The Coming Winter

***Author's note: The following is an original piece submitted for Anna Meade's Midsummer Night's Dream Writing Contest. Be sure to click the link and see what other fantastic stories await!***

                I awoke with a kiss. Strange. I didn’t even remember falling asleep.

                And yet there she was. Gigging like a bubbling brook.

                The fayr stood a handful of steps away from me. Her oversized hands covered much of her face, leaving just the twinkling blue of her eyes exposed. Her rich blonde curls bounced as she laughed. The wrap dress was torn and dirty, but her skin looked like honeyed cream.

                I shook my head to clear the daydreams away. My mane tossed about as I stretched my wings and put hoof to ground. Since I was only a yearling Pegasus, we stood nearly eye to eye, she and me.

                “I found you!” She squealed. “Let’s play! Follow me!” She took off skipping down a foot path that trailed to the lake. The scent of the blue bonnets and lavenders begged me to follow her.

                I shook my tail and set off bounding behind her, determined to return the tag she’d placed on me. We tagged back and forth until we reached the lake. Playing made me thirsty, and the water was clear and inviting. I drank deeply until I felt the violent pain of something piercing my lung and driving into my heart. My last vision was of the peaceful lake, and my ears rung with her childish laughter.

 

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                “You promised me the wings, Atcheton.”

                “That I did, wicked fayr,” the troll said with disdain. He hated making bargains with lesser beings. But the summer had been a hot one, and his crops burned in the unrelenting sun. Winter would be hard if food couldn’t be secured. “Next time bring me a bigger one. The yearling are tender, but there’s barely enough meat for two days.”

                The Fayr smiled innocently and gathered her treasure, eager to attach them to her dirty dress. “That will cost you more than just some wings, Troll.”