Miriam's Story Corner

"Faeries aren't real."

"Wh-what?"

It was a sunny Spring afternoon and Holmes siblings had gathered in the elder's room for a story as they often did. Miriam was in the midst of telling her younger sibling a tale about faeries when she was interrupted by their sudden statement.

"Faeries aren't real," their sibling repeated. "Which is why it is a 'faerie tale'."

"You don't know that for certain," Miriam said.

"Miriam. No one has seen a faerie."

"Well, then. If no one has seen a faerie, who's to say that they do not exist? Just because they haven't been spotted does not rule out their existence altogether. Maybe we have yet to see any because they do not want to be found."

Miriam's sibling appeared to be in deep thought after this statement.

"I suppose..."

"Now then," Miriam opened the book to the page she had left off on. "Before you so rudely interrupted me...

"Seasons passed. Summer came and went, Autumn came and went, Winter came and went until we returned to the very same day the man had first met the faerie a year passed. He ventured out on the moor to gather more peat for the farm when he heard the sound of music over the hilltops.

Over the hills, in the very place he had broken the Earth a year ago, a multitude a faeries danced about in joyous song but as he approached, all fell silent as they turned their attention to him. A woman then emerged from behind one of the rocks and extended a hand.

'Would you care to dance?' she asked him.

The music started again and the faeries began to swoop and twirl around the man. They danced around his head in a circle chanting at him to dance.

As he took the woman's hand he forgot all about his duties and his family back home. The music rang in his ears as he was overcome by an overwhelming sensation to dance. They danced for hours on end until dawn cracked and the roosters crowed. When the sun threw golden light upon the land, the faeries took the man and dragged him to the rock which opened, revealing their home. They tossed him inside and the rock closed, sealing him in with the pixies as they went about their day.

He begged and pleaded for the faeries to free him but they would not listen. The woman who had danced with him took her form as a faerie and turned to him and said:

'You were warned not to destroy our home yet you returned without a care and proceeded to do so. Therefore you shall be punished.'

The man waited for his punishment but it appeared that it would never actually come as the faeries continued brewing their potions and making their magickal tools. He watched as they flew around, sparkling trails left behind in their wake until suddenly he was cast out from the rock.

When he landed upon the moor, a voice called out:

'You have served your punishment. Leave. And do so immediately. It would be wise for you never to return.'"

"I don't understand," Miriam's sibling interrupted. "The faeries didn't do anything. What was the punishment?"

Miriam threw an impatient glare in their sibling's direction. An apologetic expression crossed her sibling's face they shifted in place and remained quiet for the rest of the story.

"The man returned home where his wife could be seen cleaning the table after breakfast through the front door window. He entered the house hoping to greet his wife and tell her about his strange late-night excursion when there was a loud crash.

The dishes she had collected fell to the ground as she stared at him in shock. He made his way over to help pick up the broken pieces when she said:

'How dare you come back here as if nothing happened! You left without a word and now you step foot in here without a care in the world!'

Upon further observation, the man noticed that his wife's hair was speckled grey and her face was creased with wrinkles.

Seven years had passed.

The time the man spent in the faeries' rock seemed like a few hours but in reality, seven years had come and gone."

"Seven years?" Miriam's sibling exclaimed. "But why seven years? That sounds so specific..."

Miriam giggled. "Think about it. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Their sibling brought their knees to their chest and wrapped their arms around them. They closed their eyes and their head tilted to one side.

"Seven years..." they mumbled. "What would take seven...? Oh! The Earth! The Earth he had dug up in the beginning. It would have taken seven years for it to grow back to its original state."

"Bingo, my little detective."

Miriam ruffled their sibling's chestnut hair and smiled brightly.

"Miriam?"

"Hm?"

"I don't think I would ever want to encounter a faerie..."

"Oh? Why not?"

"... They sound scary..."

Miriam held back a laugh and gazed into her sibling's crystal blue eyes.

"Faeries, while powerful, are beautiful and mystical beings. They will only cause harm if people do not heed their warnings. They are similar to bees in a way. You like bees, right?"

Their sibling fervently nodded their head.

"You know," Miriam continued. "You are similar to faeries as well."

Their sibling cocked their head to one side quizzingly.

"Your long limbs, your mysteriousness, and your want to be left alone," Miriam gasped. "Maybe you are a fairy!"

A smile crept across their sibling's lips and Miriam beamed with happiness.

"What say you to an afternoon tea party?" Miriam asked getting to her feet. "Just the two of us? I'll make your favourite!"

Their sibling nodded and Miriam skipped out of the room.