Fae (part 1)
Hi! Sorry I've haven't posted any writing lately, I've been focused on other stuff and also kinda had writers block. I'm back now though, and I finally wrote that story about the fairy going to find it's human parent I said I'd write months ago. Here it is, hope you enjoy it, criticism is appreciated.
TW: child kidnapping, mentioned cannibalism (not what you expect, also no actual cannibalism,) tiny being put in a jar.
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They knocked on the door. There wasn’t any response, probably because the knock was so quiet due to the size of their fist. they tried knocking again, before straight flying directly into the door, which hurt. The fae looked down at the ground, finding a rock that seemed to be the size of a human’s hand, more or less. They lifted the rock up using their magic, which was hard to do and tiring. They chucked the rock at the door, making a knocking sound much louder than when the fairy tried to knock normally, but there still wasn’t a response. The fae started to wonder if the human was even home. They flew away from the door and went around the house, coming to a front window. They tried knocking on it like they did the door, hoping it would make a bigger sound, but it didn’t. The fae shrugged and began to levitate a rock again, banging it into the glass to make a bigger sound, and it did. It also ended up breaking the window, which surprised the fairy.
“...oh…”
The human who owned the house the fae had gone to immediately went running to the sound of broken glass, only to gasp and back away upon seeing the fae floating outside. The fae cleared their throat and went inside,
“Um…ahem, greetings, human…apologize about the window,” the fairy said awkwardly. The human woman backed away to the edge of the room.
“Wh-what are you doing here? Get out of my house, you…minature beast!” the woman said, trying to get away. The fae followed her.
“Oh, don’t be alarmed, I’m not here to cause harm to you, miss, um, it was Yeller, right? Mrs. Yeller?” the fairy said, flying closer to her. The woman backed against a kitchen table. She turned to look at it for a moment, before grabbing a dinner knife that was set there and pointing it at the fae.
“You- you already know my name? How?” Ms. Yeller asked, shaking while holding the knife in defense. “Your not the same fairy that tricked me those years ago,”
“Actually, I’m that fae child…well, not really, but they raised me,” the fae said, flying past the woman, who kept pointing the knife at them. The fae landed on the table and stopped their flight. The woman calmed down slightly.
“What the hell do you want from me? My second born child?” the woman asked.
“Funny you should say tha-”
“You already took everything! What reason do you things have to come back in my life?” the woman cut the face off. They cleared their throat.
“Ma’am, I’m just here to talk to you. I came on my own accord, not my parents, not the rest of the fae colony, I just came here to meet you,” the fae said. The woman lowered the knife and looked at the fairy confused.
“Meet me? Why? What's so special about me?” the woman asked, “I’m sure there are plenty of random humans who wandered the forest and had their name and first child stolen from them by fairies like you. What, are you here to apologize for your species?” she crossed her arms.
“Well…in a way,” the fae looked down at the table under their feet. They gulped before saying, “...I’m your son,”
The woman looked at the fairy on the table, dumbfounded. She squinted at them.
“...you?” she asked, “your my ... .what?”
“Your son,” the fae repeated, “I am the being which came from your womb all those years ago,”
“You mean…the baby that the fairies took from me?” the woman asked skeptically, “but…that's not….you couldn’t be my son, your a fairy yourself,”
“Yes, of course I am. I was your son, then they took me, and now I'm a fae, er, fairy, if that's what you humans call us,”
“Did ... .did they turn you into…” the woman was still shocked and in disbelief from this… this creature, claiming to be her son. Squinting at it, they almost looked similar to her, same tan-ish skin, same crooked nose, similar hair color, but it just couldn’t be possible, could it? It was surely just another fairy coming to mock her, like they did to all humans. Some scheme that would end with her being cursed and heartbroken again.
“You seem confused, maybe we should sit down and talk about it. We have plenty to catch up on, after all,” the fae said, smiling up at their supposed mother. The woman looked down at them for a second,
“Uh, yes, yes, of course, um, I was actually just…drinking tea outside, we should speak out there,” the woman said, stepping away from the table, “I’ll…get you a bottle cap or something,”
“That sounds wonderful, thanks, mother,” the fae said, floating upward, causing the woman to flinch backward slightly. The fae turned and flew around to the sliding glass door where a table was outside, leaving a glow behind them. The woman watched the fae go outside, suspicious of them, before grabbing a thimble from her kitchen drawer for the fae to drink from, as well as a lid to a jar.
“...so, uh, what's your n- I mean, what do they…what should I call you,” the woman asked the fae. They were both outside now, sitting at a table in the woman's backyard. She was trying to precisely pour just the right amount of tea into the thimble for the fae, which was sitting on a hardcover book the woman had brought outside to read.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about the name thing,” the fae said, taking their thimble, “humans don’t receive any power over someone upon hearing a faes name, it's only the other way around.”
“That's…very reassuring,” the human said sarcastically, though the fae didn’t seem to notice.
“You may call me Fern, that's roughly what my name is in fae-talk.” the fairy said, their wings fluttering in place, “what's your name, mother?”
“Its….” the human paused for a moment, “...don’t you already know? You said my last name was Yeller,”
“Your last name was all I was able to find out,” Fern said, “fae-folk are very secretive of mortals- I mean, of human names when it comes to other fae, it's what gives them power over that human in particular, after all.”
“Hmm…if I tell you my name, won’t you have control over me?” the woman asked,
“No- well, yes,” the fae said, “but I won’t do anything to you, I promise! I don’t have any reason to curse or torture you or anything, your my mother, you can trust me with your name,”
“Hmm, no thanks,” the woman said, “the last time fairies knew what my name was, well, you know what happened.”
“Oh..very well then,” Fern said, disappointed. “Oh, what shall I call you instead? Mother? Mom? Ma’am? Mrs. Yeller?”
“Call me whatever,” the woman said,
“Okay Whatever,” the fae snickered, “hehe, I’m only joking, shall I call you Ma’am?”
“That's fine,” the woman said, taking a sip of tea from a jar. “So, Fern, can you explain just…how the hell you're supposed to be my son?”
“Well, plenty of mammals, including you humans, have a mating ritual where a male impregnates the female via contact between both parties genitalia and the mixing of sperm and egg,” Fern explained in a ‘matter of fact’ type of way, “the mixture develops within the female womb for a set period of time, and then a new being is born combining traits from both parties. You likely took part in the ritual without realizing it, probably for the physical pleasure you and your mate would have received from it,”
“....wh….”the woman stared dumbfounded at the fae on the table. They looked what, 12, 13 years old by human standards? The fact that her son was lost 16 years ago aside, it was so wield hearing that description by something seeming so small and young. She didn’t know what to say at first. “Wh….wha-what? No, I know what ... .I mean why are you a fae,” the woman said, " I mean ... .why are you five inches tall, and have wings?”
“Oh, that makes more sense,” Fern rubbed their arm and looked down, embarrassed, “well, us fae don’t reproduce the same way humans do. To make more fae, we take human infants and shrink them with our magic, and give them wings and teach them how to use the magic we have.”
“So every fairy in existence is just a shrunken human with wings raised to be a magic user?” the woman asked,
“Oh, Fae magic is much different than the magic your wizards and witches use,” Fern said. “Much more sophisticated, we have no need for wands or potions or any of that nonsense.”
“Still…sorta throws your whole belief about fae being superior out the window if your all just shrunken humans,” the woman said,
“Well, fae aren’t just shrunk down when being created, there are other changes made to the infant in question,” Fern said, “uh, that aside, I don’t see all humans as inferior to us fae…not you at least,”
“Right,” the woman took another sip before continuing, “so thats why you kidnap children? Thats the only reason?”
“Hmm, yes, esentialy.” fern shruged.
“You don’t like, keep the children as pets or slaves, or eat them, or turn their bones into your magic dust or whatever?” the woman said,
“No, no, of course not! What use would we have for human children to be enslaved anyways? It would be impractical,” Fern said, “as for eating you, you’d taste terrible. not even canibalistic colonies of fae who do like the taste of humans would kidnap them to keep as livestock, that's absurd.”
“So why are you here anyway?” the woman asked. “If you were turned into a fairy and spent your whole life as one, why would you care about your human mother?”
“Well, I only just recently learned about how fae come to be, and well, I was just so curious about what my actual mother was like,” Fern said as the woman drank more tea, “so I asked around the colony, found your last name and the place you lived, and ran off to meet you,”
“Really? You were just…curious?” The woman asked,
“Well…oh, I’ve always had a soft spot for humans, and I’m not the most popular with the other fae, so when I found out that I came from you, I thought maybe…I’d come here, and…um…” the fae looked down and figeted with their hands, a nervous smile on their face, “I….may I stay with you, ma’am?”
“You….you want to stay here?!?” the woman asked, confused.
“Yes, you are my mother, after all,” Fern started to explain, “the rest of the colony hates me, even the fae who took me from you originally is disappointed in me, I’m unhappy there, and I want to be with my real mother. Would that be okay, ma’am?”
“I…” the woman stuttered, “I don’t know what to say…you want me to adopt you?”
“Well, I’m your son, aren’t I? You wanted to raise me before I was taken, right?” Fern asked,
“Yes, but-”
“Now I’m here, and we can be together.” Fern interrupted her, “I know I’m small now, but I can fly and use magic, isn’t that a good thing? I can be useful for you, wouldn’t you want that mom?” fern pleaded with her eyes. “I mean…ma’am?” the woman looked down at them, thinking for a second. The fairy seemed genuine, and their story seemed like it could be true. But this was just how fairies get their prey, she thought. They act innocent, like miniscule children that want to play a game, or make a deal or give advice, and then they toreture and steal and torment you just because they can. For all the woman knew, this fae was doing the same.
“...how….how can I trust you?” the woman asked,
“Um…you have to trust me,” the fae said, putting their thimble down and standing up from the hardcover book on the table, looking up at the human, “I promise I’m telling the truth, ma’am,”
“But your a fairy,” the woman said, “faerie's entire thing is tricking humans into believing their innocent,” she scowled at the tiny figure below her. Fern sighed,
“...as hurtful as that is, I guess its true,” they said, “but you must believe me, please, I mean no harm, no foul play to you at all! I really want to stay here with you. I really believe I’m your son, ma’am, I’ll do anything to gain your trust.”
“....anything….” the woman looked down at her lap. She took the jar lid the brought out of her pocket. She was going to trap Fern in their by force when the fairy wasn’t looking, but she had other ideas now. She had finished her ice tea. She took a napkin off the table and wiped in inside of the jar she was drinking it from.
“...ma’am, what are you doing?” Fern asked, slightly worried,
“Get in the jar,” the woman said, putting the glass jar on its side for the fae to climb inside of.
“Wh-what?” Fern asked,
“For me to trust you, I need you to trust me. Get in the jar.” the woman said again.
“But….oh, I’m not sure if you know this but, us fae aren’t really a fan of humans sticking us in jars…” fern explained. “They’re claustrophobic, and hard to breath in, and their made so how magic doesn’t really have an effect in them…”
“I not keeping you in it, just get inside it for now so I can trust you, ok?” the woman said. Fern gulped, and stepped towards the glass container on its side in front of them. They hesitantly ducked below the top of the jar and got inside. It smelled like tea still, but the inside was dry. The woman then put the jar up right and quickly popped on the lid before the fae could react.
“H-huh?” fern went, seeing the lid come on the jar. The jar started to fog up, before the woman poked a handful of holes into the metal lid. “Wh-what are you doing, ma’am?”
“I’m going to see if I can trust you,” the woman said, holding the jar up to her face. “I’m going to see if you were telling the truth,” she started walking inside with the jar. Fern banged on the jar they were stuck in. Their voice was muffled by the glass.
“Ma’am! Wait, you don’t need to do this! I-if you wanted to go somewhere with me, you couldv’e asked and I wouldv’e come without being trapped!” the woman ignored Fern and picked up her purse off a couch inside. “Is this about the window? Are you angry about that? I can help fix it,” fern said. The woman looked at the fairy through the jar from a moment, before sighing, and putting it in her purse. Ferns voice was muffled more as the woman left oot the door, her purse around her shoulder. Fern kept asking and pleading to be let out and to talk to their capture until eventuary they sighed and grew a sour expression, sitting at the bottom of the jar they were stuck in.