Of Fairies and Noontime

Craftswoman

The backyard. Hadley's favorite place.

After a white flash, that's exactly where they ended up.

Dask helped Hadley stand up, wiping the dirt from her nose with his fingertip.

She gathered up all of her items. The ring was still on her finger. Her two books were scattered across the green lawn. The only thing she couldn't find was Bartholomew.

"Bartholomew?" Hadley asked, looking around. "Oh God, where is he? Bartholomew?"

Dask and Hadley looked around her backyard, hopelessly searching for her pet frog. When they couldn't find him, they had to wonder what happened to him.

Suddenly, a high-pitched ribbit came from below.

Dask ran his fingers through the grass. A tiny cage with a tiny Bartholomew popped up from the dirt. Hadley grabbed the mini cage, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess Bartholomew didn't change back into his normal size when we teleported," Hadley noted, holding him in her palm.

"How in the world are we going to fix this? We're not surrounded by magic anymore." Dask asked, scratching his head.

Hadley thought back to all the lessons she'd learned from the fairies. Flying came to mind first, but as she shuffled through the files in her mind, she realized what she could try.

"Do you have any... lavender?" Hadley asked Dask with a smile on her face. Dask raised his brows.

"Lavender? Um... I don't think so, why?"

"Darn it." Hadley sighed. She turned to her mother's flower garden, hoping that she'd magically find the herb she was searching for. She handed Dask her little Bartholomew trinket and got down on her hands and knees to search.

Dask tapped on the cage. It was so small now that they were back in their own world. Then, he looked closer. There, attached to the very top of the cage, there was a hook that held a tiny key and two bushels of tiny lavender.

"Had, is this what you're looking for?" Dask asked, holding up the cage.

Hadley turned around and stood up from the garden, taking Bartholomew back and grabbing the key.

"Aha!" She exclaimed. "Let's get him fixed up."

She set Bart down in the dirt, laying in front of him. She used the tiny key and opened the door to his cage, allowing him to hop out. Then, she held her frog pet in the palm of her hand and shoved the lavender up each one of his nostrils. He looked sleepy, just as he had in the fairy world, and suddenly, he returned to his normal size.

"It's real," Hadley whispered. "The magic, it's real. We can harness it in our world!" She exclaimed, giving Bartholomew a kiss on the head.

Dask set a level hand on her shoulder, stopping her celebration. "Hadley," He said. She looked up at him. "You should really go."

Hadley raised an eyebrow. "Go where?"

Dask pointed with his eyes towards her pale yellow house, the one she'd left behind. It looked no different than the way she'd left it. Hadley sighed.

"Do I have to?" She asked Dask. She didn't want to face her parents after all that had happened to her. She wanted to live in the fairy world and never come back. But after realizing that just wasn't possible, she took a deep breath in, and walked towards the blue front door.

Back in the fairy world, Ellabelle had just finished sewing. She smiled at her work, admiring its beauty.

Lue walked into her room, knocking twice on her door frame.

"You busy?" He asked with a smile. He immediately noticed his little sister's craft. She held it up in the air to show him, and he gasped audibly. "Did you make those?"

Ellabelle nodded. "Yes sir. My own, homemade wings, and they're all mine." She said, making them flap in her hands. The wings were blue and purple, just like her old ones were.

Lue nodded. "You really are amazing. I guess you get it from me." He flashed a cheesy smile her way.

Ellabelle waved him away. "Come on, be quiet." She laughed, keeping her eyes on the sparkly threaded wings. It reminded her all too much of Hadley, and a harsh reality gripped her chest. Before she could be swept away in the darkness of her own thoughts, Lue interrupted.

"We're gonna have a meeting with the other land leaders." He told her.

Ellabelle swallowed away her pain. The taste was horrible. "Oh, really? About what?"

"They heard the news about humans being in the village, and they wanted to speak with us about our policies on interspecies relations." He explained, scratching the back of his neck.

Ellabelle stood up from her seat, a smile broadening on her face. "Yeesh, you make us sound so important when you say it like that."

Lue shrugged. "Hey, I'm just relaying information." He laughed. "Does this mean we accept?"
"Well... of course! Let them know a meeting will be underway as soon as they can all meet here." Ellabelle replied with a meaningful nod. "Ooh, I can make us some cute meeting clothes!" She thought out loud. She began grabbing fabrics next to her desk full of crafting items, but stopped quick when she saw the color yellow. Yellow was Hadley's color. Yellow was the color of her wings. Yellow was the color of her soul.

"Are you alright, Ella?" Lue asked, tilting his head.

Ellabelle's throat tightened, so all she could do was nod her head. Memories flashed before her eyes. She'd let Hadley go. Why couldn't she have held on just a little longer?

"Alright, I'll let the leaders know we're ready when they are." Lue said. "Hey, take care of yourself, ok? Grab some water."

Ellabelle nodded. Her insides were all twisted up. Hadley was gone, and it was all her fault.

Hadley stepped into her house, its nostalgic scent washing over her. She snuck Bartholomew into her pocket just in case. Her dress was more than dirty, but she didn't care. If her parents truly missed her and cared for her, they wouldn't even notice.

Dask followed closely behind Hadley, hoping her parents were there. He wanted her to make amends with them, that way they could finally put their differences aside and just be a family.

However, after a quick sweep over the house, they realized that her parents were nowhere to be found.

Dask looked at a wall clock in the kitchen.

"It's only noon," He whispered to Hadley.

Noon. The word washed over her, along with what felt like a lifetime of flashbacks. Noon was the exact time her parents wanted her for lunch every day. Noon was the exact time she'd found Ellabelle that Saturday.

"They aren't even here. They're at work." Hadley said, shaking her head. For some reason, she felt genuinely upset. All that time she'd spent with Ellabelle and the fairies, she thought she wanted nothing to do with her parents. Then, suddenly, when they weren't there to greet her when she got home, she felt hurt.

"They'll be back." Dask told her, looking right into her emerald eyes. "They'll be so happy to see you, I know it."

Hadley set Bartholomew on her kitchen table, looking at him with a scowl. She then remembered something, making her shoot into the backyard once again. Dask tried to keep up with her, but he had no idea where her brain was spiraling to.

Hadley stood before the oak tree. She stared down at it, as if looking at it would change its appearance. Dask came to Hadley's side. He was out of breath after chasing Hadley around like this. Once he made it to her, he realized just what she was looking at. He wrapped his arms around her as she cried onto him.

The hole in the oak tree was gone.