FAIRIES BY FIONA CUMMINGS (SHORT TRUE STORY)

Fairies

We visited a woodland that is inhabited by fairies. Well in this wood, there are tree stumps everywhere with little fairy doors on them and fairy houses high up in the trees. There are little bridges to walk over and the best thing, I thought, was it has a maze. Oh, I love trying to find my way out of one of those. Since I was a child, they have been my favourite thing to do. Normally they are corridors of hedges that you have to find your way out of, but this place was different.

 

So, my beautiful little guide dog walked me with such confident around the woods. I took in the sounds of the birds and the few excited children, keeping my ears open of course for fairies. I have never met one, but have hope… there were a few in human form as small girls dressed up as fairies with wings and pretty dresses.

 

We came to the maize. Hub said he wasn’t going in. My lovely girl Friday wasn’t too keen. Well, I was going for sure… so GF stood me in the direction next to the sign saying maze this way. I stood so proud, so excited my Waggatail was ready to go on her adventure with me as she too had never seen fairies….

 

Gosh she was flying as if invisible fairies had placed wings on her harness. We glided without any difficulty through this what I must say was a very easy maize.

 

I could no longer hear Hub and GF talking, I had walked that far. The path was so clear. No tree stumps or routes. I never stumbled and we even walked over a bridge. Mind you, if I knew there was a bridge beforehand, I don’t think I would have been so confident as at one side there was just a drop with out any rail. But Waggatail did amazingly well. She was even pulling on her harness and normally I have to pull her along as she is shocking for sniffing, especially when she is in such places. Perhaps she had sniffed out a little mystical person and she was on a mission to find a fairy?

 

Well there were no people, it was so quiet. Gosh, how far had I walked? It seemed like so far. But there was one thing so different to this maze to any other I had ever been in. and I only contributed this to the fact that this time I was with a guide dog, it could be human illusion/fault that makes us think we can see the right way, but in reality, we end up going the wrong way, had I discovered the secret of all maize’s? I think I had. Wow, I remembered when we went to America and we went over this dark bridge it was an attraction. For those who could see, it was impossible it was so funny to see or in my case hear the chaos of people walking as if drunk as lights forbid them from seeing where they were going and as they walked over this bridge, they really had no idea how to do it. Hub and I lead the way as we began to realise it was all an illusion for sighted people. So, was the maize the same? I have never done one blind. Or, was it my dog is so clever, she just sniffs out the way to go as my command was find the way, good girl…?

 

Well this path lasted ages; it was great. As I went into the woods, would my mobile work, just in case I did get lost? At last, I heard a man’s voice with a small child….

“Excuse me, is this the maize?”” I honestly thought I had come out of it and was heading around the woods on my own…. But he reassured me that we were going the right direction……

 

Well so proud. Oh, Waggs, we are cooking on gas. We’ve got this…. And then suddenly I heard the cheeky laughter coming from my girl Friday being followed by Hub. Oh, I was so disappointed. Didn’t they know I had this in the bag and I was doing it for the blindies and I had to do this…. To prove to myself I am so capable.

 

Well, GF shouted my name. my face dropped as I had the most enormous smile upon my face all the way around as if I was a local lunatic who had escaped for the day.

 

“Fiona, stop, wait. This isn’t the maize. You need to go through the gate to your right. It starts here.”” Hahhahahaha she continued to laugh. Hub was smirking, I could tell…. What do you mean, it starts here I replied? She answered she thought it started where she left me, but she was wrong. The man who said it was the maize, was correct. What he failed to tell me was, for the past goodness knows, I had been walking along the straight path leading to the gate for the maize. Oh. Heck. Nooooooooooooooo.

 

Well gosh. Try again, but when GF saw through the gate, she said no way you will be able to do this on your own, it looks quite dangerous…. I’m fine, I exclaimed. I walked through, well as soon as I got in, my dog stopped as if to say naha.

It’s not happening Mummy!

 

GF came in and we tried. We really did try. It was awful. So many huge trees umps. Not at all blind friendly. Mind you, I am sure the person who designed it didn’t have in mind creating a maize for people who are blind… oh, we didn’t even half do it. I came out. I was so disillusioned. But we continued to walk through the woods, Waggs worked so well. And the end there was a museum. Hub waited outside with the dogs and GF and I went in. it was all of course behind glass but there were fairy dresses one was made from leaves. Tiny fairy shoes, toadstools and more. Then there was a wardrobe. It said open me. We did and ducked down into a cupboard which lead into a room. In the room again behind glass, was a fairy circus and much more. It was all in a log cabin. It was great I loved it. GF described everything so well and out we came. We then went to a local pub sat in the garden there and had lunch. It was a really lovely day. Even though I didn’t hear any fairies. For the children who read my blogs, I am sure our dogs saw them. My dog was so excited an yet worked so well, as if by magic she was being led through the wonderful woods, but by whom, or what?