The Invention

Valentini

The Invention

There once was a fairy, born of a silent laughter. From that silence, she came into the world without a voice. Her name was Heidi Lace.

***

Ching! Thwack! Bang! Clank!

Sounds echoed throughout the workshop as curious onlookers watched. Hammers wacked. Metal Springs boinged. Screws whirred. This was the day that Tinkerbell demonstrated to the entire Hollow that lost things could be used. Among these onlookers was Heidi Lace.

Heidi would attend these public demonstrations from Tinkerbell, eager to understand the secrets behind lost things. Each session felt like unlocking a new kind of magic, not the kind that sparkled, but the kind that ticked, turned, and twanged. The most unforgettable moment came when Tinkerbell opened the back of a pocket watch and showed how time could be held together by gears no wider than a sunflower seed. For the first time, Heidi saw beauty in precision and possibility in rhythm.

Heidi’s eyes filled with wonder. Her fingers twitched with ideas of her own. What else can be made with lost things? She thought to herself.

Heidi wanted something more. She dreamt of crafting something grand. Why should the pinnacle of lost things just be a spray painter? Heidi would enthusiastically go home each night and sketch out ideas and create blueprints for potential prototypes. She was so proud of her work. Her work was intricate, whimsical, yet…strange, and she loved it. She dreamed of showing Fairy Mary her designs, hoping for a nod of approval, maybe even the kind of support Tinkerbell had received. Maybe then, the Hollow could hear her.

That night, Heidi gathered her blueprints and flew out to the workshop. Her heart filled with joy and hope. Her vision will be realised tonight. The scrolls she carried weren’t just sketches, they were pieces of her heart, etched in ink and invention.

As soon as she saw a familiar red hair, she flew down fast with the blueprints. Laying out all her scrolls that were full of diagrams of gears, notes on rhythm, and drawings of motion, stitched together from weeks of study. She pointed to the blueprint of a pocket watch, showing how each cog and spring translated into movement and rhythm. Every page built toward a single dream: a mechanical companion.

Fairy Mary examined each scroll in silence, her expression unreadable as Heidi laid out her work. At last, Fairy Mary spoke, her voice measured as if she already had a response planned from the beginning. “I won’t pretend I understand it all. But I know craftsmanship when I see it.” She tapped one scroll gently, then met Heidi’s gaze. “Why don’t you build this one, then come back with the final product.” An approval or a challenge?

Heidi stood in silence as Fairy Mary’s words settled over her. She had the go ahead! She nodded politely, gathered her blueprints, her hands trembling from happiness, and quickly flew home.

That night, she tinkered. She placed her other scrolls in an acorn box beneath her workbench and closed the lid gently, keeping her focus on the scroll that Fairy Mary pointed to.

Days passed.

The Hollow buzzed with its usual ambiance. Tools clanging, wheels turning, Bobble and Clank’s songs echoing. But Heidi no longer joined them. She was focused inside of her pinecone house.

Outside, no one noticed at first. Heidi had always been quiet. But slowly, whispers began. “Have you seen Heidi?” “She hasn’t been to the workshop in days.” “She was working on something, wasn’t she?”

***

Overworked, Heidi decided to take a break by going to Maple Tree Hill. There she found her Animal Fairy friend, Oakroot. Oakroot stood with one hand raised and her voice commanding. She was teaching a group of baby birds to come when called.

“Alright, guys, when I give the signal,” began Oakroot, “1, 2…3! Come!” She clapped her hands. Yet the birds stayed put. “Come here!” The baby birds still did not respond. Oakroot sighed.

The leaves rustled behind Oakroot and she looked back, Heidi was creeping up to her. Heidi visibly looked like she hadn't seen the sun in days. Dark circles beneath her eyes.

“Hi, Heidi,” said Oakroot. “I know that look. You’re working on something aren’t you?” Heidi nodded, then mimed the strike of a hammer. She was tinkering. “Well, whatever it is, can I be the first to see it?” Heidi nodded gently. Of course Oakroot gets the honour to be the first to witness her projects.

***

Heidi resumed work in her house. The gears clicked. The springs boinged. She gathered blue and green feathers to coat the bird. And slowly, piece by piece, the mechanical bird began to take shape.

In the middle of Heidi’s home, the completed mechanical bird sat silently. She took out a key, wound the bird tight, and released it. The bird’s song began with a soft click. The sound of gears aligning and falling into place. It ticked and whirred like that pocket watch.

Then came the chirp with a tremble of metallic resonance. It didn’t sound artificial. Each note was shaped with great care.

Inside the bird’s chest, a pair of tiny bellows pulsed in rhythmic motion, guided by a dance of gears and levers. With each compression, air was pushed through a slender whistle, producing a chirp that was both metallic and melodic. Its song, shaped by precision.

At the heart of the mechanism, a set of cam wheels rotated steadily clockwise. As their followers shifted, they triggered a sequence of movements: the bellows that pushed air, the bird’s beak parted with each note, its head tilted left and right in lifelike curiosity, and its wings fluttered in delicate sync. Every motion was timed to the music, as if the bird itself were alive.

As the bird sang its final note, the gears slowed, and the melody faded into silence. It sat quietly in the middle of her home, waiting to be wound again.

Heidi watched, breath held. Tears welled up. She had done it.

***

The next day began with a gentle rain, but as the hours progressed, the rain grew heavier. By midday, water was rushing through the lowlands, carving out temporary rivers. As long as a fairy didn’t venture out in these areas, the rivers caused no harm.

Heidi stayed indoors, the sound of heavy downpour drummed outside. With the basic mechanism finally complete, she turned to her sketchbook, mapping out future designs and subtle refinements. Her mind filled with new communication possibilities.

Knock! Knock!

Heidi went to the door to see who was knocking. It was Oakroot. Oakroot stood there, soaked through. Her eyes were wide with fright, her breath shallow, and her frame trembled.

“Heidi!” shouted Oakroot in panic. “They’re gone. I-I don't know where they are.” Heidi had a confused yet worried expression. “The birds! The thunder scared them and they flew before I could react. But I can't fly in the rain. I couldn't track them. And they haven't learned to come when called.” She stood trembling, soaked and breathless, she paced around the room with helpless urgency.

Heidi pondered for a moment. She looked to her mechanical companion. Maybe the answer is that simple. They won't answer to a fairy, but, perhaps, to another bird?

Heidi snatched her mechanical companion and exited her house into the downpour. Oakroot followed closely behind. Without delay, Oakroot led Heidi back to the last known location of the juvenile birds. At the edge of the clearing, Heidi crouched and wound the brass bird’s key until it clicked. The tiny gears whirred to life. A clear, melodic chirping spilled into the rainy air. She held her breath, hoping the song would work.

No response.

Heidi and Oakroot moved onwards. Heidi kept winding and unwinding the brass key of her mechanical bird, forcing it to sing again and again. They both remained vigilant and scanned the woods for any disturbance.

After reaching the edge of the meadow, Heidi winded up her bird once more and listened in. A faint chirping could be heard. Oakroot gasped. The two of them ran towards the sound until the chirps got louder and louder.

Eureka! Beneath a fallen branch, a group of baby birds huddled close, their tiny bodies drenched and trembling under the branch’s leaves. Heidi and Oakroot exchanged a glance, as if communicating with their minds, and stepped forward. Together, they began the rescue.

Oakroot clapped and guided the flock, nudging them to walk and stay within a group. Meanwhile, Heidi activated her mechanical bird, its delicate chirps guiding the birds to safety. Together, they returned back to Maple Tree Hill.

“I don’t know what you built,” began Oakroot, “but it helped a lot." Oakroot looked towards the mechanical bird. A smile gleamed across her face. Oakroot never doubted Heidi’s ingenuity. Funny, though, that Oakroot had to see her invention during a crisis, but she was the first to see it; therefore, Heidi kept her promise.

***

Word spread about Heidi and Oakroot heroically saving a group of lost baby birds with the use of a mechanical bird. Other fairies came, very curious. They didn’t understand the mechanical companion, but they admired it. Some asked Heidi to teach them. Others brought her scraps they thought she might use. The mechanical bird became a symbol, not just of invention, but of connection and communication.

Heidi worked to create more elaborate mechanical companions, ones that could speak with words she chose herself. With her latest invention, she finally held a conversation with Oakroot.

"I love Magic Tea Cakes" said Heidi's automata as Heidi bit into a Magic Tea Cake at tea time with Oakroot.

"Finally, someone with good taste," remarked Oakroot with a giggle. "Pumpkin Cakes are nowhere near as good as Magic Tea Cakes." The two fairies giggled and clinked their cakes in a sweet, crumbly toast.

Tea time stretched on, filled with lots of talk, warm sips, and the soft crumble of Magic Tea Cakes.

***

There once was a fairy, born of a silent laughter. She had no voice, yet she had the most to say. Her name was Heidi Lace.