When an unexpected betrayal sends a wingless fairy into a lonely world of darkness and self-loathing, Rey must learn how to love herself again - with the help of a Raven
Events loosely inspired by the movie Maleficent
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Far beyond the borders of a great kingdom was a hidden, mystical world of fairies. Despite the two worlds living close by for centuries, the fairies were fortunate to have never been seen by humans. In the eyes of people, such winged creatures were viewed as myths who only existed in fables. They were thought to be tiny beings who lived underneath roots of trees, wings delicate and fragile like a butterfly's, and were most often mischievous and pesky to humans.
Luckily those fairies were either written or spoken of in human tales because the ones that neighbored them? Well, they were quite different from fairytale pixies.
When the sun rose above the forest canopies that morning it marked the day as officially summer. Its warm rays sparkled through many layers of leaves, piercing every hole that was left in place by a munching insect. Birds in various colors and sizes sang merrily from their perch at high peaks, awakening those who'd been asleep at the lower limbs inside hammocks.
Rey opened her eyes and yawned, legs drawn and held close to her chest beneath the downy blanket that was her wings. She smiled sleepily at the songs resonating from higher branches of her willow tree, noting how a select few sung baritone amongst the choir of tenors. She stayed that way for a few brief moments, wanting to hear the remainder of their beautiful song. It was part of her routine before starting the day. And when the song finished they immediately began the next.
Shifting her position she moved onto her back, parting her wings just enough to stretch her arms and then her legs. Slowly and carefully, she swung her feet over the edge of the net, allowing her bare toes to make contact with the bark beneath, certain that her feet were firmly planted before she stood.
Surprisingly, Rey was the size of the average adult human. She was remarkably light on her feet when on the ground and even faster in the air, making her nearly impossible to catch or be seen by any outsider if she happened to wander too close to the human part of the world; although, if she wanted to she could simply change her size and form. She could be a small bumble bee or a large fire-breathing dragon. Thankfully, she had never needed to be that extreme.
Lacing her fingers she extended her palms high above her head, sighing how good it felt and then spread her wings. Like every fairy, they were unique in appearance. Her feathers were tawny with freckles of gold on the flight plumes, a detail that was visibly best in sunlight, and an ivory claw that curled inward at the first joint. When folded and not in use the very ends of her primary feathers hung to her ankles.
Unlike the majority of other fairies, who actually took pride in their magical powers, what she loved most about herself were her wings. They were strong and powerful and carried her with effortless ease above the clouds into the headwinds. And not once did they falter.
She could hardly imagine what her life would be like without them nor did she ever try. They had been her sole means of comfort during long and sleepless nights, longing for the family who never returned as promised many years ago.
