A Fairy’s Tale

There once lived a little fairy named Alyssum. Alyssum was the tiniest of all the fairies in Elfhame. And as you may know, fairies were already quite small. When asked, Alyssum would tell you that she was 6 inches tall, even though she didn’t quite reach that height. She liked to round up. Most fairies were 7 or 8 inches tall, some as much as 9. But Alyssum didn’t want to be 9 inches tall. She wanted to be human.

Humans were so big. They had lovely long legs to take large steps with. They were so large, she bet they never got bullied. And their arms could lift such massive objects; any human could easily lift Alyssum’s house. How wonderful it would be to be a human. 

So Alyssum set out to make her dream come true. Fairies had access to all kinds of magic, but they had to borrow things to make their magic work. Fairies typically took food, and only from those who were not grateful for it. But for magic powerful enough to make a small fairy into a human, Alyssum would need something else. 

The problem was, she didn’t know exactly what it was.

It would have to be just the right thing. Something large and rare and valuable, to humans anyway. Alyssum would just have to go exploring among the humans until she found the right thing. 

Alyssum knew humans tended to lock up the things that they found valuable. So she would start by searching the locked and hidden places in the human realm. That shouldn’t be so hard. Fairies couldn’t be kept out by locks, after all. 

Alyssum flitted and fluttered around the human land. She entered grand manors and majestic palaces, looking in chests and vaults. She found many items: bright red gems, shiny gold bars, smooth indigo fabrics, glistening necklaces, sharp swords, and heavy crowns. But none of it seemed right. 

The magic in her never once hummed at the touch of these items.

She landed on a flower bud and stared off into a nearby lake, deep in thought. A beautiful human woman sat on a boulder next to her. The sun glistened off her blonde curls, as she stretched her long legs. The woman hopped up, sat something on the boulder, and began skipping through the lake, laughing. 

Alyssum was struck by jealousy and almost didn’t notice the item the woman left behind. It was a large book with a crack worn in the spine. Alyssum hopped on top of it to read the title, “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”. This human was reading about fairies?

Curious, Alyssum pushed with all her might, trying to flip open the cover. As she did so, the magic within her began to thrum. Startled, she almost dropped the leather cover on her head. She glanced back at the woman. Alyssum couldn’t carry the book, so she would have to work her magic here before the human noticed. 

She plucked flowers and knotted their stems together, looping them into a circle big enough to surround the book. She stood on top of the leather volume and flicked her wings once so she hovered just over the cover. Closing her eyes, she wished with all her heart to be human.

Her magic sung and her eyelids glowed orange as a bright light surrounded her. The book disappeared in a spray of mist. Her skin started to tingle, and she opened her eyes to look down at her massive body. She was a human.

“Oh!” the woman in the water cried out. “I didn’t see you there.”

Alyssum just blushed.

“What a lovely dress!”

Alyssum looked down at her now human-sized flower dress, running her hands down the front. “Thank you. I made it.”

“I wish I could pull off something like that. I’m certain my brothers would tease me if I tried.” The woman kicked at the water. “I’m Joyce. Would you like to play with me?”

It was then Alyssum realized that she was speaking to a girl, not a grown woman.

“I would.” Alyssum beamed at her first human friend. 

They began splashing through the water together and skipping rocks across what Joyce called a pond. Alyssum tripped and fell a couple of times, feeling clumsy in her new body. But she didn’t mind. She showed her new friend how to make a flower crown, and Joyce squealed with delight.

When they tired, they sat on the rock and began to talk. Alyssum listened intently, wanting to learn as much as she could about the human realm. But she found herself frowning.

Joyce shared how she liked to read fairy stories, but the other children at school made fun of her for it. One boy even pushed her down and stole one of her books. Alyssum was shocked that Joyce couldn’t defend herself; she was so big and strong. Maybe being a human wasn’t as perfect as she thought.

Joyce began talking about how she wished with all her heart to be a fairy. Alyssum just blinked at her. She prattled on about beautiful fairies were and how they were tiny so they could hide or even fly away when someone bothered them. Alyssum sighed. She did miss her wings.

And most of all Joyce went on about their magic. Alyssum hadn’t thought about that before her transformation. She didn’t think she would need magic, being a human. But if humans wished they had magic, maybe she was wrong. By the time dusk came Alyssum was feeling quite disappointed with being human. 

Joyce said she had to be home by dark and bid her farewell. Alyssum plodded along thinking about what to do. Being a human was really no better than being a fairy. In fact, it might be worse. She wanted to be a fairy again. She realized she had only one choice.

Alyssum walked through the woods until she came back to her tiny home. She tapped on the door with a giant finger, until a small head popped out. Her sister let out a screech.

“Alyssum Marie! What have you done?!” She flitted around Alyssum’s head and bopped her with her thin arms. Alyssum barely felt it.

“I know I messed up. I was just so tired of being the smallest fairy. I thought being a human would fix all my problems. But it didn’t. Can you help me?”

Aster landed on Alyssum’s shoulder. “Of course, I’ll help you,” she said with a sigh. “You’re my little sister. Well, you’re not little now…”

Alyssum stuck out her tongue.

“I’ll work the magic,” Aster said, “but you’ll need to borrow an item for the spell. It will need to be something powerful.”

Alyssum’s shoulders drooped and she trudged away. She would have to find just the right thing.

…

We hope you enjoyed this story. Would you rather be a fairy or a human? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks so much for reading!

-Clever & WTF