I was out for a walk one day when a bright red flash of something in a puddle caught my eye.

At least, I thought it was bright red. This seemed impossible, however, because it was a perfectly ordinary puddle on a perfectly ordinary street and there was nothing red anywhere in sight.

When I reached the puddle, I looked closely at it. I was right; there was definitely something red in one corner. I knelt down for a closer look and almost fell over in surprise.

In the puddle was a tiny faery. He was dressed all in green, carried a bow lightly in one hand, and had a head full of fiery red curls.

The faery looked up at me and his eyes twinkled. He pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked the arrow in his bow, and pulled his arm back.

I don’t know why I didn’t move out of the way. It didn’t make sense to me then and it doesn’t make sense to me now.

His tiny arrow flew up through the puddle and hit me in the forehead.

It didn’t hurt.

It felt like a kiss, the light kiss your mother gives you at bedtime when she thinks you are already asleep.

Slowly, a warmth spread through my body – the warmth of friendship, of affection, of love.

I waved at the faery, blew him a kiss, and stood up to go back about my day. But as I went, I carried the warmth with me like a blessing.

{like this story? then you’ll love the story club. the red-headed faery and i would love to have you along.}