Welcome to Fablehaven
I followed Stan outside and into the yard. I gasped. Instead of butterflies fluttering around the yard, there where little fairies floating around everywhere. A slim fairy with baby blue wings and red hair flew up to me.
"Hi there," I greeted her.
The fairy just tossed her hair with a smirk and flew away as quickly as she came. I shrugged my shoulders and jogged to the edge of the yard where Stan was waiting for me.
Looking me in the eye, he said, "Listen, Hazel. This is very important. There are many different creatures out there. Some are gentile and safe to be around, like the fairies in the yard. But others can be very dangerous if provoked, like centaurs. But here we have something called the treaty. It sets certain rules for the creatures of Fablehaven. For example, only fairies are allowed in the yard, and only humans can enter the house. It's what keeps Fablehaven stable. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Good," he said with a toothy smile, "Welcome to Fablehaven, Hazel."
He pulled some small branches out of the way and let me pass first.
"What was with that fairy back there? When I greeted her, she gave me a weird look and just flew off," I questioned him.
"Oh, all fairies are like that. They don't really care for talking with any other creature but themselves. But they rarely even talk among themselves. Instead they just spend all their time staring at their reflection. But when you compliment them on their looks, they might be up to talk to you," he explained.
"They're very different from how they're described in books," I said.
Stan smiled. "Well, here are the first creatures we'll meet, satyrs.
As I stepped over a short bush, I saw a tennis court with a little shed on the sideline. On the far side of the court, were to men. But the strange thing was that they had two slightly curved horns on their head and hairy goat legs. So those must be satyrs. How strange. As I walk over to them, I heard them arguing over something.
"…but I clearly hit the ball in the court!" one satyr yelled.
"No it clearly went out see?" the other said as he trotted over to as spot right outside the sidelines.
"Are you two done? I have someone to introduce you to," Stan interrupted.
The two satyrs turned around in surprise.
"Oh Stan! Fancy meeting you here!" the first satyr said tipping an imaginary hat.
"This is Newel," Stan said pointing to the satyr who was standing on the sidelines, "and this is Doren." He pointed to the other one.
"Hi," I said awkwardly.
It felt weird talking to two satyrs.
"Hey I know her!" Doren exclaimed, "She's the girl who called us cute! We are anything but cute! We are the strongest, bravest, and smartest creatures in all of Fablehaven."
He threw a few punches at the air to show me.
"Alright then," Stan said ignoring his last statement, "These two are incredibly greedy and love to manipulate nipsies into giving them gold. Never give make a bargain with them. They're also cowardly at most times."
"Ouch," Newel said flinching.
I laughed. The satyrs just stared at me.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Oh it's just that I never thought I'd meet talking goats and fairies," I giggled.
Doren frowned, "We're satyrs, not goats."
"Hey why is she here anyways?" Newel asked Stan.
"She's become fairykind," he answered.
"No way! Just like Kendra! Man, won't Veryl be excited to hear this!" Newel snickered.
As quick as a hare, the two satyrs galloped away.
"Come, Hazel. I have two more places to show you. I will explain the rest back at the house," Stan said.
I followed him as he walked back the way we entered the court. The rest of the walk was silent. We occasionally exchanged glances but not words. As we approached our next destination, I realized that it was that hidden pond with the hedge surrounding it. But instead of crawling under the hedge, we spent another minute walking around the circumference of the hedge until we found the entrance. As I entered Stan stopped and turned to face me.
"Hazel, never ever go near the edge of that pond. It may not look like it, but there are at least a dozen naiads in there. If you get anywhere close, they won't hesitate to pull you in and drown you. Also, avoid conversation with them. They will try to lure you closer," he explained gravely.
I gulped. I remembered last night when I ran to the edge of the pond to drink the water. To think that I could've been drowned. I opened my mouth as if to speak but then closed it and swallowed my confession. I looked at the clearing and shivered. It had a creepy feeling to it. I walked over to the pond but kept my distance. Stan just watched from afar.
Suddenly, the surface was disturbed by violent ripples. Up from out of the water came a head. The naiad had deep blue eyes with auburn hair. Her lips were slimy looking and a pale pink. Her skin was slimy and pale just like her lips. She was both alluring and menacing.
I looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. The naiad tilted her head back and laughed. Her laugh wasn't normal. It was eerie and high-pitched.
"So, the little fairy is frightened. Some heroine. She can't even look at me, sisters," she taunted, the words sliding out of her mouth like a snake.
Beneath the water, I heard muffled giggles erupted like a symphony of tinkling bells on the surface.
"I'm not afraid," I said bravely.
But inside I was crying for help like a little child. The naiad was right. I'm not a very good heroine.
"Oh she speaks!" the naiad said with fake surprise.
Once again, the laughter bubbled up to the surface, only louder.
"Why don't you come closer and I'll tell a little secret about why you were chosen?" she bribed.
I stepped a little closer to the edge. The naiad smiled exposing her pearly white teeth.
"Hazel don't!"
I turned around in surprise.
"Don't fall for it," Stan cried, "Only the Fairy Queen knows why you were chosen! Hazel come back!"
I looked down at the naiad. The smile still remained on her face. I shivered. Naiads are not what I expected them to be like. I walked back up to where Stan was standing with his arms crossed.
"Don't ever do that again!" he scolded.
He sounded like my mom.
"I'm sorry," I apologized.
"It's alright," he said, his face softening, "It's you're first day interacting with magical creatures.
I nodded.
"Alright then, let's head to our last stop," Stan sighed.
I followed him out of the clearing. As I left, I looked back one more time. She was gone, and the lake was still. Creepy. I ran after Stan who was already a few yards ahead.
"So, what's our next stop?" I questioned.
"We'll be going to Dale and Warren's cabin. They're the workers that help out with the house."
"Oh."
After that we didn't talk . But I knew that we were thinking about the same thing. That naiad sure was creepy. Stan must have been really worried. I never knew that they were that dangerous. I replayed the scene in my mind for the rest of the walk.
Soon afterwards, we arrived at a small little wooden cabin. Stan walked up to the door and knocked on it three times. Knock. Knock. Knock. No one answered. I was about to suggest that we should leave when a tall man with tan skin and brown hair opened the door. He smiled at us when I noticed who it was.
"Hey there, Stan! Giving Hazel a tour of Fablehaven I see," the man said.
"How do you know my name?" I asked.
"Everyone at Fablehaven does," he said, "I'm Warren. Geez, what did you do to her, Stan? She looks like she's a ghost!
"She just encountered a naiad for the first time," Stan said.
Warren thought about it for a moment. "Anyways, come on in guys."
I nodded and stepped inside. As I walked in, I saw a similar looking man with paler skin. He was sitting at a small, round table. In the far corners were two wooden beds. They weren't very big, due to the small size of the cabin. Suddenly, the man at the table stood up.
"Hey, Hazel!" he welcomed, "My name is Dale. Right now, I was just taking a rest from pumpkin carving."
"Pumpkin carving?" I asked.
"Yeah, you see, Midsummer Eve is coming up tomorrow, and I have to carve all the pumpkins out behind the cabin to protect the house," Dale explained.
"Why would you need to do that?"
"Well on Midsummer Eve, all the creatures here go wild and rampage all over Fablehaven, including the yard. So to protect us, fairies will fly into the pumpkins around the house and that will protect us."
"Oh." I nodded.
"Thank you, Dale," Stan said.
Dale nodded in return.
As I stepped out the door with Stan, he asked me, "Hazel, have you ever met a golem?"
"No," I answered with a smile, knowing what was going to happen.
"Hugo!" Stan hollered.
I looked around. Where was it? Suddenly, a tall creature made of dirt and stone came charging down a small hill not too far away. It was pushing a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins in front of it. Finally, it skidded to a stop in front of me and let go of the wheelbarrow. I looked at it and guessed it was around 8 to 9 feet tall.
"Hugo, this is Hazel," Stan introduced.
Hugo bent down until his head was level with mine and then froze like a statue.
"Hi," I said nervously.
He just stared at me. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. Suddenly, he jumped back up to his normal height and patted me on the head. He made a weird choking sound and trembled. It took me a while to realize that he was laughing. I let a quiet giggle.
"Bye, Hugo!" Stan said with a wave.
The golem grabbed the wheelbarrow and returned the gesture.
"So what did you think of our little adventure?" Stan questioned as we walked back to the yard.
"It was so cool!" I exclaimed.
Stan laughed, "Good. I'll explain the rest when we get back."
I nodded as we stepped into the yard. They door burst open as we reached the porch steps.
"How did it go?" Seth asked excitedly.
"It was amazing," I said.
He smiled. "Come on! Grandma just made lunch!"
He dragged me inside the house and I waved to Stan who was slowly walking in. I thought of Newel and Doren and how they were so comical. I thought of the naiad who tried to lure me in the water. And I thought of Warren, Dale, and Hugo who were probably busy carving pumpkins right now. Every creature that I met were different from what I expected. Hmm, I wonder, how dangerous is Midsummer Eve?