You sneak out into the wood; but you are not careful and fall far from home. The tree you are under looks familiar, but you can't remember how you got there. Defeatist and afraid, you decide to leave as quickly as you can.
You step out of the small, close-by tree. To your right, you can see the path you took into the wood. To your left, you can hear the sound of a creek. Because you are scared, you turn to the left and enter the forest again. You find a clearing and can't hear the creek anymore. This is where you decide to rest for the night.
You wake and step out of the clearing. You start to walk west, heading for your home tree. Suddenly, two taller trees shoot up from the ground
and block your way. A pair of snakes emerge from the trees and look down at you. The serpents you were warned about.
They laugh, noticing you are alone. They are going to eat you! You quickly cast a defensive spell on yourself. The serpents are perplexed. They start to list all the ways you aren't like other fairies and just might stand a chance against them. Their mouths start to water.
Trembling, and showing the fear you are feeling, you finally speak. ''Eat me?'' you whimper.
The snakes look at each other and talk to each other in their language. Their eyes lock on to yours.
''What's one fairy? It's not like they breed like mice. Let's eat this one.'' The snakes suddenly burst out laughing. You quickly ask why they are laughing.
''We're laughing at the irony of it all. You see, you are alone. You are afraid. You have nothing to eat or drink. There is no one around who cares whether you live or die. The snakes have never seen a fairy look as sad and afraid as you. It's quite funny.'' They start to laugh again.
You feel a quick pain in your stomach and realize you are starving. You say, ''Will you let me go in the safe? I have nothing to eat or drink with me, and I am very hungry and very thirsty. Will you let me go now?''
''We normally eat fairies, but you look so afraid. And we have never seen a fairy look so afraid. Perhaps you should be let go. After all, fairies fly away after we eat them.'' The serpents move aside so that you can pass. You go into the safe forest, thanking the serpents.
A clearing appears before you. You go into it and sit down for a moment. Still weak, you pass out.
You wake in a small hut. You scan the place. There is a couple there who look like your parents. ''Mom, dad. What are you doing here?'' They move towards you. You think they are going to hug you, but they try to eat you instead. You quickly move out of the way and are relieved you were able to get out of their reach.
Your mother looks confused. ''What are you talking about? We are your parents.''
''Mom. Dad. I'm not a fairy. My wings never grew, and I never got to go into the clearing. I fell into the wood and was captured by two serpents. They almost ate me, but I played on their emotions and they let me go. They told me the correct path back to my tree. I came here because I was so hungry and so thirsty, and I hoped that my parents would be kind to me.'' You stop, not really knowing what to say. ''What is going on?''
Your father looks at your mother. ''We can't have happened. She's the real daughter of the king of the fairies. You're his children. You look just like her. You have the wings. Why didn't you grow them?''
''Excuse me, Dad. I'm having a conversation with a human. She looks like me, but I don't know what she's talking about.'' Your mother realizes what you just said. ''Love? We're speaking about a love spell. I did that to her. You have the wings. We always knew you were special. I put a spell on your wings so that if you didn't grow wings, they would stay small, and that you would remain the same size. And, I know you have never let out your magic. If you meet a fairy, he or she will never see you as anything but a daughter. If you come across a fairy who has wings, you will be married to him/her. If you want to leave, I'll be kind and let you go in the forest.'' She turns around and leaves the hut. You are speechless.
Your father looks confused. ''Which fairy are you talking about?''
You angrily reply, ''You know. Mom made me think I could never fly, and that I could never be loved because I am ugly. When I did the Love Spell, it not only let me fly and grow wings but also made me beautiful. He made me believe I am ugly. When you tried to eat me, he turned you into monsters that try to eat me!'' You can't take it any longer. You run from the hut and start running from the forest. Your parents give chase and start shouting. You run as fast as your wings will carry you. You become a huge blur in front of them. You can't believe you got away from them.
You look back and see your parents chasing dust. They have given up and are arguing about the Love Spell. You say, ''Mom, Dad. You need to believe in yourself.'' You make yourself larger than you are and stop. They come closer.
Your father screams out in anger and you can see tears on his face. ''We tried to be good. We really tried. But the king was so ungrateful. We didn't do anything wrong, and now, because of you, the king hates us. We don't want to be punished for what you did. We are so sorry. We will change you back.'' Your mother cries and you say
''Mom. Mom. I love you. Dad, I love you too. Of course I forgive you. I will never speak to you like that again.'' You all look at each other, not knowing what to say.
You start talking about family. Your parents tell you that you are a fairy and have always been a fairy. They tell you about the clearing you saw and how it was a safe place for fairies. They talk about the special trees. Your mother tells you that your birthday is on the 30th of April. They tell you that they wanted you to grow wings when you reached a certain age but they failed.
You start saying, ''I don't know why I was captured and why I wasn't allowed to grow wings. Maybe it was because of the Love Spell.''
Your mother shakes her head and says, ''You do know why. You didn't grow wings because the spell only affects fairies who got it from their parents.''
You look confused.
Your father says, ''The Love Spell was what made you a fairy. It's called a magic spell. Fairies can only use their magic when they are a certain age. You needed all that magic to grow wings.''
You feel as though you understand now. Parents grow wings when they are young. Kids grow wings when they are children. Fairies never grow wings. You know now why your parents were sad because they weren't be able to grow wings.
Your father asks, ''Did you mean what you said about me and him?''
You nod and say, ''I do. I mean it.'' Your tear drop falls on his long beard. He looks up and says, ''It's our turn to be sorry. We thought that if we made you beautiful, people would love you and be nice to you. Instead, it has brought hate and pain. We only wanted to be loved and accepted.''
Your father says, ''We want to take you to the clearing. You will be safe from people now and can turn back to human. We want to give you a part of the forest.」 You wonder why they don't like humans. They say that humans are the ones who hurt them and made them think they were ugly, when they were just wingless fairies.
You look towards the safe forest and see something shining. You slowly move towards it. You start flying upwards. You decide to be brave. You try flying to a very high tree and float down slowly. It feels so light and you feel so strong.
You're trying to go to the shiny thing in the forest. You don't know what it is, but you are drawn to it. You fly up and down, trying to grab it with your hand. You realize it is shining and maybe it is a jewel.
