"Noordan's where we live!"

"Yes, it is. When the elves found this very beautiful land and learned it was completely uninhabited, they decided to move their families here so they could create a way of life like they were used to. Most of the elves were concerned that, if they didn't move away, people would eventually know that they were different, even though they looked the same."

"Why would it matter if people knew they were different?"

Annabel looked thoughtfully at her young cousin. "Sometimes, people become very uncomfortable when they are around someone who can do things they can't. And the elves could do many things that the humans around them could not."

Aiden scrunched up his face for a minute in thought. "You mean things like magic!"

"Yes, Aiden, things like magic." Annabel then returned to her journal.

"Annabel, what's 'sickness'?"

"Ummm. I don't have a real good idea, myself. Do you know how, sometimes when you eat too many apples, your tummy gets to feeling a little funny?"

"Yeah. I just want to curl up and not move."

"Well, sickness is when your whole body feels that way. Sometimes people get so sick that they die."

"I never heard of that."

"We have the elves to thank for that. Now, let me continue."

"That's what I want to know about... the magic!" Aiden's blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"It's kind of confusing, Aiden. All of the elves had magic, and when their children were born, they had it, too. But, over the years, some of their descendents were born without magic while others were born with it. No one knows why."

"So you were born with your magic. I wasn't." He sighed.

Annabel patted his hand. "I'm sad to say that's the way it happened. Do you want me to finish reading this?"

"Yeah, I still want to know the rest."

"Okay."

"Where do you think they went, Annabel?"

"I don't know, Aiden." Annabel closed the journal and shut her eyes for a moment. Elves, she wondered, where did you go?