5 Minute Fantasy: Water

Zack stumbled over roots and branches, nearly landing on his hands and knees for the twelfth time. His palms felt raw, and he was pretty sure there was gravel ingrained in his shins. The ground here was steep, and if you didn’t watch where you stepped, you’d tumble down and down until you struck the creek. That’s where Zack was headed, but he also didn’t want to end up soaked. Not when the creature he sought wouldn’t take too kind to his intrusion.

He was about to mutter to himself about how stupid he was when his face brushed against a spiderweb.

“Fuck!” Zack shrieked.

He swatted blindly in the darkness. Somewhere in the woods, there came a high-pitched chuckle. Zack froze mid-flail, peering into the moonlit woods. Behind him, he could hear cars sighing over the pavement. He was still too close to civilization for such noises, he thought. Lowering his arms, Zack drew in a steeling breath.

“This is what you want,” he told himself as he continued on. You want revenge.

So Zack embraced the fact that this adventure was going to suck.

Traveling further down, the smell of the air changed from car exhaust, rain, and garbage to something wild and crisp. The air tasted like honey on his tongue. He swallowed down some more, finally catching his breath.

This had to be it.

Zack shouldered through branches laden with clusters of dark berries, his eyes on the glittering water. The creek didn’t look deep enough to even get his shins wet, but Zack was told it was an illusion. He looked up and down the visible length of the stream for the mossy stone the bent-backed woman had told him about.

There!

Waterlogged branches surrounded the stone, creating a still pool. Zack wearily eyed the items bobbing peacefully in the water. There was a cluster of broken egg shells; the detached head of a doll with half-shut eyelids; a ribbon wound about a twig; and an empty wine bottle with a letter inside. Zack swallowed down his fear.

He fumbled with the contents in his pockets to pull out a small pocket knife. Deftly, he flicked it open and pricked the tip of his finger. Blood welled immediately. He then removed a chunk of mushy chocolate from his other pocket and smeared the blood over the wrapper.

Okay, what was next? He thought back to the meeting with the crone. Oh, right.

Zack held the bloodied chocolate in his cupped hands then knelt to slowly let water in around the offering. “Water, water, take my gift, and grant for me my dearest wish.”

Letting the candy drop into the water, Zack stepped back to wait. And wait. The woods were quiet enough for his heart to sound thunderous. He thought he heard the laughter once again but disregarded it. Zack sighed, wondering if this was a waste of time.

He was about to start back home when the water around the mossy rock started to burble.

Then a form slid from murk, one he hadn’t anticipated.

“Who are you?” Zack asked, genuinely confused.

Tendrils of sea green hair clung to the man’s dark face, framing his luminescent diamond eyes. When the man smiled at Zack, his teeth were like pearls. The old woman had said nothing about the monster being the hottest guy he’d ever seen!

“I am the one answering your call.” The man opened his hand, revealing the candy bar. “This grants you a single request.”

Zack, in a state of disbelief, opened and closed his mouth. “It’s a long story.”

“And I am fae. I have all the time in the world,” the monster said with a shrug.

Well, there was no use arguing with that logic. So Zack told the man everything. About how he was bullied for liking other boys. How the one boy he thought would like him back led him on then snubbed him before prom. He shuddered as he thought about standing at the entrance to the event hall, rose in hand, as everyone shouted slurs and laughed.

“I want revenge,” Zack summed up.

The fae tilted his head, bemused. “You know what it is I do, yes? If I do this for you, I must take something in return.”

“And I don’t want to be the butt of everyone’s jokes anymore. As long as I get that, I’d say it’s fair.”

“Fair does not always mean right, boy.”

Zack grumbled. Of course he knew that. Before he could speak, the dark-skinned man strode forward and handed him the crumpled candy wrapper sans chocolate.

“Fine. When it is time, use this to summon me. I will do as asked.” Then, without a farewell, the man drifted back into the water and vanished beneath the surface.

*

Zack awoke with a start in his bed, smelling of sweat and cedar water. His socks were damp, and there were pine needles in his hair. He groaned, rubbed sleep from his eyes, and then he began ambling around his room, shucking off old clothes. As he stripped off his jeans, a crushed wrapper hit the floor, and the evening came rushing back.

The fae man. Zack’s request.

I must take something in return.

Zack picked up the wrapper and stuffed it into a clean pair of pants. After preparing for school, he rushed downstairs, greeted his mother, then was out the door. The walk went by in a blur, but each step made his heart race a little faster. His mind whirred with the when and how of his plan.

None of that mattered, though, when he found himself slammed against a locker shortly after gym class. Zack managed to spin around and tag the bully between the eyebrows with the old candy wrapper. The kid blinked once then laughed.

But as he went to draw his arm back to punch Zack in the face, his eyes went wide. He coughed. Zack and the bystanders watched in horror as water started to trickle out from the bully’s nostrils and lips. Then his face turned green before vomiting up old leaves onto the school’s checkerboard floor.

“What the—”

Someone else spat stagnant water all over themselves. Zack watched as his tormentors started screaming, running, and gagging. A smile appeared on his bruised mouth. Then a hand grasped his shoulder.

“As promised, those who have wronged you have been cursed to choke on every rotten word,” came the fae man’s voice. “Now come, it is time for us to go.”

Zack wasn’t entirely sure where they were headed, but he could see in the monster’s cool gaze that he wasn’t going to be drowned like the other victims. So he gave the fae his hand and left the school as water flooded the floor.

—

I have always had a thing for gritty faerie tales, particularly those written by authors like Holly Black. So I wanted to emulate her a bit to craft my own short fantasy story. I hope you enjoyed Water. I know I had fun writing it. Let me know which kind of faerie you think came from the water and what you think happens to Zack in the comments.

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