by Lady Mona
The first thing Daine noticed were the clouds. They were big, fluffy clouds. Too perfect to be real. She sat up. She was in a big, open meadow, with stems of perfectly green grass. Big trees bordered the meadow, in the green of high summer. Too perfect to be true. It didn't occur to Daine that she had fallen asleep in her own bed and woken up in this perfect place. In fact, the first thing that ran through her mind was, What a nice day. She streched and stood up. Now that she looked, she could see a small footpath running through the meadow. She decided to follow it. Daine walked down the path. She had no idea where she was, but that didn't matter right now. She walked for a bit until she noticed she was incredibly thirsty. As if by magic a well appeared right in front of her. Daine was happy just to accept the fact that the well was a source of water, and to ponder about why the well had miraculously appeared. She dipped the bucket in, pulled it up, and took a sip. Suddenly she was accutely aware of everything. Where was she? Why was everything so perfect? Why did this well suddenly appear? She looked around, startled. Her eyes met two round yellow ones. She gasped and stepped back. The eyes belonged to a tall man with a white beard. He was dressed in crimson and carried a large staff and a leather pouch. His yellow eyes were like a cat's.
"Ah, you are here." The man laughed. It was such a horrible sound Daine had to cover her ears.
"Good thing you got thirsty. If you hadn't drank from that well, you would have still been happy and skipping. Then you would have been no use to me." Daine gaped.
"Ex-excuse me?" The man gestured towards the well.
"This is the Well of Sight. If you are in Tirnan'Og and you drink from it, you can see how things realty are here. The man laughed again.
"Look around you-surely things are different then when you first arrived?" Daine looked. Now she saw the dead of winter: bare trees, frosty ground. Overhead, carrion crows circled. She trembled. Tirnan'Og. She was in Tirnan'Og. The Land of the Faeries.
Story text © Lady Mona
© Lady Star