Through to the Soul

I sat down against a tree, listening to the birds sing. They soon faded and all that was left was the whispering of the trees. I closed my eyes for just a second only to wake up hours later. The time was soon spent as the day had reached the night, and here I was lost in the middle of this forest. For I panicked and rushed around trying to find my way. Soon to realise it was no good. My only source of light was the moons pearlescent glow. I had wandered in too deep. I slumped myself down against a tree, feeling a little cold. The feeling washed away as I felt the warm wind surround me like a blanket. There was nothing to do but sleep...

Once again I heard the birds singing and was overjoyed to realise it was morning. I opened my eyes, but did not expect the sight that they fell upon. I had reached the edge of the forest, but it was not the way in which I came... The land looked like a patchwork quilt with little sparkling blue brooks running through. If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn I had fallen into a fairy tale.

I walked a little, to the nearest brook. The water was cold, clear and very refreshing as I scooped some up in my hands to quench my thirst, as I had not had a drink all night. About to get up, I stopped when I saw a butterfly through the corner of my eye. Slowly, I sat back down and began to watch it. The winged creature was not like anything I had seen before. It had a light coming from it so bright, that the only thing I could make out were its tiny wings fluttering fast in the breeze. Did glowing butterflies even exist? Then I told myself how stupid I was...it was just the sunlight reflecting off of their crystal wings. My stomach rumbled loudly as my thoughts rushed away from the butterfly and to the fact that I was hungry. As soon as the thought entered my mind, i noticed a pebblestone pathway leading from a bridge a few feet away from me across the land and over a hill. I was sure this was not here before as it was right where my glowing butterfly had been! I decided it was silly to stay here so I got up and walked over the miniature bridge, though going over this tiny brook, I hardly saw the need for one. As I walked, I stared in awe at the flowers that had now appeared. It was a wonderful sight. Their colours were bright and butterflies were lightly kissing the petals with their delicate wings. I carried on walking past the meadows of milli flora, Past the oasis with the coconut trees, I longed to stop and reach one but my feet refused and continued walking, and past the beach with the golden sand and crystal blue sea. When I looked behind me, all this had disappeared. I felt slightly alarmed by this, though somehow, it was as if I were expecting it. After what seemed like walking for hours through many lands, I could still see the little brook where I had been sitting! I carried on until I had reached the top of the hill where I decided I could not walk anymore as darkness had once again fallen upon the land. I could not sleep, I was too hungry. I rested my head against some heather and gazed into the night. I thought I was just seeing things when I spotted two little lights in the near distance. Before I could blink, the lights were upon me. It was two glowing butterflies. One rested upon my nose! As my eyes adjusted to their glow, I could make out a tiny silhouette, but it was not that of a butterfly... it was... a fairy, i suppose. So I had fallen into a Fairy Tale! Either that or I'm completely nuts...

I blinked again and off flew the fairy. She landed on a rock not two feet away. I stared in amazement as she took up a pose, flicked her long hair and grinned cheekily up at me. (The other was playing around in some fallen leaves). She spoke but I struggled to hear her as she was so small. She seemed to realise this, and she flew over, hovering next to my ear. She asked where I had been and what was I doing on the top of Greenleaf Hill in the middle of the night. I replied that I could not find my way. I asked the fairy her name. She giggled lightly and told me it was Shaylee, Fairy Princess of the Woodlands, and that the other fairy playing in the leaves was Foster, Guardian of the Forest. I looked closely at them. Shaylee was wearing a dress made from pale pink flowers, and Foster, a pair of shorts made from green leaves. Her wings looked something like antique lace sprinkled with starlight and his, spiderwebs and raindrops. Shaylee asked my name. I found that I could not reply... What was my name? Again, she giggled and told me I needed to get some sleep. They reassured me they would stay and watch over me. Somehow, I found it comforting to sleep whilst being watched by the two fairies. I woke to the sound of Foster playing in the leaves again. He saw me open my eyes and pointed over the hill top. I looked over to see a small town, overlooked by a huge golden castle at the top of the next hill. I excitedly looked around for Shaylee, to find that she had brought me an apple. I was so thankful! I thanked her but she looked at me as if she had never heard the word before. I blew her a kiss instead. She understood and smiled as she watched me eat it. When I had finished it, she told me we were to go down to the town. I didn't object, and soon we started on our way, leaving Foster behind to play in his leaves.

When we reached the town, the people who lived there, started to gather outside their houses. For a minute, it made me a little nervous, though unexplainably, I felt the warmth coming from each of their hearts. I followed Shaylee through the crowd and saw we were heading towards the glistening golden castle. I asked why we were going there. She just smiled without replying. We walked up the small hill, through the landscape gardens and across a bridge to the castles courtyard. It must be someone very important living here. Out ran an aging man wearing robes of red and gold and a lady wearing a full gown of the same colours. Both were wearing crowns. They were Royalty! Before I had time to bow, the lady took me into her arms. "Oh my goodness!! Thank heavens we have found you! We were so worried!"

Huh? What is going on? I looked at them both with a blank expression, and then at Shaylee who giggled. I was so confused. Its a dream, it has to be.

Half of me wanted to run away from these strangers, but the other half told me to hang on...

They dragged me towards the castle. Before we reached the doors, I looked at the surroundings. Something caught my eyes in the rose bushes. Something made me feel like everything would be fine. But less than a second after I had seen whatever it was, it had disappeared, and I was pulled through the castle doors.

As soon as we reached a large hall, with an equally large double staircase, the strangers stopped in front of me. They both smiled at me, the lady kissed me on the cheek then turned and started giving instructions to Shaylee. I did not hear them as I was still staring in wonder at everything that surrounded me. A few moments later I was alone with Shaylee. She did not speak, just smiled her smile and gently tugged on my ear to lead me towards the staircase. As we went up, I looked closely at them. The wood was carved with a story... There were fairies, unicorns and mermaids. Dragons, elves and witches on every inch. When we reached the top, there was a lot of writing in an ancient language, and only one in English...

"Love takes no side, good nor evil, but holds power over both"

Love? What is that? I asked Shaylee but she just giggled at me again. She led me through a hall and up a set of spiral stairs, much smaller than the last, and through the door into the tower. It was a huge bedroom, decorated with different shades of green with little pink flowers scattered across the walls. A large wooden bed with wild red roses growing up the four posts. And a set of fairy tale-like doors leading to a balcony full of flowers and strawberry plants, with an amazing view over the gardens... and that rose bush. I badly wanted to taste one of those strawberries but I didn't want to ruin the balcony's perfection. I had not noticed Shaylee go over to a carved wardrobe and pull out a dress. It was forest green with hints of pink and silver with diamonds around the off shoulder neckline and hem. My favourite colours. She couldn't possibly expect me to wear this? The owner of the dress would have a fit! It looked priceless! She edged me towards another door and I saw a bathroom almost as big as the bedroom. Its every girls dream! It carried the same forest theme as the bedroom with flowers everywhere. I immediately ran over to the giant bathtub. It was filled with soft moss and pink flowers. How strange! That didn't stop me as I eagerly started to run the water. Shaylee told me when I was ready. I very reluctantly agreed. Then, out of a small chest on a nearby dressing table, she pulled out a necklace of emeralds and pink diamond carved with a dancing fairy ring all round, and placed it round my neck. I felt like a princess. She told me that when i touched it and blinked, she would be able to hear. She turned and left. Her wings fluttering down the staircase. I stepped out of the rags I had not noticed I was wearing and into the bathtub. As soon as I touched the water the lights faded and various candles lit up around the room. The moss was so soft against my skin. I felt completely relaxed and at home. But I wasn't at home. Where was home? Why couldn't I remember anything? My thoughts fell back to that something in the rose bush...

As I looked, my eyes searched further in to find where that warmth had come from. To my terror, I only found a pair of cold dark eyes... I awoke with a jump, and started to cry as though my heart knew something my mind didn't.

I pulled myself out of the bubbles and reached for a fluffy pink towel. I changed into the dress Shaylee had given me before touching the Fairy Ring necklace and blinking. I thought she might have an idea why I was crying, though when I explained my dream, I expected her to smile but she didn't. She didn't say anything as she led me down both sets of stairs. She didn't stop when we reached the hall but kept on walking past the door, to another left of the entrance. Inside the room was a large banquet table filled with every kind of food you could think of. At the far end of the table sat the strangers. Shaylee spoke to them before leaving. They pointed me to a chair near them and I graciously took it. They introduced themselves as Annarain and Haydn. They worriedly looked at me. "Do you not know who we are?"

My blank expression must have disappointed them. Shaylee re-entered the room carrying something. She placed it on the table in front of me. I looked down at a photo of myself with the 'strangers'...

"We are your Mother and Father"

Suddenly I lost my appetite.