§995

‘It was my first fairy encounter, the first in a long series of encounters that went on for about five years. I was about six, and lived with my parents and my grandmother in a beautiful house with a large backyard border by woods in the back. I liked to play in that backyard, but even more I loved venturing past the bushes and hedge growth at the bottom of our backyard. It was early May. I came from school and later in the afternoon I went outside to play. There was a wooden table with benches nearby the hedge in the back. I had my back toward these as I sat down on the ground to build a little fort, a favorite game of mine at that time. ‘Hi!’ The voice startled me. I turned around and saw a girl about my age, slightly shorter than me, wearing a sleeveless white dress, and white boots. It didn’t occur to me immediately that it was too chilly for a white sleeveless dress; and much later when it did occur, I brushed off the thought. I guess when you are six it’s much easier to brush off things that don’t quite fit, and enjoy life for what it is. I would like to add that boots and sleeveless dress was not how someone would dress in Romania in the nineteen seventies. But I was more interested in making friends with the girl, and couldn’t care less about what she wore. ‘Hi,’ I said, and asked ‘What’s your name?’ ‘I’m not telling you,’ she said and laughed. I laughed too. We skipped the introduction part, and I asked her if she wants to build the fort with me. We sat here digging in the dirt. Years later, while thinking of this I am totally amazed on how she was the one asking one question after another, getting to know everything about me while saying almost nothing about herself. I remarked that we had the same color of hair, and she smiled and said that we also had the same eye color. My grandmother called from the house for me to get my afternoon snack. I told my friend to come with me but she said she’d wait there. I asked then what she’d like for a snack. ‘Apples’, she said. ‘I like apples best.’ I went quickly, told grandma that I would rather have an apple and asked for an extra one to give my new friend. I rushed back with the apples. ‘Come with me, my new friend said after I gave her the apple. I know a much nicer place to play and make a bigger fort.’ We walked into the woods. I had never been so far away, but she knew her way around and told me not to worry because as long as she was with me, I would never get lost and nothing bad could happen. For the first time she felt strange to me. But she smiled, took a big bite from the apple and motioned her hand to point out that we were in a small clearing, a perfect place to play on a sunny albeit chilly May afternoon. We build two forts. Hers looked much nicer than mine, with grass and twigs blending into the rocks and dirt. It was getting late. My new friend said that she’d walk with me part of the way back. Interestingly, I could see our backyard in no time. I even wondered how [it was] that I never came across that little clearing before. I said out loud that we would meet again there tomorrow, but when I turned my head, she was gone. I ran home and told grandma and my parents what a fabulous playdate I had. I was met with raised eyebrows. Mom said that she could see me from the second-floor windows: she didn’t see anyone with me in the backyard, and I had walked toward the woods all alone. We had a discussion about imaginary friends, but I defended vehemently the reality of my experience. Next day, first thing in the morning I dragged my mom and grandmother with me to show them where I met the girl. We could see the place where we played, but there was no way to tell whether one or two children had played there. I heard a voice whispering ‘The clearing. Find the clearing.’ I ran into the bushes, with Grandma and Mom following as fast as they could. I found the clearing immediately. I pointed triumphantly toward the two forts. I could recognize my own, but the other one was just a pile of dirt and not the pretty construction I saw the day before. But more importantly, two apple cores were right there, near the forts. My mother was still not very convinced: after all I could have built two forts and ate two apples all by myself. But my Grandmother took me very seriously, and told me not to follow the girl again. I ignored her advice and played many, many afternoons with the lovely yet strange being who, as I understood later, was a fairy.’ ‘Girl, about six, dark brown hair medium length, brown eyes, white skin maybe a little pale (?), the face of a child but the expression of her eyes was more like that of a grownup.’ ‘Back then, I was convinced that I met a human actually. It was after talking to my grandmother that I came to accept that I had encountered a fairy. Part of me was still rejecting this fact, and cringed somehow at the possibility that it was a human. It’s a bit hard to explain, but consider that I was six, and I really liked my new friend. There was something fascinating about her. It was a warm, friendly presence, nothing that would describe a ghost.’ ‘I think [fairies] are diverse, as diverse as humans are. Some could be friendly, some others hostile. I largely stick to the description of fairies as they are presented in the lore in Romania, Ireland, Norse, [among] Native Americans.’ ‘My contact with this particular fairy being stopped abruptly when I said something very insulting to her. I haven’t seen her for about twenty years, but then [she] came back. Fairies play now a significant role in my spiritual practice. Their role and presence have increased especially after I visited Ireland. Some very interesting things happened there.’