Fairy Queen

Travel Log, Losing Track of Steps

As I go deeper into the forest, the trees get closer together. Thin trees with few leaves. There isn't an exact trail. I've been wandering for days in what appears to be a death trap created by God.

I was hoping to escape the forest before sunset. I was unprepared. The flora and fauna were dangerous; there was a poisonous stench in the air. I felt like this must have been where the emperor sent prisoners, to get them away from civilization and to die alone. What was this abandoned forest? I'm not sure I'll survive this journey.

This forest is full of roses. The thorns try to reach out and grab you. The wind carries the thorns; the air itself is a threat. There are deer, raccoons, and foxes, but they scatter as you draw near. You only see the end of their bushy tails; you only see the whites of their eyes as they peek out hollows and caves.

I didn't mean to come across this place. I wasn't equipped for it. It's way too far from home.

I've never seen such dark and beautiful flowers. Some of them are the size of my head. This place reeks of a soapy stench. No matter which way you go, no matter which way you point your compass, you always come back to the same spot. This forest feels more like perpetual sinking sand than a legitimate terrain. The structure of it all is malleable. Things don't stay fixed in place. It doesn't have structural integrity.

My compass keeps taking me back to the same hole in the ground. It's just a big, empty hole. You could hide ten corpses in it. I think the hole once supported a giant tree. There is petrified wood in the hole.

I'd rather climb the highest mountain or search the bottom of the ocean than wander through this demented forest.

Forget my emperor and prisoners daydream. I'm wondering if a human has ever stepped foot here. Am I the first to make this expedition? Perhaps someone did find this place. That person became one with the forest and decided to live here. The person never saw their family again. Their memories of society frozen in time; they know nothing of the progress outside the garden.

All I know is that my arms are scratched up, my feet are heavy, and I wish for something to quench my parched lips. This place makes me feel dizzy.

I almost think moving forward is worse than turning around or just staying still. Maybe I'm getting closer to the belly of the beast. Maybe when I get to the center of this place, something terrifying will happen to me.

The Thin Path, Something New

I found a path, a thin path where the rocks align like a mini-mountain range. The flowers are blue and the fireflies dance around the trees. I wasn't sure if I should take this new route; it seemed unusual compared to the rest of the forest. But I was tired of getting mauled by trees. A new spot could make for better foraging. I am hungry.

As I took this new path, twilight came to an end. The sky had a distinct dark blue, and the trees had white patchy pieces in them. The smell was not as strong as before. It was starting to smell sweeter. I could hear a brook before me.

I walked along a bridge and found myself at a waterfall. Everything was dark blue. There wasn't much light to guide me. There was too much overhead from the trees to properly see the sky. The rushing waterfall overwhelmed my ears.

I started thinking I should build a fire and camp for the night. I went into the forest a little more, looking for a rest stop that I could trust. There were old stones there, some of them heavily chipped.

A statute of a woman was missing its arms and head. The statue: life-size with a flowing dress. Its arms and head weren't on the ground.

The bugs chirped loudly. I had this strange sense that I wasn't alone. This area was in a clearing. It was a reprieve from the tightly clustered trees. As I studied the place a little more, it seemed like a forgotten settlement. I wondered if anyone had been in this part of the forest in the past year, ten years, century. . . maybe a thousand years have passed?

I crawled into my sleeping bag and looked at the night sky. The stars were vivid. I felt like a thousand eyes from the heavens were staring back at me. I'm not really sure if they were blinking or winking at me. Stars, from what I can tell, are the eyes of forgotten gods. Then again they could be the eyes of one singular and powerful god.

A Clearing under the Stars

I can't remember much from my days studying astronomy. I wasn't a good student when it came to stars. I should have paid more attention. It might have helped me to figure out my location. I'll keep going in circles if I don't learn the ways of the forest.

Do stars play their own songs in the sky? Does each star hum a certain pitch? I feel like the longer I stare at the stars the more I'm starting to hear a melody. It sounds like someone is playing a flute, as if the wind and trees had some story they needed to share. The fireflies twinkle more in the clearing. I could be dreaming. I am tired, and I've been on the move for a long time.

That song seems to be growing louder. The flute. It reminds me of a spring day in the field or visiting the king's only daughter at the courtyard with the flowers, the balcony, the perfect vista of the valleys.

Is this melody for me? Who is it that plays the flute? It sounds too structured to be just the wind. I turned my head toward the source of the song—and I wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks—but on a stump, there was a green outline of a woman, a small woman. Maybe four feet tall. Her eyes were closed as she played an instrument in her hand—an instrument I've never seen but similar to a flute. As she played, the fireflies danced.

The bugs spread along the skyline, moving in and out in waves. Did this little woman control the forest? Was the musical instrument the strings and the fireflies the puppets? Were the stars just fireflies and under a woman's spell?

The forest had mastered me all day. It suddenly seemed more serene, as if I had flirted with a relaxing spice. The trees, it was like they were in awe of the woman. I even felt like the stars in the heavens were softening. I wasn't sure if this woman was a kind friend or a dangerous foe.

The song of the forest grew—as if the grass was humming tones, as if the animals' hooves in the distance were the drums. I had these images drifting in my head.

I could see it all so vividly. A woman in a village dancing with the people there. The miller with the bread, the blacksmith at the corner of the town hammering away to perfect a sword, the apothecary with the wind chimes, a young hero learning to fence with his father. There was a warmth to this place. A familiarity. People from all over came to stay, to pay for armor, to buy potions.

My vision turned gray. The village turned to ash. A young girl playing a pipe was on a mountain edge. She overlooked the forest settlement.

Smoke was rising in the distance. The girl jumped off the cliff in a panic—and to my surprise—she spread out her wings. Thin green wings. They looked like they were decorated with jewels. She flew to the town.

But she was too late. The town succumbed to flames. The fairy watched over the dying. She tried to resurrect them. She kept wandering the ruins. She got older. She kept wandering and protecting the ruins.

Meeting Her

I awoke from my stupor, the green outline, the purple flowers in her hair, the twinkling yellow eyes—the pipe player was staring right into my eyes.

I felt like I had been listening to her song for many years. There is a possibility that she is a monster—the monster that lured me to the forest. Did she want to kill me? What did the Fairy Queen want?

Her wings were about two feet wide. She wore a white tulle dress. Her sandals were golden with lightning streaks on the back. She had a lute strapped to her back.

I'm not sure if the vision I just had was of the past or of the future. Was it real or a mirage? Do fairies lead people to their death? I can't get over my fears. I have this sinking suspicion that I'm not allowed to leave. . .

I was moving in circles. At some point I got up. The animals in the background all merged together as I kept spinning.

As I danced with the fairy, I noticed a sword laying on the ground. This whole place started to feel familiar.

I think I was in a forbidden place. This fairy before me, it reminded me of a cherub from an old story. The details are foggy. I read about it in my childhood. I remember in the legend the garden was protected by a cherub angel and a sword of fire.

What a lonely job to protect something no one would ever be allowed to see. That must be the loneliest existence in the world. I always wondered who would be sent to be with the cherub. If Adam was forbidden from loneliness and given time with Eve then who should be with the cherub?

Who would be with the cherub as she protected over the ruins of a lost paradise?