Stuck on the Wrong side of the Hedge

March 27th, 2009 |

Arial, the captain of the emerald guard, and her second in command stood together in front of the ivy hedge. Bringing the fiery red tips of their wands together, they focused a beam of immense energy toward the portal. You could see the shimmering of the energy field as the edges of every leaf began to glow.

We stood with the rest of the guard, waiting for the all clear sign, watching the hedge glow and shimmer in the cold night air. It looked like it was on fire but there was no heat. I was rather hoping for some warmth, all I had around my shoulders was the blue shawl that I wore to the party. Bill felt me start to shiver and pulled me closer.

A loud thud came from the far side of the hedge, then, the sound of something heavy being dragged along the ground. The wild rustling had stopped. There was an eeriness to the silence that followed and it felt like the whole world was holding its breath.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Arial broke off the energy beam and the glowing ivy leaves slowly returned to normal. We all strained to hear any signs of life on the other side, but the only sound we could hear was the stream gurgling over the rocks as it made its way down the hill.

” Arial, is it safe to go home now? Whatever it was slouched away, it’s gone.” I was getting colder by the minute and this was starting to make me mad. How dare they (whoever “they” were) come into my back yard and keep us from our home. What was even worse was that they were on the mortal side where dangerous magical things weren’t supposed to be. Everything was turned inside out.

“I will send scouts through to investigate. I am not completely sure it is safe. If that was your neighbor, she might have morphed into a bush and is there waiting for the portal to open. Right now she doesn’t know where the opening is, but she knows that there is one in the garden. We can’t take the chance of crossing over until we know she has gone.

Four flashes of light streaked past us and darted toward the hedge. The faeries stopped in front of Arial and hung in the air, their wings sparkling in the dark. After they had received their instructions they split up, two going down the hedge to the right, and the other two going left. When they had gone several yards, they shot straight up and disappeared from sight.

“It won’t be long before we have you home Kind One! Oh, but you are shivering, I am so sorry not to have noticed sooner, allow me!” Arial waved her wand and a bright yellow bubble surrounded us. Instantly, the cold dissappeared and was replaced with radiating warmth. Bill looked at me and smiled, “now that’s what I call service!”

It hadn’t been two minutes before the scouting party returned in a frenzy. The faeries spun around Arial in a flurry, squeaking and squealing, all talking at once with a frantic pitch to their voices. Something was very wrong, and then I saw, only three faeries had returned.