The fairy

What nasty weather! Of course, I picked the short straw to walk the dog. I sighed. The cold autumn wind blew in my face and with it some brown, wrinkled leaves and wet mist. Although I knew the wood behind our house like the inside of my pockets, I felt a little bit lost in this dreich weather.

“Cliff!! I whistled after our huge mongrel. “Good boy. Stay close or I’ll never find my way home.” I said jokingly. Cliff looked at me with his piercing blue eyes, his head tilted. He really was no beauty: shaggy grey fur and a perpetually slobbering face, but it was love at first sight when we met the pup at the shelter three years ago.

I sighed again and looked back to the house, which was already hidden in the thick mist, although only a few feet away, thinking of the crackling fire and the roast Andy and I would have for dinner later.

Cliff yelped and wagged his tail, obviously eager to continue the walk. I succumbed to my fate and gave him the signal to run. With a happy bark he turned and thundered away through the trees. Smiling, I buried my hands deeper in the pockets of my rain jacket and kicked wet leaves with my boots. The well- worn path led me through a centuries old broadleaf forest, which had never been “managed” by humans. It belongs to my family since the early 16th century and generations had lived here in harmony with the forest. Family legends told of all kind of magical folk living in it, but the last person to actually encounter them was my great- grandmother as a child. She told me that a fairy saved her life, when she fell into the river while playing and said we owed the fairy folk a debt, which apparently had not been redeemed in her lifetime.

Usually I enjoyed this walk under the gnarled branches between mossy tree trunks but not today, for obvious reasons, unlike my dog. He was running back and forth, enjoying himself and I knew he wouldn’t hunt any wildlife. We did have several encounters with hares or deer and every time he let out a short yelp and lay down until one of us was close, or the animal had left. Strange I know, but we had accepted it and were happy with his behaviour, because we didn’t allow hunting on our grounds.

We followed the path until we reached the river and I was about to turn around, when Cliff started to freak me out. His teeth grabbed my sleeve and he gently tried to pull me further along the path, away from home, which he had never done before.

“What is it, boy? I really would like to go home now.”

He looked at me with his pleading blue puppy eyes, but when I made no move he let go, went around me and blocked my path. Call me crazy, but he didn’t look pleading anymore – I’d say rather demanding.

“Really?” I tried to walk around him, but he blocked me again and actually barked at me.

I was torn between putting my foot down and being concerned, not for me though. Something was bothering Cliff and I had a feeling that he wouldn’t let it drop.

“Alright, where are we going then?”

He went straight for the path down to the river where he waited for me to catch up, we then made our way slowly over the slippery rocks towards the waterfall at the end of the gorge.

“What now?” I asked Cliff, when we couldn’t go any further. The waterfall was not massive, but too high to climb. Cliff sniffed the air and vanished behind the thin curtain of water. I hesitated for a moment but decided to trust my dog. I zipped my rain jacket up to the top, pulled the hood tight, stepped through the water and couldn’t believe what I saw, a cave – and a fairy!

“What the …?!” It was not a pretty little Tinkerbelle or a fairy godmother, but a small female Gollum. One from the old legends; mischievous, devious, and anything but pretty. Her brown hair was felted, and her overall appearance bedraggled. She hissed and glared at me, trying to squeeze into a nook, holding a little bundle tight to her chest.

“Cliff, what is this? Why are we here?” My voice was an octave higher. Was I really expecting an answer from my dog? Nothing would have surprised me at that moment.

Cliff lay down in front of the creature and whimpered, which relaxed her a little bit.

What is going on? Is this really happening?

I crouched down and started to play with Cliff’s fur, never letting the creature out of sight; what was I supposed to do? The fairy looked at Cliff, then at me and without taking her eyes off me, she reached out and gingerly touched my hand.

Pictures started to flash before me, which freaked me out, but my body didn’t belong to me anymore, I was paralyzed by what I saw or rather felt:

Warm sunshine and birdsong turned into cold rain and unnatural thunder. Big yellow soulless monsters cut trees and destroyed everything in their wake. Fear, anger, helplessness, death, sorrow – I felt it all at once. A small group of fairies escaped. The rest was either surprised in their homes or too stubborn to leave. Hunger, rain, cold, weakness, hopelessness. At last I saw Cliffs furry face and felt a sliver of hope.

It stopped as quickly as it had started, but I felt the resonation of what I just felt as vivid as if I had been there myself. My face was wet with tears, I sobbed and cried for creatures I didn’t believe existed.

It took me some time to regain my composure and the help of Cliff whose fur soaked up my tears. Still sniffling I turned to the fairy

“I know it’s just words, but I am so…so sorry for your loss. Please let me know how I can help you.”

She looked at me with sad eyes and took my hand again

Dark clouds braking up, the sun shining. Our house and forest, mostly the forest, a vague feeling of a new home, hope for a safe future. Gratefulness and my families’ happiness.

She let go of my hand and started rocking the bundle at her chest. An unspoken question hung in the air.

“Of course, you can stay! You and everyone in need is welcome! Can I offer you a dry place for the night?” I had no idea how I would explain that to Andy, but I knew he wouldn’t say no. The fairy smiled shyly at me but shook her head.

“Alright. Can I meet you again? I would like to get to know you and your people.” I felt awkward to just go home and continue my life with the morsel of knowledge I had now.

She nodded and her smile lit up the cave and my heart.

When Cliff and I came out from behind the waterfall, the weather was still miserable, but I didn’t mind it. Not only had I paid my great- grandmother’s debt, but our forest would soon be a truly magical place.