3/3/02
Today I traveled to my usual place of solitude beyond the stream. On the way back, I saw something I had never noticed before- the way of the fair folk. I followed this path, no wider than my foot, through many glades of wonder. The wind and all caution warned me of the tricks of the Folk, reminded me of the tales of those lost with them for seventy years or more, yet my sense of wonder would not let me leave.
I found a great ancient road there, as well. By the side was a hastily constructed cairn of fallen trees. Following beside it, I found the camp of the Hunters. In a hasty retreat, I erased all signs of my passing there, for the Hunters are known for their cruelty to those they catch.
Father down the road was a secluded grove of deja vu where rabbits in abundance greeted my footsteps. In this place, hanging from a tree were the amethyst and sapphire of the Fey treasures. I dared not touch them, for they held a warning written in the wondrous words, "Happy Birthday". I have heard that the Folk often disguise their secrets as a foreign material called "mylar".
I followed the road past a place where the Hunters had created a temporary shelter for themselves in the shape of a lean-to. The roads were wide, and beyond them I could see the haunted castle of the Lord of the Hunters, whose used arrows lay wasted by the sides of the road like last year's cartridges. A sign in Elvish stood off the path and I read it with beating heart: to one who does not know Elvish, it seems only to read something to the effect of, "POSTED: Any persons found hunting, poaching or otherwise trespassing will be prosecuted." I beat a hasty retreat- the sound of pounding Hunters' feet followed me! I ran on, the wind whipping my hair into a frenzy. I escaped the boundaries of the Fey Folk's territory, yet did not slow myu pace until I saw the homelights glowing in the distance.
My family were not at all surprised when they saw me, which I take as a sign that only a normal amount of time has passed while I was away, not seventy years like they say in the tales. Althought if I tell my mother of the Elvish sign, she will tell me I was lucky not to be caught by the Lord of the Hunters, otherwise I might have spent seventy years in a place she calls "jail". I imagine this as far from a wondrous, fey place.
Next time I take the Fey trails, perhaps that beautiful tree I lean on will reach its arms around me like the Green Man of the forest...
