While Aunt and Uncle were away the next morning, I remained behind to do some chores. I had to sweep most of the rooms clean, wash the dishes, dust the shelves, and anything else Aunt Ruth could think of before they left. For once I didn’t complain. I’ll be able to spend the whole morning with Livia, alone in the house. While I was busy washing the dishes, she sat on the windowsill, eating the food I’d given her. She seemed to find the experience of being in an oversized world fascinating. As I worked she told me more tales about her home; after a while I began to get really envious of her. Her life seemed like a paradise compared to mine.

Inevitably, the discussion turned towards love and relationships. Livia asked me if there was someone special in my life. I laughed, and told her no. Somehow, I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about boys, and I’ve never met a boy who was in any way interested in me. It didn’t bother me, though. The way I saw it, most of my life still lay ahead of me, and there would be plenty of time later pursue relationships of those kind. Right now, I just wanted to be the same carefree young girl I’ve always pictured myself being.

“How about you?” I asked her. “I bet every pixie you meet is immediately smitten!”

“Oh, come on, I’m not that attractive!” she laughed. “And, to be honest, I’d much rather have a fairy girlfriend than a pixie boyfriend. In fact, I don’t find boys attractive at all. Not in a romantic way, in any case…is something the matter?”

“I…maybe I’d just heard you wrong, but…did you say you’d rather have a girlfriend than a boyfriend?” I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard; my ears must have been deceiving me.

“No, you heard correctly. Lots of fairy girls fall in love with other fairies. One of my best friends, Riala, has a girlfriend, too. They spend most of their time making out – I get quite jealous sometimes! But I’m sure that, somewhere out there, there’s a wonderful, beautiful girl who’s perfect for me.”

“Stop! Livia, just…just stop! Don’t you know what you’re saying?” I had stopped dusting and was staring at her, aghast. She seemed to retreat inwards a little bit, evidently taken aback by my behaviour.

“Um…Lucy? I…I don’t understand what you mean. Did I say something wrong?”

“Something wrong? You mean, you don’t know? Livia, girls don’t belong with other girls – it’s completely wrong! Men are supposed to love women, and women should love men! Anything else is wrong!”

“But…why?” She shrank back even more.

“Because…because it just is!”

“Well, that’s not a very good reason!”

“Because that’s what it says in the Bible!”

“Oh, really? Well, our holy laws say that love, in any form, is sacred, and that anyone who is against two people loving each other is the one who’s wrong!”

She stared back at me defiantly now, and I realized that I had nothing to say. She had won the argument, or so it seemed. We were both silent for an uncomfortably long time, before Livia spoke up.

“Sorry about that,” she said belatedly. “I didn’t realize that things were different over here. I guess I just assumed…”

“So did I,” I said. “I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that, and I’m sorry too. Shouting never made anyone change their mind.”

“You still want to change my mind, then? Then I’ll save you a lot of trouble, and tell you that you won’t succeed. I could explain it to you, if you’re willing to listen, that is.”

“Er…all right. I suppose it won’t do any harm just to listen. Come on, let’s go and sit somewhere more comfortable.” I put everything down and held out my hand for Livia to climb in. My chores were nearly done in any case, and I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference once they returned. I sat down on a sofa in the living room and lay back comfortably. I put Livia down in my lap again. She took a moment to compose herself before beginning.

She certainly had a gift when it came to explaining strange concepts, and pretty soon I was able to see from her point of view. She explained that, since they were practically immortal, most fairies had little desire to have children. If more people keep getting born, and nobody dies, then pretty soon there wouldn’t be anywhere left for people to stay. That is why most fairies choose as their life partner the person they would want to spend their immensely long lives with, not the person who’ll provide them with the most children. In many cases, this person might be another girl fairy, or it might be a pixie; to the people of Faerie, such things didn’t matter. Livia’s own mother had married a pixie and had a child by him, but fairies were also capable of having children by themselves; they were, after all, creatures with great magic abilities, and there were many magic spells which would have such an outcome.

“I’ve always been attracted to other girls, as long as I can remember,” she explained. “My parents didn’t mind at all, and neither did anyone else. But now you tell me that you humans think it’s…I don’t know, evil or something? You don’t really think I’m a bad person, do you?”

“Oh, Livia, I…”

I couldn’t finish my answer, because at that moment I caught the sound of an automobile’s engine just outside. I quickly grabbed my little friend and rushed upstairs.

“They’re back!” I told her. “I’m so sorry, I must have lost track of time! I have to hide you now, but don’t fear, I’ll be back for you as soon as possible.”

Into the cupboard she went, and back down the stairs I dashed, arriving just in time to greet everyone. Fred, my elder cousin, was his usual disinterested self, and Edward…well, I could tell that my time of peace and harmony had come to an end. I had to make them all a big lunch, and Edward, true to form, had all manner of insulting remarks which he addressed to me. I ignored him: as long as they were merely words, and not actions, they didn’t bother me.

I went to my room at the first possible moment, desperate to get away from my unpleasant cousins. I decided to show Livia around my room, hoping to avoid bringing up the subject of our earlier discussion. She was interested most of all in my books, especially the ones containing all the fairy tales I used to love, and still do. We read a few of them together, and she laughed at the hopelessly inaccurate descriptions of her people which the human writers had drawn from their imagination. Of course, there were many things the writers got right as well, and Livia believed this was because fairies had often visited our world in the past and had told the humans about their ways. Nowadays, however, visits from fairies were almost unheard-of; there was a general agreement in the land of Faerie that the human lands had become too dangerous.

After we’d finished the third book, I went to the bathroom, leaving Livia sitting on my pillow. Just as I was about to return, I heard a loud scream coming from the adjacent room. I quickly dried my hands and hurried back. What I saw nearly scared me to death. Livia was still on the pillow, but she was not alone. A strange little creature had appeared, and it had grabbed Livia and was tearing at her clothes. The thing was about eight inches tall and covered in dark green hair. Apart from that, it looked almost human, and it was wearing clothes made from some kind of animal skin.

Livia screamed again, and I was shaken out of my daze. The thing had now pinned her to the ground, and had spread her legs apart. It tore again at her dress, trying to get it off of her. I ran to the bed, ready to help. Despite my great fear, I couldn’t stand to see my friend treated in such a despicable manner. I grabbed the furry thing and yanked it away from her. It screamed and yelled at me, but its words were in some strange language and I couldn’t understand them. Then it bit my hand. I shrieked in pain, and dropped the thing. It fell by my feet and began to attack me.

It got in one or two vicious scratches before I could do anything. Without thinking clearly, I suddenly lifted up one foot and stomped down on the creature. There was a sickening squeal, and dark green blood oozed out from beneath my shoe. I lifted my foot and, to my relief, saw the thing’s body dissolving into a strange green vapour, which smelled absolutely awful. Just then, the door flew open, and my heart nearly stopped.

“What’s all this racket?” Aunt Ruth yelled, gazing around angrily. Then she sniffed the air, and said: “And that smell…what on earth are you up to?”

“N-nothing, Aunt Ruth,” I stammered. “I…I was playing with m-my dolls, and…and one of them broke, and I’ll…I’ll fix everything, I promise…”

“Then do so! And if I ever hear such commotion again, I’ll have Uncle lock you up for the rest of the holidays, understand?”

“Yes, Aunt Ruth. I’m sorry, really…”

She slammed the door and was off. I heard her mutter some rude things about me, but I didn’t care; I was just glad that she fell for my excuse. The smell had almost disappeared, and there was now no trace left of the strange creature. I sat down on the bed and softly called my friend’s name. She emerged from behind the pillow, deathly pale and trembling. When she saw that we were alone, she sprang up and ran towards me, sobbing uncontrollably. I scooped her up with my hands and held her against my chest. Her dress was torn in a few places, something I would have to fix as soon as I could. Deep down, I felt it was somehow unfair that all this had to happen to her. Suddenly, the life of a fairy didn’t seem so ideal after all.

“It’s all right,” I said soothingly. “It’s gone now. Everything’s all right again.”

When she had calmed down sufficiently, I gently asked her what that thing was.

“The trow,” she answered. “The same one that attacked me back on the hills by the beach. I was hoping I’d never see it again, but…it just appeared, out of nowhere! It would have killed me, I know it would have! You saved my life, Lucy!”

“Just looking out for my little friend,” I said. “Please don’t start talking about you ‘having to repay me’ again! I just want your friendship, and nothing else!”

She pressed herself against me, hugging me as best as she was able. We may have argued earlier that day, but I no longer held anything against her. I even stopped caring whether she preferred to fall in love with girls or boys; it no longer mattered. She was a beautiful person just as she was. All these thoughts I wanted to say to her, but at that moment I didn’t have the chance. The handle of the door moved downward, and I just had time to drop the startled Livia down the front of my blouse before it opened. To my horror I saw that it was not my aunt or uncle, but my cousin, Edward. He came into the room as if it were his and smiled at me unpleasantly.