Friends Forever

Artist: Selina Fenech

Once long ago, a small faery, full of magic and delight, wandered the hills of Ireland. She roamed to and fro never quite sure as to what she was in search of.

On a midsummers day, she found herself in a small garden that was filled with flowers and became drawn in by their beauty. Her small wings fluttered as the smell of shell flowers and Easter lilies overwhelmed her senses. The air around her wrapped her in warmth.

Just as she bent down to inhale the scent of the Easter lilies, she heard the sound of two small children rushing towards the garden. Two little girls filled the air with laugher as the twirled around one another. Their skirts formed rings around their small silhouettes. In order to not be seen, she knelt down behind a gorse bush. As the girls approached the bush, fright rose and blood hurriedly coursed through her veins. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as one of the girls knelt down to pick some of the flowers from the bush. At that moment, their eyes met. At first the girls were frightened, but childish intrigue outweighed that fright. The girls took her by her hands and led her through the garden. Her heart warmed with their laughter. Day after day, she made her way to the garden to join the girls in their games. Her wings fluttered with happiness each time she saw them approaching from afar. She had never known love, but she knew she loved them.

Then on one fateful day, the girls did not show. She waited for them behind the gorse bush. A small ruffling sound came from her right. Assuming it was the girls playing a game, she followed the sound. Once she was within distance, the girls’ father captured her in an iron cage. With the iron surrounding her, her wings began to shrivel as her magic dissipated. As she felt herself grow weak, her knees buckled and she fell to the cold, iron floor.

He took her and locked her away in the attic of their home. There she remained for longer than she could say. As the days passed, she continued to grow weaker. The iron crippled her.

Out of the corner of her eye, a small ray of light entered the room as the door of the attic slowly opened. In came the youngest of the two girls with a key she had stole away from her father. As the girl fiddled with the lock on the cage, she tried to raise herself off of the floor and speak but could not. Oh how she wished to thank her. The door of the cage opened with a creaking sound. The small girl’s hands pulled the faery from the cage. Once away from her iron prison, magic refilled her body and her wings were restored. The small girl begged her to flee, but before she went on her way she hugged the girl with all her might. As she hugged her close, she promised to love the girls always and to be their friend forever no matter their distance. With that promise, she left.

As the years drew on, she longed to return to the garden and for laughter to fill her ears. She longed to watch the small girls twirl around, hand in hand. She treasured the memory of the girls for all of her days, until the magic left her wings.

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