Here was a man who lived in the woods..to be more correct, he lived in a tree. You might say he belonged to the tree, for he was a Woodsprite. His tree was his friend, his host, part of his being. He was mischievous, but then all Woodsprites are.

One day the Woodsprite wandered from his tree to the realm of people. The forest was rarely visited by humans, such was their superstition of the dark shadows. They were wary for good reason, for this little sprite was not the only mischievous soul that dwelt there. The rare occasion, he found someone wandering close to his home, he had some good fun indeed!

So the Woodsprite ventured to the edge of the forest, bored with the lack of activity (the faeries were all feeling listless that day, after having quite a party the night before). He watched the farmers plowing the fields that verged on the forest for a long time, trying to make sense of their actions. It wasn't just that the sprite had only rarely seen such creatures as the farmers used to pull the plows, but the machinery was strange, and the things they did were strange. How could they live in such empty places? The trees were so far apart. He hadn’t believed any of the stories because they had all sounded so absurd.

The sprite wandered along the edge of the clearing and found a small child doing something he could not see clearly. He was curious, but afraid to show himself. He was far from his tree, so his powers were greatly diminished, so he thought it best to keep himself hidden. He climbed up trees, crawling as far out on branches as he could without falling off, hiding under bushes, and trying everything he could think of, but could not get a good look at the thing that the child was playing with. It seemed to be a lot of fun, and faeries are not known for their complacency of such things. Curiosity rules their beings, and so as he tried to talk himself into going back home and quit this foolish behavior, he knew he would fail miserably.

He stood talking to himself in the woods a little ways away from the boy, a sight that would leave any person scratching his head! Finally he decided to show himself. It was only a boy, what harm could there be in such an action? No one would ever know.

Mustering his dignity and faerie fire, for faeries were not known to be shy either, he boldly walked up to the child to watch him work his gadget. There was a small stream by which the boy knelt, watching something that looked like a wheel move as the water flowed over it. The sprite was fascinated, and for a moment forgot his faerie manners, or lack thereof, and stared at it.

The boy looked up at the sprite, and being young enough to still believe in such things, reacted as any child would if a faerie came walking out of the woods on such a beautiful day, "Here now, what are you?" he asked the little man.

"None of your business" answered the faerie, "but if you were to tell me what it was that you were playing with there, well, I might tell you." He was proud how uninterested he sounded.

Now, regardless of the simple fact that the faerie was far from home, without the full strength of his magic, we might still wonder at the safety of the child..for faeries are known to be quite mischievous and never without a trick or two. But as the child had never seen a faerie before, we cannot expect him to behave any other way than as any child would under the circumstances.

And thus, it was that he did the unthinkable. Without ceremony or manners he said, "What do I care what you are." And proceeded to ignore the little man.

Flustered by this reaction, the faerie sputtered without thought, "I’m a Woodsprite! Don’t you know what a Woodsprite is?" As he realized he had given his small secret away, the sprite put a hand over his mouth, looking rather taken aback by his loss of composure.

The boy giggled at the outburst and looked at this strange man standing there. He had heard many stories of faeries (including sprites) and he was a smart lad. Perhaps the little man would give him a magic spell, a wish, or something like that.

"Well," asked the faerie "What about it, what’s that thing you got there? Tell me before I turn you into a bug!"

"If you turn me into a bug, I won’t ever be able to tell you, now will I?" replied the boy. "I’ll tell you if you give me something," he continued, a glint growing in his young eyes.

The faerie was quickly losing patience, if he knew what the contraption was, he could use what magic he had and do whatever he wanted, but he didn’t know. He thought about turning the boy into a bug after he convinced him to explain the thing to him, but he knew the laws of faerie magic wouldn’t allow it. They had their own rules, and once a deal was made, you could not break it. He decided to make a bargain and be done with this human. He just wouldn’t make it so easy. "I will give you a spell if you tell me, one that you can use only once. When your heart and mind are as one, and you desire it enough, just speak the word Kayra and I will appear to cast the spell for you. Now, will you tell me what that thing is?" he said, the impatience sounding in his little voice.

The boy was a little confused about "when your heart and mind are as one", but liked the magic spell part. He could come up with the perfect use of it after thinking about it for a few days. "OK." he said, and explained the water wheel which he built to work like the one in the village. Satisfied, blended back into the familiar shadows of the forest once again. He thought about the toy the child had shown him, it was a new type of magic that he had never seen before. However, faeires lose interest in things very quickly, so he soon forgot the water wheel and the child he had met in the world of humans. Similarly, the child, (whose name is Quin) continued playing with his toy, all memory of the encounter magically erased from his mind.

The boy grew to a young man who was well like by everyone for his intelligence and creativity. His inventions helped everybody, even if they looked weird. His kindness and patience endeared him to the villagers, and it was often that they wondered why he was still living on his own. Surely he was handsome, smart, and successful, should he not have found himself a wife by now? Continually he was beset by good intentions and pretty faces, but vacant minds. Always found more comfort in his workshop than the simple conversation pretty faces seemed to provide.

One day a caravan came into the village. The villagers welcomed the excitement as they opened their doors to the strangers. Among the visitors was a girl of uncommon beauty and manners. Her grace turned heads, but there was something strange about her manners. Rumors spread about the town, as people tried to figure out what it was about her that they didn’t understand.

Well, if it isn't clear yet where this story is going, lets take the reader down the path a little farther, to a small house of stone, with a little workshop off to the side. Attempts to keep the place neat showed, but were obviously unsuccessful. All manners of contraptions lay about the yard among the few animals that wandered freely about. Noises could be heard from the shed, and soon the girl of uncommon beauty, but of manners unbecoming a lady (or so the village people had convinced themselves) came down the path to the house, singing softly to herself. She walked with grace and sureness to the door of the shed, from whence came the noises. After getting no response to her knocking, she opened the door and went inside.

Looking around the scattered objects inside, she gazed at the young man engrossed in making something she did not recognize. She spoke his name once, twice, and shouted it a third time, after no response she resigned herself to waiting patiently. She took the opportunity to look around some more. All manners of things were hung on hooks, covering most of the walls from ceiling to floor. Shelves were covered with tools and parts. To most it would appear that it had never been organized since it was built, but contrary to appearances, it was well kept and organized. After a while he noticed her standing there watching him and stopped what he was doing.

Startled, he took a moment to compose his thoughts, then he uttered an abashed, "Hello."

Smiling, she repeated his greeting, adding, "One of our carts is broken, I was told that you could help us to fix it. You seem busy, do you think you could find the time?"

We will pause here for a moment and talk about love at first sight. It has happened in many stories, for it is something common to dreams and fairy tales. Well, since we seem to have a faerie in our story, we can safely point out that this is another case of love at first sight. Both felt something move within them, stared at each other in the long moment of silence that followed as the young man tried to find the presence of mind to answer this strangely beautiful woman that had just walked into his workshop.

"Ah, Quin." he finally managed, holding his hand out to her.

"I know," she replied, "oh, they told me your name in town." After another moment of awkward silence, she continued "My name is Buttercup." as she grabbed his hand for a firm handshake. They stood there for a while longer, not sure what to say when Buttercup spoke up "Well, can you help us?"

"Oh, yes of course." he said and began to think out loud "Just let me get some tools together....." his words trailing off into a mumbling Buttercup could not hear.

When he had everything together, they walked back up the path to the village. She told him the problem, and they began talking about a solution together. In the short space of time it took to walk into town, the two were talking as if they had known each other for years, instead of only minutes. The next few days they spent together, she assisting him with the repairs. The more they spoke, the more they found they had in common. The villagers rumors changed, as they saw the love between the two bloom, even if it was not evident to Quin and Buttercup. Finally, the repairs were finished, and everyone wondered what would happen between the two.

So it was that the people of the caravan threw a festival to thank their hosts, the villagers, for their kind hospitality. Quin and Buttercup realized that time was coming and they would be parting...and they began to wonder how they could bear to be anywhere but at each other's side. It was this moment that Quin remembered his visitor of so many years ago and the bargain they had struck. As his heart and mind loved Buttercup, he wished for the magic that would keep them together. And so, as he was getting ready for the festival, he uttered the word Kayra to summon the sprite who found himself suddenly in the bedroom of the young man who had so enchanted him so many years ago.

Surprised and quite annoyed at having his amusements so rudely, he remarked, "Oh, it's you. It's about time! Ready for your magic, are you? Tell me, what is it that you want? And this had better be good, I’m bored."

Quin took a deep breath and told the sprite the story of Buttercup and his love for her.

"Oh, it's love," droned the sprite, "I should have known, you humans are all alike."

Pondering a moment and standing himself in the best thinking pose he could think of, the sprite snapped his fingers and smiled. "I have just the thing." With that, he waved his arms mysteriously and vanished.

Looking around, the young man looked a little irritated. "Figures, faeries are all alike. I guess I'm on my own." Soft chuckling seemed to float out of the air around him, and Quin shivered involuntarily. As prepared for the evening as he could be, he went back into town wondering what exactly he was going to do.

As the sun was going down, the players began to play and people began to dance. With shaking hands, Quin lead Buttercup to the floor, both of their eyes mirroring uncertainty. As the dance became faster, the two spun about the floor, and seemingly they began to glow. The townspeople stopped dancing, transfixed by the pair encased in a cocoon of light. The spell grew stronger, and suddenly the two could see into each other's hearts. At that moment he was unafraid. He professed his love to her, and she replied in kind. Soon the music stopped and before all the people gathered, on bended knee he asked for her to be his wife.

To keep this really really long story from getting any longer...the two lived happily ever after, both minds working together, hands and hearts as one; for the workshop often boasted the two working side by side, regardless of the scornful eyes of the townspeople who grew to love her for her eccentricities and unique charm.

THE END..
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