"Excuse me!" A gentle voice suddenly called. "Are you lost?"
Ty bolted up from his thoughts and stared around the trees. "Uh, hello?" He called back. "Who's there?"
"A friend." The voice reassured him. It was female, soft, womanly. Expressive. Calming. "I'll come to you. Stay right there."
To did as he was told, watching nervously. There was a strange fluttering noise in the trees ahead and all at once he saw something fly across the small stream. It moved quickly, a blur, and then the object quite suddenly landed several feet away from Ty, behind a tree.
The voice spoke again, and this time seemed amused. "Don't you remember me?"
Ty blinked, confused, but felt intensely curious. "Uh... should I?" He stood from the log slowly, with a smirk. There was no danger here.
The voice giggled playfully in response. "I suppose not. Our last meeting was rather brief."
"Are you going to come out?" Ty asked gently, chuckling. "Or do I have to come get you?"
"Oh, I'll come out." The voice giggled again. "But first, tell me this... do you believe in fairies?"
Ty stopped dead in his tracks and he knelt down. "I... I suppose. Why?"
"Well..." The voice grew closer, and Ty heard shifting behind the tree in front of him. "Because I am one."
Ty's eyes went wide. His stomach dropped. Somehow, this made sense. "C-Can I see you now?"
Ty's heart stopped as a tiny woman emerged from behind the tree. An impossible tiny woman. "You're not scared?" She said gently, a little apprehensive.
"Scared?" Ty gasped, fighting for words. "No way! This is great!"
"Wonderful!" The tiny woman clapped her hands together. "This is so exciting!" She stared up at Ty and smiled warmly. A little over twice the size of a barbie doll, the tiny thing was beautiful up close. Her long red hair fell in curls over her face, wild, with the points of her elf-like ears visible on the sides of her head. Her cheeks sparkled, her bright green eyes shimmered, and her hand-sewn tunic and skirt seemed to be a strange rainbow of color, shimmering. She had no magic wand, no tinkerbell shoes, in fact she was shoeless, but she radiated beauty.
"Do you remember me yet?" She cocked her head to the side, staring up at the much larger human, her shimmery dragonfly like wings twitching and folding behind her.
"I'm sorry." Ty shook his head, laying down to get closer. "No, I don't. We've met, though?"
"Yes, we have!" The fairy nodded enthusiastically. "You saved my life, you see."
"I did?" Ty blinked.
"Yes. I was trapped in a hollow log by a particularly mean coyote, and you shoed him off. You saved me from harm. So I gave you a thank you gift. I guess that made you forget me."
"I'm sorry!" Ty felt sad, then he bolted up again. "Wait! A gift? My... power?"
"Yes!" The fairy girl nodded. "Yes, power. Magic. I gave you a bit of myself to use. Have you been enjoying it?"
"Uh... sort of." Ty rubbed his head. "I mean... well."
"Ohhh..." The tiny woman's face fell. "Has it been a bit much? I'm sorry if I caused you trouble."
"No, no!" Ty reassured her. "It's not that. I don't mean offense, ma'am..."
Now the fairy giggled again. "So polite. Come." She waved back to the log Ty had been sitting on. "Come, sit. We have much to talk about."
To Ty's amazement the tiny creature fluttered her wings effortlessly and with a rythimic snapping she rose into the air to hover in front of him. He turned towards the log to sit, amazed as she kept pace with him. They exchanged a smile. "I'm Ty." He said simply, and sat.
"You can call me Fae." She set down next to him and bowed. "At your service, Ty."
"So why don't I remember you?" He asked, as Fae seated herself next to him.
"We bonded. I guess I'm a little rusty."
"Bonded?" Ty asked quizzically.
"Oh! Look at me... I expected you to know what I meant." She giggled again. "So, for a few minutes our auras merged, and I gave you some of my essence. It would have grown strong enough by now to fill your body. You were so shy, poor boy."
"So... I have magic?" Ty blinked.
"Quite simply, yes! It runs through you now like blood in your veins. Just like me!" She smiled.
"Is there any limit to it? Does it wear out?"
Fae shook her head quickly. "It's now with you forever. The only true limit is your creativity, darling. But as a rule, the only thing you can't do is change yourself."
"Wow." Ty smiled. "That's awesome. Can I mess anything up if I use it? Is what I do permanent?"
"There's nothing you can do wrong. The universe will sort itself out." She leaned in. "And what you do is forever, until you do something else." She looked at Ty and smirked. "I see guilt, my young friend."
"Well... yes." Ty hung his head. "I kind of made my jerk step brother, um, little. I didn't mean to, but... it happened."
"Oh dear!" Fae blinked. "Is he gone?"
"Uh, no." Ty gulped at the suggestion. "Just younger."
"Oh!" Fae waved her wand in dismissal. "That's nothing. If you want you can fix him up or leave him that way for good."
"Now I don't feel so bad. Oh! I think I know how to control it now." Ty grinned triumphantly.
"Impressive, Ty! A human learning to control the flow of magic so quickly is quite rare. You should be proud of yourself!"
"Aw, thanks!" Ty beamed. "So... now what?"
"Wellll...." Fae giggled again. "That's up to you! I'd like it if we can stay together for a while. I could teach you some more things."
"That sounds great!" Ty hopped up. "Sure!"
"Great!" Fae rose slowly. "I'll be glad of your company!"