She sighed with relief when she reached the drive and nervously turned her vehicle through the old gate posts where a snow covered path caused the vehicle to lurch, pump and slide towards the picturesque house. As she turned the engine off, she could hear Janice shouting and slamming things about.
“Oh dear,” she thought. “What’s Simon gone and done now.” Her brother had been doing so well over the past three years since he had come out of the rehabilitation clinic, but it had taken its toll on Janice who had stuck by him through thick and thin. The poor woman was always paranoid that Simon might drift off the rails and start the lies again – the way many drug addicts do when trying to cover up for their social indiscretions.
She heard her brothers imploring tone and over heard much of the argument. “Janice, please! For God sake, I’m on the bloody level here – I’m telling the truth – as weird as it sounds – it’s all true, every bloody word – I swear it.”
“Right now you believe every word of it, Simon. I believe that.” Then she screamed furiously at him. “But when the bloody mushrooms begin to wear off you’ll realize what a stupid…” She stopped in mid sentence then roared at him. “I just hate you at times; you are full of empty promises.”
“I haven’t been eating mushrooms and I haven’t been taking any form of drugs. I’m telling you the truth, even the dog bolted off in fright – that’s why it got back well before I returned.”
Janice screeched again. “I can’t believe that you have got the audacity to try and say this to me. I wish I had a video camera – I would love to film you now and play it back to you when you’ve come back down from your very bad trip.”
Sandy apprehensively rang the bell and the door opened almost immediately to reveal her brother Simon, looking wet and bedraggled as though he had been caught out in the storm for some time prior to returning.
“How long have you been back?” She asked. “Janice phoned me when the dog returned without you. She said it was barking hysterically.”
Simon sighed with frustration and shook his long wet hair while gritting his teeth in anger as he tried to fight back the tears that swelled in his lower eye lids. He had the look of a man that was trying to bottle up a quagmire of emotions that he dared not let out, but could not contain indefinitely.
Janice barged passed him, equally as distraught. “I’m going out for a breath of fresh air – I don’t want to be around you when you are like this – I hate it.” She looked at Sandy. “Come with me for a walk, will you. I’m so sorry to have dragged you out here in such conditions, but I was so worried.”
“Yes,” replied Sandy as she turned and walked the snow covered pathway that went into the woodlands. She looked back at Simon sternly and put her finger to her lips – an angry imploring that told him to hush – he had done enough damage.
“We might as well bring the dog too,” sniffed Janice distraught.
Sandy looked to the black Labrador bitch and patted her knees as she called. “Nelly! Come on girl.”
Nelly yelped despondently and tucked her tail between her legs as she scampered behind Simon – looking for protection from the woodland that she normally loved to run about in.
“See,” he called to Janice. “When have you ever known Nelly to decline going out.”
“Oh for Gods sake shut up,” she shouted, completely awash with the man. This time he had really pushed her too far. “Come on Sandy, we will not get any sense out of him until he comes down.” She trudged off through the snow towards the tree line where the woodland began.
Before following, Sandy took one last look at her brother – she could always tell when he had been taking drugs because of the look in his eyes and the manner in which he acted. He was distraught but she had the merest of inklings that it was not the intoxicated look – an appearance that she had not seen on him for three years. Desperately, she hoped that her brother was telling the truth and perhaps poor Janice was getting paranoid. It had happened before. Maybe Janice just needed to talk and calm down. She felt deep sympathy for her brother’s girlfriend and her neurotic disposition had been brought about because of Simon’s past antics.
They entered the forest where soft white snow beads were dropped everywhere from the leafy canopy and onto the wet fern covered forest floor. The dampness carried a fresh cold sent that was invigorating and Sandy new that after a little while Janice would calm down as she walked through the woods and the heath land.
“I don’t know how he has managed to get his hands on anything – we’ve been in all week,” said Janice exasperated. “He must have been eating mushrooms. That’s it, I bet he has been eating them bloody mushrooms that grow in the forest. He’s eaten too many and started to hallucinate.”
“Perhaps he has not,” suggested Sandy wearily.
Her friend frowned and rocked her head from side to side as though it was useless to even propose such a thing. “Have you any idea what he is trying to make me believe?”
“That he has not taken drugs or any other stimulant for three years.”
“And…,” added Janice. “…that he has seen a fairy up in the little wood at the top of the heath.”
“What did you say? Can you just lay that one on me again please?” Sandy thought that she might have been trying too hard to get Janice to listen to her and had neglected to pay enough attention to what her brother’s girlfriend wanted to say in return.
“He said that he had been frightened by a real live fairy – up in the little wood on the top of the heath. The heath land that is at the end of this woodland we are walking through.”
“So some sad man made an improper advance towards him up in the little wood.” Sandy scratched the top of her head, hoping she had struck the right note.
“No Sandy, not that kind of fairy – I mean a real fairy from a fairy tale. He said she was a very pale young girl with wings on her back. She had an angelic childlike face – a slight frame and wore a short white gown that looked like frosted cobwebs – layers and layers hiding her so called modesty.”
Sandy looked confused and disappointed. It seemed her brother had slipped back into his old ways. She did not for one moment doubt that Janice was telling the truth. Simon had been imploring her to believe him and if this was what he had been trying to make her accept; then she could understand Janice’s frustration and anger.
“You should have heard the elaborate tale he tried to get me to believe,” continued Janice. “He said that he had made his way through the snowy heath land with Nelly and reached the little wood to get out of the new snow fall that he and the dog were caught in. There Nelly started growling at the ferns and began to act strangely.”
“Maybe she sensed the change in Simon if he had been eating mushrooms,” cut in Sandy.
Janice nodded her head as they came out of the wood onto the snow covered heath. Together they looked up the gentle rise of the snow covered heath towards the little wood where Simon had claimed to have his strange adventure.
Janice continued to tell of Simon’s hallucinating dream story “He said that there was a strange aurora in the wood which made Nelly yelp and bolt off back down the heath land towards home – leaving him with this strange glow of light that moved amid the wood ferns. He also said that summer plants grew at high speed – budding, blossoming and then blooming before withering and dying in the snow. Like what you see on a documentary of a speeded up film of a plant growing and blooming. This happened where ever the strange aurora went and as this strange light moved away so the blooming flowers withered and died. He said even parts of tree branches budded leaves that quickly withered and died in the same way, as the glow left. He described in vivid detail this wave of budding, blossoming and blooming plant life that rolled like a wave amid the forest floor and lower tree branches and in the passing wake of the moving glow was the withering and dying petals and falling leaves.”
“Good God,” muttered Sandy. She was beginning to get extremely angry with her brother. “All that work and effort that people put into rehabilitating him and in one instant, he’s thrown it all away. God, how can he be so selfish?” She gritted her teeth trying to contain the anger that was churning up inside her.
As they ascended the heath land towards the little wood Janice felt compelled to continue telling the ludicrous story that Simon had told. “He said the radiance twisted and turned with the fast blooming flowers suddenly heading towards him – the withering and dying petals still in the wake when it stopped a few feet before him – a mass of vibrant and colourful flowers basking in the now still aurora – flourishing in the snow. He said he was transfixed by the beauty and colourful splendour, which suddenly exploded in cascading confetti of flower petals and withering leaves. Then, as the colourful debris settled, there before him, balanced upon the rocking tree branch, in a crouched posture as though about to leap, was this slightly built angelic frame of a female with transparent wings. She was about three foot tall and had the look of a young female – no longer a girl but not yet a woman. Her skin was like white porcelain and vapour came from her mouth as she breathed. She had a face of pure innocence but eyes of childish mischief and like an adolescent female that does not know how to woe the object of her desire she crudely lept at Simon and tried to kiss him.”
“And with great chivalry he politely declined this crude advance,” scoffed Sandy. “How gallant he must be.” She laughed in exasperation. “How the hell his mind must be working to think of such things and then try to get you to believe them. He is just reciting tales my Grandmother used to tell us when we were children. She always told him to avoid being kissed by a fairy or he would lose his heart and soul to her for ever.”
“Well,” muttered Janice scornfully. “That little fairy doll would have come unstuck trying to win over his heart and soul. I think he sold it long ago for mushrooms and acid trips.”
They reached the little wood and stopped midway into the tree cluster. The snow had stopped and it lay upon the bare branches and ferns
Janice frowned as she scrutinised a low branch that stretched out across the snow covered ferns where leaves a flower petals laid gently upon the snow – masses of it – reds, yellows and pinks amid withered leaves. Leaves that had only recently fallen – flower petals from various times of spring and summer that had only just fallen in January.
“That’s odd,” she whispered.
“What is?” replied Sandy as she turned and looked upon the array of colourful flower petals. “Good God that can’t be.”
Slowly, they both moved forward – each frowning in disbelief as a light breeze began to filter through the woods.
Suddenly a far off giggle, like that of a child, echoed from behind and they swung round startled by the unexpected noise. Then another from behind forcing them to wheel back around to the debris of flower petals that lay upon the snow covered ferns.
Their hearts were thumping as each woman fought to contain the fear that was welling in the pits of their stomach. They clasped each others hands.
“I don’t like this.” Janice was begging to shake.
“Don’t worry,” replied Sandy, trying to put her friend at ease. “It’s just the wind making strange noises and Simon’s silly trip running around inside our heads.”
“How could those flower petals blossom and fall at this time of year. They have fallen since the snow or they would have been beneath it and rotted by now.”
“Look!” pointed Sandy as an array of flowers blossomed in the distance – a moving abundance of summer flora springing up through the snow covered ferns – a rolling mass of plant life springing up and heading towards them amid an aurora and childlike like laughter.
“Its coming towards us like Simon said.” Janice was fighting to contain the panic within her as she waited in dreadful anticipation of what must surely follow.
Sandy was shaking. “Fairies only kiss men,” she gulped pathetically trying to play down what surely must be some kind of prank as she took a nervous step backwards still clasping Janice’s hand tightly.
The colourful display came to a halt before them for a moment and they looked to the wake of withering petals and falling leaves from the lower branches upon the path which the radiance had taken. Then the explosion of flora erupted about them – showering both women in cascading beauty and as it settled each was startled by the sight of two young male forms crouched upon the rocking branch before them. Boy forms with young adolescent men’s faces. One had black hair while the other was fair and each had a fringe that stopped above their eyes – playful blue irises full of boyish mischief. Each smiled at the girls who regarded them with cautious wonder and astonishment.
Each male was about three feet in height and were naked except for the cold white frosted cob webbing that covered their modesty. Their small muscular torsos seemed oblivious to the cold and both had alluring smiles for the ladies that stood before them. They tensed as transparent wings opened and then retracted behind them.
Janice and Sandy gasped in amazement at the two impish forms – almost smitten by the delicate beauty of the two fairies that were crouched upon the swaying branch before them.
“Hello,” said Sandy quietly like some nursery school teacher meeting a child for the first time.
Each fairy smiled a little more radiantly and then in unison they said in high pitched childish voices, “Look in to our eyes, look, look into our eyes, we make stars look dull in night time skies.”
And with fast motion and gentle grace each fairy lent forward and put his lips to the women and quickly planted a brief, forever smitten kiss.
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