The Hunted Heart

I woke up in a strange place. A forest with a bunch of beautiful trees and flowers.  “s**t” I think to myself. How in the world did I end up falling asleep in Enchanted Haven? Do you know how hysterical this would make the other hunters? They would go wild. Not only would they laugh in my face, but they would also be terribly angry at me. Falling asleep in a fairy village is the last thing any human wants to do. This is probably the riskiest thing that has ever happened in the entire 29 years that I have lived. If a fairy finds me, I’m absolutely screwed. Who knows how a fairy will react to a human? Don’t get me wrong, I love fairies, but I would rather be caught committing murder than be seen by a fairy. I truly do love fairies. It’s my passion. That’s probably my biggest secret. If anyone ever found out how much I love fairies, they would think I’m absolutely insane. All other humans are trying their best to make fairies go extinct. The other fairy hunters think I help them hunt because I want them to go extinct, but in all reality I just love admiring their beautiful faces. Fairies have a type of beauty that humans could never have. Not only are they physically perfect, but if all the research I’ve done is correct, they have amazing personalities too. There are several types of fairies, and each type has their different qualities. They all have powers. Pixies can heal any sort of illness, Sylphs can read minds, Nymphs have telekinesis, and many more.  I got lost in my thoughts. I seriously need to find a way out of here without getting caught by a fairy.  I stand up and grab my bag, looking in all directions, making sure there are no fairies in sight. I start running. “s**t there’s a fairy right there” I think to myself. I hide behind a tree, waiting for the fairy to pass by. She’s beautiful. She has blonde hair, the bluest eyes, a button nose, and perfectly shaped lips. She’s dancing in the middle of the forest. Is that normal for fairies? It probably is. She genuinely is beautiful though. The way the sun is reflecting on her hair and eyes makes her look like an angel.  If I could stay here forever, I would. Forget about human life, I wanna be a fairy. I know this is the first time I’ve seen her, but I promise you she will be mine.  I seriously need to get out of here. When is she gonna stop dancing in the middle of the forest? I don’t have a problem watching her dance, it brings joy to me, but I need to get back to the kingdom. If the other hunters realize I’m missing, they’ll send all of our soldiers looking for me. I’m breathing heavily, slightly panicking because now I’m afraid they might actually send the soldiers for me. If they do, that won't be good at all. The first place they’ll look is Enchanted Haven, and I wouldn’t want my fairy to see them. That would ruin any chance I have with her. Of course I want to take things slow with her, but she’s still mine. She doesn’t even know I exist yet, but I have decided that I will do everything in my power to make her mine. It doesn't matter if I have to kill for her. I will do it. She’s beautiful enough that I would sell my soul for her. I’m peeking around the tree, watching her, she’s picking flowers now. I’ve never seen someone look so beautiful while picking flowers. I hope she doesn’t see me. That would be awful. Maybe she loves humans as much as I love fairies. Maybe not though. There’s only one way to find out, and I promise the whole world I will find out. I will not allow anyone to get in my way.   Shit, did she just look at me? Oh lord. We made eye contact, and I felt a spark. By the look on her face, it seems as if she felt a spark too. “Did she really feel it too?” I think to myself. What the hell? She’s walking in my direction.  s**t. Why in the world was I stupid enough to allow a fairy to see me? Anybody in their right mind would make sure a fairy doesn’t see them at all. But no no no, of course I just had to stare at her for way too long. This could go very badly, or very well.  “Hi!” she smiles, the wind blowing in her hair, and the sun shining bright on her face. “Hi,” I breathe, “I’m Rowan. Nice to meet you.” I smile nervously. “I’m Flora Silverwing. You can call me Flo for short.” She smiles a genuine smile. I wonder if she knows I’m a human yet. She’ll have to find out eventually. “Why were you staring at me? I glanced over a few times and you weren’t looking, but I noticed you were standing behind that tree for a while..” She says kind of nervously. I want to tell her the real reason, that I was staring because I was admiring how beautiful she is. But I can’t. Not yet. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean for you to think I was staring at you. I was looking at the flowers you were picking. They’re beautiful flowers. Lilies were my mothers favorite.” I say in a sad tone, because lilies truly were my mothers favorite. “Oh. I’m so sorry. You can have one if you’d like.” She smiles. “Really? I would love one. I’ll keep it forever, and I’ll make sure to keep it in a special vase for my mom.” In reality, I’m keeping it in a special vase because it’s from Flora, or Flo. Whatever she prefers to be called. She hands me a flower. It’s quite beautiful, just like her. It’s the same shade of blue as her eyes. A deep ocean blue, almost navy blue. I love it. Not only will this remind me of her forever, but it’s also a way to keep my mother's memory living. “Thank you, it’s truly beautiful.” I exclaim. She smiles, “I have a question,” I look at her. She continues, and says quietly, “are you a human? I promise I won’t tell anybody. It’s just that you have a shape of ears that I’ve only ever seen in humans.”  I sigh, glancing at her for a moment. “Promise you won’t be scared if I tell you the truth?” She walks behind me, and picks some strawberries, “I promise I won’t be scared.”  I look her in the eyes, “I am a human, but please don’t be afraid. I swear on my life I won’t try to harm you in any way. If anything, I’ll protect you. I love you. Wait, I mean I love fairies,” We both laugh. “I guess I got nervous and my brain got confused. I’m not trying to scare you away already.” Now we’re laughing even harder.  Now we’re walking through the forest. She told me how fairies aren’t afraid of humans and they actually love them. It makes me sad knowing how many humans have nothing but bad intentions towards fairies. I was enchanted to meet her, truly. I will tell her that one day. Not any time soon though. Maybe I’ll tell her how I’m glad we’re friends. But it is way too soon to tell her anything but that. Give it at least 3 months, and I’ll admit how I truly feel. She shrieks, and I look at her wondering what’s wrong. “A butterfly landed on me!” She says. “You know, us humans say it’s good luck when a butterfly lands on you, or that it means a loved one that passed is coming back to visit you.” I tell her, hoping it will make her happy. “Really? Well, us fairies believe that if a butterfly lands on you it means you’re elegant, that’s why I shrieked, because I never thought I was elegant” She says happily. “Well, I think you’re very elegant” I whisper quietly enough that she shouldn’t be able to hear me. “No matter how quiet you whisper, I can still hear you. And thank you.” She smiles, a big smile. Her cheeks are rosy now and she looks even more beautiful than before, I didn’t even think that was possible. “Of course,” I say with a smile.  I really need to get home now, it’s almost midday and I guarantee you all of my kingdom is looking for me. My father is not gonna be happy when I get back. “Hey Flo, I had a wonderful time with you, I truly did. I need to head home now. I promise I’ll see you again. I’m not sure when but it’ll be soon,” I frown. “I haven’t had a friend in forever, and I finally found one, and now you have to leave so soon.” She says sadly. I reach in my pocket and grab my heart shaped stone that I have been saving for the right time. “Here, take this,” I say, handing it to her. “In case we don’t see each other soon, you’ll always have a piece of me with you.” She takes the stone while smiling a sad smile, “I hope to see you soon” she tells me. “Me too Flo, I promise we will see eachother again. It might not be soon but one day we’ll see each other again” I say with a smile, looking forward to seeing her again.  I walked Flo home and now I’m finding my way out of Enchanted Haven. I wasn’t expecting to talk to a fairy today, or ever honestly. But I’m glad I met Flora. I can tell she’s a genuinely sweet fairy. I wonder if the other fairies would be as accepting as she is. Hopefully they will be, because I can tell me and Flo are gonna be great friends. Although, she said she has no friends, and I genuinely wonder why. She seems like the most genuine person ever. Maybe the other fairies just aren’t like her, they might not be as nice as her. Anything is possible. I wonder what it is like being a fairy.  I’m walking through the forest and the wind is blowing on the trees, making the leaves of the Cherry Blossom trees rustle gently. It looks perfect. Man, the things I would do to live in Enchanted Haven. Everything is perfect here. All the animals trust fairies, there are flowers and trees blooming everywhere, there's not a single thing that looks imperfect here.