Sapphonia Cove

To anyone that looked, it was just a tree. A mighty, healthy old oak tree- but a tree nonetheless. To her however, it was magical.

Allyson had decided to go for a walk that day to clear her head. Walking barefoot through the forest, she found it, quite by accident. There was a broken tree branch, probably a beaver’s snack, which she tripped over and fell. As she sat feeling sorry for herself nursing her leg and her torn green capris, she saw it. The door.

At first, she wasn’t sure that’s what it was. But as she inched closer, she realized that’s exactly what it was. It was sharpened pencil tall and picture frame wide. It had an inconsequential hoop for a door knocker on the worn wood.

“How odd,” she commented to no one particular. “What could this possibly be used for? Squirrels and rabbits don’t need doors and elves are only for cartoons and commercials.”

She carefully extended an index finger and touched it. The door didn’t give way. She pushed on it with all four fingers but still nothing. It was solid, no doubt about that. She took the tiny hoop between her thumb and forefinger and pulled. To her amazement, it creaked open surprising her by the weight of it.

The door grazed across the dirt in front of it and she could see a faint light coming from somewhere unknown. Her heart fluttered with excitement and incredibility. She knew logically that she would never know what was behind that door or what it led to. Though Allyson had always been small for her age at a mere 5 foot, she wasn’t that small.

“I wonder if someone is storing treasures here like in To Kill a Mockingbird,” she thought to herself.

She reached her hand through the open door to feel around in the dimly lit area for any riches or treasures. Within seconds, a vacuum force of air grabbed hold of her arm, yanking her. Fear rose up in her and she pulled back in a futile attempt to free herself from the hold. Her resistance was met with a stronger force. Her stomach turned upside down as her body began to fit through the tiny door with unexplainable ease. She looked behind her and saw in terror that the branch she had tripped over was now thicker than the cinnamon oatmeal her mother used to make her for breakfast. The thrice segmented ants on the ground where she had sat were now as big next to her as the size of her beagle back home. She shuddered to think what mammoth proportions Sammy would be now.

With a final swallow, her feet were the last to be sucked through the opening. Behind her, the door slammed shut with a resounding thud. She stood petrified; in shock at what had just occurred. She whirled around and grabbed the door, yanking with all her might. She threw what little weight her now foot tall frame held in the attempt at freedom. But try as she might, the door refused to budge. She gave it one final pull and lost her footing. Flailing her arms frantically, she attempted to steady her gait to no avail. Within seconds, she was falling into an abyss.

It was like a scene from Alice in Wonderland, one of her favorite movies as a child. But this was no movie. It was frightening how her hands reached out but had nothing to grab hold of, how her legs flailed helplessly beneath her, and how her face contorted against the rushing air. There were no floating lamps to switch on and no dress to catch the air and float carelessly. Swishing and flying around each corner, sliding and swooshing to an unknown destination.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the falling slowed to a drifting and she hovered for a moment in midair before her bare feet touched the ground. From the terror, she was motionless. Slow and methodically, soft blue light once again became to illuminate the space she now occupied. The fear she had harbored was replaced with a familiar comfort like hot chocolate running through her veins as she took in her surroundings.

The floor was covered with velvet soft foliage and lily petals that tickled in between her toes. The curved walls were shining with the brilliance of a thousand tiny cut diamonds. But it wasn’t the walls or the floor that held her gaze. The reason for her unblinking expression lay in the people around her. These were not just ordinary people like herself. These people exuded magic and mystery.

Though she was only a foot tall, Allyson was at least two inches taller than the beings around her. Some were sitting on chairs made from shined bottle caps. Some were lying on the floor, face in tiny hands, intently staring at her from their pallets of ivory feathers. There was something oddly familiar about these creatures that she couldn’t put her finger on. She had seen them somewhere- sometime.

“Who are you? Where am I?” her voice came out in a whisper.

Finally, one of them stepped forward. Her hair was a luminous silver and the dress she wore was sheer as tissue paper. Allyson averted her eyes from the jeweled but bare flesh that lay underneath. “Welcome, Allyson. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Allyson drew back. “Waiting for me? What do you mean? I want to go home now.”

She nodded. “Please sit down and we’ll explain everything.”

Reluctantly, Allyson took a spot on a mushroom cap.

“I am Nynnahs. I am Queen and Governess of our land. Welcome to Sapphonia Cove. You have been chosen among the lands of human folk to join us in the Cove.”

“The human folk? What are you?”

She gestured grandly to those seated around her. “We are faeries.”

Allyson looked at her in disbelief. “Faeries aren’t real. And you have no wings.”

Nynnahs closed her small blue eyes briefly and then spoke in a language foreign to Allyson. “Segos yeruo wesngi e martol.” Slowly, all the faeries stood and with a swoosh; all wings were exposed in grandeur. They were sheer and transparent like that of an opaque butterfly.

She stared at each of the faeries. “But… but I don’t want to join you. I want to go home.”

Nynnahs looked a her for several minutes before she spoke. Her voice was airy and light like that of a harp. “You are home, my dear. I christen you Étoile.” With that, she touched Allyson’s head with a small silver wand and glittered dust swirled about. The former mortal turned and looked at her reflection in the wall. She gasped as she saw her short dark hair being transformed into long, curled locks of lavender. Her tattered capris and white tank top became a white jeweled halter and a flowing emerald skirt. At her back, she sprouted small bluish wings of her own.

“But I get no choice?”

Nynnahs paused. “Yes,” she said finally. “Yes, Étoile you may have a choice. But before you choose, you are to spend a few minutes experiencing our life. And then, if you decide you want to return to being a mortal, to being Allyson, I will oblige you.”

Étoile nodded.

“It is all here for you to experience,” Nynnahs said waving her hand.

Étoile stood for a moment before beginning her exploration. Slowly, she walked through the foliage to the sparkling waterfall. Sitting on petite tuffets were two faeries. One was dressed in a short pink laced dress and had cropped blond hair; the other was in a green sheer wrap that draped and swathed her from her right shoulder diagonally across with black purple locks. Her belly button peaked out seductively from where she sat.

They stopped their secret conversation and gestured to a tuffet next to them. “Hello, Étoile. I’m Alainn and this is Bellus.” It was the beauty in the pink dress that spoke.

Étoile smiled slightly and sat down. Still a little bewildered, she attempted to make small talk. “It’s a beautiful waterfall.”

Bellus nodded. “It is. Do you know why you were chosen, Étoile, by the Governess?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m nobody.”

“But that’s just it. You aren’t a nobody here. Here- you are a faerie. You are Étoile. Do you know what your name means?”

Again Étoile shook her head no.

Bellus continued, “Étoile means “genuine”. Only the most special are given names of powerful meaning. My name means “beautiful”, as does Alainn’s, which may explain part of our immediate attraction to one another when we came here.”

Up until that moment, Étoile hadn’t noticed the sensuality and the intimacy that flowed between Alainn and Bellus. She looked around and realized that all the faeries in the Cove were female. She felt herself get immediately aroused at such display.

“But why would she christen me with “genuine”? In the mortal world, I have been an addict, a dropout, and a criminal. The only thing I was genuine at was being a misfit and an outcast.” Her eyes filled with tears at the harsh realization of her own words.

Alainn leaned over and softly kissed the tears from her eyes. “Sweet Étoile, do you not know that here you are none of those things? What you were in the mortal world doesn’t matter here in our land. Here you are graced with beauty, honor, and magic. Here- you are a princess.”

She let her new information marinate slowly in her boggled mind. As she wandered about Sapphonia Cove enjoying the ravenous array of exotic blooms, an extraordinary faerie caught her eye. Boldly, Étoile tried out her new wings and flew, rather awkwardly, over to the beautiful sight.

“You looked exquisite as you flew. I'm Silvermist.”

Étoile kissed the hand of the beauty before her. The chartreuse curls reached the middle of her exposed back, spilling in between her lucent wings. She wore a short dress of gold encrusted with tiny jewels traveling up each side of her neck. Together, the soul mates shared a meal of heather stalk and goat milk and began to sway in the faerie dance of love.

***

“Allyson, can you hear me?” The voice sounded very far away as Étoile began to fade.

In a panic, she looked at Nynnahs who cocked her head. “What’s your choice, Étoile? Do you want to go back to the mortal world as a misfit or stay in our world as a Faerie Princess? You are one of us.” Nynnahs herself began to fade, as did the rest of the faerie world.

Then, Étoile smiled a sweet, contented smile. Her land and her new body came back into its perfect form. She looked at Silvermist and resumed her dance with her new lady love.

***

“Allyson, are you awake?”

Allyson opened her eyes. “Honestly, Allyson, you keep getting further and further from us. Someday, I think you’ll disappear completely." She stared at the nurse unblinking. The name tag read, Beverly. "It’s time for you meds, dear. Can you come with me?” Without waiting for an answer, Nurse Beverly swung Allyson’s legs around to place her in a sitting position.

When she refused to stand, the nurse sighed audibly. “Come on, Allyson. Let’s not go through this again today. I know you can walk. Do you want to go into isolation again for non-cooperation?”

Allyson glared at the nurse before screaming out in hysterical anger. The nurse jumped and then glared back at her. “Very well, Miss Kinney.”

She pushed the call button and within seconds, two orderlies came into the room. “Miss Kinney had decided to be uncooperative. She will be taking her meds in isolation. That will become her dwelling for the next 72 hours.” The orderlies nodded as they lifted her off the bed. Her screams were heard throughout the sterile halls as she was carried off. “I am Étoile!”

**2000 words**