Wish

To Ground

Blank.

Your whole life you’ve dreamed of something magical happening, and when it finally does, your mind is completely blank. 

The man before you has an impossibly pristine quality that, while he appears generally human, makes you certain he is anything but. However, despite his intimidating appearance, his expression remains soft and calm allowing you to keep your fear at bay.

“Hello,” you greet him cautiously in an attempt to improve the poor first impression you've surely made, “my name is-”

He cuts you off with two fingers pressed firmly against your lips.

“Little Dandelion, do you mean for me to keep you?’’ he asks, the corners of his eyes creasing with amusement. He begins to circle you thoughtfully, inspecting you. He plucks at your sleeve, testing the fabric between his fingers, then does the same to the ends of your hair,  “Or did you invite a faerie to Contract without knowing the rules?”

“No. I mean yes! I mean,” you try to gather your wits as he appraises you, "I didn't invite anyone anywhere and- AHH!"

Having completed his orbit, he takes one distance-closing step towards you and, face nearly touching yours, inhales deeply as you speak.

You jump back scolding, "Can you not do that?! Please."

Eying you doubtfully, he raises a fist to his nose before extending it towards you. As his fingers open, a handful of dandelion seeds rise in lazy patterns and hover in place.

"These are definitely yours. There's no mistaking it," a small smile appears on his face as he watches the floating bits of fluff, "and they won't grow until I complete my end of the bargain. So tell me, Dandelion, why am I here? What wish can I grant you?"

“Okay. Okay, let me get this straight,” you rub your temples and begin to pace, gesturing wildly as you try to take stock of the situation, “So Nana’s book isn’t a story book, and for some reason Nana knew how to make faeries grant wishes. I did what the book said and now there’s a faerie here who wants to grant my wish so he can grow some weeds.”

You glance back and see that he is casually mimicking your gesticulations and nodding in agreement behind you. 

“More or less, yes, I think you have it,” he congratulates you with wide eyes and tiny claps, “so what will it be? Riches? Fame? Feats of heroism?... A new dress?”  

“And you can grant any wish? That’s crazy!”

“As long as it’s something your heart truly needs, yes.”

“And why did you stop me from telling you my name? Can I know your name? What did you mean by keeping me?”

It takes you by surprise when he abandons all poise and crumples dramatically to the ground, laughing. Once he’s done, he sits cross-legged, leaning back on his hands and sighs at you. 

“You really did this by accident didn’t you? Just my luck. You’re not even prepared to make a wish I bet,” springing back to his feet, he glides to your side and links your arm through his, coaxing you to walk with him “Alright, well since it seems like we may be stuck together for awhile I’ll explain a few things. First, Dandelion, no. You should never offer your name to a faerie directly unless you’d like to spend a lifetime in his service. Luckily for you, I’m not interested in a pet human; another might have welcomed the offer. Next, you have, wittingly or not, entered into a Wish Contract with me. Now in order to claim my reward I’m bound to provide you with your heart’s desire. I’m willing to guess you don’t know what that is just yet, but I’d rather not be caught up in this for longer than necessary. So, lucky you again, I plan to help you figure it out as quickly as possible.”

The woods are growing denser as you walk. He is certainly not leading you home, and the fear that you've been managing to ignore so far grows more insistent. You pull your arm away and take several steps backwards.

"Listen, Mr. Faerie-"

"Jimin."

"What?"

"You can call me Jimin. There's no harm in you having my name. As if you'd know what to do with it anyway," he laughs hard again, very amused with himself.

"Fine, Jimin," you continue, less amused, over his laughter, "I really think I need to head home. My parents will be wondering where I am, and I'm not supposed to go into the woods alone."

He slaps a hand over his heart in mock injury, "Alone? And here I even made myself big at your request." 

"And I appreciate that, really, I do. But I… I can't do… whatever this it is."

No longer teasing, Jimin approaches you with the calm but commanding demeanor he had presented when he first appeared.

"If that were true you wouldn't be here. It takes a strong will to cross the veil. You may be a fool, but you've earned the right to your wish, and I always fulfill my bargains," he takes your hands and smiles, "Now I think this will be much easier if we're small. Are you ready?"

You don't have time to answer before a rush of air makes you feel like you're falling. Your vision swirls with magnified views of twigs and leaves making your stomach churn. 

When you regain your composure, you scream. The grass previously brushing at your ankles now towers over your head, caging you within the jagged blades. 

"Let's not overreact. It's not permanent," Jimin says, pushing at the grass to reveal clearer ground on the other side, "follow me!"

You prepare to resume protest as you hop through the opening after him, but at the sight of his back you're stunned into silence. He has stopped to stretch, seemingly happy about returning to his preferred stature. As his arms and hands spread wide towards the sky, a set of gossamer wings extend to his sides. Shaped similarly to a butterfly's but more narrow and elegantly tapered, sunlight dances across them highlighting streaks of iridescent shades of blue as they quiver, ready for flight.

"You're really a faerie," you state the obvious in resignation. 

Jimin spins to face you exclaiming, "Progress! See, you're doing so well already. We'll have your wish sorted out in no time."

With a graceful skip, he lifts off the ground and offers you a hand in invitation.

"Let's go"

******

A/N:  There he is! If you made it this far, thanks champ. Updates from here on out will probably be less frequent since I'm not totally sure where I'm going with this. Hope you enjoyed at least this much. See you next time when our tiny friends continue their quest.