The End of the Rainbow

         This had to be some kind of crazy dream. A pot of gold glistening in the morning sun. A real pot full of shining gold coins. I had to wake up. What the hell did I eat last night? Rubbing my eyes, I tried to wipe the image away.
“Top of the marnin’ to ye." Came his small voice. Nope. Not a leprechaun. Not real. Jesus did somebody give me a shroom?
I slowly turned and faced the little man dressed in a small waist coat and buckled shoes. Of course; because this entire situation wasn’t crazy enough. Suddenly it occurred to me I had no recollection of getting here. How did I get to the end of a rainbow? I rummaged through the memories of yesterday and managed to find lots of holes. The last thing I could put my finger on was bumping into that weird old lady at the farmers market. She was dressed in old clothes and had long silver hair she had tied at the nape of her neck. She was beautiful once. You could tell. You could see that she had stories to tell in the twinkle of her kind weathered eyes. She handed me a peach.
         “Wandrin’ why ye here no doubt?" He said, startling me back to the present. “Seamus is me name. Yours?"
I looked at him, confused and realizing my mouth was hanging open. " Um, um, Sadie. My name’s Sadie." I answered. Seamus took my hand and patted it gently, " Come along Lass. She'll explain."
         He took my hand and we began walking away from the pot. Down the hill to a large tree. Seamus gave me a wink and gently rapped on the bark. To my surprise the tree knocked back and the trunk began to split. A large crack formed and Seamus pulled at my hand and stepped through the opening. I found myself entering a large comfortable foyer that lead us even further into the tree. We were met by another small man dressed in a waist coat, " She be waitin' fer ye. " He told my guide in a hushed voice, looking up at me and giving a slight nod.
She? Who was she? What is going on? I was beginning to think I had lost my mind and had been locked away and was in a sedated stupor. Just then, Seamus opened the door to a large room. I ducked my head as I crossed the threshold and there SHE was, the old lady from the market. Somehow she didn't seem as old, her hair was still a beautiful silver and was tied at her neck but her face seemed to glow. She was beautiful, youthful almost but it was obvious she was very wise and someone of great importance. She was standing over a table that appeared to be covered with a large map. The paper was heavy and very old. I didn't recognize the country it represented. I couldn't even read the words, they were written in runes of some sort.
         Seamus lead me across the room to her and for some reason I performed a most awkward curtsy and and greeted her with a very weak, "Hello." It was painfully obvious that her smile was on the verge of laughter when she reached for my hand. She held it with graceful gentleness and looked into my eyes. I felt very exposed as she spoke, "Hello Sadie, I am Xandriel but I think we've met before." Her voice was even beautiful; like the trickle of a melting stream after a hard, cold winter. It took me a moment to find my voice, "Yes. At the market but you looked...you were..." I couldn't bring myself to say the word, it felt disrespectful. Xandriel smiled and said it for me," Old?"
         Crossing the room to a very large, red velvet armchair she took a seat. "I have been watching you for sometime now dear. I had to be sure you were the one." The one? OK, surely I'm going to wake up in some hospital, recovering from a head injury. She motioned for me to come closer and take a seat. I gently lowered myself into another red velvet armchair, taking in my surroundings. There were book shelves covering the walls filled with old books. Antique furniture from around the world, perfectly placed around the beautiful Indian rugs and Sari floor pillows. It was an eclectic mix of decor but was the most beautiful room I'd ever been in.
         "Before I get to the explanations Love, how about a nice spot of tea?" She asked and I nodded in a approval. She gave a gentle wave of her hand and a small bell hanging above a door to an adjacent room gave a jingle. My mouth fell open and Xandriel seemed to find pleasure in my shock. The small man who met us in the foyer appeared through the door with a silver tray, complete with tea, cream, sugar, and scones. I was beginning to feel like Xandriel was going way out of her way for someone like me.
         "Thank you Anugus, please see to it that we are not disturbed. Much to discuss you know, " She winked at him and he gave an obedient smile and shut the door behind him as he left the room. We set about preparing our tea and when I lifted mine to my lips she began to speak. "Sadie, there's no easy way to explain this so I'm going to come right out with it. You're magical and you have a destiny. You are what humans refer to as a Faiery." She winced a little when the hot tea hit my leg. I had missed my mouth all together but managed not to drop the whole cup. "I'm a what?" I looked at her like she was mad. Oh, this HAD to be a crazy dream. THIS was not happening.