A whole week went by, and Livia didn’t return. When Sunday afternoon arrived, I was starting to feel an awful feeling growing inside me. Early tomorrow morning I was to leave for boarding school, which was many miles away from home, in Bradford. I wouldn’t return until the summer holidays, and then only if Uncle Gordon and Aunt Ruth would still allow me to stay with them. From the fragments of conversation I’d overheard, though, it didn’t seem likely that things would turn out that way. I would almost certainly be sent away to live in an orphanage, and then Livia would never be able to find me again.

That Sunday evening I was allowed to eat supper at the table again. I sat and ate in silence, ignoring my cousins’ nasty remarks. After supper I went to bed feeling terribly depressed. For the few days that Livia had been in my life, I had experienced a joy and a love of life that I had seldom felt before, and, should I still be here tomorrow, would never feel again. I tried hard to focus my mind on something else, anything that would help me go to sleep easily. Just as I felt it was hopeless, though, something happened. Something marvellous.

That light! A gateway! She had come back, just like she’d promised! I was barely able to contain my excitement and happiness. The glowing ‘hole’ grew larger and larger, until it was big enough for a fairy to fly through. Scintillating golden wings vibrated through the air, and before my eyes another inhabitant of Faerie appeared, flying gently down and landing on my bed. It was not golden Zanthia, but a darker fairy, and, holding on to her with arms and legs tightly wrapped around her, was Livia.

She came running towards me as soon as they had landed, and I swept her up towards my face and kissed her. Tears were flowing freely now, and I laughed for the first time in many days. If anyone was listening outside, they would probably think that I was going mad; not that I cared in the least what people thought of me. I held my beloved’s little body fast against me, until I was certain she’d become soaked by all my tears. But she didn’t stop kissing me until I put her down again.

She was wearing a gorgeous red gown, which truly made her look like a fairy princess, and not at all like the scared, dishevelled little girl I’d found trapped in my bathtub. That incident felt so long ago now, almost like a distant memory. I tore my eyes off of her for a moment to look at the other fairy. She was also wearing a gown, but hers was dark green in colour. Her hair was even longer than Livia’s, and it was black with a reddish sheen. Her skin was a dark brown colour, against which her eyes shone like bright green stars. She looked significantly taller than Livia, and, from her wings, I assumed she was older than eighteen. Her wings had disappeared now, and she stood some distance away, looking at Livia and me with interest.

“I thought you’d never come back!” I blurted out, trying to make light of what had been a dark time for me. “But here you are…oh, Livia, I’m so, so happy! And…I’m so sorry I doubted you! I should have believed you, I know, but…”

“You don’t have to apologize!” she said, laughing. “Lucy, we’re about to begin a new life, you and I! You’re coming with me to Faerie!” She dashed over to my right foot and grabbed hold of my big toe. I stared at her, letting her words sink in. Were all my dreams really going to come true? I couldn’t believe it; it didn’t seem possible. She squeezed my toe as hard as she could, before letting go. She went over to the other fairy, who was still watching us with interest, and introduced her to me.

“Lucy, this is my friend Riala. I believe I told you about her? She has just finished several years studying magic, and she offered to take me to you, and to bring you back with us.”

“P-pleased to meet you,” I said. Talking to other fairies certainly was intimidating.

“And you as well, Lucy,” she replied. “I see Livia wasn’t exaggerating when she went on and on about how ‘wonderful’ you were. Now, don’t be afraid, I’m just going to cast a little spell on you. It won’t hurt a bit! Ready?”

She said a few words in a strange language and waved her hands in my direction. Immediately an indescribable feeling surged through me. I began to feel dizzy, and then I noticed that my clothing began to feel increasingly loose, and that everything around me was drifting farther away. With a gasp I realized that I was shrinking. Soon my legs were retreating into my skirt, and my blouse and coat ballooned above my head and collapsed on top of me. My underwear fell off of me, and I was now completely naked, and growing ever smaller beneath my increasingly heavy clothes. At last the strange feeling stopped. I lay gasping underneath the suffocating fabric of my clothes. Slowly I began to crawl, looking for a way out. Finally I saw light, and, when I poked my head out, Livia was waiting for me.

And she was no longer a tiny, delicate being the size of my finger, but a full-sized person, at least as tall as I was. I stared up at her and gaped. Only my nakedness prevented me from climbing out and embracing her. She knelt down by my head and giggled.

“The spell doesn’t shrink human clothes, only fairy ones,” she explained. “But I came prepared, thankfully.”

She gave me some type of pink outfit, which looked remarkably like the dress I had made for her. Unlike her elegant gown, it was only a simple dress, and I slipped into it in no time at all. I crawled out into the open air and clambered onto the heap of my former clothes. For a few seconds I looked around, amazed at how unbelievably vast everything now appeared. My bed stretched out ahead of me like a field covered in blankets. I was still looking around when I felt someone take my hand. I turned and saw Livia, face to face.

“Am…am I…” I began, at a loss for words.

“You’re still human,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist and bringing me closer to her. “You’ve been shrunk, but it won’t last forever, and we need to change you into a fairy as soon as possible.”

“Then I suppose…this is it. I’m leaving all my belongings, everything I have…”

“You can still come back for them later,” Riala said, standing by my side. “I’ll even take you, but for now I’m afraid we have to hurry.”

I looked into Livia’s eyes, amazed at how different she looked when she was my size. I could now see lots of details which were too small for me to notice before. She hugged me tightly and gave me a soft, tender kiss on the lips. The feeling was incredible, and I desperately wanted to feel more of it. Had I known how sweet another girl’s lips could taste, I would probably have gone after every girl in school, trying to persuade them to make out with me. But I also felt ashamed, ashamed that I had once thought this type of love to be evil.

“I’m ready,” I said. We both turned towards Riala. The dark fairy looked at us hesitantly, and I wondered what was the matter.

“I’m such a fool!” she exclaimed after I asked her what’s wrong. “Of course, I won’t be able to carry both of you at the same time! And I can’t make two trips, the gateway will close after I go back. We’ll have to open another gateway, or…wait a minute! Quickly, both of you, stand close together!”

“Why?” I asked. “What do you…”

“Oh dear!” Livia exclaimed, clutching me firmly against her side. “Hold on, dear Lucy, this could feel a little strange.”

Using both her hands, Riala cast another spell at us. A tingling sensation coursed through my body, and I held on even tighter to my fairy girlfriend. Suddenly I felt as if I was falling, and I shrieked loudly. So did Livia, but she never let go of me, and I never felt as if I were in danger. When the feeling stopped, I opened my eyes, and saw what had happened. We had been shrunk, both of us, to a size I couldn’t even begin to comprehend. I looked down, and saw the fabric of my woollen coat: each individual fibre was visible, and the folds around us seemed like hills and valleys. Further away were the walls and ceiling, their distances too great for me to take in without feeling dizzy. Livia and I sat down, holding on to each other for all we were worth. Then I saw something come over the fold of my coat. Something big and fast – and green.

“It’s Riala!” Livia cried out in wonder. “Hey! Riala! Down here!”

The green mountain approached us, until it stood so close that it towered over us. I now saw that it was the base of Riala’s gown. She looked about two hundred feet tall, but I knew she was actually less than six inches in height, and that it was we who were unfathomably tiny. A giant hand reached down from the sky and scooped up Livia and me. We huddled together in the centre of her palm, as her colossal face peered down on us, and a smile of amusement crept across her lips.

“Oh my, how tiny you are!” she said, gently mocking us. “You’re practically living dolls now! I’m certain there’s a little fairy girl who’d just love to have you as playthings!”

“Just wait until I get big again, you…monster!” Livia shouted, but I could see that she was actually enjoying the experience. “I’ll show you what a ‘living doll’ can do!”

Riala just tut-tutted at us. She grasped each of us between forefinger and thumb, her oversized digits gently pinching our tiny waists. Then she did something so shocking I nearly cried out in protest. She squeezed Livia and me carefully in between her breasts, right at the spot where the top of her dress hugged against her bosom. Livia and I were squashed against each other, and we had to wrap our arms around each other to get into a comfortable position.

“Wonderful thing, magic,” she winked at me. “Imagine how much fun you and I could have with it. Only three more years, love.”

“All settled in?” came a voice like that of a goddess.

Riala grinned down at us, clearly enjoying this much more than we were. But we weren’t in any way too uncomfortable, and if she wanted to have a little bit of fun with us, I didn’t mind – too much. We nodded at her and, after giving us a warning, she unfurled her great wings and took off. The speed at which she left the ground was terrifying, at least to a tiny person like me: I closed my eyes and buried my face into Livia’s chest. She held me reassuringly, and soon I was aware that everything was growing brighter around us. I still didn’t open my eyes, yet the brightness continued to grow, and I knew we were travelling through the gateway. Then came the most awful feeling, almost as if we were falling down an endless hole at incredible speed. It was too much for me to bear, and I fainted.

When I awoke, which wasn’t an easy process, I found myself lying on what felt to be soft grass. There were trees all around me and a sweet, flowery scent filled the air. Livia was kneeling by my side, and she helped me upright into a sitting position. Riala was there to help, too; she was no longer a giantess, but was the same size as we were once again. I sat hunched over for a few moments, my head still spinning fiercely.

“Sorry about that,” Livia said soothingly, running her hand up and down my back. “I’ve heard stories about how travelling between worlds is dangerous for mortals, but I suppose we were just careless. But we made it, I’m glad to say. Are you feeling all right now?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Where are we?”

“In the forest, near the temple where the queen and her priestesses are waiting. If you’re up to it, we’d best get you there as soon as we can.”

I stood up slowly, staggering a little. My clothes and hair looked rather tousled, and I asked Livia if the queen would mind.

“She must think me a poor representative of the human race,” I said, only half jokingly.

“Nonsense!” she replied. “On the contrary, she was delighted to hear that a human had shown such kindness and love to one of her people. I think you really surprised her, Lucy, and a lot of other fairies and pixies as well. Humans have a pretty bad reputation among fairies, as you’ve no doubt heard.”

“I’ll go ahead and inform them,” Riala said, her wings appearing behind her. “Oh, and sorry about the wild ride I gave you, Lucy. Sometimes even us Fair Folk can be a little inconsiderate.”