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Snow Fairies (4) : On a cold winter night, when the moon is nearly full and bright in the sky, you hear laughter. At first, you can't place it, but then you feel little pokes and prods, tugs on your hair, your clothes. Sometimes you think you see something out of the corner of your eye--a small, icy body. Sometimes you hear wings flapping in the night. As long as you are out in the cold, you feel eyes on you and you find yourself the target of small mischief from what seems to be icy little fairies, though they move too fast for you to see or grab. They never speak, only laugh. When you go inside, or venture anywhere with too much light or heat, they seem to disappear and do not bother you again.
The first tiny echo of laughter didn’t immediately bother Nis. It was cold and shockingly clear. That made for excellent conduction of sound. Some kids were probably out getting in one last sled ride before bed. And since she couldn’t feel anything chaotic around, she was inclined to let them have their fun. Her little wispy friend seemed to agree since it simply bobbed along in the air beside her. She would have been content to let it go with that simple explanation if it hadn’t been for the blur of motion just on the edge of her peripheral vision. It had been so fast and so small. Her rational mind insisted it was some silly little mundane thing. Like a bug.
The part of her mind that knew better, that knew this goddamn town, insisted that she’d just seen a tiny, icy fairy.
What felt like an absurdly small poke in the small of her back, where her gown draped open to reveal bare skin, sent a shiver up her spine. Spinning around, she tried to see what had touched her. There wasn’t anything to see, but she could hear laughter and the movement of wings all around her. Even the wisp seemed to know that there was something out there. It still bobbed along, but now it seemed like it was moving more… playfully? Maybe she was reading too much into how an amorphous wisp moved.
There was another tiny poke at her back, this time nearer her shoulder. Her hand snapped out, trying to catch whatever it was. Well, she thought as she studied her very empty hand, whatever it was, it was fast. Like, super fast.
The laughter and sound of wings flapping was louder now. Nis couldn’t detect any malevolence. Just that whatever was out there (oh for ******** sake, just say fairies, you sceptical a*****e) was highly entertained by her reactions. She felt something tugging insistently on her earring and turned in that direction, trying to ease the sensation. That provoked another round of laughter and she thought she felt a tiny, icy kiss planted upon her cheek, though she couldn’t see anything near her face.
“Look, while it’s great knowing that I am the most entertaining thing ever,” she said crossly, “y’all are kind of creeping me out right now!”
More laughter followed by pulling at her hair and gown. Nis gave up trying to see anything at that point, only wanting to keep from ending up as a statistic. She knew history and a fair bit of legend. She knew that fairies could turn mean if they felt insulted. So far, she wasn’t picking up that sort of vibe but this was also the first time she’d been pestered by fairies. The wisp that followed her around remained in its lane, unbothered. She’d take that as a good sign then.
Still. It was cold and she was getting tired or being poked and prodded by beings she couldn’t even see. It was time to head home. Breaking into a jog in order to get there faster, Nis powered down as she ran, followed by the sounds of laughter. Once she reached her own door, she opened it and threw herself inside. It was warm and most importantly, free of tiny, tinkling voices having a chuckle at her expense.
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