Beneath the Deck

Leora lived on the edge of a small lake in a small cottage. Her favourite part, and the reason she settled here, was because of the lack of access to her property. The lake was not accessible by any other bodies of water and there was a large forest between her and the nearest road. So, you could imagine her surprise when one morning she noticed a ship on the horizon. How did the ship make it into her small lake? Living alone for years had made Leora quite an introvert, but despite her greatest urges, she needed to go investigate this ship.

She hopped in her rowboat and started towards the ship. After an hour it seemed as though it was even farther than when she started, but still she continued. Finally, she reached the ship, unsure of what she would find. She called to the ship but heard no response, and saw nobody on deck. Circling the large boat with still no luck, she realized she would have to get out and investigate closer. Pulling up to the rear of the boat, she located the anchor and climbed the large chain. When she was halfway up however, the anchor started rising, bringing Leora along with it. She attempted to come up with a believable reason as to why she was climbing onto their ship but as she came over the railing, she realized there still wasn’t a soul in sight. The anchor continued to wind itself up and pull Leora aboard, but there was nobody working the crank. It took all of Leora’s courage to continue investigating but she managed to walk towards the hatch leading to the level beneath the deck.

While there still wasn’t a person in sight, what Leora did see had taken her breath away. Around her were countless actions being performed without the assistance of a person working it. There were sheets being folded, a sword being sharpened, rope being coiled and a small section of wood being scrubbed by a brush. Leora walked around the edges of the room cautiously, investigating every action thoroughly, when there was a sudden jolt and the whole ship shook. She ran back to the upper deck and saw the wheel was spinning wildly. She ran over to steady the ship, only to see that it was righting itself, thanks to a tiny blue speck. As Leora got closer she realized it was a bug… a bug that looked like a very small human.

“That can’t be a fairy” she said to herself. “They aren’t real.” But all of a sudden every action being performed on the ship came to a screeching halt and she was swarmed by small lights and dragged back to the lower deck.

Leora was overwhelmed by the small voices protesting her previous statement and she was starting to regret what she said, as they obviously did exist after all. Finally, the fairy who had been manning the steering wheel called order and the little murmurs stopped.

“I apologize for the fright, but fairies can be quite temperamental,” She explained. “And there’s nothing we dislike more than the disbelief of our kind.” Leora nodded in agreement but was still too stunned to say anything. The fairies seemed to read her mind though, as they kept talking, answering all the questions she was too afraid to ask. They had come through a stream connecting the lake to another. They also thanked Leora for her determination to keep her home away from civilization, as her well preserved water and forest was the reason the fairies were called to her. In appreciation for her love of nature, the fairies moved into the forest and vowed to create a beautiful garden full of magic for Leora, creating a compromise that made everyone happy in the end.