Spring Dreaming

Story
Lily White is a fairy with the ability to announce that spring has come. Even for a fairy, she's considered harmless, and the humans aren't particularly afraid of her. Her arrival is simply seen as another aspect of spring.

Lying under a cherry blossom tree bathed in sunlight, Lily White gently opened her eyes. Still not fully awake, she blinked and took a deep breath... followed by a big yawn. If there was ever a moment that could encapsulate spring, this was it.

Feeling fully awake at last, Lily White noticed that a few cherry blossom petals were slowly drifting down from the tree above her. A gust of wind blew, carrying the petals out of her reach. "Spring came and went while I was sleeping!" she exclaimed with a burst of panic. Luckily, she had nothing to worry about. The cherry blossoms were still in bloom, and all that had happened was that the strongest gust of wind of the spring so far had caused a few leaves to fall prematurely. Realizing her mistake, the Fairy Herald of Spring chuckled to herself.

Spring hadn't ended yet. Lily White understood that now. But there was one thing she didn't understand. Why was she sleeping under a cherry tree? She furrowed her brow and tried to recall what happened before she dozed off. "Oh, yeah..." she mumbled to herself. She'd been going around with a big smile shouting "Spring is here!" and had tired herself out. Next thing she knew, she was nodding off beneath the aforementioned cherry tree. But it's no big deal, she always gets a bit carried away like that when spring arrives.

She felt as if she'd done more than just excitedly fly around announcing the coming of spring, though. "I feel like I swooped into a cherry blossom viewing party and shouted about spring... then stole some of the mochi the party-goers were eating... No, wait. Maybe that was just a dream I had while I was sleeping beneath the cherry tree..." She was starting to get sleepy again and couldn't recall anything clearly. Giving in to the pleasure of a spring nap, she closed her eyes once more and in an instant, fell asleep. As she rolled over, the leaf from a piece of sakura mochi was swept up by the wind and drifted away with the cherry blossom petals.