Creepy Short Stories

The Fairies

"Go on," I urged her with a smile.

"So, my grandmother would tell me about the fairies in the forest and how they liked to play tricks on people. If I disobeyed my elders they would take me away forever. Those stories always freaked me out. My parents didn't like her telling me those stories but they agreed that I should listen to my grandmother and be inside before dark. The stories didn't bother me too much until one of the young boys I played with each summer went missing in the woods. He ran away one night into the forest after a fight with his father. They never found him and the town's people didn't bother looking for him till after sunrise. I just can't believe the people wouldn't go looking for a boy in the forest until it was sun up unless they all truly believed in the fairies. The fairies in my books are mischievous but much nicer than the ones in my grandmother's stories. They never take people away."

Diane's face was now a half smile.

"Kind of your thing isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" I looked at her slightly confused.

"You know... Imaginary creatures that live in the woods." She looked at me with a smartass grin.

"Well, I've heard and read up on fairy folklore but it's not something that many cryptozoologists spend a vast amount of time on. However, I've never heard of a town afraid of fairies, especially from a first hand account. It would be interesting to investigate something like that."

Diane smiled a mischievous smile that stretched from ear to ear. "Good. My parents want to meet you and I want you to meet them. My grandmother passed away when I was young and my parents inherited the house. They retired there a few years ago. You can come with me this summer when I visit them and solve the town's fairy problem." By this point she was standing over me, giving me the puppy eyes to agree.

Just like that, our summer plans were made and in early June I found myself on a plane from Ohio to Alberta with Diane and a bag full of some of my recording equipment I took on my excursions with my student group. Once there we picked up a rental car and drove what felt like hours into the forest covered mountains. At one point we left the winding highway to exit onto an even more treacherous two-lane mountain road. 15 min from the highway we arrived at what looked like a ghost town. There were several small shops that were closed and what looked like an unfinished hotel from the 60s.

"This place has become a ghost town since I was a girl," Diane said as we drove past the abandoned buildings.
A few short minutes later we pulled into her parent's driveway. Her parent's house sat on a short dead end road of a few dozen houses. Behind her house lay the thick pine forest she had mentioned to me. In the distant background loomed a majestic snow capped mountaintop.

Her parents greeted us with smiles at the door. Diane excitedly hugged her mother and father. I, trying to hide my nerves meeting my girlfriend's parents for the first time, quickly shook their hands and introduced myself as John, the guy that was here to fix their fairy problem. They both smiled and paused before saying through their teeth, "The fair problem is under control. Come in dinner is about ready."

My nervous attempt to be funny appeared to have become a strikeout. Dinner went well and we talked about our trip up and what I did at the university. With our bellies full, Diane's father invited me on out to the back porch for a beer.

"So you teach cryptozoology at the university?" Diane's father asked before taking a big swig of beer from his bottle.

"No, I teach animal behavior and social interaction. I would like to teach cryptozoology at some point but I need to have the class curriculum written and approved before I can." I slouched in my porch chair and began to enjoy my beer.