Beyond the Firefly Field (9 page)

“Why are those fairies riding on the deer's antlers?” Karl asked. AnDrin helped him off the branch.

“One is leading the deer to a food source. The others bet each other to see who can stay on the antlers the longest. They usually get scraped off by branches,” AnDrin replied.

“One is riding only because AnDrin is watching him,” SeeLee teased.

“MinDar has been showing off for a while now,” AnDrin sighed.

“You should probably ask him to the next moon dance before he hurts himself,” SeeLee advised.

“Maybe I should. And when are you going to ask DrenRay?”

“Not soon. He's too sure of himself, so I'm going to make him wait and wonder.”

“MinDar can wait too, then.”

“That's so cool! You guys have boyfriends!” Penny cried with delight.

“Of course we do, but we can't let them feel too secure about us,” SeeLee said with a wink.

Walking toward the trunk of the tree again, and stepping over yet another line of beetles carrying berries, the group saw a knot on the trunk swing open. Two fairies from within stepped through the threshold of the door and onto the branch. One of them was SanArEnDar. He held a female fairy's hand as they walked, so Clayton presumed her to be SeeLee's mother.

Her mother was slightly taller than SeeLee and had an exquisitely beautiful face. She had bright-yellow hair, and her features were very much like SeeLee's. She wore a long, silky, bright-white gown. Like luxurious satin, some of the white cloth appeared brighter and shimmered like pearls when she moved.

A long-sleeved top fashioned of the same material covered the gown, and tan and green leaf strips were woven into the cape-like garment. The tans and greens cascaded down, growing thicker and darker. Bright gold and green gems created flower and vine designs, sprinkling over the ensemble. Fringe, dangling from the center of the floral designs, brought the flowers to life when she walked. The fringed ends were trimmed with green feathers, which morphed into hues of yellow and blue when she drew closer to them. Penny couldn't decide if the fairy or her clothes was more beautiful.

As the couple walked along the branch, fairies stopped what they were doing to joyously greet them. The female fairy's eyes were a pastel green with gold specks that sparkled as she returned the greetings. Her smile seemed to bring sunshine and happiness to everyone she graced with her glance. After the couple passed, fairies returned to whatever they were doing with big smiles crossing their faces, as if blessings had just been bestowed upon them. The gracious fairy's presence was so overwhelming that not even fairies could take their eyes away until she passed.

When the majestic couple finally approached the group, SeeLee greeted them. “Mother, look what I found,” she said, sweeping her arm to indicate the group of humans.

Then SanArEnDar announced, “This is SeeLee's mother, MarJoReAn.”

The beautiful fairy amazed the group. As she looked at each one and greeted them by name, they were filled with love and happiness, almost rendering them giddy in her presence. Each stammered a greeting to SeeLee's mother and looked down, smiling sheepishly, unable to say anything else. They could see where SeeLee got her calming, soothing demeanor, assuring that everything would always be wonderfully okay.

When greeted by this woman, everything was okay. Cares, worries, and discomfort evaporated when the warm smile and sparkling eyes of the beautiful fairy fell upon them.

Finding her voice, Penny said excitedly, “I just knew you were SeeLee's mother! You're so beautiful, just like SeeLee. And your clothes are so pretty.”

“Oh! Thank you, Penny,” MarJoReAn said, raising her arms to the little girl who hurried into them. Her hug made Penny feel more secure, comforted, and loved than she could ever have imagined possible, and she wanted the embrace to last forever. Then politely breaking away, Penny returned to SeeLee's side, looking down and smiling shyly.

They all looked up as MarJoReAn explained the evening's activities they had been observing. As MarJoReAn offered a glimpse into everyday fairy life, she explained how each fairy made something to be shared or traded with the other fairies. This created a community lifestyle, which was easy and pleasant. She concluded by asking if SeeLee had warned them about the helper fairies.

“Yes!” Clayton answered. “And we got to see one in action. The helper was trying to help a beetle carry a berry. What a disaster. The berry was destroyed, and the aftermath left them both covered in berry juice. It was really funny,” he chuckled.

“Yes, it often is,” she agreed. “They have such sweet intentions, and we love them dearly. Just sidestep their help, and you'll be fine,” she advised.

Then, turning to Karl, she asked if his arm was damaged. Clayton had noticed Karl rubbing his wrist, but he didn't think anything of it.

“It hurts a little,” Karl answered and explained that he had fallen and sprained his wrist when they were made smaller. MarJoReAn asked him to replay the falling motion he'd experienced when he sprained his wrist, but to do it in slow motion. Then she instructed Karl to lightly touch the branch with his hand as the end of the replay.

When he finished, he quickly exclaimed, “Ow! It hurts worse!”

“Yes, it will hurt briefly. But your wrist will heal faster because your mind's healing energy is no longer avoiding the area.” She asked Karl to repeat the same motion several more times.

Finally, MarJoReAn took Karl's hand in hers and gently rubbed his fingers.

“Going through the motions forced your mental energy, which contains natural healing thoughts, to go to the damage site it was avoiding. It also caused your cells to realize the damaging force was over. I'm touching a part of you that's further from your brain than the damage point, which means I'm causing your mental energy to go beyond the damage point it was shunning. All functions will quickly return to normal, and your wrist can go back to doing its job,” she concluded as she released Karl's hand.

As he gently shook his wrist, his face broke into a smile. “Thank you! It barely hurts at all!” he said, astonished. “How do you know these things?”

“We have a lot of time to sit around and observe.” Turning to her daughter, she said, “Your father and I are going to visit with friends. Take good care of your humans.”

“I will, Mother,” SeeLee assured her, as if she didn't need to be reminded. She then gave her parents brief hugs.

After saying goodbye to the group, MarJoReAn turned and rose into the air, unfolding her wings as she ascended. Much like her clothing, green and gold fountains of color exploded where the wings attached. Gold spread to mid-wing, and glistening trails of green and gold floated to the wings' edges on a satiny, mint-green background. Sparkles burst along the way, creating a fireworks starburst of many different colors. When

MarJoReAn's wings moved, a sparkling rainbow fell from them. Her wings were more mesmerizing than any the humans had seen before. Clayton noticed that all fairies stopped what they were doing to stare at MarJoReAn when her wings were fully spread. What a marvelous sight!

Rising into the air, she looked at the children and said, “Be happy and well until we meet again.” Turning, she joined SanArEnDar. They both extended their wings and rose into the air, leaving her rainbow sparkled trail next to his gold one. Everyone watched until they were lost in the branches above. As suddenly as the fairies stopped their activities to stare at MarJoReAn, they resumed them when she was gone.

“Wow! Your mother is
really
beautiful,” Penny finally said after recovering from what she had just seen.

“Thank you. She's some of my best work,” SeeLee joked as if taking credit. “She would probably dress in rags if I didn't make beautiful clothing for her.”

“Is she the Queen of the Fairies?” Karl asked.

“Something like that I guess. My father calls her the ‘world's most wonderful life form.'”

Again, the group's attention was brought back to the fairy activity on their branch. Still more fairies ventured out of the tree, and more lights shone through the little windows. Clayton wanted to see everything the fairies were doing, but his sense of responsibility and nagging feelings of guilt prompted him to say, “We have to go. I have to get Penny home.”

“Oh,” Penny complained, “can't we stay?”

“No, but we can come back if we don't get in trouble for staying out too late tonight,” Clayton promised her. “We have school tomorrow. Remember the world
we
live in?”

“I wish we could live here,” Penny pouted.

The others agreed, but they also agreed with Clayton. They all were a little worried about transforming back to their natural size.

After saying goodbye to their new friends, the seven marched behind SeeLee. Clayton looked at the crowds of fairies they would have to wade through to reach the end of the branch. He tightly clasped Penny's hand so they wouldn't be separated. The trip to the end of the branch didn't take long, and they were soon at the benches they'd first sat upon.

When SeeLee neared the end of the fairies' sphere of thought influence, she said her goodbyes to the humans and gave Penny a hug. After inviting the adventurers to visit again, she gave last minute instructions for leaving the fairy world. She told them to race toward the firefly cluster at the end of the branch. SeeLee assured them that the fireflies would part for their passing, and reminded them about running deeper into the field to avoid collisions.

And then the kids ran, one by one, each disappearing into the firefly cluster as they rushed back to their world.

Terrible Danger

R
unning in the field felt wonderful. It was a cure for legs released from uncertain footings, and brought freedom as if unleashed from uncertain boundaries. Clayton raced well past what would have been a safe distance from the others, as each took running leaps off the fairies' branch.

When he stopped, he remembered that he wanted to see what the others looked like as they returned to their larger selves. But it was too late. Instead, he saw Penny running through the field toward him, with Ron, Brian, and Phil following close behind. He watched as the fireflies ushered the humans to their reality. He stepped to the side, hoping to catch one of his friends as they grew larger, but Karl and Paul were already running in the field behind the others. Next time he would make it a priority to watch for the others and note how they morphed in size.

He tried to figure out the sensations he felt as he returned to normalcy. He clearly remembered running down the branch while still being very small. He gained speed quickly, then wished he hadn't run so hard since the fireflies couldn't get out of his way fast enough.

He remembered putting his arms out, but it was too late to brush the hundreds of fireflies away, so he quickly closed his eyes as his face barged into the ball they'd formed. He could feel the fireflies swarming on his face, and hands, and in his hair. Before tightly shutting his eyes, Clayton saw that the closer he got to the fireflies, the larger they appeared to be, until strangely, they grew smaller again. As he ran the next few steps, he sensed he had left the cluster far behind.

When he opened his eyes, he remembered seeing the last of the fireflies jumping off his arms and felt them fly from his face. He knew for sure the size change had happened while he was distracted by the firefly cluster, but there was no sensation of change as it was happening. He just felt like himself.

When his friends knew they were safe, the others stopped running and joined him. For a long moment, they all stared at each other, feeling collectively odd, not really knowing what to say.

“Well,
that
was different,” Brian remarked to Paul.

Karl looked over at the western sky. He suddenly cried out as he jumped up and down. “Yes! I
knew
it was a time warp. We must have been on the branch at least an hour, but look west; there's still twilight left!”

“So you think because you got smaller, the seconds got bigger?” Brian joked.

“I didn't look at the sun before we were transported onto the fairy tree,” Ron said, “but it only felt like a half hour to me. Isn't the size warp enough? Do you really need a time warp, too? I think you're suffering from fairy shock.”

“It felt more like an hour to me,” Penny insisted with a happy lilt in her voice.

“Well, next time I'm bringing two watches. I'll wear one and leave the other on the ground. There isn't any fairy shock,” Karl said confidently.

“I've got fairy shock,” Brian corrected him.

“Me too,” Paul agreed.

The rest looked at the two boys and were once again glad they understood fairies existed before becoming as small as one of the creatures.

They looked back at the fairy tree and the sea of frolicking fireflies bunching at the gathered cluster. Beyond it, SeeLee was probably playing with her friends.

“We better head for home. Hopefully, we'll beat Mom and Dad. We're lucky they went out tonight, or you probably wouldn't be here, Penny,” Clayton said, emphasizing this could be serious.

“You better not come here again without me!”

After giving his little sister a “good luck with that” look, Clayton said to everyone in general, but two in particular, “There's one sure way to cure fairy shock.” Then he started running across the field with Penny close behind. The absence of fireflies in their wake left a dark space that was quickly filled by the fireflies' return. Then, also feeling the urge, the others started running.

The run across the field was a wonderful release. Clouds of fireflies scattered out of their way, returning behind one runner, only to be scattered again by the next. The kids felt they could run all the way home, but stopped before the woods at the field's edge. They turned for one last look across the firefly-covered field. They could see the brighter spot of the gathering, and the faint glimpses of the strange colors they now understood so well. Clayton turned and walked into the woods as the others reluctantly followed.

He instructed everyone to be quiet and to keep their flashlights pointed down. He reminded them about Mike who might still be lurking around. With lights pointed down, the group quietly strung out along the trail behind their leader. Being quiet worked quite well until they came to the part of the trail that was covered with branches and leaves. As they crossed, they sounded like a herd of raccoons. Once gathered on the other side, they stopped to rest and immediately broke into fits of uncontrollable laughter, followed by loud choruses of shushing as they tried to quiet each other.

“Mike can't possibly still be out here. I don't see any flashlights in the woods,” Paul said. “Do we still really have to be so quiet?”

“Maybe he didn't bring a flashlight,” Clayton remarked as he turned his off. “Everyone but Karl, turn your lights off and save the batteries until we move again.”

“No one would be dumb enough
not
to bring a flashlight,” Penny said as she turned hers on and off reassuringly.

After a minute's rest, they proceeded along the trail, soon becoming less and less cautious, swinging their lights around and talking in loud whispers.

They quickly covered half the distance to the tree house and were talking loudly as they walked. Their conversations consisted of: “Did you see that?” “Wasn't it cool?” and “I can't believe it!” They talked compulsively, as if a continued review would keep the memory from fading away.

“I couldn't believe it when SeeLee warned us about helper fairies,” Penny said as they climbed out of the gully, using the roots of a large tree for stairs. “I was getting ready to slap her again. I thought all the fairies would be just like her,” she added, reaching the top of the gully. “Then I started to worry.”

“Did you see the one that was helping the beetle carry the blueberry?” Phil asked, climbing up behind Penny.

“Yeah, he kept tripping over the beetle's legs, then tripping the beetle, and finally tearing the berry as he tried to lift it before the beetle could get up,” Paul laughed.

Phil reached over and slapped his brother's arm. “Told you there were fairies!”

“Well, you could have told me better,” Paul rebutted, but he didn't hit his brother back.

Voices and flashlights were growing more distant as Mike and his friend Steve hid in a nearby bush. When the noise from the group of kids faded down the trail, they stepped from behind the bushes. They had been hiding in wait for Clayton and his friends to return, having followed them since they left the tree house. They chose a spot secreted fifty feet from the trail.

“Fairies?” Mike asked in the almost total darkness.

“That's what they said,” Steve replied.

“We'll have to check this out,” Mike said, his heart pounding at the thrill of stealing a secret.

“Not tonight,” Steve insisted, then added, “next time we're bringing flashlights that work.” The two started slowly back home on the trail, barely lit by the almost dead batteries in the one old flashlight they shared.

“We'll finally find out what those snobby kids are up to,” Mike sneered with delight.

Back home, Clayton and Penny tried to act as normal as possible. The children's efforts were wasted, however, as their parents and Dillon were busy discussing something in the living room.

Penny hurried to her room unseen, while Clayton stayed in the kitchen to grab a snack. He overheard the discussion about the new subdivision contractor proposing a lake access road. Neither his father nor brother sounded too happy about this idea. They were even more distressed when Clayton's mother told them about a letter from a developer she'd received that day, stating that he'd planned to buy all the land around the lake. He proposed to construct a fish farm with an adjacent canning factory. His father, assuring his mom that neither he nor his neighbors would ever sell their land, told her to throw the letter away.

Though the conversation continued, Clayton didn't hear it, as he was lost in thought. He knew the old saw mill was for sale, and the new campground owners might sell. The new landowners next to the campground might sell, too. His pulse quickened as he thought of Farmer Hawkins. The old man might be tempted to cash in if the offer was big enough and settle someplace warm for a nice retirement. The old man's land was closest to the fairy tree. It might even be on his property.

Clayton visualized bulldozers clearing the meadow and the surrounding woods, and putting a big ugly factory on the very spot where the fairy tree now stood. He would have to warn the fairies again, though they had paid no attention to his last warnings.

He was glad Penny didn't hear their parents' conversation before going to sleep. Falling asleep would be almost impossible. Half his mind was still grappling with becoming so small, and all that thinking quickly tired him out.

Once in bed, he awoke several times from a fitful sleep and envied the pleasant dreams Penny and the others must be having. His dreams were filled with horror. He was tiny again and pacing on one of the branches, trying to get SeeLee to listen to his warnings. Ignoring his words, she kept introducing him to more fairies while happily explaining what they were busy doing.

Then, a terribly large bulldozer lumbered into his dream, which was fast becoming a horrific nightmare. The mechanical beast pressed steadily closer to the fairy tree. It smashed large branches like toothpicks, sending splinters flying everywhere. Finally reaching the trunk, the bulldozer pushed the tree over, spilling him to the ground. He woke up several times covered in sweat, his heart pounding out of his chest. He had this nightmare over and over until dawn finally broke.

Running late for school, he didn't have a chance to talk with his sister at home or at the bus stop. He couldn't warn the others about the possible problems his parents discussed, because they all agreed never to talk about the fairies on the bus.

Wendy was the only person he wanted to tell about fairies. He was getting desperate to tell her of their adventures since she would surely be impressed, but whenever he got close enough to speak with her, his words turned to gibberish. He felt exasperated over what she did to him! He did, however, master saying, “Hey,” from time to time. Wendy always seemed so busy and paid him little attention. Unfortunately, she was getting plenty of attention from the other boys.

The kids from the country felt cloddish around the new city kids, who followed the latest trends and seemed to know all the entertainment gossip. He felt the only way he could compete for Wendy's attention was to share the fairies with her. And what an
unbelievable
thing to share!