Harry and the Fae

I Should Have Read the Directions

The mailman hummed quietly as he walked up Sycamore Lane, their mailbag heavy with numerous packages and letters. Today, their truck had broken down so they had to deliver everything by hand. The mailman's name was Sully, and he was excited to be almost through his route. He walked to the last house 969 and delivered the package, unaware that the address was not for 969 but for house 696 instead.

Harry (Harriet) Jones walked home from work feeling very tired. Her boss, Mr. Mustafio, had fired 2 of her coworkers due to their failure to complete work. She definitely agreed with Mr. Mustafio's decision, but that caused her workload to triple with theirs. She had worked from 5:30AM to 10:22PM and she still had more work to do! To top it all off, her car was stolen from the employee parking lot! Now she had to walk home in the dark and she couldn't call anyone to help her. All she wanted was to get home, make a cup of tea, and then read in bed until she fell asleep. As she walked down the lamp-lit street she tried not to feel scared, she had already made it to her street, she just had to walk down a ways and she would be home. Feeling a bit better she turned and started to walk down her street. When she passed house 696, she suddenly got chills. She never saw the person that lived here, but that one spot always gave her the creeps. She shook her head and continued down the street, unaware of the set of eyes watching her from the upstairs window of home 696.

Harry finally made it to her door and saw she had a package. Who would have sent her a anything? It was a relatively large. She unlocked the front door, grabbed the package and walked in. The moment she stepped inside, she took off her shoes and dropped her work bags on the floor. With the package in hand, she padded off to the kitchen to turn the kettle on for tea. After turning on the kettle, she went to change into pajamas and came back to open the package. She picked up the package and flipped it around, wondering if it said who sent it. The only thing written was 969 on one side and then Sycamore Lane, Creechburg Oregon. She grabbed a knife and cut open the package. Inside was a book titled "Novae Terrae." She went to open it when a thick piece of paper fell out. Harry picked up the paper and saw that it was labeled 'directions.' Harry scoffed and put the paper to the side.

"Who needs directions to read a book?" She spoke to herself.

She opened the book and before she could start reading... her tea kettle started screaming. Startled, she dropped the book and took the kettle off of the burner. She grabbed her mug and made her tea then went upstairs with her new book and tea.

As she settled in her bed, she opened the book to begin reading again. She started to read and the something happened. Harry was suddenly blinded by a bright light and she felt as though she was flying through air. Her stomach was lurching and she still couldn't see anything. Wind rushed past her as she twisted. This continued for what seemed like forever until she hit something with a thump that took the air out of her lungs. As she opened her eyes, white dots clouded her vision. She pushed herself up a bit and waited for her eyes to adjust. As she looked around, she noticed that there were creatures staring up at her. They looked almost like...fairies?

Frightened, she stood up far too quickly and fell over again as the blood rushed in her head. One creature stepped forward and spoke, "You don't look like Madam Eve."

"Madam Eve? Who is that, where am I, what has happened? Am I dead? Di-? Harry asked the questions, extremely frightened but needing to know.

"Did you read "Novae Terrae?" The faery asked.

"I tried to." She spoke, confused as to what this had to do with the conversation.

"Did you read the instructions?" The faery asked, nearly certain as to what had happened now.

"No, why would I read instructions to read a book?" She asked.

The faery sighed and then spoke again, "Had you read the instructions, you would have known that the book was made to send you here, and you would also know how to get back."

Harry sat dumbfounded for a moment, her mouth gaping like a fish as her brain processed what the faery has said. She definitely should have read the directions.