Half and Half

Dawn started to walk back home. She had left the castle ten minutes ago, and could only see a faded outline. She was walking on a dirt path lined with grey stones, with each rock about the size of her hand. There was green grass on the sides of the path, with hedges growing on top of it. The hedges were neatly cut to be the shape of a cone, with the point facing downwards. Each hedge was hollowed out and inside was filled with flowers of every kind. There were trees, too, and they were mostly willow trees, bending towards the path and providing shade. The sun was setting, and the clouds were shades of orange, yellow, pink and red. The sun itself was still bright, and staining the whole sky into bright, sunny colours. Dawn could see her own shadow and she looked at her feet as she walked home.

Finally she came to an old, rusty gate with an equally old and rusty sign that said:

Welcome to Fairy Bridge. Please carry all infants.

Dawn sighed and pressed her wing against the big padlock. The gate opened and creaked. Only fairies could get inside Fairy Bridge, and so that was one of the places that was untouched during the large war.

From what Dawn had recalled at school, there had been a big war hundreds of years ago where fairies, pixies, and humans had been in a big fight. For some reason the humans didn't know that fairies or pixies existed now. Dawn wished she knew more, and resolved to pay more attention in her history class, no matter how boring her teacher's voice was.

She ignored the bridge which had been built over a stream and fluttered her wings. She often wondered why the fairies built a bridge when they could so easily fly. Dawn did not mind flying too much, although she preferred to walk, as fluttering your wings for too long can make your back very sore. But she didn't trust the old bridge, which was missing several boards, and wanted nothing less than to fall inside the mucky old stream.

She crossed the bridge and landed safely on her feet at the other side. She then saw many large, old trees with houses built on the branches. The houses were made from wood, and built on the highest branches of the trees. The houses were very old, and built in the time of the war. Dawn thought that the houses were built so high to prevent humans and pixies from stealing if they managed to get inside the gate at all.

She spotted her house, which was made from redwood. It had a triangular roof with only two bedrooms and a main room. Dawn fluttered her wings impatiently and then finally reached the top of the tall tree. She rapped on the door and it was opened by her nanny, Fanfire.

Fanfire was a very old fairy, and very fat. She had wrinkles all over her face and frizzled grey hair that went out in all directions. Her wings were overly large, and she had to go through a door sideways because of them. She wore a green dress and tied it so tight at the waist she had trouble breathing, hence her raspy voice. Her feet were small and dainty, which did not go with the rest of her body at all. She wore black heels on them, and always wore a red scarf that covered half of her head.

"You are late again!" Fanfire said in a rough, old voice. Dawn bowed her head.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Where have you been, young lady?"

"I..." Dawn did not dare tell Fanfire about what happened, so instead she said, "I got kept after school." She was bound to get scolded, but it was better than telling Fanfire that she had gone inside the castle to speak to the Queen.

Instead of scolding, Fanfire shook her head sadly and muttered to herself, "the poor, ignorant girl." Dawn heard her and narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. She squeezed past Fanfire's large wings and entered her house.

When she went through the door entered the main room. It was fairly large, and half of it contained two old, musty-looking sofas, a coffee table with a blue vase filled with flowers, and shelves lined with cookbooks, thin and fat. Dawn wished her nanny kept more storybooks, and not just old cookbooks. The floor was made from wooden boards, and it was very smooth. The walls of the house were painted white and had many cracks. On the other half of the main room was a large, black dining table with one white, one black, one brown, and one green chair, all different sizes and shapes. On each chair was a plump cushion that was red and blue checked. Around the table were counters polished clean and cupboards stuck on the wall filled with plates and bottles and cups. There was also an extremely rusty cooking stove in the corner, complete with an oven.

Fanfire came inside the room also, and seemed to take a good look at Dawn, noticing for the first time her scarf and white clothes.

"Why are you dressed like a servant?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"I--"

"Playing dress-up with some girls? I doubt you were even kept after school. I don't like it when you lie. One more time and no going outside for a month." Dawn just nodded, thankful for once that her nanny had jumped to conclusions, so Dawn didn't have to think of a good excuse. She sighed, unwrapped her headscarf, and went inside her room.

Dawn's room reflected her personality very well. It was bright and welcoming, and had a touch of sweetness. The walls were a cheery yellow, and the floor had an orange and red carpet on it. Against the corner of the room was a small, wooden bed with green sheets and pillows, and a rose-patterned blanket. There was a lamp on her bedside table, and it was made from glass. There wasn't very much inside the room, only a metal shelf which was filled with various school books. There was also a chair and a small desk where she did her homework, and there was also a frame with a picture of a campfire on it. The room was so small that it seemed very crowded, but Dawn liked it just the same. She had never been in Fanfire's room because Fanfire simply didn't allow it, so she had no idea what it looked like.

Dawn, who was supposed to do her math homework at this time, decided to pack instead, for she had to go to Pixie Grove early the next morning. So there was no point in doing her homework now. She dug out an old tote bag from under her bed, brushed off three spiders, and then set it on top of her desk. She packed her Telebone Atlas, knowing the map inside would come in handy, three pairs of trousers and shirts, and one dress. Then she put in a pair of shoes, her toothbrush, a comb, some hair clips, and her one story book. Then she tucked it under her bed so Fanfire wouldn't notice, and went to the kitchen for dinner, where she had a piece of bread and some carrot soup. Then she ran back into her room, pulled on her nightgown, and scrambled into bed.

After about two minutes Fanfire came inside to make sure Dawn was in bed. If she wasn't, Fanfire forced her to sleep on a tree branch, which was not very comfortable. She turned off Dawn's lamp, put a glass of water on her bedside table, grunted a "goodnight" and then left to her room.

When Dawn was sure that Fanfire was sound asleep, she crept out into the kitchen and stole a loaf of bread, some jam, and a bottle of water which she put inside a spare basket to take with her tomorrow. Then she went back to bed and fell fast asleep.