Fairy Magic

She didn't know how long she had sat at the kitchen table, staring at the shotgun. It felt like an eternity. When she had confronted her husband this morning, and he told her that yes, he had been having an affair, she felt like a hole had been blasted through her chest. She picked up the shotgun and loaded it. Might as well get it over with and finish the job. 

 She walked out the back door of the house, down the hill and into the ravine that led to the spring way in the back on the property. As she got closer to the spring, the sides of the ravine grew higher. Good, it would help muffle the noise. The neighbors weren't very close, but the sound of a shotgun carried. The people living in this area would definitely call 911 if they heard it. The vegetation grew thicker and it choked out the light with a green gloom. She realized that she had probably better stop here. She was in mid step as the thought crossed her mind, and her foot came down on some greenery into nothing. She let out a shriek as she fell forward down a slope that she did not see. She dropped the shotgun as she rolled downhill, crashing through trees and bushes, bouncing over rocks. She finally slid to a stop at the bottom of the slope, and lay there stunned for a long time. Gradually she became aware that she was laying on some broken branches and rock, as pain began stabbing her from various injuries. She slowly rolled off the debris of her fall, and carefully moved her arms and legs. There was pain, but everything seemed to be working. She pushed herself to a sitting position, every part of her body screaming in pain. She was sure she had wrenched joints and torn muscles all over as well as cuts and abrasions, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken. She sat shaking in pain and shock for a long while.  

 The sound of dripping water caught her attention. She turned and crawled towards the sound, pain racking her whole body. As she parted the long thick grass, she found the spring.  

 Spread out in front of her was a flat area covered in short brilliant green grass leading down to the water, studded with tiny purple and white flowers. Overhead, the trees grew up and over the entire depression, wrapped in vines; pink and blue morning glories, honeysuckle, climbing jasmine. The air was thick with green and flowers and water, but not oppressive. The back wall was nearly hidden under maidenhair ferns and moss, slow waterfalls making their way through the vegetation to splash into the pool at the bottom. Dappled sunlight pierced the vegetation and played over the water.  

 She rose shakily to her feet, and slowly made her way to the water. She tried to kneel, but one of her knees refused to work, so she rolled over and sat. Cupping her hand, she leaned down and dipped out a handful, carefully wetting her face. The cold water brought things into focus a bit more, and she gazed around the hollow. Had this always been here? She didn't know, she was always too busy to venture back here and check it out. 

 As she was gazing up into the flower bedecked canopy, she heard a tinkling giggle. She looked around in alarm, but didn't see anyone. "Hello?" she called. "Is anyone there?" 

 Another giggle and a tiny splash answered her. She looked down into the spring, and her eyes grew round as she saw what was making the noise.  

 It was a a tiny woman, clothed, if it could be called that, in water weeds and her own long hair. Her skin was translucent, with a pearl-like sheen, and her hair was several shades of blue and green. A pair of delicate pointed ears peeked through the wet tresses. 

 "Greetings Daughter of Eve." the elfin creature said.  

 "W-what are you?" the woman asked, sliding back from the water's edge.  

 "You have forgotten us, Daughter of Eve, but we have not forgotten you. I am a water sprite. I live here in this spring. Do you like it?" the sprite asked.  

 "What do you mean, you live here? I don't understand."  

 The sprite giggled again, the sound like tiny crystals falling into still water. "I am of the Fae, those that the Daughters of Eve and the Sons of Adam called fairies. We have always been here, and we will always be here." 

 The woman rubbed her hands across her face. "I must be hallucinating, I must have hit my head, and I am seeing things. You can't be real."  

 A tiny spray of ice cold spring water hit her in the face. "Hey!" she sputtered, wiping her face with her forearm. "Why did you do that?"  

 The fairy grinned. "I am no hallucination Daughter of Eve, I am as real as you." The sprite swam to the edge, and propped herself up on her elbows, reclining half in and half out of the water. She kicked her tiny feet, making little ripples in the water behind her.  

 The woman crossed her arms, wincing as her palms brushed across scratches and cuts. The Fae frowned slightly, her brow wrinkling. "You are injured, Daughter of Eve. May I help you?"  

 "How can you help me, you are so tiny, there's no way you can carry me up the slope."  

 "Place your hand in the water, and you will see." the sprite replied.  

 The woman leaned forward, and slowly stretched out her hand towards the water. "I can't believe I am listening to a hallucination." she mumbled. The Fae waited, and as soon as the woman's hand touched the water, she made a gesture, and tiny glittering motes drifted down from her hand like flower petals. When they touched the water, the woman felt the water stirring around her hand, and she saw the motes flowing through the water, and then with the water, flowing up her hand! She tried to pull her hand out of the water, but she couldn't, it felt like it was being held in a soft wet firm clasp. As the water flowed over her skin, where ever it touched began to heal. Not completely, but enough that she felt the pain subside and the abrasions scabbed over in seconds.

  

 The grip of the water loosened, and she pulled her hand out. She still felt battered and bruised, but her body was no longer screaming at her in pain.  

 "I'm sorry I could not Heal all of you, but I am a very small Fae, and my power is little." the fairy said. 

 "Thank you, I guess. Is this really real? I'm not imaging all this?" the woman asked, looking at her half-healed hands.

 "No, Daughter of Eve, you are not. I will not burden you with our history, you can find out about it for yourself."  

 "You said you were always here, are you immortal?" the woman inquired. 

 The sprite giggled. "No, we are mortal as you, but very long lived. Time runs differently for us than it does you."  

 The Fae cocked her head and perused the woman. "And now, I must ask, what is the darkness on your soul? I felt it even before you fell into my spring. What black sadness rips at your heart?" 

 Memory returned, and she burst into tears. The sprite splashed a bit of water on her, and she was able to draw a shuddering breath, and she wiped her face with her hands. "My husband told me this morning that he had been cheating on me."  

 The Fae frowned, and said "Your mate has caused you much pain, yes? Because he strayed?" 

 The woman nodded, sniffling. "Yes, so much pain." The tears began to fall again.  

 "I see in your heart that you came here meaning to do yourself harm. Why is that, Daughter of Eve?"  

 "Because, I...I can't do this anymore. This is not the first time he cheated, and I don't think I can take it again, I just can't!" she sobbed. 

 The Fae wrinkled her nose and said "This pain is because the Son of Adam lay with another?" The woman nodded, tears dripping down her face. 

 The sprite did a sudden backflip into the water, and disappeared beneath the surface. The woman took a deep breath, and wondered if she had dreamed it after all. As she got to her knees, she heard a splash, and looked at the water. The sprite had surfaced, and was swimming towards the bank.  

 "Hold out your hand, Daughter of Eve." she commanded. The woman did so without thinking, and the Fae dropped something into it with a tiny plash. "Make to drop this into your mate's drink, and I guarantee you will never have this particular problem again."  

 The woman looked into her hand, and resting on her palm was a large drop of water, the surface quivering slightly, shivering through all the colors of the rainbow. "I don't want to kill him!" she exclaimed. 

 The Fae laughed, flipping her wet hair over one shoulder. "Nay, twill not kill him. I told you, I am but a tiny Fae. You'll see."  

 The woman rose to her feet, carefully cradling the drop. "How can I thank you?" 

 The Fae pushed away from the bank, slowly swimming backwards. "Come and visit. I like visitors, but none before you have come in a too long a time." she said. "And Daughter of Eve, remember, you are never alone. We are here for you." She waved once more and did a backflip to dive under the surface.  

 The woman turned and climbed slowly and carefully out of the hollow and into the ravine. Halfway to the top, she found the shotgun, and picked it up, cradling it under her free arm as she walked back up to the house. 

 She entered the house through the laundry room, setting the shotgun on the top of the washing machine. She went into the kitchen and listened, he was upstairs. She went to the coffeepot and pulling cups out of the cabinet, poured two cups of coffee. Into  one she slipped the drop of water.  

 She heard him come down the steps. "Is the coffee ready?" he asked, as if he had not shattered her world just hours ago. He didn't seem to notice her appearance or injuries, as usual. She nodded mutely, handing him the cup. He took it and sipped, walking into the living room and turning on the TV. He sat in his recliner, drinking the coffee. She sat down at the kitchen table with her cup, waiting.  

 After a while he got up, and headed to the bathroom. The door closed, and within a moment, she heard a strange sound coming from behind the closed door. It was a moan, like a dying animal. The moan escalated into a shriek. She heard something about 'it' being gone. Then it dawned on her, what the fairy meant, that she would never have this problem again. She heard a loud thump from the bathroom, like a body sliding down to the floor. The shrieking and moaning continued. As she lifted her cup and took a sip, a smile slowly spread across her lips.