imag ref
As was its habit, the clock struck three in the morning. The land was peacefully quiet. In the bedroom of one of the small wooden houses, William, a human farmer lay in his bed. It was here that an amazed door burst open, pouring a cascade of light into the bedroom. A tiny person flittered in and immediately walked to the bed, interrupting William's sleep.
"Shut the door," William groaned.
"Excuse me?" the tiny person asked, and then got a better look at him. "Oh, I see." The fairy just stared at him.
"Well?"
The fairy perked up, despite his posture. He smiled and said, "Would you like to see a magic trick?" William paused. He wasn't particularly keen on magic, but he was intrigued.
"Sure," he said, before quickly adding, "Wait, no. Shh, don't tell anyone."
The fairy having arrived not long before and not having any experience with humans, was honestly confused. But he put on a smile and shrugged.
"Okay, okay." He turned around and danced a little when he was about to get out the door. William was sure he had never seen a human do that before. And then there was a sound like a whistle, all around them.
"What was that?" he asked, covering his ears.
"Alviss's Whistle," the fairy said nonchalantly. "This will bring out your wings. Small ones, on your back." The whistles stopped, and William looked around. There was definitely a new sound. Like a low, metallic, chirping sound.
"What's that?"
"I don't know. I've never seen one before." William got off the bed and walked over to the open window.
"This is horrible," he muttered. The little fairy poked its head out the window and muttered something along the lines of "that's some amazing mechanics," but it went unheard.
"What is that?" William turned around, horrified. It was larger than a regular bird. About the size of a small dog. There was an awful metallic rattling sound as it landed in his open window. William stepped back.
"I don't know. Maybe it's hungry?"
"I'm not food." The noise suddenly resolved into a familiar sound.
"Music?" William asked in astonishment. The fairy had already closed the window and was floating right up to the object.
"No, no," William said, hurrying over to stop it. But the fairy had already flitted right up to the bird, which twisted its head and hissed when it saw the fairy.
"Stop talking to it," William said to the fairy.
"But I'm not the one who was going to eat you!"
"Don't you see? That's why I'm here. It's safe here," the tiny person said. William was curious, but not enough to hurdle the door and try to get it to come in. If he had the courage, he would have to see what was going on.
William saw that the fairy was right. The animal was just watching him, spinning its head, lazy and bored. It was just waiting for the fairy's command, like some sort of sentry. The fairy touched the bird, smiled, and then touched him.
William froze.
"It's alright," the fairy whispered to him. "You can come out." The bird twitched its wings and twittered.
William was the first to react. He pushed the door open, and there, right in his face, was a completely different bird. The fairy came out, and it was as if it had always been there.
"Hello, it's so good to meet you," the fairy said ecstatically. "I'm thrilled you decided to come out to explore the world, like I am. You can-" William turned to him. He put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
"Do not hurt it," he said. He turned back to the bird, not looking at the fairy again.
"It is fine," the fairy said excitedly. "It can speak, and sing, and move." It leapt into the air and ran right up to the bird, which was larger than it was. The bird turned its head to watch him curiously.
"Don't do that," William said, tugging at the fairy. But it just ran away from him.
"You just flew! That's so cool! What's the first thing you are going to do? Do you have any friends?" it asked, startling the bird. William took a step forward. There was no way he could grab him now. They were just floating around.
"You are my friends."
"No, I'm not," the bird said tersely.
"Yes, you are." It twittered and turned around to hide behind its wing.
"No, I'm not," it repeated. Brown eyes gleamed.
"…are things still moving? I feel like I've been standing here forever." William let go of the door, turning to the fairy. It was still very happy and jolly, because it decided that William must've gotten him some friends. They were two very angry, chatty birds. Though, the other bird did not want to be friendly either.
"I don't care," William said, and turned around. "You are my-"
"Would you like me to sing for you?" the fairy asked, but William wasn't listening. He was listening to the bird in front of him. It was his.
"I will protect you," he said through gritted teeth. "I will share my bed with you. But you must be loyal." William gave it a meaningful look. He demanded it give him an answer back.
"… ok" the bird said meekly. It looked like it was thinking about its answer, and started thinking of another one.
William saw the bird in his bedroom as a sign. He stepped over to his bed, and spread out his blanket, inviting the bird.
"Sleep with me," he told the fairy. It looked around, a little confused.
"But there's plenty of room here."
William turned on him.
"Step aside," he said.
"I'm coming back tomorrow," the fairy said to the bird.
"Wait- no, you aren't," William said out of the blue.
"But-" the fairy said.
"And don't come unless I call," he added, interrupting him. "Or you can stay in through the night. But you are not to come back until I let you." The fairy looked defeated. But the bird quivered happily, muffling a few whimpers in its feathers.
"Alright," it said shortly. Its wing had been waving around for some time. "I'll be back tomorrow."
"You must not talk to anyone."
"I promise, I won't." The fairy saw it run up the treetops. William had just been standing there, still.
"What's that?" William asked suddenly. The fairy looked up and saw the birds circling it.
"I don't know," he said honestly. But William looked very much like he had seen something he had missed.
"Make sure you don't tell you've seen this." William turned around and pushed the fairy to the floor.
"I'm not going to see anything," the fairy said, singing it. "I'm just going to be a bird."
"You're not a bird," William said. "You're a fairy."
"How can I tell you are a fairy?" the fairy asked. He pointed to his ears, his neck, his hair, his hands, fingers, fingernails, toenails… "The only thing I see is a human."
"If you saw my wings," he said. "The wings I will never have. You can't have them. You just need to have them."
The fairy stared at him for a while.
"You never told me," it said. "You didn't say you wanted wings. You can have them," the fairy said brightly.
"I have your wings, if you want them," William said. He began walking away.
"No," the fairy said. "I have to keep them. Because they're mine."
"Shouldn't they be mine?" William asked. He was walking backwards.
"But I'm the one who got them."
"I got you," William said. "I didn't ask you for them." He turned around and began walking the other way.
The fairy looked at the bird in his window. He wasn't going to protect him. He had been abandoned. The two Fairytale Projekts were both different, but each was just as crushed.
"You have to hide," it said. They both looked up at the window where they saw him slowly disappearing in the morning light.
William stopped and looked around. All he had now, was when he was in the forest, and his own chambers. He couldn't move on without a home. William was wrapped up in his thoughts, when he realized he was hungry. He was going to be fed soon.
He heard a loud sound like a static shock in his ears. He was going to be sick. The last thing he did was to look out his window.
He didn't know if the fairy had betrayed him again.
"This is just me," his Fairytale Partner said. "Oh, hi."
William's hand hurt when he tried to look at it. He could tell he had broken something. He could not bend the little finger he had and, since he was awake, he tried to feel it better. Though he could not.
"I'm confused," he said, slurring it out. He wanted to ask him, but he wasn't sure if he knew who he was. The Fairytale Partner had left.
"But I'm not tired, or hungry," he said. He put his hand to his neck. "I heard that song. It was beautiful. But I don't want to wake. I was having such a good dream."
William opened his eyes. He wasn't in bed, and he wasn't at the faerie's kingdom. In fact, he was lying on the ground, near his house, surrounded by the forest.
He was confused. "I'm thirsty. And I'm stiff. I could use a bath." He stood up and tried to walk around. He felt like he was on the moon.
"Maybe the birds were trying to get at you." He saw them again. They were nervously looking at him.
"They are scared of me," he said. William ran at them, and they fluttered to the trees, cowering.
"I'm the bird," he said smartly. The birds came out of the trees. They looked at him with more fear now. "I am the bird." They started fleeing. The fairy was smirking.
"I guess you know," it said. But William shook his head. "Wait, did you know what I-"
"I remember," William said. "You were sleeping in the forest. You made me a bird, and told me to keep it. You weren't here. But we watched those birds."
"Your dream is so powerful."
"You made me a bird," William pulled at the ground, rubbing up dirt.
"I had to save you."
"Why didn't you ask me before?" William stopped and looked at him.
"I didn't think it would work," it said, "But it did."
"You don't understand," William said. "You never will." He walked away. He was upset.
"I could be your friend." It just didn't understand what was going on.
"I'm just mad," William said. "Everything's so complicated."
"I'm sorry," it said.