The Wings of Silver
It was the coldest December night. One or two melancholy silver stars were scattered in the gloomy sky. I was in my room. Leaning against the bed frame. Looking at it from the window. I could see the huge cypress forest beneath the sky. Ice smoke from the ground had spread thickly among the trees. The dim starlight barely floated into the jungle. Suddenly I saw a star falling from the sky. It came through the branches of the trees and cut through the light gray mist and fell to the ground.
“Thud” I heard the sound.
At once the light went out. The fog that cut through has not yet gathered. There it looked to me like a black hole surrounded by a ring of smoke. Suddenly a tiny blue-silver light flickered from where the star had fallen. Like it’s alive. And then it came up the smoke ring in a matter of seconds. Flew through the trees with two small glowing wings.
“That is a fairy,” I thought.
I opened the room window. Jumped out. I ran barefoot through the icy grass and into the woods. The cold wind loosened the hair that had just been tied up. It blew in the wind with the loose nightgown.
The place where the star fell was glistening with golden dust. I took a brisk walk in the direction where the star flew. On the trunks, on the leaves, on the mist, there was constant dust of gold. It showed me the way. I followed them. Unknowingly I had come to the middle of the jungle. The golden dust, fog, and starlight gradually disappeared. At last, only the bitter darkness remained.
I looked around. It is just pitch black. I cannot find the way. Can’t think of a way to go. I spun around trying to grab something by the hand. But, nothing happened except the air crept through the fingertips. Suddenly a dry hand with long thin fingers gripped my hands gently.
“Girl, are you lost?” An echoing soft voice asked.
I was shocked and said nothing.
“I want to see fairies,” I thought to myself.
“Oh… you want to see fairies… I can show you… but you have to give me something… something that is precious… your dreams” That soft voice repeated as if it understood what I was thinking.
“I want to see fairies.” I thought hard again.
With that thought, I felt the thin fingers put a small lump of dust on my palm. I rolled it tight. Suddenly I fell into a deep sleep. Everything went black.
I woke up at once. My body felt like it had gotten a long sleep. I was in my room. On my bed. The room was blue and quiet, like the deep-sea in the morning. I felt that I had my hands curled up. I slowly stretched it out. There rested a shining silver fairy with small wings. It did not appear to me that she knew that she was in my palm or that I was staring. My eyes widened in amazement.
The fairy was wearing a tiny short skirt. Her hair was tied up. Her silvery little wings lifted from the middle of the back and held her. She began to engage in a simple ballet. It was a moment that felt like forever. I could not take my eyes off this magical creature. So, I kept looking at her.
By the end of the dance, the fairy disappeared into the air. And I fell into a long sleep. Without dreams.
- Malki Andrews (The Legal Alien)
