Land of the Fairies

Land of the Fairies - Chapter One - Catching Fireflies

As a child, my sister and I loved to chase fireflies around the backyard. Upon catching them we would put them into an empty jam jar with holes in the lid. However, I later discovered that the fireflies were there for a reason other than to be chased around and wished on and shoved into jars. They were there for me.

Fireflies appear to lead children to the fairy realm, but only children who were unhappy. I, for example, have always lived in the shadow of my sister, and am the only child I know who returned to the human world. It was not an easy journey.

My sister was four years older than me. Thus she had the spotlight. She got the best grades, and could play the piano beautifully. I could draw and paint, but my parents said that art wasn't a real job, and told me to work harder in school. They tried to make me take piano, it would be adorable if you two could do pieces together they told me. But I didn't have the patience to practice all day and I couldn't read the music. I had a lot of trouble even reading words. My teacher said I was dyslexic. My parents said I was lazy.

So one day after school, another day failing to understand, my sister decided that she was too cool to come out and catch fireflies with me. She told me I was a child. Which I was, I was ten. She told me she had better things to do. More important things.

So I went out by myself. I grabbed the jar we had always used and headed out the door.

I was immediately brought inside by my mother who told me to go and study. So instead I climbed out my window with the jar, down the tree, and into the backyard. I dropped down onto the ground, and saw that all the fireflies were near the fence, by the bushes.

I ran across the yard towards them, and upon crossing the yard, the fireflies flew farther away, over the fence towards the woods.

I chase after them. But every time I get close they flit away. Eventually I catch one and turn back smiling, to show my sister, forgetting for a moment that she isn't with me. And instead of my sisters smile, all I see are trees. Trees to the left. Trees to the right. As far as the eye can see. I can't even see the living room's glow.

I try to go back, but I can't see. It seems like every time I take a step it gets darker. Branches scratch at my face and fallen trees claw at my bare feet. I trip more than once and end up with two bloody knees, and my hands are all torn up.

After stumbling blindly for what feels like a million years, I see a small light. A firefly. I make a mad grab at it, after all this I am not going to go home empty handed. Or maybe the firefly is a sign I am close to home. But I'm not. I fall.

I grab at the air, but it's just air. My hair blows in my face and I land hard on my back. I try to sit up, but I start sliding. Flickering lights swarm me, and I stop screaming to avoid swallowing the lights.

Just as I begin to think that this hole might be bottomless, I notice an additional light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn't flicker like the ones hovering around me. The ride comes to an abrupt end and I am thrown into the light. I smack my head on something as I land, and everything fades to black, like the end of my favorite movie.