Image: Faeries Perch by Josh

It had been our family holiday destination each year for as long as I could remember. I loved Faeries Perch, a quaint out of the way holiday house built on the side of a hill in the Barrington State Forest.

My parents loved it as it gave them time away from the hustle and bustle of their everyday as they both had high powered and demanding jobs often requiring long hours and at times periods away from home.

For me it had started out as a place to explore and to walk in the bush around the house. There was no other place within sight of us. We were out in the bush well away from the rat race and that’s exactly what my parents wanted.

For them it was days filled with bush walks, swimming in the water hole in the creek below the house and hours lazing about, heads engrossed in the multitude of books they wanted to devour.

They were happy for me to wander about as there was no where much I could go except the small grotto that was at the end of the house garden.

The grotto had always been there. A pile of rocks around a small pool of water that was always there no matter the season.

Mrs Wilson was the owner of the property would often come down and tell me about the faeries she knew inhabited the grotto. As a child I was fascinated of course. I would sit and listen, as she would tell me tales of the faeries all of whom she said had names.

My parents when I told them these tales would laugh and say that they thought Mrs Wilson an eccentric old soul but to always be polite to her as this was her place and they didn’t want me to do anything to jeopardise our annual holiday.

When I was ten I ventured down there after dark one night. My parents thought I had gone to bed and were themselves watching one of the many DVD’s they also wanted to catch up on.

At night the grotto took on a different look. By day it was dull pile of rocks but at night the dullness was transformed into a bright and fascinating world. It was as if the rocks possessed a kind of luminosity.

At night they glowed in the moonlight.

I sat enthralled by the many colours these rocks now possessed and eventually became aware of movement in front of me. A small person came out and stood on one of the rocks, then another and soon there was a crowd of small people all standing on the rock looking up at me.

Then as if a camera flash went off I was standing there next to them. Up close they looked just like me. No pointy ears, nor did they have wings; they were just minute people, like I was.

Great1 wore a tie, a symbol I discovered of his leadership. He stepped forward and informed me that I was their first visitor in fifty years. They were very excited and wanted to show me around.

I learnt quickly that there was a social order among the faeries. Great1 was the leader and he had a band of followers all called Great but numbered according to rank. Below them were the Mediums or Meds as they were known and below them the Lessers. There were a lot of Lessers as they were after all the servant class.

This became my nightly routine for most of my holidays after that, spending my nights among the faerie folk, learning their ways and enjoying their lifestyle.

One of the first things I noticed about my nightly escapades was that when I returned to bed and woke up the next morning I was never tired.

There was a day when I ventured into the grotto armed with a camera to take some photographs and prove to my mates, who thought me quite demented after my numerous stories of the faeries, that they really did exist.

I discover photographing them was impossible. They were happy to pose for photos, stood in all sorts of poses, even manipulated the camera for me so I could be taken with them.

But once outside the grotto not one faerie showed up in one photo. Even the ones of myself were of me smiling at the camera, my arms around nothing.

The only evidence I ever came away with is the photo you see above, of the Faerie’s Perch. Why that came out I have no idea but it’s the only evidence I have to prove I was there.

It’s the same image Mrs Wilson has above her desk in reception.

That is as well as the odd ability I have to be in places with remarkable speed.

It began to happen after the first few visits to the grotto that I found I could will myself into the faerie world.

Whatever the gift was I was told to use it wisely for unwisely would result in me having to answer lot of questions and that was not a pleasant thought at all.

Though I have not gone back to the grotto for many years as once my parents aged and died I moved on with my life and found my skill was useful in helping my community.

Nowadays I am a private detective, my skill puts me into some interesting places, it also gets me out of a few as well.

After ten years of solid work I’m off on holiday. Yes I rang Mrs Wilson, whom I’m thinking must be very old by now, but she remembered me and said the house was vacant and that I would be welcomed back in more ways than one. I look forward to my first night back there. She also added that I don’t sound any older.

I have missed the Greats, the Meds and the Lessers.

Written for: http://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/fairytale-17/