Sooo – this is as far as I got. and I am stuck. again. sigh. why can’t I ever finish anything I start? I can’t get any inspiration. This is all forced writing.
I knew she was a fairy as soon as I saw her. At first glance she looked just like a butterfly, dancing from flower to flower, with those big, beautiful, almost translucent wings, and tiny legs. The difference was the almost imperceptible trail of sparkling dust she left in her trail. As surely as I had not believed in fairies a few moments before, I knew she was real. Maybe the difference had come because I had just knelt in that garden begging God to show me that He hadn’t completely abandoned me, begging Someone up there, Anyone, to remind me why I was still living, and give me a purpose. Maybe that prayer, opening up my heart to possibilities, opened it up to the possibilities of other worlds for just a moment – and in that moment, she appeared. I waited, breathless, silent, as she danced around the petals of the flowers, tiny shoes on her white legs, until she happened upon a petal near me. “Take me with you.” I whispered. Obviously startled, she turned and saw me. She didn’t flee, as I first expected, but stared at me, into my eyes, curiously. I, in turn, stared back. Her face, her body, was all perfectly formed, as though she were a small human, with wings. She seemed surprised that I had noticed her for what she was, but did not acknowledge my words. I wasn’t even certain she understood them. I made the mistake of putting out my hand, and instantly she shook her head, turned, and flitted off out of sight. I didn’t try to follow her – I knew it would be of no use. But as of that moment, my life did take on a new purpose. Forgetting about my lost job, the wife who had betrayed me, and my former life, I threw myself into research of other worlds. I became obsessed with learning about faeries, dwarfs, dragons, witches, and, most importantly, how to reach other worlds. Most stories talked about accessing other worlds through a subconscious experience – while sleeping – or through a door of some sort – the hole Alice fell through, the wardrobe in Narnia. Those stories were rare, however – most of the time, fantasy creatures came over to visit us. It appeared they had much easier access to our world than we to theirs. My obsession frightened my friends, but I knew what I was doing – God had given me a glimpse into another world, and I was going to find it. That must be where I was supposed to be now. Then, a year from the day I saw that fairy, it happened. The door opened. I was in the same garden, again on my knees, this time just watching and waiting. I thought, perhaps, if it had happened at that time the year before, maybe it would again. And it did. She saw me first this time, for I suddenly heard a soft voice next to my ear. “You are waiting for me.” It was a statement, not a question, but I nodded anyway, afraid if I turned to look at her I would knock her off my shoulder. She flitted up into the air and came around to look into my face. “You have been chosen. Follow me.” Without a word, I followed her. She led me in the same direction she had gone before, toward a large oak tree. Perhaps this was it – the door into another world. She stopped just beyond it, and motioned for me to stop as well. Then she lifted her tiny, beautiful face toward heaven “Send the warden, if You so desire.” Instantly, another beautiful woman appeared through a. This one my size. She had brunette hair, wavy, down to her waist, a crown upon her head, and wore a flowing white gown that shimmered. She held in her hand a scepter. “Good afternoon, Searcher.” She nodded at me, her intelligent face focused on my eyes. “You seek, I believe, access to our world.” “I do.” I swallowed hard before I was able to say the words. “I am Shamira, the warden of the door between our worlds. It is rare indeed that the Creator of both our worlds allows Humans into our world, but He has deemed that this is a journey you must experience.” She paused, so I nodded in acknowledgment, unsure what else to say. “I will warn you,” She continued, “This is an experience unlike any you know. “What you humans call supernatural or miracles here, we call magic in our world. There are creatures you have never seen, other than pictures in fairytales, and there are powers in our land you will not understand.” She stared into my eyes as though they were indeed the eyes to my soul. “You will face many challenges in trying to make it in a world like ours with no powers of your own. Are you willing to accept this challenge?” “I am.” I spoke the words more forcefully than I intended. She sighed as though I had just accepted something I didn’t understand, and turned. “Then come. Follow close behind me.” She turned and started walking, I followed quickly, and paused with fearful surprise as she began melting into an invisible world; I instantly felt tiny hands pushing against me. “Hurry, hurry” my little fairy friend urged me. I followed her heeding, and stepped through the melding of worlds myself; one moment I was in my world, two more steps, I had walked into another world.
***
I could instantly feel the change. I cannot quite describe it, but the atmosphere had a whole other dimension. You could feel that it was thick, as though you were walking through some invisible force every time you took a step. Shamira turned to me. “This is where you start.” She pointed over to the west. “See the castle? Walk in that direction. Your tasks will come to you.” And with those words she disappeared as mysteriously as she had first appeared. “This is for you to discover on your own.” The little fairy who had first summoned the warden bowed her head in my direction and then she, too, left me. Left on my own, I turned slowly in a circle. Although there was limited life that I could see, the land looked like a perfect world. To the east were fields of flowers, beyond it a forest, with a blazing sunset about to light the trees on fire. To the North was a vast ocean, with dolphins jumping in and out of the waves. Behind me, to the south, was a forest. I could hear the leaves rustling and the sound of small animals running around. Then, to the east, was the huge castle that Shamira had pointed out, surrounded by beautiful mountains with purple tops, the glow of the sunset casting a perfect luminosity on both mountains and castle. There were three paths. One to the East, one to the West, and one to the North. Obedient to the warden, I turned toward the East and began walking.
***
I walked probably an hour before I saw any form of life.
Forest Idylls 