Fantasy

Fantasy piece

Ellie had never believed in fairies. The tooth fairy, sure, until she was 7 or 8 and she saw her mother sneak into her room with a £1 coin and a note in her hand. But never as real, actually living creatures. That was until last Summer, when she somehow stumbled into a whole other world whilst in her grandmother’s garden.

It had all happened so fast. All she remembers of before was digging around some mushrooms, and then suddenly she was falling, faster and faster like when you think you’re asleep but are then jerked awake. Except she didn’t wake up: this wasn’t a dream.

When she finally hit the bottom, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Everywhere there was colour, some she recognised, others she didn’t. The grass smelt like sweets and everything was coated in a thin film of glitter. Looking at her fingers in disbelief, she could see the pale green sparkles on her fingertips. Walking felt lighter than it did in Reality, as if gravity wasn’t as powerful somehow. When she jumped, Ellie hovered for a good 5 and a half seconds before slowly sinking back onto the ground. All around her there were trees, towering and spiralling upwards. Some were thin and had long, stretched out branches that reminded Ellie of being a ballet dancer and others were tall, great hunks of bark and leaves. When she rested against a tree, a small blue bird hopped onto her hand and peered at her with beady, unblinking eyes. The bird had been knitted so it was made out of the softest wool imaginable and it’s eyes were buttons with a perfect cross stitch holding them together.

“That’s Feather. Sweet, isn’t she?” A voice said from behind her, making Ellie jump. The bird flew away, ascending into the purple-pink sky. There was a girl with long red hair smiling at her gently, swinging her arm from one of the branches and wrapping her slender body around the trunk of the tree. She had startlingly green eyes and glowing pale skin spattered with freckles, but what took Ellie aback the most was her gorgeous wings that fluttered gently. They were just like in the fairytale stories, shining and glittering in the sunlight. You could see flecks of every colour dance in her aura.

“Who are you?” Ellie breathed, too in awe to pretend she wasn’t even slightly startled. The girl grinned cheekily.

“I’m Blossom, the only one around here who knows how to talk to strangers apparently. Don’t worry, the other fairies are just a bit shy. They say I’m too talkative but I guess it comes in handy in times like this.” She raised her voice at the end, obviously laughing.

“Fairies?” A lump formed in Ellie’s throat. Was this it? Was everything she told as a child…true?

“Oh, come on, Ellie! You think these wings are just for decoration?” Blossom reached behind and tugged at the top of one of her wings. It lit up as she did so.

“How does she know my name?” Ellie thought to herself as she followed behind Blossom, who seemed to be leading her towards a river.

“I know everything, silly! You’re only a tadpole late: your grandmother said you would be here for around Lily ‘o’ clock but that’s okay. You’re here now and that’s what matters! So Ellie, this is Faeland. Welcome home.”