Half and Half
Off to Pixie Grove

A small beam of light went through Dawn's window at seven in the morning, shining on her face and causing her to turn over. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around her room, only just then remembering the events from the day before. She drew in a breath and peeked under her bed to make sure Fanfire had not discovered her bag. When she saw it was in the same place as it was last night, she exhaled in relief and put on her comfiest pants and a bright green sweater, and then shouldering the bag. She grabbed an apricot from the cupboard and ate it in a matter of seconds.

Fanfire only woke up at eight, so Dawn had plenty of time to get out of the house. She gently fluttered her glassy wings so Fanfire (who was a very delicate sleeper) could not hear her feet. She opened the door, dropped her feet down on the doorstep, and went outside. The morning sun was glowing warmly on Dawn's face, and the leaves of her big tree were dripping with dew. A butterfly flew close to Dawn's face. It was a blue butterfly, with black and white swirls on its wings. Dawn held her finger out and the butterfly landed on it. Fairies were the same size as humans, and pixies were a little smaller. Dawn hated the human fairy stories where the fairies were small and tiny, and rode things like butterflies and rabbits.

Dawn wiggled her finger so the butterfly would go, adjusted her bag, and flew down her tree.

In school, they had flying lessons. The girls were told to flutter their wings, and not to wave them wildly. Dawn wanted to fly fast, but in school it was considered "improper." But now Dawn was alone, and she had to get to the West Road quickly, so she landed on a branch, stepped off, and then waved her wings as fast as she could.

Oh how fast she went! Whichever way she turned her head the world was a blur. She could feel herself wobbling, not used to flying this fast. She dodged trees, not quite knowing where she was going. She wanted to stop, to see where she was, but she was flying so fast her wings were out of control. She looked ahead and saw a dreaded thing. There was a very thick tree right in front of her.

"Oooooh noooooo!" Dawn wailed, just before she crashed headfirst into the tree. She screamed as her back slid along the trunk, and then hit the ground. She groaned, dizzy and sore, and then lay down on the ground. She pushed her hand up to her nose and felt that it was bleeding. She sniffed, got up, and looked at the rest of her body, making sure nothing was broken. She had a bruise on her knee and a bump on her head, but other than that she was fine. Except for her right wing.

Dawn didn't notice at first. She was busy picking up her bag from where she had dropped it, and walking just in case she fell down again. When she was all ready and her nose wiped, Dawn proceeded to fly slowly. But she could not get off the ground. She gasped and felt her back. Her right wing was not there. She had not noticed because fairies have no nerves in their wings. She didn't feel any pain.

"Oh no. Three minutes and my wing is already missing," Dawn said to herself sadly. "Now I am a strange girl with one wing and pointy ears. What will the pixies think of me?" Dawn said sadly. She looked around, trying to replace her wing, and then spotted it hanging on a branch from the tree that she had crashed into. It was very high up, and there was no way she could get there without flying.

Dawn ran all the way to the Fairy Bridge, pressed her good wing on the gate, and then went to replace the West Road. She walked for quite a while, until she heard the school bell ring faintly, as she was very far away.

"I wonder what boring things I would have learned in school today," Dawn thought to herself. "Probably something like botany or some old war. I really am glad that I'm not in school today." Dawn imagined what would happen when she returned. Would she return at all? And what would her teacher think? She would never be able to participate in flying lessons again. The thought made her feel sad about her wings again, so she proceeded to walk as fast as she could and count her steps to take her mind off it.

Finally she reached the west road. It was a lonely place, with no grass at the sides. Just red sand and gravel. There were a few lonely trees with no leaves, and the road itself was brown and unkept. There were bumps in it, and Dawn couldn't see anybody nearby. The only green plants around were large, thorny weeds growing on top of the road, which Dawn took care to avoid. She wished that she could have gone down the South Road, which was beautiful, and had flowers growing at every side. But Queen Sandra had said to go down the West Road, and the West Road she went.

It was getting very hot, and beads of sweat clung to Dawn's forehead. She wiped them off, panting, and took her shoes off her damp feet just for a moment, but quickly putting them back on when she stepped on an especially jagged rock. She walked on and on, until finally she sat down in the middle of the road. She was so tired.

Suddenly she felt something lift under her. She felt like she was sitting on a door, and somebody was trying to jerk the door open.

"Oof!" Dawn sprang up. She had sat on a trapdoor, and something (or somebody) was trying to open it when she was sitting on it.

When Dawn got up, the trapdoor sprang open, and a small, funny-looking creature came out from it. It was about the size of a foot, and it resembled the shape of a human. Its head was like a sideways oval, and its ears had one point on the bottom and one on top. The creature's eyes were round and lime green, and took up more than half of his face. He had a small snout, and his mouth was tiny and his lips thin. He had no hair, but a small patch on the top of his head. His feet and arms were short and stubby, and his hands were flat, with tiny fingers that had no joints. He wore mossy green pants and a green shirt. The creature let out a loud shriek and then some mumbling Dawn could not understand.

Dawn stared blankly at the creature. What was he?