Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.
With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.
FREEDOM FOR FAIRIES
Buzzing bees, rushing water, and the sweet fragrance of wildflowers. Another perfect sunny day in the Forest of Fairies.
As Kaya flew around, a loud boom startled her. She watched a dark shadow approach. A human.
“I know you’re in here, little fairies,” he said. “My device picked up your signatures. Come out—I have a task for you!”
Caught by humans. Kaya feared this day would come. She turned toward the forest, yelling, “Run!”
Using tweezers, the human caught Kaya between them before she could fly away. “Got you!”
She wiggled and squirmed, but the tweezers wouldn’t let her go. She watched, wide-eyed in horror as the human caught all the fairies, then took them back to his lair. An abandoned castle that resembled a science lab.
“You will be my servants now,” he explained. “You will cook, clean, and entertain me while I invent something great for humanity. The council of scientists said my experiments were too violent and rejected me, but I’ll show them. Then everyone will know the name Christopher Carver!”
“And if we refuse?” Kaya squeaked.
“You won’t.” He tied each fairy with string, ensuring they could move around the castle but not escape. “The string is too strong for your tiny hands to break. You’re here forever.”
As the days passed, Kaya believed it. Fairies kept the castle spotless while Dr. Carver worked. Sometimes, his experiments would even include the fairies themselves. He turned to Kaya with a wide grin.
“You—come here. I want to see what happens if I pluck those wings of yours.”
“No!” Kaya cried. “Stay away from me!”
Dr. Carver growled, grabbing the string she was attached to a little too hard. It snapped, leaving her with one thought. I’m free.
She flew out of the castle, faster than Dr. Carver. The forest greeted her back. But as she relaxed on a branch, there was no one there.
“It’d be safer to stay here where I’m free,” she murmured, “but what’s freedom if I’m alone?”
And so Kaya armed herself with weapons from the forest—pine needles, wasp stingers, and flowers. She flew back to the castle and squirted the flower’s nectar into Dr. Carver’s eye when he opened the door. He cried in pain as she used the pine needles to break the strings holding each fairy.
“Kaya!” one cried. “You came back!”
“Of course,” she said. “No one can be free until everyone’s free. Now, come on!”
As Dr. Carver chased them, Kaya fired off the wasp stingers at him. His hands and face swelled like balloons. “No…I’m allergic!”
“That’ll teach you not to take what isn’t yours!” Kaya yelled back. “Fairies, follow me!”
When they’d made it back to the forest, they threw a party in Kaya’s name to celebrate her courage. The mad scientist never bothered them again. But just in case, Kaya laid out a trap of sticky honey to slow him down.
Dana Gricken is a multi-genre author from Ottawa, Canada, published by Melange Books, Evernight Teen, Oliver-Heber Books, and Bella Books, as well as different anthologies. In 2019, she was given a writing scholarship by actor and director Kevin Smith. Connect with her on social media @DanaGricken or on her website, danagricken.com, where she shares her writing and spreads mental health awareness.
If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2023 anthology.
Iron Faerie Publishing 