by Neo Cania
Once upon a time, there were two mythical creatures – the gorgeous but lonely phoenix and the ugly-looking earth dragon. In the world of Encantania, these two were the strongest out of all the beings. Flacaro was the name of the phoenix, and Balaur was that of the earth dragon.
Near the Royal Espana Tree, a magical tree found someplace far, lay Flacaro, arrogantly looking at himself. He said, “I am the most beautiful creature that exists and will ever exist in this world. A grand gathering will take place in a few days, and all shall be mesmerized by me, the beautiful phoenix.”
Flacaro expected this gathering to be different from the previous ones, with creatures of every kind and race finally giving him the attention he thought he deserved, instead of the ugly-looking earth dragon they always admired. “I shall wear the most elegant jewelry and the best-looking clothes,” he declared as he usually does.
Meanwhile, in the opposite direction of the magical tree lay a big spooky-looking cave where Balaur lived. Balaur also thought the same thing as Flacaro. But, he, on the other hand, decided to wear the exact opposite of what the phoenix would be wearing – simple-looking clothes and no pieces of jewelry at all.
Thinking about the previous gatherings, he wished and hoped that his phoenix friend would finally follow the advice that he always gave him: if he wanted to make friends and for people to start liking him, he should be more modest about his appearance because looks are not all there is to an individual. The Pheonix must fix his arrogant remarks and attitude. However, as usual, Flacaro ignored it all, saying they would eventually get close to him because he was beautiful, majestic, and elegant.
The day had finally come, and various creatures of different races attended the grand gathering – be it humans, elves, orcs, or dwarves – every race in the world of Encantania was present in honor of the God of life, Viata. The event was lively as mixed chattering in different languages could be heard.
In a corner, Flacaro could be seen flexing his feathers while spouting some arrogant words, expecting to draw a crowd that would look and praise him. But no one did. Instead, they just ignored him as if he did not exist. On the other corner, people were seen trying to get the attention of Balaur who ignored them all and instead tried to find his friend. Balaur did find Flacaro, approaching him with a crowd behind. Seeing the crowd behind Balaur, Flacaro got angry and shouted, creating a powerful shock wave, “LOOK AT ME! I AM BEAUTIFUL.” But to no avail.
Seeing this happen, Balaur decided to take action and grabbed Flacaro out of the venue to scold him. A fight soon erupted and ended in a draw. “If you want to get the attention that you so badly want, do not create a commotion and start following my advice. I bet that you will receive the results that you want.”
After three years since this gathering and it was time for another one. This time, Flacaro finally listened to Balaur. He expected everyone to ignore him again, but he was wrong. Only when the attention no longer mattered to him did people start befriending him – appreciating Flacaro and eventually creating a crowd.
THE END.