The Knight and the Fairy

The First Dream

Did I know it was dream ? Yes, I did. Did I pretend it wasn't ? Oh yes, I bloody did ! Was I to blame ? At first, it didn't begin like it was a dream.

The day I met him, he smelled like green-grass after a rainy day. Freedom and genuineness.I met him on a riverbank. It could have been romantic but it was not. I needed to collect some boring data on the water pollution.

- Name's Steven. How can I help you ?

Jesus, he was devilishly handsome. Like he had escaped from a Giorgio Armani add or something. Maybe that should have rose a red flag.

- I'm Lilly. Thank you for coming.

- Yeah, you're late. But let me know what I can do for you.

I wanted to reply something funny.

- Well, I'm sorry, I cleverly replied.

Nice try, Lilly... I bend over the water and plunged my flask in the river. He was staring at my boots.

- Nice shoes, he commented.

 I wore sharp blue rainy boots with a big bow on the back.

- Thanks, but I don't want to get a stain on it, so let's be quick, I wryly replied.

Oddly enough, for someone who had been taunting me from the beginning, he didn't seem to understand I was joking.

- Tell me about your case, so we can hurry, he continued.

I couldn't, really. Classified. But I spilled everything I knew on that company that was poisoning the area. Of course, he was interested. He was a sort of knight of the river, protecting his beloved stream against malevolent spirits. That's why I asked his help, I guess.

We collected a few samples, carefully packed them, and as I was returning to my car, he asked :

- I know another place. It's upstream. You should find more tracks of pesticides.

Obviously, I was interested. So I get in his car and he drove me to another spot. I don't really remember what we discussed. Probably environmental disorders or wetland protection. Some stuff we were passionate about.

- I like you accent, he said, at some point.

- My accent ?

- You have a funny way to speak...

Was he hitting on me ? Or was he teasing me ? As I couldn't decide, I just smiled in return. Bitterly smiled.

- I'm italian.

- That must be it, his eyes smiled.

We spent the rest of the day wandering along the river, he showed me everything he knew, explained how the substances released in the river affected the “benthic fauna”. I loved it. I loved the way he talked about his river. As if he knew her intimately, as if they were old friends. When, exactly, did I fell in love with him ? Hard to say. But while I drove back to my office, I had the smile that only lovers can wear. I was charmed, undoubtedly. I was already wondering how I could see him again, and then, the clock rang. It was all a dream.