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Description

    I took a deep breath as I walked through the display, the heady scent of vegetation a welcomed scent to my nose. The botanical gardens were remarkably beautiful this time of year, for the native vegetation exhibits were in full bloom giving the natural radiance of the flora to complement the biospheres containing vegetation from around the world, particularly the tropical climes. While I appreciated their exotic beauty, there was simply something about the local flora that always drew me in with its alluring air.

    The peace and tranquility continued to envelop me; the botanical gardens were never that crowded in this day and age, however, what patrons usually congregated in the exotic biospheres, so I could appreciate my isolated moment.

    It was during that casual stroll along the garden paths that I heard a faint, yet strange noise. Drawn from my meditative state, I immediately glanced around, seeing no one else in the vicinity, yet the occasional sound persisted. Moving forward, I began hunting for the cause, turning down a couple adjacent paths, brushing past the foliage until the sounds became clearer, those of meek whimpers of pain.

    Turning a corner, I drew back the branches of a shrub and widened my eyes at the pitiful sight I saw before me. Lying helplessly upon the soil below the bush and nearly in the walkway, a tiny human figure. With shimmering translucent wings sprouting from just above his shoulder blades, he looked up at me from coddling his knee, gasping out as he saw me staring wide-eyed upon him. Panicking, he tried to scramble underneath the bush, only cried out and clutched to his knee once more. “Please, don’t hurt me!” he pleaded as he looked up at me.

    “Shh, it’s alright; I won’t harm you,” I managed to state, scarcely believing my eyes. Gingerly reaching my hand down, I plucked him up from the soil and let him come to rest in the palm of my hand as I drew him close to my face. Studying his captivating iridescent, translucent wings, I stammered, “You’re a fairy?”

    Warily glancing up at me for a long moment as he sat upon my palm, cradling his knee, he eventually confessed, “…Yes.” He paused, then explained, “I inhabit this garden when not in my own realm. A previous passerby…trampled over me; he didn’t even see me.”

    “Not to defend them,” I softly began, “but humans aren’t necessarily looking for fairies.”

    “You humans aren’t looking for a lot of things,” he countered, a sharp edge in his miniscule voice.

    “I can’t argue with you there,” I quietly acquiesced.

    He tried to draw himself to his feet by grasping onto my upright thumb, struggling through the pain as he held on tightly. “Please, help me back to that tree over there,” he asked of me, pointing to a large oak several yards away. “There’s a gateway to my realm; I’ll be able to heal myself with my magic once I return there, where my powers are their strongest.”

    “Uh, sure thing,” I readily agreed to, my innate need to help others kicking in despite the million questions already running through my head concerning my diminutive discovery. Smoothly stepping forward, I cradled him close to my chest to minimize the jarring sensations of my stride, walking along the pathway and to the oak tree.

    When we reached it, he instructed with a point of his index finger, “It’s just on the other side.”

    Taking a few steps to circle the oak tree, I paused where he had led me to, remarking, “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”

    “Because I have to open the gateway,” he explained. Reaching my hand forward as I knelt down on the ground, I watched him grasp onto my thumb with one hand and reach his other hand outward, a golden energy manifesting about his fingertips before shooting from him, coalescing in a vertical circle a few inches from the bark of the oak’s trunk. Swirling about, it solidified as it ethereally glowed until the energy and air distorted, drawing apart to give a view into another world not too dissimilar from my own.

    “Amazing…” I muttered, full of wonder as I stared through the miniature portal.

    Trying his wings, I watched him cringe and falter a few times in attempts to hover over my palm, eventually working through the pain to sustain a hovered flutter. Turning back to me, he said, “In return for honoring my request, I offer you a single wish.”

    “A wish?” I blurted out, a little set back by the gesture. “I didn’t help you for any favor…” I fumbled.

    “I am obligated nonetheless to grant you this request,” he returned with a smile. Managing to flitter up to face me, he furthered, “There must be something your heart desires.”

    The smile faded from my face as I looked upon him, the hint of melancholy welling up within my soul. “As a matter of fact, there is…”

    “Tell me,” he persisted, flittering closer to me, still favoring his leg while his wings beat irregularly at times. Bracing his hands upon the bridge of my nose, I crossed my eyes to focus on his invasion of my personal space. “It can be absolutely anything.”

    “Well,” I confessed, letting my eyes drift away from him momentarily before focusing back upon him, “I’d like to find love.”

    “The kind that is real and true, no?” he smirked, something about my wish amusing him. “Or perhaps your destined?” he then teased, causing me to blush with embarrassment as I looked away from him. He slipped from my nose and floated over to where I had averted my gaze, drawing my eyes to focus upon him once more. “You are a really bashful one, aren’t you?” he mused, a smirk upon his face.

    “You wanted my wish, that is what I want more than anything,” I confessed, glancing at him, upset at his amusement.

    “More than anything, you say?” he remarked, raising an eyebrow as he studied me. With a bit of a haughty chuckle, he then drew his hands before himself, letting the golden energy envelop his fingers and granted, “You shall have your wish…”

    The energy swirling and coalescing about me from his hands, I groaned out as I suddenly felt strange, my stomach queasy while the chills drew throughout me. “I don’t feel right…” I muttered, looking at him and seeing the devious grin upon his face, him seemingly beginning to rise in the air until I realized that he wasn’t going higher, but I was falling lower.

    Looking down at myself, then at my growing surroundings, I realized that I was shrinking. I looked back up at him as I drew my arms about my torso, trembling as I stammered, “What have you done to me?”

    “You value love above all, even your freedom, which is the price you shall pay to have your wish,” he responded, then darted down toward me as I receded from the air, eventually becoming no larger than him. Scrambling upon the ground in attempts to flee from him, it was hard to run along the much larger blades of grass, which ended up slowing me down and allowing him to catch me. I cried out as he latched onto me under my arms, hoisting me up as he flew up toward the portal that I now could easily fit through. Gasping out as I looked down at the ground receding from me, I was powerless to stop him the higher we rose, struggling and squirming in his arms while he explained, “I cannot allow you to expose our existence to your kind.” As he finished speaking, the portal to his world was directly in front of me and before I could protest, he flew us into the portal, spiriting me away with him into the realm of the fairies.

Description

    I took a deep breath as I walked through the display, the heady scent of vegetation a welcomed scent to my nose. The botanical gardens were remarkably beautiful this time of year, for the native vegetation exhibits were in full bloom giving the natural radiance of the flora to complement the biospheres containing vegetation from around the world, particularly the tropical climes. While I appreciated their exotic beauty, there was simply something about the local flora that always drew me in with its alluring air.

    The peace and tranquility continued to envelop me; the botanical gardens were never that crowded in this day and age, however, what patrons usually congregated in the exotic biospheres, so I could appreciate my isolated moment.

    It was during that casual stroll along the garden paths that I heard a faint, yet strange noise. Drawn from my meditative state, I immediately glanced around, seeing no one else in the vicinity, yet the occasional sound persisted. Moving forward, I began hunting for the cause, turning down a couple adjacent paths, brushing past the foliage until the sounds became clearer, those of meek whimpers of pain.

    Turning a corner, I drew back the branches of a shrub and widened my eyes at the pitiful sight I saw before me. Lying helplessly upon the soil below the bush and nearly in the walkway, a tiny human figure. With shimmering translucent wings sprouting from just above his shoulder blades, he looked up at me from coddling his knee, gasping out as he saw me staring wide-eyed upon him. Panicking, he tried to scramble underneath the bush, only cried out and clutched to his knee once more. “Please, don’t hurt me!” he pleaded as he looked up at me.

    “Shh, it’s alright; I won’t harm you,” I managed to state, scarcely believing my eyes. Gingerly reaching my hand down, I plucked him up from the soil and let him come to rest in the palm of my hand as I drew him close to my face. Studying his captivating iridescent, translucent wings, I stammered, “You’re a fairy?”

    Warily glancing up at me for a long moment as he sat upon my palm, cradling his knee, he eventually confessed, “…Yes.” He paused, then explained, “I inhabit this garden when not in my own realm. A previous passerby…trampled over me; he didn’t even see me.”

    “Not to defend them,” I softly began, “but humans aren’t necessarily looking for fairies.”

    “You humans aren’t looking for a lot of things,” he countered, a sharp edge in his miniscule voice.

    “I can’t argue with you there,” I quietly acquiesced.

    He tried to draw himself to his feet by grasping onto my upright thumb, struggling through the pain as he held on tightly. “Please, help me back to that tree over there,” he asked of me, pointing to a large oak several yards away. “There’s a gateway to my realm; I’ll be able to heal myself with my magic once I return there, where my powers are their strongest.”

    “Uh, sure thing,” I readily agreed to, my innate need to help others kicking in despite the million questions already running through my head concerning my diminutive discovery. Smoothly stepping forward, I cradled him close to my chest to minimize the jarring sensations of my stride, walking along the pathway and to the oak tree.

    When we reached it, he instructed with a point of his index finger, “It’s just on the other side.”

    Taking a few steps to circle the oak tree, I paused where he had led me to, remarking, “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”

    “Because I have to open the gateway,” he explained. Reaching my hand forward as I knelt down on the ground, I watched him grasp onto my thumb with one hand and reach his other hand outward, a golden energy manifesting about his fingertips before shooting from him, coalescing in a vertical circle a few inches from the bark of the oak’s trunk. Swirling about, it solidified as it ethereally glowed until the energy and air distorted, drawing apart to give a view into another world not too dissimilar from my own.

    “Amazing…” I muttered, full of wonder as I stared through the miniature portal.

    Trying his wings, I watched him cringe and falter a few times in attempts to hover over my palm, eventually working through the pain to sustain a hovered flutter. Turning back to me, he said, “In return for honoring my request, I offer you a single wish.”

    “A wish?” I blurted out, a little set back by the gesture. “I didn’t help you for any favor…” I fumbled.

    “I am obligated nonetheless to grant you this request,” he returned with a smile. Managing to flitter up to face me, he furthered, “There must be something your heart desires.”

    The smile faded from my face as I looked upon him, the hint of melancholy welling up within my soul. “As a matter of fact, there is…”

    “Tell me,” he persisted, flittering closer to me, still favoring his leg while his wings beat irregularly at times. Bracing his hands upon the bridge of my nose, I crossed my eyes to focus on his invasion of my personal space. “It can be absolutely anything.”

    “Well,” I confessed, letting my eyes drift away from him momentarily before focusing back upon him, “I’d like to find love.”

    “The kind that is real and true, no?” he smirked, something about my wish amusing him. “Or perhaps your destined?” he then teased, causing me to blush with embarrassment as I looked away from him. He slipped from my nose and floated over to where I had averted my gaze, drawing my eyes to focus upon him once more. “You are a really bashful one, aren’t you?” he mused, a smirk upon his face.

    “You wanted my wish, that is what I want more than anything,” I confessed, glancing at him, upset at his amusement.

    “More than anything, you say?” he remarked, raising an eyebrow as he studied me. With a bit of a haughty chuckle, he then drew his hands before himself, letting the golden energy envelop his fingers and granted, “You shall have your wish…”

    The energy swirling and coalescing about me from his hands, I groaned out as I suddenly felt strange, my stomach queasy while the chills drew throughout me. “I don’t feel right…” I muttered, looking at him and seeing the devious grin upon his face, him seemingly beginning to rise in the air until I realized that he wasn’t going higher, but I was falling lower.

    Looking down at myself, then at my growing surroundings, I realized that I was shrinking. I looked back up at him as I drew my arms about my torso, trembling as I stammered, “What have you done to me?”

    “You value love above all, even your freedom, which is the price you shall pay to have your wish,” he responded, then darted down toward me as I receded from the air, eventually becoming no larger than him. Scrambling upon the ground in attempts to flee from him, it was hard to run along the much larger blades of grass, which ended up slowing me down and allowing him to catch me. I cried out as he latched onto me under my arms, hoisting me up as he flew up toward the portal that I now could easily fit through. Gasping out as I looked down at the ground receding from me, I was powerless to stop him the higher we rose, struggling and squirming in his arms while he explained, “I cannot allow you to expose our existence to your kind.” As he finished speaking, the portal to his world was directly in front of me and before I could protest, he flew us into the portal, spiriting me away with him into the realm of the fairies.