Izzy's Home for Things of a Whimsical Nature

I needed to survive, so I found work as a barmaid at this inn that was right across the road from this giant field full of the greenest, tallest grass you ever saw, with great snow-capped purple mountains in the distance. The denizens of the inn told me that it belonged to the fae, and you should never wander into it or they would snatch you up. Through the field like a silver ribbon ran The Gray Brick road, which would take you all the way to their capital city. 

While I worked at the inn, I made a few friends. My fellow barmaid was a very young woman with a little daughter. The girl was picture perfect, with bright blue eyes and gold ringlets. The maid worked tirelessly to make the girl happy, so she was a little naive and perhaps a little spoiled. She wore this poofy, 1860s style dress that had an alternating white and pink floral design, but then at the bottom was trimmed with black and white striped ruffles. I remember having an out-of-dream moment where I thought “Well, that’s absurd. I want to make it.”

There was also a boy who reminded me very much of my younger brother (a bean pole with dark shaggy hair) who lurked around the inn begging for food. I always tried to sneak him scraps or a mug of spiced cider when no one was looking. One day he came by with one of his pant legs ripped all the way up to the thigh. Underneath, I could see there was a large gash that he had packed with mud and straw. I angrily grabbed his skinny arm and dragged him into to a booth- ignoring his protestations and told him he had better sit his ass down while I fetched supplies and not go anywhere or no more table scraps. I got clean cloths, warm water, needle and thread and gin from the begrudging innkeeper, made the boy drink some of the gin, and got to work. He would thank me when he didn’t come down with a nasty infection.

So here’s where things get nuts. The little blonde girl would play outside while her mother and I worked. One day, she took it upon herself to wander into the green field. The urchin boy saw this happen, and tried to go after her before anything could happen. They both disappeared.

So now I, the brave adventurer, must go after them alone. Into the field I went, having to crawl to avoid these incredibly fast fae riders. Traveling by night was best, until I made it to the first town. It was chaos. The buildings had a kind of renaissance style, but were all crooked and wonky, kind of like Diagon Alley in the harry potter movies. Every person was a riot of color, with lavender skin and bright blue hair seeming to be the most common coloration, but on top of that they wore the most outlandish clothing. I stopped in a shop and used the last of my money to buy what I imagine to be the fae equivalent of the poofy pink dress from Firefly (so not quite in fashion) in an attempt to blend in. I don’t remember it too distinctly, but it was all jewel tones of blue, purple, green and red. I was sort of aimlessly wandering through the streets, trying to figure out what to do next when someone grabbed my arm. 

“Miss!” Hissed the urchin boy, “What are you doing here?”

He dragged me into a side alley, where I had a better look at him. He had tied strips of colorful cloth to his person, his torn pant leg bound back together with a long scarf. I supposed street urchins in Faery looked much the same as in the human towns. Being a clever creature, he had already dug up some info.

“They say the Faery queen has a pretty new pet, with golden curls! She’s been touring about to show her off, and no one knows where she’ll be next.”

So of course we had a long sequence of wandering about trying to figure out what the heck to do. We found a a wild fairy market where they sold all kinds of strange things, and there we met a sort of faery con-man running a magical medicine show. I don’t really remember the product or the act, but I do remember some big men interrupting the show to call him out. Likely unsatisfied customers. He jumped into the crowd to try and disappear, but his bright blue hair wasn’t helping. He passed close to me and our eyes met. I could see that he recognized me as human, this close, and we had a sort of “I won’t tell if you won’t” moment. I lifted the hem of my giant poofy skirt and jerked my head like “well” and swoop! down his messy blue head went like a fishing bobber. We snuck out of the crowd with him shuffling under my skirts!

Naturally, since I had freely given him my assistance, I could ask a boon in return. I asked him to join us as our guide, not really expecting him to agree. It would likely be much more dangerous than a couple of thugs. But he agreed- maybe because he considered seeing my bloomers as part of the deal.