Dottie walked in and sat by the crab-apple tree as was her habit. In front of her, she could see the edge had been recently redefined. Seeing that, she looked around the space and saw that a branch on the plum tree that had been dying had been taken off. Looking in the grass beneath it, there were a few leaves that had been missed, but the vast majority had left with the branch. Looking around, she saw more evidence that the glade had been recently trimmed.
Getting up and walking around, she saw one. It was not a bird, so she paid more attention to it. It was a fairy, if what story tells say is correct. She stepped closer as she landed. A little thumb sized human being on wings flew around her and landed on a branch close to her.
"Hello," she greeted softly, as tiny creatures tended to have really sharp hearing.
It looked at her, and went through the motions of settling down.
"Hello to you as well. Are you here to talk again?"
"I was going to. Do you live around here?"
"Yes. I like listening to you. We all do."
"You do?"
"Yes. We call you the Story teller. You are a constant presence for a while."
"Do you talk to other humans?"
"It depends if you would call him a human. He is human most of the time, so maybe? He tends the garden here."
"This is a garden?"
"This is a fairy garden."
"Wow. I wonder if my friend that was missing ever tended this one while he was at high school."
"It might be a possibility. What was his name?"
"Paul. Paul Swithby."
"He went to the high school here, you say?"
"Yes."
"He did. He was around here before the current one came. In fact, he taught him."
"Did he tell you where he was going afterward?"
"No, as he wasn't planning on leaving."
The fairy paused, and wondered just how much information she could give out and for what price.
"Will you fill a bargain with me?"
Dottie looked surprised and then resigned. A fairy bargain could be something that she regretted big time, or something that would be tiny and miniscule.
"Will you promise me not to have me something I would rather not?"
"I can. How about this: You tell me what you plan on doing after school and I will tell you more about Paul?"
Dottie thought for only a few seconds. It was innocuous. So she voiced her agreement.
"I'll take the bargain."
The little fairy in front of her reached out and they fulfilled a version of shaking hands. Dottie started with telling the little being of how she wanted to help run a small business somewhere, and that she was taking courses to so the booking. She told the fairy that she liked the idea of getting married, but that she had a hard time with social skills and that she probably it would take a lot of effort on both their parts for her to understand what was going on and to accept it.
"I hate change," she continued, "as that requires me relearning something, or that I miss something that would be obvious to most of the other people I know. A boyfriend would be a change I would have to go through, and as I've never had one, I would miss a lot of signs. However, that doesn't mean that I'm often not lonely.
"You are a change I will have to get around just today. I mean you're causing me a headache with just seeing that someone like you is real. I'll get over it, but it needs time. Does that mean that there are others like you that live here?"
"There are."
"Fine. I will get over this headache, but right now, the idea that the world I live in does include fairies is over my head. I believe you're real as I can see you, but how that affects my world view will have to be seen."
"All right," stated the fairy woman, "I have to say that part of this will blow your mind. I met Paul shortly after he became a werewolf. He and his mentor worked over here, keeping this entrance to the Underhill neat for a couple years together. His mentor died shortly after he graduated from high school from a health issue, and he kept on for a while. He did it alone for a couple years, until he met our current gardener. However, a few months after that, he didn't show up again. If you want to ask what happened, you'll have to ask the current gardener."
"Thank you for the information. I haven't found much of anything to help me look for him."
"You are welcome. I know today wasn't a story, but thank you for talking with me."
"I'll see you next time?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. I would like to talk to you again. You're interesting."
Dottie looked at the fairy.
"I'll leave my stories in writing, then?"
"If you've got a box to put them in, maybe. I'm not always here, but there is someone listening each time. We share stories from you, by the way."
Dottie nodded.
"Good bye for now."
"Good bye."
Dottie picked up her bag and left.