Becky and the Fairy

She ran to the forest. A dead branch tried clutching her hair but it snapped; she pulled it with her. Before long, Becky was deep in the wood, safe. “Stupid… Aaron,” she muttered as she stopped to sit on a downed tree’s trunk at the edge of a small clearing

Her heart was hammering, her breathing heavy. Becky tried to calm her nerves but all she could think about was Aaron Iseman. He had been pushing kids off of swings. She had even seen him force Sarah onto the merry-go-round and then start spinning it. It was too fast for her to get off and she was crying.

That had been the last straw for Becky. She’d mustered courage and stepped up to the thirteen-year-old, pushing him from behind. She hadn’t realized his untied shoe would trip him. Aaron fell hard onto the pebbly surface adults think kids want to play on at the park.

For a second, everything froze. She imagined Aaron getting up and pummeling her, despite her being smaller and nine. Aaron was that unruly.

Before he moved, she ran.

She felt her eyes water now while sitting. Becky palmed them fiercely. Unsure that Aaron had even followed her, she felt silly. He might’ve been hurt, and she had caused it. She had to go back. With a huff, she stood and started moving. Daylight was still strong.

A group of leaves rustled nearby, stopping her. She turned to look and the twig in her hair swung and tapped her shoulder. Becky flinched and let out a shriek. Realizing the culprit, she grabbed the dead little branch and threw it at the leaves and whatever animal lay in wait.

Sparkles drifted from amidst the leaves and Becky heard a tiny whimper.

Her first thought was of a forest fire: there were dead leaves everywhere and she knew it’d be a disaster.

Another small whimper emitted and she stepped forward slowly. She was worried that she had inadvertently hit a squirrel or a chipmunk. She also knew her dad tried to hunt quail in the forest and she felt a brief tingle thinking that she’d hit one when her dad never could.

Cautiously, her hands trembling, Becky pulled the branch and leaves aside and was utterly surprised.

On a rock below the branch was a small person. She shimmered slightly with red hair and modest clothing. Becky noticed that she had wings like a dragonfly. One of the wings was bent.

“Oh,” was the first sound she made. The little winged-woman was wincing as if in pain. Becky didn’t know what to do. “Hello,” she finally said.

The tiny woman looked up, unafraid.

“I won’t hurt you,” Becky said. The woman looked at a stick sitting next to the rock and Becky recognized it as being the one she had thrown. “Oh, I’m sorry, little woman! I didn’t mean… I thought you were something scary!”

The woman looked up again and frowned deeper. Becky felt tears well up in her eyes again. She crouched down to be closer to the woman. “Wait.” She finally realized something. “You have wings! A-a-are you a…?” She couldn’t say the word. It was absurd.

But there’s a winged little woman right here!

The little woman grimaced and nodded. She set herself up on the rock and pulled her left leg in awkwardly. “Oh, little f-fairy! I’m sorry! I bent your wing and hurt your ankle!”

The woman held up her hand, shaking her head. Becky moved in closer, aware that she was breathing hard. She wondered if the fairy thought her breath was bad, or if she saw any boogers up Becky’s nose.

“No,” said the fairy in the tiniest voice. It made her sound delicate and Becky was worried she’d miss a word over the sounds of the forest. “No, my wing was already bent. I couldn’t avoid the stick, though. Landing hard here is what sprained my ankle.”

“Oh, little fairy,” whispered Becky. She sniffled, feeling awful. “I’m sorry.”

The fairy held her hand up again. “Please, call me Dilandra.”

“But I hurt you! I’m so sorry! Can I do anything? I want to help you. I can carry you somewhere!”

“You would help me?”

Becky, smiling, said, “Yes!” Dilandra covered her ears and she realized she had screamed. Wiping her eyes first, she wondered how she might carry the fairy.

Dilandra had the idea to have Becky gently lift the fairy to her shoulder. Once there, Dilandra could comfortably speak to the girl.

“So where to?”

“Before we go back to my home, is there anything I can do for you, Sweet Becky?”

“What? No, I hurt you! There’s nothing you need to do for me.”

“You saved my life. If you hadn’t come along, something would’ve definitely eaten me.”

“How’d you hurt your wing?” She felt awkward standing in the woods, seemingly alone, talking to a tiny person on her shoulder. As she listened she started walking back the way she’d come. Dilandra indicated that was where she needed to go, too.

“I was attacked by a snisher yesterday.” As she spoke, she sounded fearful.

“What’s a snisher?”

She described something that sounded to Becky like a fearsome dragon. “It would be about the size of your arm, I believe.”

Becky was becoming dazed with this information. Fairies and dragons are real. And I have one right here on my shoulder! “So what happened to it? The snisher?”

“I cast a temporary spell to make it think it wasn’t hungry.”

Becky felt a prickly sensation on her neck, like a crawling spider. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sweet Becky. My wing brushed your neck. So, is there something I can do to repay you?”

Becky rolled her eyes, smiling. “I already told you, you don’t have to do anything.”

“Why were you in the woods?”

She’d forgotten about Aaron. She slowed her step knowing that she’d be within view of the park soon.

“What’s wrong?” asked Dilandra, her voice laden with curiosity.

Breaking down, Becky finally explained why she’d been in the forest.

“I see. So, Aaron is a bullish boy?”

“A bully, yeah.”

“And he wishes to harm you?”

“He might. I don’t know. He might’ve gone home.”

“He may be lying in wait. I believe I can help you with this bullish Aaron.”

Becky wrinkled her nose. “What? How? A spell?”

“Not really, no.” Dilandra sounded concerned. “But I think I can help him stop bullying you. Would you like that?”

Slowing further, Becky finally stopped. Something in Dilandra’s voice sounded different. “How can you do something?”

“Tell Aaron about me. And that you’ll show him more fairies in the woods.”

“But I can just show you to him, can’t I?”

Dilandra sounded determined. “But if you show me to him, he won’t come into the woods. After he’s in the woods, I can help stop him from being bullish to all children.”

Becky’s mind whirred. What was Dilandra talking about? And how would she convince Aaron that a bunch of fairies were in the woods? Oh my gosh, she thought. There are lots of fairies in the forest! She hadn’t realized it fully until that moment and it excited her. She started looking around her, wondering if a fairy was there, behind a leaf or under that log.

“What are you looking for?” Dilandra asked impatiently.

“I was wondering if there were other fairies nearby.”

Dilandra sighed. “Yes, of course, Sweet Becky. But they stay hidden form humans. And snishers. I’m going to hide under your hair—”

“Ooh, that tickles!”

“—and you get that brute into the woods. And you’ll get to see all the fairies, too.”

Becky thought that sounded nice. As she exited the woods, she saw Aaron and headed toward him..

*          *          *

Becky had opened up with a sincere apology and then told Aaron about the fairies and the snishers. Now the pair was walking through the woods, back to where she had first come across Dilandra. She was silent the whole time and Becky often wondered if she was really there. Or if she’d ever been there.

The fairy gently moved a wing to remind the nine-year-old she was real and under her blonde hair. Becky still hoped she could do something more to make Dilandra feel better.

The pair approached the clearing, dead leaves crunching, the late afternoon sun filtering in amongst the trees. Becky saw the tree she’d been sitting on earlier and was surprised how that had felt like it happened days ago, not hours.

Suddenly, Becky heard a tiny whoosh and Dilandra was before her, flying, smiling.

“Whoa,” said Aaron.

“You’re flying!”

The redheaded fairy said nothing. She reached into a tiny, imperceptible pocket and threw a sparkled dusting in Aaron’s direction.

“What’re you doing?” asked Becky as Aaron started to sneeze violently.

Dilandra zipped off. In seconds, other shimmered fairies were fluttering nearby. Becky’s stomach started to cramp; she felt worried and scared, like she’d made a mistake.

She yelled, “What’s going on?”

Another fairy flew forward and threw a different sparkle on Aaron and the teenager stopped sneezing, seized up, and fell to the forest floor.

“Aaron,” was all Becky could say before a chorus of hissing snarls started. At the edge of the clearing, dead leaves began rippling. Her heart hammered again and the urge to run was strong. Crouching down, she said to Aaron, “We gotta go!”

Dilandra spoke beside her. “He’s not your problem anymore, Sweet Becky. He won’t bullish you ever again.”

Becky turned. “Your wing. It’s fine.”

With a gentle nod, she agreed. “Sympathy brings in bigger game, Sweet Becky. You were my original target, but you told me about this bullish boy.” Becky looked at Aaron; he was still, his face turned. While silently looking at Becky, foam started oozing from his mouth. “And, well, I decided to spare you, then help you. And I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“I,” she started, and then stopped when tears fell. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she continued. “I don’t understand.”

“The snishers are a deadly species.” She pointed to the rustling leaves. Becky finally saw one emerge: the length of her arm and sporting ridged scales, sharp claws, and pointed teeth, it resembled what she’d thought of as traditional dragons. “They’re enemies to fairies. But if we offer them a tribute, a sacrifice, then they leave us alone.”

More snishers emerged. Becky stood up, grabbed a rotted stick, and threw it. It missed. Sobbing, she asked Dilandra to stop.

“Sweet Becky, fairies have been here long before humans. And we’ll be here long after. And you said yourself that this bullish boy was mean.”

“But he doesn’t deserve to die!” she screamed with tears and snot running down her face.

When she wiped her eyes, she saw Dilandra biting her lip. The fairy moved in closer and said, “I’m sorry. But this is how it has to be. My people have a lot to accomplish still. Sating these snishers is the only way.”

Becky screamed, hoping it would draw someone, anyone, to the woods. Dilandra didn’t flinch. Instead, Becky saw her reach into her pocket and then fling some sparkled dust.

*          *          *

When she awoke in the clearing, darkness greeted her. The moon was high, staring down at her. Becky was alone. Where Aaron Iseman had been, the dead leaves were dark and moist.

She started crying, screaming. Someone would come for her and she’d be safe. Becky didn’t know what she’d tell Mr. Iseman. She herself didn’t know if it had really happened. She hoped that sunrise would show she’d suffered a horrible nightmare.

Part of her knew that she had not. It made her sick and scared.

Word Count: 1,962