was an unassuming wooden hut with a few flowers growing around it. Not quite the dwelling expected of one with unlimited magical skill. Still and by, up to the door the pixie went.

"Come in", came a voice from within.

Well now, the moment was here. It was all Pesk could do not to just leap through the door, electrified with anticipation. But the moment called for solemnity and a dignified walk was more appropriate to the occasion, the little pixie felt.

The single room within the hut was cosy and homely with a bed and a banked fire for cooking and a couple of books on a low table beside a comfortable chair. And the All Powerful Magician? A mere goblin. A goblin! Green of face and lumpy of feet and practically cross-eyed from trying to see past the warts on his nose.

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"Hello Pesk. Cup of tea? I'm Moggle. Come in, come in, have a seat on the bed." The goblin bustled about after offering up a chipped mug.

Numb, Pesk took the mug in nerveless fingers and settled on the bed as one in a dream. Or a nightmare.

Moggle continued, "I expect you're here to be like me, eh? Secrets of the universe and all that?"

Pesk nodded, mutely. This was not at all how the imagined meeting was meant to go.

Moggle straightened up and stared at his visitor. "Hrmf." One sharp nod, "Right then. You'll be wanting some teaching. I'm thinking you'll need the hard road but we'll try the easy one first, just in case." And with that he darted outside, "Come! Come!"

Shedding pack and cup of tea, Pesk dazedly followed the odd goblin back out into the filtered sunshine where he was hunkered down in the dirt, gazing at his flowers.

"Look! No no, don't look. See! Really see." A grubby green finger pointed to a plant with deep green leaves and a small red flower. "Tell me. What do you see?"

Wondering if this was a terrible jest, Pesk bent over and stared. No sudden burst of illumination followed. "Uh. A plant? With a flower?"

"No no no no no! You're looking, you need to SEE. Beyond what's on the outside. See its true nature. I know you know the why of why the leaves are green, why the flower grows just so, where it gets its food from. Use up all that and more." Moggle twisted about and poked her in the chest.

Startled, Pesk fell back to land to sit on the ground and an abrupt peal of laughter escaped. It was as if a dam were released and before long the wee pixie was in the throes of helpless, miserable laughter. To have come all this way, only to be confronted by a mad goblin. Perhaps this entire trip had also wrenched sanity away.

Moggle had darted back, then slowly crept forward again as Pesk wiped tears away.

"The plant", he said, "the plant isn't just a plant. It uses the soil, drinks the rain, basks in the sunshine. It lives and dies and provides seeds for the birds and food for the slugs and turns back into soil for the next plant to come. It is more than leaves and flowers. Don't just look, see." Persistent, at least. And he grabbed Pesk's chin to make sure she was still watching his garden patch.

Some legends say there was something in his touch. Others claim he was insane and Pesk came to the great realisation without his aid. Either way, there, in that moment, Pesk saw. And couldn't un-see. The pixie saw the life in the plants and their entire cycle glowed. From the plants, to the grass. From the grass to the trees. Beyond the trees to the birds and clouds and sky above. Back down, down down to the wee goblin cavorting about. For such was his glee at seeing Pesk see, that he was turning cartwheels of joy.

Pesk saw. And wept again, for the twisted green goblin leaping about shone brighter than the sun, so filled with magic and passion and clarity of purpose was he.

"Aha", he said, simply. "Seeing." Moggle gave a little satisfied nod.

Pesk barely heard him, so caught up in the wonder of it all. For with this seeing came true knowledge and power to follow. Seeing the all of everything was a terrible and wondrous ability, fit to move mountains, reshape rivers and bring forth life from dust.

"And yet, and yet!" Moggle again, "It's not enough. Come come, one last thing. One last thing to learn. Follow, follow." Wrapping Pesk's hand in his, he dragged his visitor to where a small stream meandered past the edge of the clearing and back into the forest. "See!" There, he gestured down to the barely moving waters.

Obedient, eager, even, Pesk bent to look at the stream. And there was another Pesk looking back up, the reflection. Using new eyesight, Pesk first looked at that pixie shimmering there, and then saw.

It was horrifying.

Reeling back, Pesk fell to the grass, pale with shock. "I... I'm broken. I'm damaged. I have cracks in me. I am unfinished and unlovely and ... wrong. I'm wrong!" Anguish flooded the words.

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"Ooopsie," came Moggle's underwhelming response. "You're still looking, Pesk. Pixies and people are deeper than plants and birds. See. Really see. See within and without, at the same time. It's not so bad. Not so bad, no." Coaxing and guiding, he brought Pesk back to the stream.

A wince. A glance. Then at last a stare. Finally. At long last, Pesk saw. Pesk saw a pixie who would not be Pesk were it not for those flaws. The flaws did not define. They did not limit. They were just part of the whole. In fact, were it not for those cracks and breaks, light would not have reached some other parts, some other fragile beautiful illuminated parts.

Pesk saw. Pesk saw beauty. Pesk, at last, gained mastery over the most important thing in the universe, the one thing that limits our abilities: oneself.


A different type of post for today. A story, a tale, a tale in another world that is a tale about us. Let me know if you'd like a few more of these, every so often, or if you prefer my regular shorter posts.