The Filing Cabinet

“This storm isn’t stopping soon folks,” The weatherman blared on the radio. “If you’re not already home, hunker down and get comfortable.”

Olivia sighed and yanked out her earbuds. She flipped her phone to peek at the time, 7:12 p.m. She leaned back in her chair and drummed on her thick thighs. Olivia stood up and twisted the blinds open. There was so much wind and snow that she could barely make out the parking lot from her third story office window. Her stomach growled loudly in her ears.

The 36-year-old looked at the stack of files on her desk and threw her head back. This work was going to keep her late anyway, but now it didn’t matter whether she wanted to leave. Travel was too dangerous.

Olivia put her phone back on her desk before strolling through the empty office and into the kitchen. The young lawyer was the only one who came in today. Everyone else decided to err on the side of caution and stay home with their families.

Olivia had no one to stay home with so she came to the office to drown her crushing thoughts in paperwork. She didn’t want to be married or have children, and she never had, but she didn’t even have family or friends.

The microwave beeped and Olivia pulled her leftover chicken parm out and sat at the table to enjoy her meal.

Once she had finished, she brought the empty container and a cup of black coffee back to her office. She sat at her desk and took a sip of her steaming hot coffee. “Ah!” She cried as she burnt her tongue. It dribbled out of her mouth, onto her shirt. “Really?” Olivia hollered.

The young woman went to the bathroom where she used a wet paper towel to dab the coffee. “I really don’t feel like working.”

Then don’t, her inner voice whispered.

“I have to get this done for tomorrow.”

This storm is not going to let up. No one’s coming in tomorrow.

Olivia stared at the deep green eyes of her reflection and considered her options. “There’s no one here,” she quietly mused to herself. “Maybe I’ll see what’s upstairs.”

Olivia had seen people press the 7 in the elevator, but nothing was listed on the directory so she was always curious about what could be up there. This was her first time leaving work for later so she was a tad nervous, but her curiosity overcame that.

She slipped into the elevator and tapped the button with a 7 on it. As Olivia waited for the elevator to reach its destination, she anxiously bounced on her toes. When the elevator opened, she cautiously stepped out and looked around to be sure there was no one else there.

All the rooms she searched were empty, and she was about to give up, but she saw a door at the end of the long hallway that piqued her curiosity even more.

She jogged toward the door and opened it. All that was in there was a large filing cabinet that was bigger than her. “This whole floor is dedicated to a filing cabinet? What could possibly be in there that’s so important?” She wondered as she pulled on one of the handles.

The entire cabinet opened like a closet and Olivia’s eyes grew wide as she spotted an open field filled with beautiful butterflies and flowers. She smiled as the warm sun hit her face and she stepped through.

Olivia was hit with a barrage of arrows that sent her tumbling to the ground. Just before she lost consciousness, she saw a gaggle of small gnomes surrounding her.

When she awoke, she tried to get up but found that she had been fettered to the ground. “Hey!” She hollered. Olivia felt something small, similar to a cat, climbing up her leg and onto her stomach. The gnome, which stood at about one foot, tilted its head to the left. “Where am I? Why am I tied down like this?” The gnome blinked a couple times and stared at her blankly.

“He can’t understand you.” A woman’s face said. Olivia’s eyes darted around to find its source and spotted a fairy floating to the ground. “I’m Aria. You are not like the others.” She said in a light flutey voice.

“Others?”

Aria winced. “I sense that are honest.” She gestured toward the gnomes who severed her binds.

Olivia was barely able to sit up in the small tent that appeared to be made of leather.

“Who are the others?”

“I was going to ask you. What are you?”

“You don’t have humans here?” Aria shook her head. “Then how can you understand me?”

“All fairies are connected to everything so I can understand any language.”

“What is this place called?”

“Zedonia,” Aria replied. “Are you going to take more of our mana?”

Olivia furrowed her brow. “What is ‘mana’?”

“It’s the source of all life in Zedonia. Your ‘humans’ have been coming here and taking it, and Zedonia is dying. The gnomes were guarding the glen in order to stop them.”

Olivia never felt like she had made much of a difference in this lifetime so she was excited for such an opportunity. “What can I do to help?”

“You would do that?” Aria asked.

“Yes, of course. What these people are doing is wrong, and it must be stopped.” She paused. “Is there a way to close the portal?”

“Portal?”

“Yes, I came through a portal in a filing cabinet.”

“Of course, that’s how they’ve been getting here.” Aria said. “I don’t know of any way to close a portal, but my mother might know. Follow me!” She shouted as she flew out of the tent. Olivia rolled to her belly and crawled out behind Aria.

Aria flew up toward a tree in the distance and Olivia struggled to catch up. The little fairy returned to the human. “I guess you can’t fly,” She said. “Just a moment,” she began as she flew back into the tent and returned to Olivia with a white bird feather. “This is a Pegasus feather. It will allow you to fly.”

Olivia hesitantly took it from the fairy. Feathers began to sprout on her arms and hands until they were completely consumed by them. “Whoa!” She whispered with wide eyes.

“Are you ready?” Olivia nodded and followed Aria to the top of a tree that was similar to a Douglas fir. “Wait here,” Aria said before going into a small hut on a branch.

“How do I make the wings go away?”

“Just drop the feather.” Olivia nodded and placed the feather next to her and sat down to wait for Aria who quickly emerged with her mother. “This is my mother, Violet.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Olivia said with a smile.

“You were right Aria. She is not like the others.” Violet said. “Unfortunately, the portal has to be closed from the side from which it was opened.”

“How?” Olivia asked.

“By destroying whatever holds it.”

“Violet!” Another fairy crashed in front of the hut. She stood up as she took deep breaths. “Those…things are back!”

“What?” Olivia shouted. “But the storm…” She whispered to herself.

“They have these long, black things with them that shoot firecrackers, and they’re wearing strange clothing.”

Olivia gasped. “Violet! Don’t let anyone approach them directly. Those ‘long, black things’ are guns, and it sounds like they’re wearing armor.”

“What is a ‘gun’?” Violet asked.

“It’s a weapon. A powerful one that can kill people from far away.”

“Oh, like our arrows.”

Olivia shook her head and swallowed hard. “No! Much more dangerous. It took quite a few of those arrows to take me down.”

“And those were tipped with a sleeping poison,” Aria added. “What are we going to do?”

“We fight!” Olivia insisted. “Get everyone who has any way of defending themselves and bring them to the forest so we can devise a plan.”

“We should talk to them first.” Violet suggested.

“If they have guns, they’re not here to talk.” Olivia said.

“It’s true, Violet, they’ve already killed the gnomes who were in the glen.”

“What? Why didn’t you mention this already, Dela?”

“I was going to, but this human began to speak.”

“Aria, gather the ogres, the unicorns, the pegasi, centaurs, elves, and even the redcaps.” Violet told her. “We’ll meet at the base of this tree.”

“Yes ma’am!” Aria said before flying away, leaving a trail of purple glitter in her wake.

“What is your name?” Violet asked the human.

“Olivia.”

“Olivia, here is a phoenix feather. It looks like Aria gave you the feather of a Pegasus. Well, this will allow you to fly and breath fire.” Olivia’s eyes grew wide and she took the feather. This time the feathers she grew were red, and she loved it. “You may practice your aim on the cliff above the trees.

Olivia wasn’t sure how long she practiced for, but she had gotten pretty good when Dela came to fetch her to come to the meeting of all the magical creatures. They quickly devised a plan as the small army of humans made their way to the mana source. The centaurs would charge with everything they had, while the elves shot poison-tipped arrows and Olivia blocked them from gaining ground with fire. Their intent was not to kill, but to chase them away.

As the army approached the mana mines, the elves began to shoot their arrows from the cliffs above. The centaurs charged in a zig-zag formation in order to avoid the barrage of bullets. Luckily, they all survived, and each of them trampled a human. Olivia created a wall of fire to stop them from accessing the mana and landed in front of the army. “Leave now! Destroy the filing cabinet and forget about this place.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“That’s none of your concern. Leave!” She cried as she spit fire at them.

“Why should we listen to you?” The man replied.

“If you don’t,” she began as she walked up to him and looked in his cruel eyes, “I will reduce your pathetic body to ashes.” The man narrowed his eyes. He raised his hand and swirled his finger in a circle. Olivia followed the men by air and watched them disappear through the portal.

As her feet touched the ground, Aria landed on her shoulder. “Are you sure it’s closed?”

“Only one way to find out,” Olivia said as she waved her hand where the men disappeared. “It’s gone. They won’t bother you again.”

“What about you?” Aria asked.

“I had nothing there.” Olivia said with a sigh.

“Well, after what you did, you’re certainly welcome here.” Aria said.

“I would love that,” Olivia replied with a light smile.