THE BIT FAIRY

THE BIT FAIRY

Tess always said that in the wood she met fairies and gnomes and goblins, and other strange creatures that it was not given to everyone to be able to meet, to be able to see. Cathy, like other little girls of the same age of Tess, who was ten years old, had asked to be able to see the fairies and the gnomes and the goblins she too. So she and the other little girls had begged Tess to take them into the wood together her, so that they too could see those wonderful creatures. Tess, albeit with some reluctance, had finally agreed. But when Cathy and the other little girls had entered the wood in the company with Tess, and they had walked for a long time in the wood, even in the most hidden corners, they had seen neither fairies nor gnomes nor goblins, nor flying spiders, since Tess had claimed to have also seen  flying spiders in the wood, that even one of them had jumped on her head and had tickled her.

Tess not only told to have seen fairies and gnomes and goblins and other incredible creatures in the wood, but she claimed to have even conversed with them. But not only, she assured to have played with them, yeah , she told she had even played hide and seek with the fairies.

Since when had gone into the wood with Tess the other little girls hadn’t met any of these wonderful creatures , about which Tess bragged to have talked with them, they thought Tess was a big liar, that she had told them a lot of lies.

She, Cathy, instead , believed that Tess had really met fairies and gnomes and other fabulous even mysterious creatures in the wood. Maybe not everything Tess had told was true. Sure, more than likely she had added , that is, invented something, just to impress, to amaze.

Cathy couldn’t believe that the fairies had played hide and seek with Tess, or that the gnomes had struck a lock of her hair. But that she had truly seen fairies and gnomes and a lot of other fantastical creatures, Cathy believed it (this) And she believed it too because Tess had shown her a little strange trinket which, her friend had said, a fairy had given her. It was a little object which looked like a ring, but it wasn’t really a ring, as if you put it on your finger, it disappeared. And that little trinket  had another truly stunning feature: on it, which only seemed to be a ring, at night, in the light of the moon, a faceted stone appeared, like a diamond that gave off a very intense light. But for that sparkling stone to appear had to be the light of the moon.

Tess had said her that, ah, fairies and gnomes, and elves, they didn’t show themselves to a bunch, or a group, of people breaking into the wood. Since they were very special, very particular creatures, eh, it was not by chance that they lived in the woods, not in the cities. They, the fairies and the other  wonderful creatures of woods, appeared only to those people by whom they want to be seen. And above all Tess had insisted on this point: they, ineffable creatures of the earth, always appeared only the individuals, only to single people. So if Cathy wanted to see the fairies and the other creatures living into the wood, she had to go into the wood alone, and she had to go either early in the morning, when the sun is not yet high in the sky, or at evening, just after sunset. “ And at night? Don’t they appear at night?” Cathy couldn’t help but ask.

“ Ah, sure, at night it would be ideal time to be able to see them, as long as they want to be seen by you. At night fairies and the other fabulous beings have parties in the wood, and they dance, they sing, they also fly, yeah, it seems there are also flying competitions in the games that take place at night, in the wood. But I thought that at night you didn’t feel like to go into the wood alone. I never dared to go there at night.” Tess said. She had also insisted a lot with Cathy, to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments, that if she( Cathy) went into the wood alone, in the recommended hours, she couldn’t be sure she would have seen  the fairies or the gnomes or the elves, since, eh,  it was already difficult to understand, before it was difficult to explain, but, in short, if those incredibly wonderful beings did not feel that she was in tune with them, they would not have allowed she could see them. “ Since, you know “ Tess had added” they, those creatures are not like we humans , who meet, hang out, and who pretend  to get along well together, even if we hate each other.”

“ And when I enter the wood, when I ‘m walking in the wood, what should I do? Should I remain silent, or should I speak or…should I sing? Is there any word I can say to call the fairies, to induce them to appear me?” Cathy asked, since she had decided to venture into the wood, looking for the fairies , and the gnomes and all the wonderful beings which, as it seemed, only a few people could see. “ Ah, it is preferable that you remain silent….even if you could sing a children song….oh, yet, but you are out of tune….no, then better that you remain silent “ Tess said. “ Ah, you know, you could take a chick with you….oh. the fairies like very much the chicks…they asked also to me to bring them at least one chick….Eh, but where do I find a chick? “ Tess added.

She too, Cathy ,didn’t know how she could find a chick to bring to the fairies.

“ Can I take my cat with me when I will go in the wood?” she asked.

“ Oh, of course fairies are in tune with cats. But…but I know your cat, eh, he is a terrible hunter….so he might start hunting the gnomes and the other little creatures “

Even if she had  decide to not let Bill, her cat, to go with her into the wood, in her walking looking for fairies and gnomes____that, sure, if her cat had seen them, he would have started chasing them, as he did with mice. However she had let her beloved pet to accompany her until the entrance of the wood. When she had arrived at her least step before entering the wood  she would have ordered ( intimated )her cat to come back home. She had sure that Bill would have understood, that he have obeyed. Instead, as soon as she arrived at a step from the wood which was there, in front of her, Bill quickly entered the wood, preceding her, and he ran away before her. Since Tess had recommended she remained silent when she had coming in the wood, Cathy didn’t even insist on calling Bill ( her cat),worrying that her voice might ( could) compromise her chances to see the fairies. She had come out of the house even before the sunrise, as she wanted to have as much time as possible for her search. She hoped ardently to be able to see, to meet the fairies. When she entered the wood the sun had just risen . She started to walk among that great thick tide of green, just reached by the light, since the sun was still too low, even if at times (now and then) a ray of light suddenly appeared , very shining, which, beating  on a leaf, or on a tuft of grass, fixed itself, concentrated in a very bright little dot of light which sparkled, throbbed, as if it was about to explode, then it disappeared almost immediately, to reappear after a while a little farther on.     

Cathy had entered the wood very excited, as she was getting ready to see fairies and other wonderful creatures.  It was pleasant to walk on that ground, which at times looked like a soft carpet , at times it was hard, and it also happened that her foot hit a stone.There was not much light, the wood remained in half light, with those dots in which the sunlight was concentrated,that appeared and soon disappeared.

She could hear the fluttering of birds, of which she could only see the flapping wings_____those birds wings looked like butterflies.

Suddenly two clear eyes, very bright, flashed in front of them, and she, at first, just for a moment , thought they were the eyes of her cat. Instead they were the eyes of a fox coming out of its den, at the foot of a great tree. The fox remained to watch her carefully, as if wondering which animal she was. Before going awy, wagging its tail.

She saw little squirrels climbing trees , and every time she thought, with a jump of her heart, that they might be gnomes or goblins.  But time passed and no shadow of fairies ir gnomes. She was also almost worried for her cat, which she hadn’t seen since he had come into the wood, preceding her .

Cathy, despite what Tess had advised her, remained in the wood until evening. She didn’t want to resign herself to leaving the wood without to have seen at least one of those wonderful creatures, which instead appeared to Tess every day. It was only in the evening, when it was almost dark in the wood, that one fairy appeared to her.  She was such a little fairy that Cathy, at first, mistook her for a mouse.  The bit fairy, in a gorgeous white dress, with a shining star on her head, spoke to her in a shrill voice.  The fairy said to Cathy that she was welcome, and that if she had decided to remain in the wood, she too would have become a fairy.  Oh, Cathy would have liked to be a fairy.

Then the bit fairy told her that she had remained into the wood, she would have become a bit fairy.  “ Bit like you?” Cathy asked. “ Sure, a bit fairy like me” the fairy said.  Cathy didn’t feel like to accept. She thought that if she had become as tiny as that fairy her cat would have eaten her.