The sun was shining brightly, the birds singing beautiful and it was a perfect day. But not for this lady, she was sat crying into her hands on a bench and with no one beside her. An old gentleman walked past, tutting at the lady and she rose her head slowly. The lady's dark blue eyes were fixed on him after she pushed her dark red hair behind her ears, she stared until he got uncomfortable and moved along quickly away from her. She was glad he had become unsettled by this, as she wasn't really in the right frame of mind for someone to be staring at her. The lady's back was hurting quite a bit, she was climbing a tree and had slipped. Landing with a great force on a branch wasn't a very pleasant experience and her back was aching from it. It was either the pain or the shock that made her upset or perhaps both really.
I shouldn't really be doing this at my age, really. Oh who cares, it's up to me what I do anyway!
The lady stood up, stretched and her back twinged with pain as she did. Grimacing she made herself walk back to the tree that she fell from in the first place and rubbed her hands together.
Right no time for being a chicken, up I go!
The lady grabbed onto the first branch, hauled herself up with her strength and used her trainer covered feet on the trunk to help her climb up. After this she sat on the slightly thick branch that wobbled under her weight for a few seconds, climbed up a few more branches instead of sitting on the one that was unstable and found a plank of wood in the tree as she reached a very high point. It had been nailed in a very haphazard way, probably by some children, by testing it the lady found the nailed plank of wood to be really sturdy and was properly supported by many branches.
I hope the poor thing didn't experience any pain from it though. Poor tree, people don't think these things through sometimes and I suppose if they were children they wouldn't.
The lady sat on the plank of wood anyway, tested the plank for good strength yet again and then gasped as she took in her surroundings from sitting on the plank.
"It's beautiful" She spoke with amazement in her eyes, a smile lit up her face and she gazed around.
You could see mostly everything of the park from this point, the branches opened in a way you could see out but others couldn't see you from below. Looking over to the lake side, watching the gulls swooping the air and swans landing on the waters she was relaxed. Her attention moved to the many different greens of all the trees she could see in focus, the dots of flowers on the lush grass, the dogs running over them which kicked up dandelion seeds and petals.
"FLOWER!" A male voice sharply yelled.
The lady froze, she swallowed hard and slowly made her legs come up onto the plank.
Oh no, not now I was feeling good. Can't you leave me alone for a change?
The man was walking with a fierce look on his face, his sandy coloured hair was messy and he had extremely dark brown eyes. Stubble was all over his face, his jeans baggy and t shirt a plain navy blue. The lady felt herself holding her breath, her hands over her mouth and tried to think calming thoughts.
He can't see you, he isn't there. You are somewhere else, in another world. He doesn't know you are here. Keep calm, just breathe, breathe Dee just breathe.
The man started looking around the tree, he looked up in the branches and scowled as he did.
Oh please don't see me for goodness sake no! Go away! Just go away!
Dee moved to sit side-wards on the plank, bringing her knees up to her tummy and bowed her head forward. She put her head near her knees and placed her arms to shield her face. Dee was now feeling safe, due to the slight darkness she created and the fact she was in an up right fetal position.
"I swear when I find you we are having SERIOUS words" His voice bellowed, as he walked off to another direction to probably check more trees.
"That man sounds angry" A little girls voice was heard and Dee looked down the tree to find her.
She was standing with her mother who was tying her shoelaces and the mum replied with a smile.
"It's probably some little girl just like you but being naughty and hiding" The mother reassured her but looked worried when her child wasn't looking.
You know he's bad you can hear it in his voice and see it in how he moves. But you are protecting her from reality aren't you? But I'm not a child, I'm not naughty or maybe I am?
The mother took her child's hand, they walked away from the tree with the child talking enthusiastically about the local library and what books she wanted to find today.
Reality what an awful place. What I would give for anything but reality.
Dee looked up at the sky with such want in her eyes, as she did a small white feather had floated and landed on her arm. She flinched at the tickle of it, looking to see if it was an insect that had come to say hello but saw the feather. She picked it up with a small smile, and blew it from her fingers.
"I wish to escape reality" She wished quietly and watched the feather float further away from her until it was out of range of her vision.
Dee sat content on the plank for a while but with her legs out flat in front of her at times or drawn up because she didn't want any signs to show she was in the tree to passes below. This was mostly due to the man looking for her, he was someone she wanted to avoid right now and felt powerful sitting in her tree.
It's like I'm a Princess in a tower but instead of being locked up I'm here by free will. But then again right now I'm starting to feel trapped because of him trying to find me. I told him it was over, I told him days ago I never wanted to see him again and yet he keeps following me. Harassing me, phoning me and endless more things. What is wrong with him? Well alot of things really, he's aggressive, hurtful, possessive and a compulsive liar. Not to mention his poor hygiene and the stench of alcohol on him. Why did he change? Or was he pretending to be a nice guy? I suppose he was really or did I not notice it?
Dee was contemplating between it being her fault or his in her mind for a while, until it gave her a headache and chest pains just thinking over the past months with him. It wasn't making her feel well, she started to feel dizzy as well and that wasn't good due to being in a tree. Because how was she going to get down if she was dizzy? And so she stayed in the tree for hours, her buttocks going numb but feeling extremely safe.
...
A white feather floated into the sky higher and higher. It found it's way through the glare of the sunset after many hours and drifted across a place foreign to it. A place it had never been before, across an ocean it had never spun and a breeze it had never been caught in. The feather bumped it's way through a pirate ship full of blowing sails, across sharp rocks, along a stream, through some trees, bumbled in between flowers and then it got caught in a prickly thick bush.
A small girl of about three inches, chocolate skinned with speckles of black like pepper, she had spiky brown hair and was wearing a dress of leaves. She was in the same bush and she jumped in excitement as she looked up at it.
"Oh a wish! A wish!" She had a very small voice that would of sounded like a bird chirping to anyone passing by unless they took notice of what was really making the noise that is.
The little girl was very excited by this find and she picked up a small twig with something slimy dripping down it. With a tongue sticking out her mouth she reached up with this twig, hooked the feather onto it and brought it down to her. The girl stared in sheer delight at the feather that she called 'a wish', placed it carefully in her mouth and with bare feet she stood near the edge of a thorny branch. She leapt off, as she did four see-through fly looking wings popped up and she flew with speed. She was going towards a very large tree, as in fathoms large to a small three inch girl and went through a hole in the trunk.
The girl had entered what simply seemed to be a tree to an outsider but this wasn't just a tree, it was full of much more. She was now walking down a staircase, with alot of bounce in her step along a corridor that had flowers and moss on the walls. Then finally into what was a type of room, a very huge one and there was three other small people in the room.
"No, no, no. You can't possibly do that Applestem" One person said to another in a very well spoken and authority manner.
He was male, a few inches taller than them all, dressed in a silver long robe and had a round circle of silver metal on his bald head. His skin was a pale cream colour, his eyes large and silver in colour. The one he spoke to was forest green skinned, with light brown eyes and wearing an outfit that comprised of brown fur shorts and a fur vest top that matched.
"My Lord, it's a tradition for the consorts to throw the party" Applestem replied, his voice sounded like gravel.
"He is correct your highness, it's a bluemoon tradition. It's in the texts you see sire" The third person agreed with Applestem.
The Lord walked over to a table, picked up a crystal of quartz and gazed into it thoughtfully. The third person looked to Applestem, he mouthed a 'thank you' with a smile and then sat on the floor cross legged. The third person had very spindly long legs that looked like branches, a thin body to match and hair that was like hedgehog prickles. His beady black eyes looked at the Lord patiently and Applestem joined him in sitting. The Lord finally turned to them with a sigh, he showed them the quartz in his hand and tilted his head.
"This tells me it will not end well" The Lord said calmly.
Both Applestem and the other person looked at each other with frowns and back at the Lord again.
"There will be a rift, something new will happen and I can't foresee what it is" He spoke again to them as they listened intently to his every word. "It's strange for me to not be able to see. All I see is Tinkerbelle and Rustlefoot. I see Peter Pan and the lost boys and I can see the pirates. But the new, the new I don't see at all. As if it doesn't exist"
Applestem and the other person looked concerned but this tension was broke when the Lord addressed the young girl with the feather in the room.
"Rustlefoot" Lord spoke her name with a nod. "What do you bring?"
She came over to him, bending on one knee and answered with a smile.
"My lord, my father. I have a wish!" The girl with the leaf dress called Rustlefoot held out her hands with the feather on them towards the Lord.
He gazed at the feather, his mouth twitched and he looked at the crystal quartz he was talking about previously.
"This has link" The Lord commented.
Looking to the ceiling of tree wood he was in thought again, after a few minutes of his eyes closed and holding the crystal to his chest he turned to Rustlefoot.
"Take the wish, let no one touch it. Take it to the pool and tell all no one must be present when it is cast" The Lord said with great authority.
Rustlefoot bowed to him, she contained her excitement as she left the room and smiled hugely to herself.
"My starlight, in front of Applestem and Thorngather!" She chirped to herself happily. "I am finally becoming a real fae, a real magic worker!"
Rustlefoot was full of so much excitement she wasn't even thinking of what the Lord possibly meant by it being connected to the quartz but she was only a youth faerie not an adult fae yet but all this would change from the moment of the casting. It was a special ritual that only the faerie or fae who found the wish could do but normally others were present for the ritual but Rustlefoot hadn't even questioned this either. She ran through corridors like her life depended on it, annoying some fae and faeries as she bumped into them along the way. Rustlefoot found herself in a short space of time at a room that had a giant bubble floating in the middle of it and she looked around at the other fae in the room.
"The Lord has spoke that I cast this wish alone" Rustlefoot announced as loud as she could so they could all hear.
Some of the fae left the room moments after she spoke but two remained in the room and she cleared her throat. They looked over to her with a bored look in their eyes, one rolled theirs slightly and the other blinked at her.
"Good for nothing glorified spawnling, not even on the throne yet and shouting orders like a piece of old bark" One of them muttered as he shuffled to the doorway of the room with alot of books in his four hands.
"What was that Ripplesteam?" Rustlefoot spoke huffily crossing her arms.
He turned to face her, a boney ivory finger pointing at her and the wrinkles on his forehead furrowed more than they already were.
"I said you are a bossy beetle" Ripplesteam replied hotly.
Rustlefoot never took his insults or grumpiness seriously he was just a tough fae and he had to be to everyone for good reason. He was the book keeper that was his right of passage, the only way he could protect the books was by being very rough with others and not seem a bridge they could walk over.
"Ok yes, I'm a bossy beetle today" She said back with a gentle voice as she shuffled through the door way and shut the wooden door behind him with a slam.
She giggled a little bit to herself, then taking the feather to the bubble in the middle of the room she turned very serious and concentrated.
"Ok little wish, whatever you dish, whatever wish. Whatever it may be, whatever you may see. May you be true, kind and just... Then this wish is born from the heart of luck. But if you be from someone sore then you will be pricked back in an hour. Ok then little wish off you go" Rustlefoot pushed the feather to the bubble and it absorbed it.
The bubble lit up a shade of dark red with a dot of ocean blue in the middle and this intrigued Rustlefoot. She made her way over to a set of drawers, knocked three times on one and waited. Suddenly the door slammed open again, Ripplesteam came thundering in and over to her.
"Ok, Ok you need to fill in the caster text. Let us get on with it, first of many and nothing special" He spoke gruffly to Rustlefoot and she just smiled.
She happily took the rod of magic, wrote in the book before her that he laid out and then left the room as if it never happened. But it did, her first cast, the first wish she had ever made come true and it made her very glad indeed. In fact she felt like she was older now.
"Yes Fae Rustlefoot!" The little lady spoke happily, standing tall as she strode down the corridor back to the Lord to tell her father of her first casting.
Ripplesteam had said to Rustlefoot that the casting, the wish was one of many and that was true but the fact he said it was 'nothing special' was a lie. Even he could feel the Pool in the room held something great, the fact that the Lord wanted no one present actually unnerved him but it wasn't his place to question his majesties word. He looked upon the Pool in the room as others entered around him and couldn't fathom why the bubble hadn't changed back to it's original colour of normal waters.
...