Light as a Rock & Heavy as Paper

When I was a little kid, I remember my grandmother whispering a tale about mystical creatures that were mischievous and powerful yet not that bright; she’d talk about how they were given extraordinary powers and lived in a world parallel to our own, yet can only cross in the between spaces, doorways, windows and even when the world is at a standstill of night and day at the midnight hour, they run rampant through children’s bedrooms and often times stealing them away into the night; meet the faeries who live rent-free in my mind.

There once was a happy family long ago who moved into a cottage in the center of a thick forest; the family was made up of three girls, each three years apart and each being little copycats of one another, their mother adored her three daughters. She picked this home in the wilderness because she believed it was better than the hustle and bustle of the city life, and would also be a perfect home for her three girls to grow up in, little did she know that the home already had owners. Their home was located in the center of dandelions, yarrow, baby’s breath, and a well-hidden but perfectly formed mushroom circle; the mother loved the area for its beautiful scenery and didn’t think much about the flowers and herbs that littered her yard, she simply thought it was a fever dream she was living in-in an endless daze of happiness in her new home.

The youngest daughter was six years old and she was a little rebel, constantly refusing to help her mother and always neglecting her chores; she’d constantly cause havoc in their home, well specifically for her two older sisters. One day when she was told to clean the attic, she found an old note saying how those who sleep in this house, who are of adolescence and not yet adulthood, should always sleep with a piece of paper on their nose with a small pebble keeping it still at night, for if they don’t, then they’ll encounter many little visitors who wish to steal them away. Well, the little girl didn’t care about being taken away, for she was just misunderstood and felt like no one could understand why she was acting out; she thought that even if she was taken away that no one would even notice, nor care. The little girl sat in the attic weeping silently to herself, for she just missed the city and the life she had before.

Later that night as the mother put all three of her daughters to rest, the youngest heard soft chimes outside of her window, sitting up in bed, she ventures over to see many different colorful lights in the woods, not wanting to wake up her sisters, she slips on her shoes and slowly makes her way out of the back door of her home. The chimes grew louder, deafening almost as she got closer and closer to the many displays of light before her; it seems she has stumbled unto a party of sorts with many different girls her age, each with pointy ears and glowing hazel eyes. Quite a few girls take notice of her presence and welcome her into their dances, slowly decorating her in flowers and earthly scents; for once the little girl felt a sense of wholeness since leaving the city and for that rest of the night and for the rest of eternity, she’d dance her way into a different realm, forgetting her name, her age, where she came from, and most importantly her family, she has now forever become a lost child of the flowers.

Upon the next morning, the mother went to wake her daughters and quickly realized that one of them was missing from her bed. Searching all throughout her home and yards and woods, she could not find her youngest, her little Arebella was forever gone.

The middle child was a very skeptical nine-year-old girl, she believed in facts over feelings and was very intelligent, far too intelligent to believe in magic. She’d ignore the noises she’d hear all around her all time, of soft voices singing in the daytime air, she refused to be ensnared from the sickly sweet gossiping whispers. The little girl was walking away from the edge of the forest in the eventide and noticed a trail of mushrooms that encircled her home, curiosity took the girl over as she followed the trail all around her house before circling into her front door, little did she know that she cursed herself, for even the little know it all didn’t know that if you do a complete circle around a set of mushrooms before entering, you were calling the bad faeries to you.

Oftentimes being the most rational out of her family members, she was hardly affected by the move, since she knew her mother did it to get away from her own demons and that was enough for the little girl to know that they needed to be away from their city home. Did she miss the city? No, for she was bullied by the other kids for being the way she was, but she couldn’t help it that people didn’t like her for her intelligence; she just couldn’t not be the smartest in the room.

Later that night, the stressed mother put her two daughters to bed; the middle child later was awoken by a soft whisper in her ear, as she noticed a small figure sitting on her nose gazing down upon her with eyes as black as pitch, fear took her body over as she felt her heart drop to her knees, within a blink of an eye her form disappeared underneath her covers in a silent and quick fashion. Her older sister didn’t notice her missing form, for she slept like the dead and wouldn’t have even awoken if thunder were to boom in her ear.

The following morning, the mother went to wake her daughters as usual, but again, one girl was missing. The now more stressed mother cried out as she searched all over her home and her yards and even so far into the woods for her lost little one. She thought that moving out there would mean that life would’ve been easier for her, but it seems to be one stressor after another; her heart shattered into a million pieces all over again for her missing daughter, for her little Anissa was gone.

The oldest daughter was a very prideful and protective twelve-year-old girl, for she knew something happened to her sisters, though her façade of being the big bad older sister was fading as she knew that there was a broken and scared little girl underneath her protective shell. She knew something was happening, yet she couldn’t put a finger on what specifically; all she knew was that she was hurting for the loss of her younger sisters.

One day the oldest daughter was taking a stroll through the woods and stumbled across a glowing stream of coins and treasure, she was intrigued yet knew that it had to be too good to be true. She was weariful for she wouldn’t want the wrath of some unsettling visitor watching her with their jewels on her; what a smart girl she was, for this was faerie treasure and she was being tested, whether she knew it or not. She watched the jewels for a moment, but looked away and began her little journey back home, with the silent guidance of the creatures by her side all the way. She didn’t tell her mom about the treasures and instead kept it to herself; with this test being passed to judge her morals, she would be seeing a special visitor later on.

As the mother puts her oldest daughter to bed, she silently cries to the sky above to not let her leave in the night like her sisters, before exiting her room for the night. The little girl had a dream-filled night, of watching her youngest sister dance in the woods in the midnight sun amongst many girls who are seemingly around her age, then of her other sister locked away in a cell, crying her eyes out with many other children in a cold dungeon. The girl jumps awake in her bed almost forcing a scream out as she spots a little boy outside her window, looking to be a few years older than her, beckoning for her to open it; she was hesitant, but slowly crept to it as she watched his eyes glow hazel in the silver moonlight. The boy smiled sweetly and she paused before opening the window, but then realized this could be a fever dream for all she knew, so she thought why not and opened the stained glass window.

Looking down she sees that the boy was floating the whole time, slightly scared, she stifles a laugh as she wonders how this magic boy can even exist; he laughs with her and slowly extends his hand for her to grab, so she took it and off they went into the skies, for a late-night flight.

The next morning, the mother woke up and went to her daughter's room and soon realized that she was gone as well, her little Aurora was gone. The mother starts bawling her eyes out on the floor, as she begs unknown gods and beings for the safe return of all her girls, but even she knew that deep down they weren’t coming back. She felt three little hands on her as she slowly looks up and sees all three of her girls before her, but in a corporeal form, and she wept onto the floor again as her daughter's souls held her, for now in their new limitless forms, they will never leave her side.