As the fairy adjusted her dress, Cassandra emerged from the foliage and spoke a somewhat shy “Hello”.
The fairy looked at her, flew over to her and examined her with a puzzled expression.
Cassandra herself looked over the fairy. She had long, pointed ears that stuck outward, and a pair of thin fleshy stalks, like antennae, growing out of her forehead. Her eyes were bright pink to match her butterfly shaped, but translucent wings. The eyes themselves were framed in a forest green, the same hue as her shoulder-length hair; and she had deep, shining rose red lips.
“Strange,” the fairy said, “I sense no magic within you; and your clothes are… wait! Are you a human?”
“Yeah.” Cassandra responded. “That’s… not going to get either of us in trouble, is it?”
“No, it’s just curious that a human with no magic could find this place, or wind up in the state you’re in. I’m Tulip, by the way.” The fairy said, holding out her hand
“Pleased to meet you, Tulip, I’m Cassandra.” She answered taking the fairy’s hand and shaking it. Suddenly, what Tulip said registered with her. “Wait, what do you mean, the state I’m in?”
Tulip crossed her arms. “Come now, do you not wonder why you are the size of a fairy?”
“You mean I’m fairy sized? I just thought you were human sized.”
Tulip smirked. “Really? Well, just look around you.”
Cassandra did as the Tulip told. She did notice that the grass was quite tall and thick; the trees were far larger than she remembered as well. “Come to think of it;” Cassandra said, “I do remember the stream I followed getting much wider as I went along, plus I seemed to be tripping over my feet a lot more than usual. That must have been when I was shrinking.”
“Not bad for someone who thought fairies were the size of humans.”
Cassandra grimaced at the Tulip. “Hey, where I come from, fairies are pretty much pure fantasy. Not to mention that their size isn’t exactly consistent, either. How big am I, anyway; and for that matter, why did I shrink?”
Tulip stood at Cassandra’s side and sized her up using her hand. “Hmm… we seem to be the same height, so I’d say eight and a half inches. As for why you shrank, I don’t know. Perhaps the answer lies in how you found this island.”
“Well, I didn’t so much find this place as it pretty much jumped out in front of my boat. I was just sailing along; I turn my eyes away for a split second and BOOM! Plowed right into a rock. I managed to make it to shore and then I found this place.”
Tulip thought for a moment. “There must be a reason you’re here; how you shrunk and why. I may not be able to help you with that, but I know someone who can.” Tulip stepped behind Cassandra’s back and wrapped her arms around her waist. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
“No.” Cassandra answered, knowing what Tulip was planning. “Just promise me you’ve got a good grip.”
“Trust me, you’ll be fine.” Tulip said as she fluttered her wings and the two girls lifted off the ground and flew off into the jungle.