Short Stories By A Short Girl

Tiny Hearts

Once upon a time, in a forest in the middle of nowhere, a colony of fairies lived in the trees. The fairies lived happily and peacefully, and the humans that moved in long, long after the little creatures were there, rarely caused the little fairies any harm. The damage that humans could do to a fairy physically, which almost never happened, humans liked trees very much, like fairies do, and the fairies knew not to fly to close to humans, is nothing compare to the damage that can be done to a fairy emotionally from humans. You see, most fairies were not affected by this; more did not have the gene to fall in love, which could be very, very bad for the minuscule individuals, but a particularly important fairy, a princess in fact, di have this gene. Little Fairy Princess Cleo had a blessing and a curse. Little Cleo fell in love with one of the larger beings. No one expected it, for Cleo was quiet and often stayed in with her little books, but she did, she just couldn't help loving him.

The human boy and his family moved into the forest, the humans had a nice little town sent up under some trees, not far from Cleo's own little home. Cleo couldn't help but be distracted from her fairy duties by the fleshy beings, especially one particular young boy. She watched the boy for weeks, ignoring her obligations. Then one day, the boy noticed her, and when he did, he couldn't help but drop everything because a small human-like creature with wings was buzzing around him. Who wouldn't lose focus? The boy didn't run though, not like a normal boy would. The boy had a fascination for Cleo, as Cleo did for him.

"What do you call yourself, Small Thing?" The boy examined.

"I am Fairy Cleo." The tiny organism squeaked in an extremely high pitched voice.

"I am Phoenix." The human stated.

"Phoenix is a bird, and you are human. You cannot be Phoenix." The Fairy stated, confused.

"Phoenix is my name." Phoenix, the boy, not bird, stated.

The days rolled on for little Cleo. Meeting Phoenix had been the highlight of her short life, but now she was head over heels for him, and from what Cleo sees, Phoenix doesn't even remember that she exists. But in reality, Phoenix is always looking for his twinkling little Fairy Cleo, he just can't see her. She is much too small for him to normally see. She'd have to sit right on his rather large nose for him to know she was anywhere near him.

But one day, Phoenix got tired of looking, so he called for little Cleo, just to see if she'd come. And she did, oh, of course the tiny fairy would. By the time the boy had gotten around to calling the small fairy, she was in love with the larger being, oh, so in love.

"Cleo?!" Phoenix called out blindly, hoping the tiny human-like creature was close enough to hear his call.

"I'm right here!" She shrilled, excited that he wanted her, "I've always been right here!"

"Where?" Phoenix asked, spinning around in a desperate attempt to find to find the tiny being he couldn't see.

Little Cleo flew right up into his face. "Please stop spinning, Phoenix" She chirped.

He stopped. "Cleo!" he exclaimed, once his eyes adjusted to see her.

"Phoenix!" Cleo cried with same excitement Phoenix had.

Phoenix smiled, as Cleo set herself comfortably on his nose.

Off in the distance, Cleo's father, the King of the Fairies, watched with disapproval.

That night, when sweet, little Cleo returned home from buzzing around Phoenix's head and talking and playing with the boy, she got a scolding from her father.

"What were you doing with a Human?" He asked, calmly, but you could hear the anger boiling underneath.

"I was talking with him, Sir." Cleo whispered, afraid. She'd seen what her father had done to others who had spoken with humans.

"WITH A HUMAN, CLEOBELLE? You can't do that, you know that. You're a fairy, remember!?"

"BUT DAD, I LOVE HIM!" Cleo yelled. She covered her mouth when she realized she just said she loved Phoenix. She hadn't meant to say that. She didn't even know it until the words left her mouth.

The King, her Father, was beyond mad at that. He couldn't have a love-crazed fairy running around, especially not his own daughter. In blind rage, he grabbed a knife, and slit little Cleo's throat. Quick and sweet, as far as death's go.

"You're acting too human," The King whispered in Cleo's final moments, "Love is a human emotion. You were a fairy."

'To me, the worst thing about all of this is' Cleo's final thoughts ran through her mind 'he doesn't know.'

And he didn't. Phoenix spent the rest of his life calling out for little Cleo, but she never came again.