“Fairy Glen sounds cute.” Alexis said.
Jon’s heart sank a bit. He knew Alexis loved fairies, and even wished to be one when she was younger. Jon on the other hand, thought such things were a bit on the girly side. Granted, he wasn’t the he-man weightlifter super-jock type, but he did prefer the explosion filled action movie to the romantic chick flicks his girlfriend did. He did endure them however, and at least enjoyed the more comedic ones.
“I certainly hope so.” Jon said.
Then there was his concern as to how this place defined “Fairy”. For all he knew, it was the child stealing, curse-you-for-looking-at them-the-wrong-way variety from old European folklore.
“Okay, let’s go!” Ironically, Alexis now seemed more eager than Jon in proceeding as she ran ahead. “I guess if this warms her up to this place, I suppose it’ll be worth it.” Jon said to himself as he followed his girlfriend.
The path was straightforward and the signs were clearly marked. It didn’t take long to come across an archway made out of vines and decorated with glowing flowers and mushrooms. “Looks like we’re here.” Alexis eagerly said.
Jon looked around. “Oh yes, this place just screams fairies.” he commented.
As the two approached the archway, they saw a number of tiny glowing figures in the distance. They shone in all different colors and all had slender figures, though they couldn’t tell much beyond that they were humanoid. Suddenly, a flash of indigo appeared before them.
“Human guests now cease your pace; until I tell you of this place.” Spoke a woman’s voice. As the two teens adjusted their vision, they saw that the voice came form a woman clad in a dress of a silk top and flower petals for shoulders and the skirt all the same color of her glow. Large semi-broad wings, straddling the line between butterfly-shaped and dragonfly-shaped, from what they could tell despite the blurriness of their beating, held the woman aloft. Eyes like crystal orbs, one and a half times the size of human eyes comparatively were set in a head flanked by long ears that stuck outward and tapered to a point.
“Welcome to the glen of fae; where with us, you can dance and play.”
“Great, they speak in rhyme.” Jon said sarcastically.
The woman looked behind her then flew up close to the two’s ears and whispered: “It’s just for show, most of us speak normally.” Backing away, she continued. “Before within this glen you go, there’s a catch which you must know. If our guest you wish to be, you must transform into a fairy.”
“Say what?” Jon said flatly.
“We can be fairies!?” Alexis said excitedly.
“Once our glen, you step within; your transformation will begin. Your bodies shrink to fairy height; your skin, like ours will shine with light. Your bodies reshape to like our own, from eye to ear, muscle to bone. Last from out your backs will spring; a wondrous set of fairy wing.” Her voice then became mildly stern. “Heed the words that I now weave; some who enter, did not leave.”
“What do you mean by that?” Jon asked.
“Because this place had took their heart; our kind they wished to stay a part.”
“So, they liked this place so much, they wanted to stay fairies.” Alexis said.
“Indeed myself, who once was Man; a fairy life became a fan.”
“We’ll risk it!” Alexis said as she grabbed Jon’s hand before he could ask if she meant Man as in male or mankind; and dragged him beyond the threshold of the glen.