In the Faery World

There are a few ways to tell if you are actually in the Faery World. One of them is the lighting. The lighting in their world is not noticeably strange, but it is different. There’s a certain tint to their world, like there is a camera lens making certain colors stand out more than they normally would. It’s really quite surreal.

You can see the same effect in many movies and photographs, when the cameraman or photographer uses a filtered lens to create a certain mood. If it’s a sunny day, it will be especially golden. The moonlight is especially silver. Colors are more vivid and intense. If you wake up one morning to a replica of a familiar scene, and there is someone insisting that you take and eat some delicious food or drink, be wary. Check the lighting first.

If the lighting and colors are strangely vivid, you have a few defenses. You can: 1) Refuse the delicious food before investigating further, 2) ask the supposedly familiar person a question only he/she should know the answer to, and 3) force your way out into the open and run around until either you escape or they catch you again.

You can also play along and eat the food, but that has certain... consequences that you may not like.

I woke up to a very golden morning from the floor of the cottage, wrapped in my cloak and feeling very groggy and sore. At first I didn’t remember why I was there, or where this strange room full of papers and books was. I didn’t recognize it in the daylight.

A puff of air behind me made me turn and see the faery sleeping peacefully on his stomach with his mouth open. It made me smile. This faery was a heavy sleeper. He was out cold until the sun was high and warm, but then, of course, he had been seriously wounded the night before. I took a few minutes to yawn and rub my eyes.

One of the papers lying on the floor near me caught my eye. It was a rough sketch of a young man in a T-shirt and jeans. Another was a detailed sketch of the same. There was a head shot, focusing on the face, and another on the hair. These drawings were the faery’s human disguise. This was how he planned it out.

I started browsing through the book that had been left open. The engraved letters on the cover said: Multiple Spell Casting. There were diagrams and step by step instructions. From what I could understand, faeries need only a clear understanding of how a spell works, and the focus to cast it. The book made it seem like the magic faeries use comes their power of thought. I shrugged and put the book down.

My instincts got the better of me and I began clearing off the table and putting back the medicine bottles from the night before. I began searching for food this time. I found a round of cheese, some bread, some fruit, and, hidden in the corner of a cupboard, some packaged oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that did not look faery-made.

“Don’t eat those!” I jumped and turned to see the shirtless faery up and scrambling towards me frantically, hair flying and eyes bloodshot.

“I wasn’t going to eat your cookies,” I said as he grabbed them from me and shoved them back into the cupboard.

“Don’t eat any of it!”

“Why not?”

He stopped in the middle of gathering up the cheese and bread. “This stuff is all right, actually. But you shouldn’t just eat any food you find here.”

“Why, what will happen?”

“That’s up to whoever prepared it.” he said grimly. “But I didn’t do anything to this, so... you can eat it. My mistake. I just woke up and saw you, and I panicked.” the faery scratched his head in embarrassment.

I laughed. “What about the cookies? I’m pretty sure those came from the convenience store.”

He sighed, hanging his head, sitting down in the chair and holding his side near the wound. “It’s true. It’s fine. Eat whatever you want.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of you.”

“You don’t need to. I feel quite pathetic.” He looked up through the hair in his face. “I owe my life to you, Ashlyn.”

           My turn to feel embarrassed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I was repaying you. If we keep this up, we’ll never get out of debt. Want some bread?” I started slicing it. “Um, faery?”

His head was down on his arms. “Hmm?”

“How about you tell me a few more things?”

“I owe it to you.” he said meekly. “And the damage is already done. Fire away.”

“How did kissing me put me in danger?”

“The goblins... can smell traces of magic. Faeries are very tasty to them, a rare treat, in fact, that when they smelt even a faint trace of the contact I had with you, they attacked.”

“Fair enough.” I conceded. “Second question. Why did you kiss me and let me go if you knew about that possibility?”

“It didn’t go according to plan. I mean, I wasn’t planning on it -- I... you didn’t want to stay in my world. There were other ways to persuade you, but... I knew you’d be sad later on.”

I was touched, but still added, “Is it normally your habit to try and abduct young girls?” and then felt like a jerk.

“No. But I’ve been trained in the methods of doing it, the certain spells and so forth. I’m very good at it. But with you... that was the first time I’d really tried it. I lost my nerve.”

            I wanted to ask what made me so special, but, “Third question. Not to humiliate you or anything,”
            “It’s too late for that.” he murmured.

“Were you planning on keeping me here after you abducted me?” I gestured around the small, cluttered room. “Because it’s not very... um, enchanting.”

He pulled the plate of cheese towards him and began cutting a slice for himself. “No.” he answered. “I told you, nothing went according to plan. However,” he looked up with a mischievous grin. “I do have you here now, don’t I?”

There was a tense moment of silence at the table.

“Fourth question.” I said. “What’s your name?”