The Big Fairy

Which perspective do you like best? Only one character telling the story does not include many details and is one-dimensional, while third-person omniscience lets the narrator be all-knowing and can provide information from anywhere, including any of the characters’ feelings and thoughts, adding enormous depth to the story.

1

The fairy looked at me with eyes as bright as moons fully reflecting the sun. I wondered at her dress, which appeared to be made out of large rose petals. She was as tall as me—a big fairy. She looked at me with one eye through an impractical parting in her silver hair, and her mouth curled up at the edges in the strangest smile.

I had been playing tag in the forest with my friends and did not expect to find this dream. Where were they now? Did I hit my head?

“You are the fairy princess,” she said very, very softly, in a height of pitch as a cat’s mew. I glanced down at my baggy trousers and spaghetti strap shirt. My body was round and often felt like a cage; I berated myself as ‘too fat’ constantly.

“I’m not.”

“Look,” she said not-so-elegantly, “If you can see me, you are a creature like me, and the fairy princess has been gone for quite some time. She was taken, ironically kidnapped from us as a baby. (We usually do the baby-snatching.) It would make sense that you have grown up without knowledge of us.”

I swallowed and inhaled the cool night air of the lush forest. I smelled the sweet stench of wildflowers and the clean fragrance of dew.

“Why are you so big?” I asked and clapped a hand over my mouth in regret.

“Size does not matter.”

“I—I wish that mine didn’t,” I said, almost beginning to cry.

“You’re beautiful and deserve the world, my princess.”

Suddenly she almost disappeared: she floated in the air as a tiny seed fluff with a face, catching the light currents of the air. She grew big again and took a step towards me and I realised that the smell of dew was coming from her, along with the smell of roses.

“Since the queen has died the evil fairies have started taking over the forest. Eventually, they will begin enslaving humans. They are hidden from all but the royal fairies because only they have the power to see beyond their magical veils. ‘Change the world’ is my final message. Goodbye.”

“How?” I called, and my voice echoed through the forest.

A whisper said in my ear, “You must first find their evil fairy pit.”

2

Esmeralda perched on the tree branch glaring keenly at the forest floor. She swayed, keeping her balance with the branch in the wind. She could sense the evil fairies nearby, but she didn’t know exactly where they were. She simply had a feeling of dread.

Below a giggling human ran through the clearing and the leaves crumpled beneath their blundering feet.

Agatha didn’t know where Christina would come from at any moment. All that she knew was that she wouldn’t let herself become ‘it’ this time. “Come on, Luna!” she called, and behind trotted Luna.

“I’m not sure if I can keep up, or if it’s healthy for me,” Luna said gloomily.

Finally Esmeralda’s fairy princess ran into the clearing and stopped, confused—out of breath. Christina hadn’t seen her friends for at least twenty minutes. Should they even be playing in the forest at night?

Esmeralda, a beautiful fairy in the appearance of a seedling, transformed into her larger self and floated to the ground as softly as a feather.

Christina turned around and Esmeralda looked at her with eyes as bright as moons fully reflecting the sun. Christina wondered at her dress, which was made out of large rose petals. She was as tall as her—a big fairy. She looked at her with one eye through the stylish-for-fairies yet impractical parting in her silver hair, and her mouth curled up at the edges in the strangest smile.

Christina wished that her friends hadn’t run off. Did she hit her head?

“You are the fairy princess” she said very, very softly, in a height of pitch as a cat’s mew, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible. She hoped that Christina would not run away.

Christina glanced down at her baggy trousers and spaghetti strap shirt. Her body was round and often felt like a cage; she berated herself as ‘too fat’ constantly. “I’m not.”

Esmeralda saw her beautiful fairy princess, with dark sparking eyes like those of the royal family. Her heart sank as she realised that Christina wasn’t proud of the space which she dared to take up.

“Look,” she said not-so-elegantly, “If you can see me, you are a creature like me, and the fairy princess has been gone for quite some time. She was taken, ironically kidnapped from us as a baby. (We usually do the baby-snatching.) It would make sense that you have grown up without knowledge of us.”

Christina swallowed and inhaled the cool night air of the lush forest. She smelled the sweet stench of wildflowers and the clean fragrance of dew. “Why are you so big?” she asked and clapped a hand over her mouth in regret.

“Size does not matter.”

“I—I wish that mine didn’t,” she said, almost beginning to cry.

“You’re beautiful and deserve the world, my princess.”

Suddenly Esmeralda almost disappeared: she hovered in the air as a tiny seed fluff with a face, catching the light currents of the air. She grew big again and took a step towards Christina and the smell of dew wafted towards her, along with the smell of roses. “Since the queen has died the evil fairies have started taking over the forest. Eventually they will begin enslaving humans. They are hidden from all but the royal fairies because only they have the power to see beyond their magical veils. ‘Change the world’ is my final message. Goodbye.”

“How?” Christina called, and her voice echoed through the forest.

Esmeralda was travelling away so speedily in her seedling form that she couldn’t be seen, but she turned back to go and whisper in Christina’s ear, “You must first find their evil fairy pit.”