There was a light at my window. A flickering, fluttering light and it drew me to it. Throwing off my blanket, I ran lightly to the window. With this closer angle, I noted that it wasn’t merely a light. There, fluttering at my window was a small girl with glowing wings; a faerie or pixie. It beckoned me outside. Enthralled by this dainty creature, I rushed into my dressing gown and old boots and tucked my short brown hair into a knitted hat.
Carefully, I quietly inched open the window until it was wide enough for me to climb out. Balancing on the thin window ledge, I watched as the faerie rushed towards me, bathing me blue glitter and sparkles. My eyes widened in shock and delight as my feet slowly lifted from that fragile beam into the open air. After a few moments adjusting to my new found weightlessness, the faerie beckoned me to follow her and I obediently complied, tailing the green light that she left behind. We soared around the village until finally we approached the woods. Finding the use in my feet again after the time in the air, I continued to allow the faerie to lead me deeper into the nest of trees.
A few moments later, we reached a clearing. With toadstools placed in a circle, each occupied by a dancing elfin girl, and with colourful faeries filling the air, it was just like the myths described. One faerie flew over to me, offering me a goblet of what seemed to be wine. Feeling rather grown up, I took a sip and, on deciding that I enjoyed the taste, downed the rest of the liquid. Suddenly the music started and my feet moved of their own accord. I was in the centre of the circle and the world became a vision of music and colour. The voices of the elfin women grew louder and wilder, the lights of the faeries growing brighter and more vibrant.
An all-encompassing mist engulfed my sight and I fell to the floor, blind and terrified. The voices lulled in what sounded like sympathy and soft hands lifted me upright, guiding me where they wished me to be. Now at their mercy, I followed them. Propped up by what felt like a tree, I sat down, calmed by the soothing voices of the elves. Panic soon returned as I felt the ground move beneath me. Rope-like tendrils, which I guessed to be roots or vines, began to wrap around my legs and torso, lifting me up and suspending me in the air. As I began to scream, the vines smothered me and, as I struggled, they only grew tighter. Losing consciousness, I felt myself being pulled back in the direction of the tree. The tree seemed to open, allowing me to be trapped inside and, vision restored, I realised that there was no exit. I was here forever. The Yggdrasil Tree, the House of Gaia, the Tree of Eden; it had claimed me as its own.
In the distance the cries of the changeling child could be heard. The perfect replica, she would ensure that I was never to be missed. Nobody would know that I was truly away with the faeries; that I now saw through the eyes of the world tree. And trapped eternally within my cage of willow, I wept.
Imagination Mansion 