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In a time long ago and place long forgotten by most, a time when only dim memories lived on in a few minds, a time when the following: unicorns, wizards, pixies, elves and fairies, did not have to dwell and hide in the "secret places," this story begins. It was before the "tall ones" took over, and the world became, for the most part, greedy and unkind; a time when the world was clean, beautiful and unspoiled.
This tale is generally concerned with fairies. Now fairies are not to be confused with elves or pixies. Fairies live much longer lives than elves or pixies, who both live to be six or seven hundred years old; which is nothing to sneeze at. Fairies on the other hand live to be anywhere between one-thousand and eleven-hundred years old. Elves are not as tall as fairies, but they are taller than pixies. Fairies, on the whole, think that elves are quite a sorry lot. They think that elves clothes are quite silly: their wardrobes consisting of, pointy little hats and pointy little shoes, and they’re always found wearing that terrible green balze outfit. For some reason fairies feel very ill at ease when they have to spend any considerable time with elves.
Pixies, on the other hand, are very small and fairies call them "Lilliputian". Pixies are very mischievous, and are always getting into trouble. They are a very jealous bunch and very possessive little creatures. They have been known to be very spiteful and vengeful if they think they have been slighted. Don’t let a pixie think that they have been left out of any event or slighted in anyway, or you might be sorry. Basically fairies like pixies are very much, and think they are very cute little beings, even if they can be a bother. Maybe that’s because pixies have wings, like the fairies, and they feel something in common with them. Fairies are also very fond of butterflies, fairy horses, and fairy dragons too.
As to fairies, they are considerably tall, lithe and supple. Overall fairies consider them selves to be quite a splendid looking people. Most fairies have flaxen hair that seem to have been spun out of gold, and it is soft and silken to the touch. But fairies with dark hair are not at all uncommon, their hair is also very fine and soft. The color of their eyes range from a pale aquamarine to a deep turquoise, that resembles the sea on a bright shiny day. Most fairies dress in pastel gossamer clothing and always have a manteau (cloak) available in case of a cold spell happens along. Really, fairies are quite stylish creatures. They consider themselves very beautiful and very intelligent. A fairy is a magical creature, and to this day, have duties they still perform. There are: tooth fairies, fairy godmothers, sugar plum fairies, and fairies that protect and watch over our gardens, our home, our little children and all the animals of this world.
In a small village called Firth in the valley of Neverlast, which is in the realm of East Hislad, the family of Pigwidgeon Swallow dwelled. Pigwidgeon, his wife Aurora, and his daughter Quetzal, were a fine family of fairies. Pigwidgeon had held the high office of council for many years. He was very wise and kind. His wife Aurora was considered to be one of the most beautiful of all fairies, she had held the office of high priestess most of here life. Quetzal was, if you can believe it, even more beautiful than her mother, and had inherited here father’s wisdom and kindness.
One morning, upon returning from their swim at the nearby falls, Quetzal and her friends came back to the village to see a terrible commotion. Her father and mother, along with most of the village were, holding an intense meeting. It seemed that the whole village of Firth was in attendance. The magic crystal that was kept in a vault at the Great Hall was missing. Apparently sometime during the night someone had broken in to the vault and stolen their enchanted stone.
Now the magic crystal is a very important thing to the fairies. They must all hold the crystal every few days to renew their powers. If they don’t the can’t perform the everyday tasks they have to do. Just the simple act of flying, getting from one faraway place to another becomes and impossibility for them. Who would guard the gardens, pick up the teeth children lose everyday, grant wishes, watch over the animals, and protect all the small children of the world? Well, you can just imagine how upset everyone must have been.
Pigwidgeon and the high council, upon discovering the magic crystal missing, had called for a meeting to discuss how to recover their precious absent crystal. It was decided that a group of fairies would have to form a search party to seek for the culprits who had stolen the crystal. While the elders discussed who would go and when the quest would begin, Quetzal and her very best friend, Flibbertigibbit, (we’ll call him Flib,) a very handsome young fairy, decided to see if they could spot any evidence that might have been missed. A short ways into the woods, Quetzal and Flib found a very small footprint in the soft ground. A few feet away was a tiny piece of filmy wing, that had caught on the branch of an Elderberry bush. They sat discussing what they had found, and soon they came to the conclusion that the piece of wing must belong to a pixie.
Now Quetzal and Flib, being young and adventurous, thought why waste time by going back to the elders. If they left forthwith, there really was no reason they couldn’t catch these culprits. The footprint and the piece of wing were set in the direction of Sirain of West Hislad, and that happened to be the closest population of pixies in the area. So to the stables they both went to get their favorite steeds and to gather up some lanterns and bedrolls. They were so full of confidence, so sure they would capture the bandits and be back before anyone even knew they were gone.
Away they went on their adventure into the deep forest. They traveled at a moderate pace for a few hours, then decided to halt and rest themselves and their horses for a bit. They watered their horses at a small creek then they refreshed themselves with a cool drink of spring water. They found some berries, a few hazel nuts and had quite a feast. As it was very warm, they decided to have themselves a short nap before they were to set off again.
They woke up at dusk, having slept much longer than they had intended. Rubbing the fairy dust out of their eyes they were a little upset that they had tarried so long. They got on their horses and off they went again, at a faster pace to make up for oversleeping. They came to a very thick, dark part of the woods, and after trying for several minutes to go forward with the horses they found it would be impossible to go on. They went back out into the meadow and came to the difficult decision to leave the horses behind. Proceeding on foot did not prove to very easy, but on they went deeper and deeper into the forest. The deeper they went, the darker it got. They had to stay very close together now, for it was hard to even see each other in the gloom. The forest was so thick that no light was filtered through the top of the trees. They certainly hoped they would get through this terrible darkness before nightfall. They kept on and on; not daring to step off the trail as one did not know what terrible things lurked in the even darker shadow to the side. They could hear noises; even see slight movements out the sides of their eyes. After who knows how many hours, they finally came to a meadow and light, but not the light of day, the light of night. Quetzal and Flib were so exhausted from the trek through the dark woods they had to lie down and rest again. "How will we ever catch up to the pixies this way?" they asked each other
Not long after they dropped off in an unfit slumber, they were startled awake by a noise close by. They sat up and listened to see if they could locate the noise. They listened very intently, but the noise did not come again. They lay there for what seemed to be an eternity, but no noise came again. Deciding they probably wouldn’t get much sleep, they were soon off again. As they traveled along they both had the feeling that they were being followed, but every time they stopped they couldn’t spot anything. Quetzal and Flib needed to rest and light a fire. They had left in such a hurry they had forgotten to grab their manteaus, and were catching quite a chill. They found several small pieces of tinder, some soft down from a cottonwood tree, and built themselves a campfire. They sat and warmed their bodies and Quetzal and Flib decided to lay down and pretend to fall asleep, they still had the feeling of being followed and watched by some unknown. Maybe this would trick whoever or whatever was out there. A few minutes later, there it was again, the sound came closer and closer. Flib had decided that if he got the chance he was going to grab whatever it was. This was a game of cat and mouse, he would soon end. As luck would have it, the presence seemed to disappear and they were left with nothing but silence. They soon drifted off into a fitful slumber.
The next morning the weather was uncomfortable. It was wet, foggy and by all standards not so nice a day. Clouds, hung so low , that it seemed you could reach up and touch them from the ground. It was so gloomy and dismal, the two little fairies became very miserable. They trudged on all day, not making much progress. By dusk they were wet, uncomfortable and very hungry fairies. Tired though they were, very relieved not to feel the presence that had haunted them the day before. Disheartened, they made camp early, as soon as dusk fell; they were utterly exhausted, they dearly needed to eat an warm themselves. They built themselves a fire, ate a small bite for supper, and hopped into their sleeping bags. Flib and Quetzal drifted off soon after they had laid down. About midnight Quetzal awoke when again she heard a very small noise right next to her. She suddenly sat up and grabbed at the noise, there came such a piercing wail………
I suddenly sat bolt upright in my bed, the feeling of dread slowly drifting away, thinking "Where am I?" Then it all came to me, slowly seeping through the thick veil of sleep, "I’ve been dreaming!" " I guess eating icecream and dill pickles is not such a good idea before going to bed.".
The End
A Fairy's Tale by S. Flint (lines)(c)1998 from the collection of Short Stories and Love Poems by the same author. aka Ms Zoe
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