First Encounter
My story begins about twelve years ago when I was out in the forest cutting fire wood for the up coming winter. As I was pulling my home made wood sled along the trail with my small tractor, I spied a fine a piece of lighter about fifteen feet off into the brush. ( Lighter is a pine stump loaded with pine sap and great for cutting off small pieces to start fires very easily. ) I got my axe and shovel from my sled and began to walk toward the pine stump to dig it up. Then I heard a dreadful sound. The constant and eerie sound of a rattlesnake! I looked down and saw it about three feet from my lighter stump, but it wasn’t facing me, or giving me the warning. The snake was looking directly at the stump. I was startled at first sight but quickly gathered my wits as it was just about ready to strike! It looked as though it was going to strike the stump. As the snake slowly pulled its head back with its mouth wide open, I could see the ugly and deadly fangs in its mouth. Quickly I slammed my axe down inches in front of the stump just as the snake struck. It worked! The rattler crashed head first into the blade of my axe and in doing so broke off one of its fangs. Injured, startled and embarrassed, the snake quickly slithered off into the brush. I was still bewildered and wondering why this crazy snake was going to attack a piece of lighter as I still didn’t see a small animal near the stump. Then I was about to discover the most amazing sight of my life. As I leaned over to retrieve my axe, I discovered a small wing just a couple inches away. I picked it up and was thinking that this is no wing from any insect I know of and besides, what would a rattler be doing attacking a bug? As I held the wing in my palm it began to quiver as if it were dying . . . now I was more confused than before. While diligently picking up leaves and branches trying to find the bug the wing had been attached to, I happened to glance under a root of the stump, and to my amazement I saw a very small young lady lying on the ground under the root! I gently pulled her out from under the root and held her in my hand and discovered she had a wing! Exactly like the wing I found earlier! She was about two inches tall and lay motionless in my palm. Have I found a real fairy? I asked myself? If so, she had been scared to death by the snake! I thought to myself, if nothing else, I must give this poor thing a proper burial. It is the least I can do for her. So I emptied a match box into my shirt pocket and placed her and the broken wing in it and tied it to the gear stick of my tractor then went home.
When I got home, I untied the match box and took it inside and placed it on my dining table. As I began to heat up some soup for my supper, I heard a strange squeaking noise coming from the table. Quickly I ran to the table and opened the match box. To my pleasant surprise the little lady stood up and was staring directly at me with her hands on her hips and her mouth running a mile a minute. She seemed to be mad for some reason and was giving me a good chewing out! I was so happy she was still alive I gave out a loud "hooray."
She quickly put her hands to her little ears and staggered a bit, as if my voice gave her a startle. I didn’t say anything else as I was afraid I might do permanent damage to her hearing. But it didn’t stop her from continuing to give me what for! I just stood and watched as she began to wind down. She then stepped out of the box and sat on the edge of it with her arms crossed. She looked as if she was pondering in her mind as what she was going to do next. Then her head raised and she began to sniff the air, she smelled the soup heating. I decided there was no place she could go because she had only one wing and it was too far to the floor to jump. So I turned away and went to get my pot of soup from the stove. When I got back to the table with my soup, I discovered the little lady had vanished! Quickly I got on my hands and knees to look for her . . . hoping she had not jumped off the table in desperation and injured herself.
You look totally silly! , Said a female voice from the corner behind me.
As I rose up, I bumped my head on the table and spilled a bit of the soup from the pot and she began to laugh at me. I guess I did look a bit silly in the position I was in. I stood up and turned to the corner of the room to see that she was as large as a normal person now. I was bewildered!
How did you do that? You are not a fairy anymore!
She gave me a sharp glare and frowned. No, I am not a fairy and never have been, she snapped back:
I am an In Between! And I am in deep trouble because of you!
What did I do? ... Only saved you from being eaten by a snake. Yuck! And by the way what is an In Between?
She began to answer:
Yes you did rescue me from the snake and for that I am eternally grateful. But in doing so you have seen me, and that is something that was never supposed to happen, ever, by any Normal!
What’s wrong with me just being a human? . . . .