Fairyland

Introduction

Fairyland has nothing. No rules, no limits. Nothing to break, nothing to fix, no reason to die and no reason to live. It spins you faster and faster until you forget your name and where you came from. You can bottle smiles and capture memories. Go fishing for dreams and sprinkle them over never ending stories. Frolic in a meadow of stars and be cradled by the moon. It's a beautiful prison, one you can walk out of any time you like. But before you do, consider - do you really want to?

Making your way into Fairyland is almost impossible. So close to improbable, you couldn't fit a hair. But people have come. Fairyland has had newcomers, but never visitors. No one has ever been able to drag themselves away. The people who find Fairyland are the wanderers and wonderers. The few entrances that still exist are tucked away in the hidden corners of the world, far from where anyone is supposed to be. But of course, to thrive in Fairyland, you do need to contain a tad bit of mischief. Finding an entrance is a gargantuan accomplishment that no one else will ever know about. Imagine that - the best part of your life is a secret you'll take to the grave. When someone finds an entrance at first, it's quite perplexing. A mountain caving in on itself or the waves retreating until they can't be seen; a garden with a never-ending hole in the ground or opening the door to an abandoned building that isn't a building on the inside. The faint of heart leave their pursuit almost immediately, filing the experience under the we-don't-talk-about-this-unless-we-took-too-many-shots folder. But for the naive and curious (children, unless you're a immature adult) it's a wonderful new adventure, one they can't resist from.

When such a foolhardy person does see it fit to jump into a volcano that oddly smells of pop rocks, or trap themselves under coral because they saw a weirdly shiny fish, everything changes. To get into Fairyland, you have to first experience something close to death. So that person will burn or drown alive, but they will also be rewarded for all of their pain and sacrifice. Many people have been within reaching distance of getting to Fairyland before, but had the unfortunate circumstances to be in the vicinity of trained lifeguards or dedicated family members or friends. Many suicide victims complain of getting "so close" to what they desire; whether it's Fairyland or death, we'll never know. But when you are "so close" to entering Fairyland, you get a glimpse of what life could be like. Generally, it's a small wish of whatever humans most desire. Many politicians have seen themselves as reigning kings or queens. Some overworked and sleep deprived students see their textbooks and sometimes teachers being fed to a fire. Depending on the person, the dreams can be achievable in the human world or only accomplished using magic. The people with the guts to get into Fairyland have dreams that require a bit of the supernatural.

There is a painless way to get into Fairyland. It's not very hard to find or difficult to achieve. It's part of every culture and every life. It effortlessly transports you but does not move you. Sadly, many people don't capitalise on this wonderful opportunity. Some hold the opinion that it's a bore, and only meant to be suffered through. Others simply don't have an aptitude, the imagination, or the wanderlust for it. Getting to Fairyland, regardless of the method, always requires one thing: the desire to get out, to escape, to leave your circumstances behind. You need the courage to run away without explaining why, fly far away without ever returning. Leave your life behind with no expectations for the future. Only then will you be able to reach, to break away from your shackles with the hope that when you reach out, something will reach back for you.

What is it? I think you know the answer. You must have gotten here somehow.

You really don't know? Fine, fine.

It's a story.

Welcome to Fairyland.