The Old Woman and the Sea, and other short stories

The Only Human

A small fairy stood at the corner of 23rd and Marlberry, smoking the tiniest of cigarettes. His glittering wings were tucked neatly against his back but Frederick could still see the faint pink feathers jut out above his shoulders. Frederick pulled over. The fairy looked up from his phone, then jogged forward to check the license plate. Satisfied, he opened the passenger side door.

"Fred?"

Frederick nodded. "Eilwan?" he asked in heavily accented Elvish.

The fairy nodded in return and sat down. Frederick started to drive. There were a few minutes of silence before the fairy put his phone down.

"What a day."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, just like... there's this brownie at work and--" Eilwan briefly looked up at his driver. "Nevermind, it's small creature politics. You gnomes wouldn't get it."

Frederick smiled, "Sure."

"I just wish that they'd--"

There was a thunderous crash and a hairy foot the size of a car stood firm on the road in front of them.

"Giants," Frederick muttered under his breath. He rolled the down the window.

"Hey! I'm driving here!"

A face about three times the size of the foot blocking their path looked down from the clouds above. "And I'm walking! Just follow your traffic lights and I'll follow--" there was a pause as both parties glanced at the bright red light hanging in the giant's eyeline. "Aight, my bad. Carry on, carry on."

"Coulda killed someone!" Frederick yelled.

"I said my bad!" The giant yelled back. The foot moved out of the way and the small car continued forward.

"You yelled. At a giant," Eilwan noted in shock.

"They're not that intimidating," the driver said flippantly.

"And where...do you meet so many giants?"

There was a pause.

"Airport parking lots? You meet all sorts of creatures as a driver."

"Giants drive?"

"Look up. There's a centaur on that guy's back. If you request a vehicle for more than 5 creatures...you get a giant."

There was another pause. The fairy had put his phone away entirely and was staring intently at Frederick. Brown, disheveled hair, smooth skin, bright brown eyes.

"What are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're not a brownie."

"That's pretty rude, isn't it?" Frederick smiled. "I'm sure you saw the news yesterday: the first known child with one gnome parent and one--"

"Are you a human? Because you look human."

Frederick sighed. "Yes."

"I thought humans couldn't see us." Eilwan's tone was suspicious, measuring.

Frederick turned the corner. This street was lined with tall, brick apartment buildings. Each floor studded with a single thin balcony. The map told him he only had a few more buildings to go.

"Sometimes you make yourselves very hard to ignore."

"Hm. I've never met a human driver before."

The car stopped. They'd reached their destination.

"I am the only one," Frederick smiled ruefully. Eiwan paused, his hand still on the door as he let out a hearty guffaw.

"Hah! The only one. That's the most human thing I've ever heard."

"What do you mean?" Frederick asked.

Eiwan smiled, reaching into his pocket and tossing a small pink business card onto the driver's lap.

"You're never the only one, dear."

He shut the door and walked away.

The card was small, rectangular, and printed with fine black print:

Eiwan Fixne
Community Organizer - The Human Refugee Initiative
+1 (🧚‍♂️🎡🎠) 530-957-3030

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Cover by Filip Mroz on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/VH7NuUbj104)