Avery's Adventures

In a little neighborhood on the edge of a small town, there lived a handsome little boy, named Avery. Avery was just your average boy, always playing in the mud, putting frog in his pocket and getting lost in the woods for hours.
One day, while playing in the woods Avery thought he heard voices all around him. At first, he was scared, worried that the voices might belong to robbers or murders. His mother had always warned him not to play in the woods, since such unsavory characters liked to hide away there. But, being a boy of considerable courage, Avery had disregarded his mother's warning and made the shady groves and babbling brooks his own.
Now, hearing definate voices all around him, he thought, perhaps, he should have listened to his mother. It was too late now, he realized, to run, or hide, or pretend he had no interest in the woods because the voices surrounded him. Instead, he drew himself proudly up and decided that if he were to face dangerous theives, it would be best to do so with his head held high. "Who talks around me," he demanded.
The forest became eerily quiet, no voices floated, no birds sang, not even a chipmunk scampered across the forest floor. Indeed, only the wind and the nearby stream dared to make any noise. Avery held his breath, waiting for a reply to his daring question, but none came. As the seconds ticked away, Avery became more and more relaxed, reassured that anyone who meant him ill would have struck by now, a new thought entered his head, perhaps the voices had belonged to children as daring as he, willing to brave the forest to find adventure.
Suddenly, Avery was overcome with burning curiosity, and a desire to find these worthy children filled him. Slowly, he eased his way further and further in to the woods. The deafening silence still filled the grove he had occupied, but as he moved further and further away, he thought he began to hear whispers. Deeper and deeper in to the cool, shadowy forest he slid until he was deeper than he had ever been before. Avery might have been afraid, had he not felt certain that the voices he heard must belong to children. And if they were not afraid to be so deep in the woods, neither was he.
The voices grew louder, and louder, until Avery knew with out doubt that the owner of the voices were just behind a large oak tree, a few feet ahead of him. Slowly, he eased up to the tree, and concentrated on the voices. There were several, though he could not tell quite how many, and they seemed to be arguing.
"I tell you, I heard a boy," one insisted.
"Nonsense, that's absurd" another refuted.
"No, I heard it too, something, definately, I am almost certain," claimed a rather timid voice.
"Oh, you are both fools, and I don't believe a word you are saying," harumphed a rather gravelly voice.
Avery listened for a few minutes, before his curiosity got the better of him and he rounded the tree. Nothing, not even in his impressive imagination, could have prepared Avery for what awaited him on the other side of that tree. Children, he could have accepted, perhaps even Fairies, or wee folk, after all, he had heard of them in tales from his Gran. But, on the other side of that tree there was not a faerie, or even two, there was a whole world just waiting for his wide eyes.
Perhaps, if he had known what waited for him, he would have eased more gently around the tree to allow him to observe the wonders with out their noticing him immediately. Perhaps if he were a more patient, or a more cautious boy he would have done the same. As it was, he was an excited, rambuncious boy and he fairly jumped from the tree and faced a new world.
Terrified screams pierced the air and the various little folks began to run in a panic, fleeing from the terrifying, at least to them, boy who had jumped out in an obvious attack on their homes. Avery himself was rather frightened. He, of course, had not been prepared for this strange turn of events. He thought, perhaps, that he had slipped and fallen and bumped his head, and this was all a dream, but he didn't not remember falling, or slipping, or anything of the sort. Wouldn't he remember at least falling? Perhaps he had gotten hot in the sun and that had caused these strange occurances to happen. But, the forest was cool and a gentle breeze ruffled his hair even now, so that seemed rather unlikely. So, the confused little boy sat down with his back to the oak tree and the fairy village to his right and laid his head on his knees to try and clear his thoughts.
As he had been trying to figure out what had caused him to begin this dream, the stifiling quiet had resumed around him. He was too distracted with is own thoughts to notice, and he was equally distracted as little men, the bravest of the village, surrounded him. Indeed, he had quite forgotten the entire village, except to remember that something had made him think he was dreaming. So, he was quite unnerved when a fierce little voice demanded his attention.
"You there, what have you come for," the brave little man demanded. Avery's head jerked up and stared at him miserably. The little man was short, much shorter than Avery, who was a small boy to begin with. He was much thicker than Avery, though and his face was dark and wrinkled, like a farmer who had spent too much time basking in the sun that graced his fields. On top of his white haired head he wore a green hat with no brim, a rather undistinguished thing. His clothes were simple, but well made, and very sturdy looking, much like the little man him self. Avery was so caught up in studying the little man, that he forgot a question had been posed, that is, until it was demanded again, in a much more agitated voice.
"I am Avery," he said, notching his chin up a little higher, "and I haven't come for anything, except to find some one to play with," he answered. This seemed to set a stir off among the little village, though less frightened than the first comotion, the people still did not seem please at his arrival. They murmered and whispered and pointed to Avery, whose fear was receding, replaced, instead, by a burning curiosity to know more about this discovery.
"What do you mean, play," a gentle voice asked. It was much higher than the sturdy man's voice, and it took a while for Avery to locate it's owner, a tiny wisp of a fairy who had gossamer wings. Avery was fascinated, honest to goodness wings on a fairy, thin and delicate, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow in their translucent web. The little creature seemed to be agitated and Avery rushed to answer her, before she had to answer again, and the entire village thought he was an idiot.
"I mean, play, games and sports, climbing and jumping and swimming, having fun," he responded, thinking the little people must be some type of stupid not to know what playing was.
"We know what playing is," a new fairy answered, Avery scanned the thickening crowd of brave faces to find him "what we want to know is if you want friends, or toys," he demanded. Finally, Avery spotted a young looking fairy with red hair, green eyes and lots of freckles. He was scowling and obviously doing his best to look fierce.
"What do you mean, toys, do you have toys, of course I like toys, but I was looking for friends, none of the other children like to play with me," he said, the last bit sounding rather wistful and sad, but it was a fact he had recognized long ago.
"Why not," asked the winged lady.
"They don't like the same things I do," he scowled, "they would rather watch TV and play video games, but I like it here, in the woods."
This really caused a murmur to go around the assembled group. By now, Avery figured most of the village had showed up to see him.
"What are TV and Video Games," the sturdy man's voice questioned. Avery couldn't help but laugh, a short derisive laugh that mostly came out of his nose, more of a snort, really, not at all flattering.
"You don't know what TV is, or Video Games," he rolled his eyes.
"It has been a long time since we have seen a child," the gentle fairy offered. Avery immediately felt contrite, he shouldn't have been so quick to assume they would know all that he did. After all, his Gran told him all the time how her family had lived in a house with out a bathroom when she was a very little girl. Avery wondered sometimes, if she wasn't making that up, but he was pretty sure she was telling the truth, most of the time.
"Well," he finally said, "I don't think I can explain what TV is, or Video Games, they are very similar, but I could show you, we have them at my house," he looked hopefully around, wondering how they would all hide themselves to get across the road and through the neighborhood he lived in to visit his house. It soon became apparent that no such even could or ever would happen, it was far too dangerous for the entire group to make the trip and too time consuming to take them one by one. Still, just one trip with just one or two fairies wouldn't be so hard. They could ride in Avery's pockets across the road, even if they made big lumps, no one would notice, since Avery was all the time bringing home frogs and the like in his pockets.
So, it was decided, that Collum (the fierce looking red-haired fairy) and Eva (the pretty winged fairy, whose hair changed with the light) would go home with Avery and see what TV and Video Games were, and what other changes their isolation from the human world had brought.


As the sun was setting, Avery stepped out of the woods and crossed the asphalt road to reach his neighborhood. Heavy in his pockets were two little creatures. At first, Avery hadn't been sure he would be able to fit them, but after pulling out a ping pong ball and wad of yarn and some bits of tape he had stuffed in their, they were able to ride quite comfortably. Occasionally, he could feel a tiny foot or palm press against the cotton. They shifted around quite alot, and he supposed he couldn't blame them, he could only imagine what it must be like to ride in a pocket. He would have find a better way to get them back, that was for sure. Avery was so caught up in wondering what it would be like to ride in a pocket, that he didn't notice Jimmy, the neighborhood bully, walking toward him.
"Whatcha doin, freak," the pudgy, red faced boy demanded.
Avery broke from his revire and looked at the bully while stiffiling a groan. About once a week the thick necked nuisance spent a few minutes hassling Avery. About once a month, he went further and landed a few punches. Seeing the look on his face today, Avery was pretty sure he was in for a wallop or two.
"I said whatcha doin," he demanded again. Avery sighed, nothing he said would appease the thug, so he usually didn't say anything at all. There wasn't even anything good in his pockets to give him....IN HIS POCKETS. Avery suddenly remembered the very important errand he was on, and just what was at stake if Jimmy demanded the contents of his pockets. As if reading the littler boy's mind, Jimmy suddenly demanded to see the contents of Avery's pockets.
"Uh, I can't give you what's in my pockets, not today," Avery tried to duck around the ruffian. Immediately, Jimmy grabbed his nemisis by the neck and whirled him around, his fist already raised. With out knowing what had happened, Jimmy got a blank look in his eyes, his mouth gaped open, the fingers holding Avery loosened until they were no longer gripping at all. He stood there for a few minutes, looking rather lost and confused, then blinked hard, shook his head and wandered off. Avery knew the sudden stroke of luck had something to do with his new friends, but he wasn't sure what or how. So, he continued on home, hoping that it would be an uneventful journey.
Just as the sun was beginning to hide behind the trees that surrounded the isolated subdivision that Avery lived in, he walked through the back door, in to his mother's kitchen where the smell of simmering tomatos immediately hit him. Darn, it was almost time for dinner, that meant his mother would want him to wash up and set the table. He rushed to his room and carefully lifted his visitors out of his pockets and upended them on to his desk. Collum looked offended as he tumbled end over end until he was laying flat on his back near Avery's pencil cup. He stood up and brushed imaginary dust off of his knee length pants.
"Sorry," Avery huffed, "but I have to go to dinner, my mom doesn't like to wait." And with that brief statement, he dashed out of the room and left the little people to themselves.
Avery returned a short while later to find that there were no fairies sitting patiently on his desk. He looked in every corner and crevice he could find, but to no avail, his little friends simply weren't around. He was starting to doubt he had really seen them, really had them in his pockets, when he heard tiny voices from somewhere deeper in the house. Oh no, he though, no, no, no, if his mother found them, she would have the exterminator out...she wouldn't care what they were, she wouldn't take the time to look, she would just want them out. He quietly crept from his room, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to himself or what he might find.
In the hallway, he stopped and listened for the voices again, but it was a few minutes before he heard anything. And then, it wasn't voices at first, but the sound of running water. The bathroom? Yes, that had to be it....they were in the bathroom. So, he walked in there as quickly as he dared and gently closed the door behind him. Sure enough, there were his two new friends, standing on either side of the faucet chatting back and forth.
"...simply marvelous," Eva was saying. "I don't think it's so marvelous, I think it's dangerous....why else would it flow in to a pit, if not to wisk away unsuspecting creatures, like us," he demanded. "Oh Collum," Eva sounded exasperated, "why must you always find something sinister in everything you see, obviously this waterfall is for beauty, not murder. See how the rocks shine and reflect the light, to imitate a river, why would some one make a death trap look like a river?" Avery thought Eva's reasoning was valid, even if she did have the wrong idea. "Actually," he spoke up to explain the sink, "it is for washing your hands," he explained. "See..." he went over to the sink, turned the faucet, grabbed the soap, and washed his hands, for demonstration.
"Well, there you have it," said Eva with satisfaction, "it's not a death trap." Avery almost wanted to laugh...almost, until he heard his mother rattle the door knob. There wasn't enough time to get Collum and Eva out of the way because just then, his mother threw open the door and demanded to know what he was doing in there. Avery looked back to the sink, expecting his mother to gasp and screech at any moment over Avery's newest friends. But instead, there was nothing but a clean sink. "Just washing my hands, mom," he offered up his still dripping fingers as proof. Having cared for Avery his whole life, his mother was suspicious, because she knew little boys didn't just up and wash their hands for no good reason. Still, she figured she wasn't going to catch him at whatever it was he had been doing. The evidence was probably washed down the drain by now. So, she set her face in to her best 'I know what you are doing, so don't try to fool me mister,' look and told Avery to get on back to his room. Summer or not, he needed to keep it picked up. "Um...sure mom, just let me dry my hands," he bargained and was relieved when his mother backed out of the bathroom and he heard foot steps on the stairs leading down to the kitchen. He sighed, happy not to have been caught yet again with something unsavory in his mother's house. But he wondered where his friends had gotten to so quickly.
He didn't need to wonder long, because just moments after his mother left, he heard a fierce voice whisper "Is it safe?"
"Yeah," answered Avery, "you can come on out now." He was amazed when the two little people climbed out from behind the soap dish, where apparently they had laid to avoid being seen by the adult. Unfortunately, it seemed a little puddle had developed where he had grabbed the soap with his dripping wet hands and as Eva came out, he saw she was soaked to her wings. Collum, however, only had some mild dampness around his boots.
"Come on then," Collum demanded, "we have to get her dry." And with that, Avery scooped them up and rushed back to his room.
Safely behind the closed door, he quickly found a clean sock that Eva could use as a sort of sleeping bag. "Go on," Avery insisted as he held the sock open for her, "you will get warm and dry, it's what we do when we go camping and get wet." Eva didn't seem very sure about the arrangement, but she eventually demured and slowly crawled in to the strange blanket. Almost immediately, she was glad she did, for she was soon very warm, and she could tell that she was drying rather quickly. After she was warm and much drier, it was Eva who remembered why they had taken this trip, to learn about the wonders of Avery's world. When she reminded the guys, who had been busily arguing about whether or not the sink could be used as a death trap, Avery jumped up and ran over to a large black trunk, and she wondered if that was where they kept these fabulous toys.
"This," said Avery proudly, "is a TV." And with dramatic affect, pushed the button to turn it on. A commercial for some type of soap was on, and it was showing a lovely woodland stream flowing with butterflies flittering all around, followed by the brand logo rushing up from the water to fill most of the screen. He looked from the TV to Collum and Eva, and back again....the two stood slack jawed, watching with fascination as some evening drama came on showing a man and a woman having an argument.
"Oh," exclaimed Eva, "this is a wicked box, it should not show us these things, they are private." Avery tried to expain that it was just pretend. But Collum jumped in before he had a chance. "No, this is wonderful, think of it, you could see what you enemies are doing, they would loose the element of surprise," he said excitedly. "No, actually...." Avery started, but this time Eva broke in. "They could see you too, you silly man," she scolded.