• As a young boy, Robert loved to go out on the trails with his older sister. Keeping up with her was a whole different story. Being so young was difficult compared to his sister, who was already in her late teenage years. Every time he chased after her with his skinny, small legs, all he ever saw in a few minutes was her long, blond ponytail that would soon sweep out of view before appearing again, with his sister looking at him with a concerned expression. Her sorry expression of leaving him behind would fill her round, brown eyes. Being a stubborn kid, he would always stick his chin up high into the air, and walk right beside her as she started to do the same to make sure that she could keep an eye out on him, to make sure he never got hurt.

    One day, as his sister started to get ahead of herself, Robert heard a loud cry in the distance. Stopping, he glanced over his shoulder. No, it couldn't be from behind him! The voice, so small and scared, sounded more like as if it was coming from the dense pine trees. Thinking that it was a trick of his ears, Robert started chasing his sister again. But then it sounded again. Coming to a complete halt this time, the young boy started to wander off the trail and see what was happening.

    "Robert!" cried his sister, Mary. She swept her brother away from the side and sat him down. "Don't you dare ever go off of the trail. Do you hear me? I don't ever want you to get hurt. Going off the trail is a big no-no."

    "But . . ." He trailed off, glancing off. There was some small hope that his sister would soon hear another cry of help. Hearing none, Robert soon became frantic. "But, Mary! There's someone out there. I heard them crying. It sounds like as if they're in pain. We need to do-" Another shout erupted through the air. Mary jerked her head in the direction, her mouth slackened. She looked back at her brother, her eyes wide. Scuffing, Robert was about to say, "I told you so" but he was suddenly pulled by his sister.

    "That did sound like a person. Oh, Robert, if only I brought my cell phone with me! It would help out so much." Mary started biting her fingernails. A bad habit that Robert thought she had gotten rid of. Her nails had grown out long and pure white, almost looking like as if she had them freshly manicured every day. As she bit off the long fingernails, the envious look from other girls will disappear quickly enough. But seeing the look on his sister's face, the thought of people admiring her fingernails was not on her mind.

    Another cry ripped through the air. Stopping, Mary listened. She looked at her brother, frowning. "Where do you think that came from? It sounded close, but almost like as if the person is laying flat on the ground. Robert, stay here, I'm going to go look out a bit farther. Whoever they are, they can't be far away."

    Robert sat on the ground. He watched his sister walk away. Shivering lightly, he cursed that the summer had ended and that fall was creeping around the corner. Another wail erupted through the air. If Robert didn't know any better, it sounded like as if it came from right beside one of his crossed legs. Still unsure, Robert glanced down out of curiosity.

    He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

    There were stories told him once when he was younger about fairies. Some told of mischievous little creatures that liked to tangle a person's hair. There were others that spoke of tiny, innocent winged people that had tissue paper thin wings. Seeing what he was seeing, Robert concluded that he was seeing an innocent fairy.

    Her skin was a pale blue. The coloring wouldn't even have been seen if Robert wasn't staring so long at her. Her hands that were clenched into fists couldn't be bigger than his fingernail. In fact, they were smaller. Her hair was a blue-green coloring, one that was just like the sea. It was braided down her back. Unlike most stories of female fairies, this one particular had to be wearing a shirt made from soft, pink petals, and earthy like pants that resembled dried, brittle leaves. She tilted her head up, looking at him with tears coming down her face. What was causing her so much pain? And then Robert saw it, as she tried fluttering her wings. The wings glittered in the sunlight, almost looking like they were made out of diamonds. They couldn't be bigger than his thumb. However, there was something cruelly wrong with one wing. More than half of her right wing had been ripped off. She pushed herself to her feet, wobbling around before falling back down. If chances were right, her wings were her main focus of balance and flying.

    Robert picked her up delicately. Her body was amazingly small. Her head could rest on his middle finger and her feet just reached his wrist. Not believing that she had to be a full grown fairy, Robert went out searching for her broken wing. He stayed close to the ground, his nose touching the dirt. Free soil got up into his nose and there were times that he had to stop searching to cough. The fairy sat in his hand, staring at him for a very long time, wondering what he was doing as pain kept spreading throughout her whole body. Robert wanted to put every fiber into helping this poor little fairy to be able to fly back to where it had come from.

    And then he saw it. It rested on top of a fallen leaves, all around the shades of yellow, red, and brown. He picked it up gently, not wanting to ruin it anymore. Now he didn't know what to do. Looking around, he saw some sticky sap leaking from the trees. Could he use that? If he put together two leaves, made sure that they were held with the sticky sap, then made he could get her wing on long enough for her to get home. He rested the tiny fairy on the ground before getting some of the sap. Robert dug with his fingers to get as much sap out as possible. It stuck to his fingers as he tried to place the wing in the right place, a leaf behind it to help out a little. With the small spot where the break had happened, he could see the tiny vessels start to join together again. Maybe he wouldn't need to press it together with leaves. But just to make sure, Robert did. He found two small, thin leaves and pressed them against her broken wing.

    She fluttered her wings. Her feet lifted from the ground. Then she collapsed back down. Placing her head between her legs, she started to sob. Even for such a small creature, her voice wailed out loud like a human child.

    Robert didn't know what to do. He lay down on his belly and stared at the small fairy. She jumped at the sight of his brown eyes staring at her. Frowning, he beckoned with his finger gently for her to get up on her feet. She did so, staring at him long and hard. "Go on," he whispered lightly, fearing that since she was so small that speaking in a regular tone could deafen her, "your wings are healed now. You can fly, I know you can."

    A long stare continued before she stuck her chin in the air and tried her best to lift from the ground. Her wings worked harder than what they should have, and it worried Robert that maybe flying was not a good idea for her at the moment. If the wing got broken again, it would be hard to fix it, since the leaves were in the way to do anything. But, her feet lifted high off the ground, and she zipped away like a blue dragonfly.

    A few minutes later, Mary came back into the clearing, breathing very hard. "Robert," she gasped, "I don't think that we'll ever find that person."

    "I found her," he said. His sister stared at him for a long. "Really! It was a small fairy. She was very pretty. Her skin was a light blue color."

    "Robert," snapped Mary, "don't go making up silly tales like that."

    He hung his head as she grabbed his hand and hoisted him from the ground. They walked back to the trail. Robert kept glancing over his shoulder in hopes of seeing the small, pretty fairy again. Soon after, he started believing his sister's tale. While bored of having his sister looking around while he did nothing, he came up with a tale that he made himself believe.

    Only, twelve years later he would come back to the same exact spot, on his 22nd birthday. The same fairy that he had saved would be waiting for him. For his help, and to repay for what he had done to save her life.