In a Time Far Away

In a Time Far Away Part 2

Other sprites came and went, eating, laughing and dancing. Chiming music and swirling lights sprinkled from the tips of wands. All of it quite astounded her. It was a marvelous time that seemed to last forever. Whenever Joan became tired, she curled up on an elm leaf to rest. When awake, she joined the party. Joan picked up sticks and tried waving them, but she couldn't get any sparkles. She asked Tim to tell her how to do it, but he couldn't. He looked at her as if she had asked how to breathe.

"I would love for my family to see this," she said.

"I can show them. It's fun."

Joan became suddenly eager to get back home and to share this remarkable phenomenon.

"When can we go?"

"Now," he replied, but then immediately got distracted by a passing sprite juggling colored lights with her wand.

The party continued, and Tim seemed in no hurry. Now he kept saying. Joan eventually got tired and snuggled up on her elm leaf again to sleep. She woke up alone, her head resting on the tree root.

Had it all been a dream? Joan sat up, disoriented and bleary. The experience had seemed so real, yet how could it be? Gazing around, she thought she might still be dreaming. The forest seemed different somehow. Here sat the rock she had lain near; there bubbled the stream she had drunk from, but Joan did not recognize anything else. This forest was her home; some features were still discernible, so what was wrong with it?

She became more confused when she noticed the tree she had slept next to; it had snapped in two—half lay on the forest floor. How had she not heard that? She examined the fallen section and found it rotten, turning into dirt. It seemed to have been decomposing for years. How was this possible?

When she looked into the little hollow, all she saw was a dark, dirty hole.

"Hello," said a voice from behind her.

Joan heard a humming sound and turned to see Tim land next to her, his wings vanishing. This was another shock. He was her size now.

"You're bigger than before," Joan observed.

"Before?"

Tim clearly didn't understand, but that didn't seem to bother him. Any incongruity skimmed over his mind like a flat stone skipping across a pond.

"Aren't we going to your home?" he asked.

Joan led Tim as best she could in the direction of her birch grove. The forest continued to confuse her. Before these strange events, she had known the location of everything: every blackberry patch, every lily, every anthill. Now all that had changed. The main features were still the same; boulders had not moved, nor had the hills, but all other features were unrecognizable. Tim followed along, not bothered in the least.