Lisa
"Lisa"
She was here. As she was here, and had been here, many mornings. This,
the place where the daily routine always began and ended. Yes, soon the
routine would begin again, as usual, and right on time.
Still, he watched. He waited silently, knowing she could neither see
nor hear him. His magic protected him from this possibility. He watched
as the great yellow, loud contraption stopped for her to board it then
took off again, on its regular collection of the neighborhood children.
He quickly followed it to the large brick building where it let the its
older passengers off, all of them were of course still young to him, but
to their people they were almost full grown.
He continued to watch as another routine day unfolded. Many talked to
her, many laughed with her as they scurried to and fro and the ring of
the bell from one room to another. She looked happy, even contented. But
only on the outside. He watched her closely enough and knew her well
enough to know better than that.
She could never fool him; she'd never been able to. She was the best of
actresses. He saw her laugh and smile, and knew them for routines only;
albeit well choreographed ones, but still mere routines. Her smile lit
up her face and eyes, as well as the faces of those around her, like an
actress in an award-winning performance, but none of those bright smiles
reached her heart.
How he hated this! It hurt him to see her here, hurting but never
showing it, seeing her long to be free again, but unable to seize the
chance, like a bird whose been caged for so long they no longer wish to
escape when the door is open. He wished only to see her happy again, to
see her be her true self again. Even when she danced it was routine, the
same thing over and over…
He managed to turn his thoughts back to watching her go through the
routine. He knew many were also jealous of her pale skin, jewel-like
eyes, light brown hair. Some were jealous of her grace and musical
voice, while others envied her the innocent dreamy aura she had that
always brought the proverbial 'knights in shining armor' to her rescue.
His knowledge made him smile. 'If they only knew…'
The bell, which routinely signaled the end of their time here, rang.
In a small amount of time, she was again at the place where the routine
began, now with two others. For a few moments they talked as they always
did before they would all split up and go back to their own dwellings.
"See you, Lisa! Call me when you get home!" the girl companion called
Megan called as she walked away. "Bye! Okay, I will!" Lisa called back,
adding silently, 'I think you meant house. I can't seem to find home
anymore.' Then turned to walk the way back to her house.
'Lisa,' he thought, 'they call her that as well as four others… So much
for their creativity.'
He watched, both amused and pleased, as she dropped the bag containing
her books, and ran towards the woods.
She reached the woods and something inside her disappeared. Now she was
dancing as he remembered from long ago. Spinning, twirling, laughing,
singing. Dancing again as was her birth to dance.
Finally, in a lovely glade in the woods away from the routines, Lisa
stopped. She stared at a circle of perfect flowers that grew by an
ancient oak.
"Rory!" she called to him.
He made himself known. "You remember?"
She looked at him, her eyes lapis lazuli blue. "Yes," she breathed. A
wave of relief swept over him, and he swept her into a loving embrace as
though she only now appeared after a long absence, which was true in a
certain sense.
"Lissan, come home, please."
"Let's go home, my love."
Rory wrapped his hand gently around hers and led her into the ring of
flowers. As they disappeared, a smile spread over her face, finally
reaching her heart.
No one knows what happened to Lisa. They found only her backpack and a
set of footprints, which stopped just as they entered the woods by her
house. Almost immediately, the old ones began telling .yet again the old
tales that named those woods as the Faerie's domain.
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