Beyond the Firefly Field (4 page)

The tiny, barefoot girl wore tan-colored clothing that appeared to be woven of small strips of dead field grass. Her sleeveless top was fastened in front with braided loops over tiny pieces of bright-colored stone buttons. The top fitted to her waist, ending above shorts created of the same material. Bits of shiny metal and colorful, polished stones were woven into the shirt in a swirled pattern. Some designs were surrounded by vivid feathers. The feathers were attached only at the top, allowing their length to sway and dance when the tiny girl moved.

After taking all this in, the kids slowly began to stir. Penny rubbed her eyes, which instantly turned back to disbelief. Clayton saw Karl pinching himself and tried it, too. The creature was still there. Slowly, the band of five searched each other's faces, seeking assurance of what they believed they were experiencing. For another long moment, their gaze returned to the impossibility standing before them.

Suddenly, they all started to speak at once, including the tiny girl. But after stammering through a syllable or two, the kids still hadn't found their voices. What the tiny girl was trying to say to them would never be known, as she was rudely interrupted.

Another creature floated into sight from beneath a branch. This one, slightly larger, appeared in the figure of an adult male. It hovered at the girl's eye level, throwing sharp glares at the tiny girl and the stunned group.

His triangular-shaped face had pronounced cheek and jaw bones. He had similar hair, and his kaleidoscope-colored eyes emitted a faint glow. His clothes were also similar to the girl's, but green grasses were woven through the tan hue of the material. The same bits of metal, stones, and feathers forged decorations. Instead of swirling patterns, the little man's clothing featured straight-line, abstract designs. A thick net, holding a cluster of large blueberries, slung over his back between his wings, appearing to be a heavy load for the tiny creature carrying it.

“SeeLee, what have you done?” he demanded sternly. After a quick flutter, gold sparkles fell from his wings, as blue, green, and yellow patterns slowly drifted to the delicate edges.

“Oh, ArEnTa, don't start any of your big-brother lectures,” SeeLee retorted in a voice used to dismissing admonitions from an older sibling. “You know this sometimes happens,” she said. She turned and winked at the group.

“I was mending the wing of a firefly at the gathering when they suddenly dispersed. The humans were on the other side, and it was just too late to hide,” she explained.

“Well, now you'll have to have to be the one charged with keeping them,” ArEnTa said, his voice tinged with annoyance. “I'll have to get Father,” he said.

“Yes,” SeeLee agreed. “Go get him.”

“They're still going to be your responsibility,” her brother retorted, giving SeeLee an annoyed look before soaring into the tree, his wings shuddering. The bottom edges of his wings fluttered quickly, like the end of a flag flapping in the wind, leaving a trail of gold sparkles. He was quickly out of sight, and the group turned its attention back to the tiny thing called SeeLee, who was smiling up at them.

“He always takes everything so seriously. Ever since he became one of the Last Watch Guards, he's been hard to live with,” SeeLee sighed.

The everyday normality of sibling squabbling released the humans from their shock. At last they could all speak, and again started talking at the same time, interrupting each other. Penny was the only one who could actually complete a sentence, exclaiming, “You're real!” in a joyful voice followed by a short giggle.

“What, um, what are you?” Clayton asked, feeling like he just said something really stupid.

“I'm a
fairy,”
SeeLee announced in an insulted voice, as if everyone should just naturally know. “You know, a fairy, like in books…” She swooped above and appeared to be treading air.

“Wings?” she added in a “mean anything to you” voice. She brushed her hand along one wing's outer edge, and a shower of sparkles fluttered away, leaving a twinkling trail below her. The colors swirled in the wings like oil on water, then changed to a reddish hue, as if indicating an angry mood.

“Fairies aren't real,” Phil insisted in his “everyone knows that” voice.

“Oh, well if fairies aren't real, then you aren't real either, and I'm not going to believe in humans anymore,” SeeLee snipped. She folded her arms in front of her in a pouty posture. Then she stepped onto the branch, her wings folding out of sight.

“Guys,” Ron said in a warning voice, “shouldn't we be alarmed that we
think
we're talking to a fairy?”

SeeLee ruffled again. “There you go! ‘Fairy' is your word for us, not ours. So if we didn't exist, why would you come up with a name to call us? The proper name for us is ‘Elfairian.' In the distant past, you called us ‘fearies' because we were so filled with fear and easily frightened away. So, fairy is just really your current name for us, even though you insist we don't exist.”

The group stared at the supposed fearie, then glanced back and forth at one another, trying to think of something to say that would explain what was happening without admitting what was
really
happening. No one could think of anything to offer, and short moments of thought turned into long moments of pondering.

Finally, SeeLee sighed, “You'll be all right. My father will be here shortly to explain everything.” The reassurance in her voice brought some relief, knowing the question of “realness” would soon be answered. They were getting nowhere discussing reality with the tiny creature.

“Hey! You speak English!” Clayton accused, implying that fairies would have their own language.

“Hey! So do you!” SeeLee accused back as if that was the explanation.

“How come your brother said you had to keep us? Are we going to be your prisoners?” Penny asked in a worried voice. As much as she loved the little fairy floating before her, she didn't want to be anyone's prisoner.

“He meant that I would be charged with keeping you safe.”

“We aren't safe?” Clayton inquired, his eyes quickly darting around.

“You're safe for now. My father will explain. Don't worry,” she insisted.

“Where did your wings go?” Karl inquired. Clayton couldn't help but smile. Karl was always interested in the structure of things.

SeeLee turned around, revealing her folded wings against her back and hanging limp like a flag devoid of wind. The color and the golden veins were absent without the benefit of light, and her wings looked like extensions of her long, yellow hair.

SeeLee turned back around as a firefly landed on the branch in front of her. She bent down and scooped the little bug in her arms. To the fairy, the bug was about the size of a small house cat. She cradled it with one arm and gently stroked its wings.

“See? I promised you would fly again.” The firefly flashed its yellow light as if in thanks, and the tip of SeeLee's wing peeked around and flashed a spark of yellow back. She lifted her arm slightly, and the firefly flew off, flashing happily.

Penny suddenly realized that she was still holding the jar with dozens of fireflies frantically beating against their glass prison. Turning away from SeeLee, she uncovered the jar and dumped its contents. Secreting the jar into her waist pack, she casually turned back as if nothing had happened. SeeLee looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing.

“Do you live here?” Penny asked as innocently as she could, blushing profusely and knowing she had been caught in the act.

“Yes, we carved our homes into the dead parts of the tree.”

“That's so cool. We made a tree house, and you should come see it,” Penny quickly interjected as she turned a lighter shade of pink, having successfully changed the subject.

Dozens of fireflies suddenly fluttered toward the tree's branches, distracting Clayton's attention for the first time. His attention had been so intensely focused on SeeLee that his vision seemed to blur. He thought he was seeing other fairies flying amid the higher branches, shooting spots of colors as they moved. Shaking his head to regain focus, he turned his attention back to SeeLee.

Just then, another fairy floated down from atop the branches. Clayton quickly presumed he was the father of the other two. His face was more mature, yet lean and smooth. His hair was long and a slightly darker gold. Like his children, the older fairy had a long, thin nose and high cheekbones. A triangular chin and chiseled jaw gave him a stern appearance, with a prominent forehead and bushy eyebrows adding to the impression.

The older man's eyes, however, spoke of a subdued brilliance with an air of authority. The gleam of his intelligence came through his gaze, as did a twinkle of mirth that seemed controlled, lest it take over. His eyes glowed with a deep, dark blue, and a shimmer of maroon appeared at certain angles when he looked away. He seemed to radiate benevolence and welcoming warmth.

His wing colors—both the gold veins and the colors in the membrane—were slightly darker. Maroon hues spread from the base, as peach stripes wove slender threads, fanning to be the dominant color at the crescendo of the wing. Flame-shaped blues, greens, yellows, and reds spread toward the edges with flickers of bronze licking the ends of the flames, as one might see staring at a blazing fire. Some flame tips broke away, moving to the outer edges of the wing before fading away. It seemed to be a more mature and controlled display of color, but just as mesmerizing as the wings of the younger fairies.

The older fairy's clothing appeared more mature, too. His tan pants were longer and looser, and his sleeveless tan shirt reached his waist. It was closed in two places where a loop snared a sheath holding a wooden knife.

There were also fewer metals, rocks, and feathers adorning his clothes. They were replaced by curved, embroidered symbols, braiding, and macramé in different shades of brown. The few metals and feathers decorating his clothes were intricate symbols and complex designs. He landed on the branch in a majestic and gradual movement, then his wings slowly folded to his sides.

“Playing with the fireflies again, SeeLee?” he asked.

“Father, you know how they like to gather,” she offered, bowing her head.

“Especially when you flash their own color at them,” he agreed. SeeLee's face winced, and she looked to the forest floor.

“As your brother said, you will be the one who keeps these humans secure.” His soft baritone voice exuded calm. It also evoked things unsaid by the way he spoke.

“I won't be helping you, and you know what you must do,” he finished and turned to the group standing before him.

“My name is SanArEnDar, and I am the father of SeeLee and ArEnTa. I will explain things to you that will hopefully relieve your shock of seeing us and will help you calm down.”

As he spoke, Clayton noticed his heart had been racing, as if he had been caught doing something very wrong instead of simply seeing something he shouldn't.

Penny still couldn't get over the fact that fairies—yes, real fairies!—were standing before her. She had always wanted them to be real.

SanArEnDar's voice and words were already having a soothing effect. The anxiety caused by the disbelief at what they were experiencing was already fading as they realized the fairies' existence would soon be explained. They definitely awarded SeeLee's father their full attention as he spoke.

“The Creator of all things made the universe so anything and everything might happen, and we are just part of that whole. You know us as fairies and believe we don't exist. We know you as humans and believe you are just as unlikely to exist, yet you do. And in that same way, so do we.

“We come from the same family tree, but evolved differently many thousands of years ago. You became larger, and we became smaller, each changing to suit the needs of our existence.”

The tone of certainty and assurance in the old fairy's voice slowed the beating of the human hearts, and the group felt a sense of release as they learned more about the realm of possibilities.

“We ordinarily go to great lengths to keep from being seen,” SanArEnDar continued with a brief glance at SeeLee. “But, sometimes it happens. Your literature has hundreds of years of stories about your dealings with us. Eventually, they just became tales. You call them ‘fairytales' because our existence has not generally been proven. As time passed, those stories became myth and not to be believed.

“Those who
do
see us on rare occasions have a problem. It's a problem you now have to face. It concerns what you think is real. You weave a reality you are comfortable accepting from what you experience every day. There are things of which you are certain, things you believe to be true, and things you're not sure of at all. Seeing us has broken your sense of reality, and if you never saw us ever again, within a few months you would question if you
ever
saw us at all. By now you should be fairly certain that what you are seeing and hearing is actually happening.”

His last statement turned into a question needing agreement. So with a final flurry of eye-rubbing and arm-pinching, the five nodded in agreement.

With a smile indicating his approval, SanArEnDar continued. “Over time, seeing us, of which you are now certain, will eventually shift to uncertainty, taking with it many other experiences you are equally certain happened. You will feel like one-third of your memories are lies, and thus you are no longer
really
comfortable accepting the rest of your beliefs either. You will always wonder if they are fantasies. And that's why SeeLee is stuck with you, as her brother had said. She has to make sure you see us at least a few times so your memory of us will stay real and work itself comfortably into your reality.

“I have to go now and speak with the Old Ones about your discovery of us. SeeLee will be inviting you back,” he concluded, then raised his bushy eyebrow at his daughter.