Mirror Dreams
Faerie Mushrooms
Jodie shot upright as if a jolt of landing heavily had woken her. She looked around and saw that the pillow and Sundance had vanished. The sweet smells that had lured Jodie to a strange sleep still lingered slightly in the air; but they no longer gave her any pleasure and instead made her want to hurl. The second thing she noticed was that the willow trees that had made the walls of the circular room had vanished, as had the waterfall. She suddenly felt very lonely; she was just a girl in a bed in the middle of a field. She stood up off the bed and looked in all directions. The field was golden corn, tall and straight and sadly appeared to be endless. Silence filled the air as Jodie listened hard for signs of life out in the mirror world. A gentle tinkling and bubbling came from her right; a stream perhaps. She headed towards the sound and was glad to hear it growing louder as she got closer, it meant she was heading in the right direction. The field of corn ended and a steep slope of grass started. Jodie looked down and saw a tiny orange brook, she also noticed there was quite a large stretch of grass between the brook and the end of the hill. That was good. Jodie smiled broadly as she lay down and stretched herself out across the peak of the slope. She rolled over, and the over and over again and again laughing as she rolled faster as the momentum took over. The hill ended and she rolled on a few more turns until it was her own energy doing the rolling and she stoop up, giddy with dizziness. She stood still for a few minutes as she let her breath and heart beat get back to normal and felt the blood spread out around her body to its correct quantities. She strode over to the brook and gazed at it, it was narrow and shallow. The orange water was also more translucent than most the coloured rivers she’d seen on her travels; she could see rocks and strange sparkly fish swimming upstream. She brought her attention back to real life, if she could call it real, and stepped over the brook onto the other side. She sighed as she found more grass, and trudged on despondently.
Eventually Jodie came across a field of mushrooms. She remembered the time she found some growing in her garden and she had kicked at them till they came off their stalks. This field was different to her garden though. In her garden there had only been about five small mushrooms but here the field was full of them. Some were tall, as tall as Jodie's knees but most were about as big as the ones in her garden. It was the colours and the amount that scared Jodie. She didn’t want to walk through them but could see no other way round. The colours were all the colours of the rainbow and many more colours Jodie had never seen before. Some were bright with brighter spots and some were dark with darker spots. No mushroom was the same. The urge she had felt when she was a young child came back and she raised her leg and kicked hard at the nearest mushroom. She felt slightly happier from it and kicked a few more. Each time she saw the head of a mushroom leave its stalk a sliver of happiness worked itself back into her soul for instead of seeing the mushroom head she saw Sundance’s head instead.
“That’s for leaving me,” she said as she kicked a mushroom, “and that’s for leaving me again. And that’s for getting me into this mess in the first place!”
She shouted louder and kicked harder with each frustration. She most likely would have kicked her way across the field and left a trail of destruction behind her if she had not been stopped.
“It is the murderer!” A squeaky high pitched voice said loudly. Jodie repressed a shudder as she recognised it. Looking down her fear was confirmed. It was the little grey faerie who had pulled her into this world.
“Why are you destroying our homes?” asked another voice that was slightly less squeaky. Jodie looked at this faerie, it too was grey with translucent wings and wore some type of plant for dress, but on its head was a crown of daisies.
“I didn’t know they were your homes. But I jolly well feel like destroying them even more now I know that. You’ve ruined my life dragging me into this godforsaken world with strange creatures and...and...and.” All the energy and anger that had fired up Jodie drained out of her as she looked at the vast amount of faeries surrounding her.
“She is a murderer. I say we kill her!” the original faerie voiced his opinion loudly as the others cheered in agreement.
“No! She is not a faerie and therefore does not get punished under our rules. As I am queen I have the last say and I have decided to take her to be punished by someone who is closer in appearance to her than we are,” the faerie with the crown said firmly. All the other faeries cheered at this while some turned a sickly colour at the thought of whoever Jodie would be taken to.
Jodie laughed cruelly, “And how do you expect to take me. I shall not come willingly and I hardly think you are larger enough to take me anywhere.”
She saw her mistake straight away as the faeries straightened up, a steely glint in their amber eyes. The noise was deafening as they rose as one into the air, their wings beating away like hummingbirds. They advanced on her, Jodie tried to back away but found more faeries blocking her on that side. Suddenly they darted towards her, some flew upwards, some downwards and some straight on as they lifted her into the air and flew her away to the mysterious person who was to condemn her fate.
Eventually Jodie came across a field of mushrooms. She remembered the time she found some growing in her garden and she had kicked at them till they came off their stalks. This field was different to her garden though. In her garden there had only been about five small mushrooms but here the field was full of them. Some were tall, as tall as Jodie's knees but most were about as big as the ones in her garden. It was the colours and the amount that scared Jodie. She didn’t want to walk through them but could see no other way round. The colours were all the colours of the rainbow and many more colours Jodie had never seen before. Some were bright with brighter spots and some were dark with darker spots. No mushroom was the same. The urge she had felt when she was a young child came back and she raised her leg and kicked hard at the nearest mushroom. She felt slightly happier from it and kicked a few more. Each time she saw the head of a mushroom leave its stalk a sliver of happiness worked itself back into her soul for instead of seeing the mushroom head she saw Sundance’s head instead.
“That’s for leaving me,” she said as she kicked a mushroom, “and that’s for leaving me again. And that’s for getting me into this mess in the first place!”
She shouted louder and kicked harder with each frustration. She most likely would have kicked her way across the field and left a trail of destruction behind her if she had not been stopped.
“It is the murderer!” A squeaky high pitched voice said loudly. Jodie repressed a shudder as she recognised it. Looking down her fear was confirmed. It was the little grey faerie who had pulled her into this world.
“Why are you destroying our homes?” asked another voice that was slightly less squeaky. Jodie looked at this faerie, it too was grey with translucent wings and wore some type of plant for dress, but on its head was a crown of daisies.
“I didn’t know they were your homes. But I jolly well feel like destroying them even more now I know that. You’ve ruined my life dragging me into this godforsaken world with strange creatures and...and...and.” All the energy and anger that had fired up Jodie drained out of her as she looked at the vast amount of faeries surrounding her.
“She is a murderer. I say we kill her!” the original faerie voiced his opinion loudly as the others cheered in agreement.
“No! She is not a faerie and therefore does not get punished under our rules. As I am queen I have the last say and I have decided to take her to be punished by someone who is closer in appearance to her than we are,” the faerie with the crown said firmly. All the other faeries cheered at this while some turned a sickly colour at the thought of whoever Jodie would be taken to.
Jodie laughed cruelly, “And how do you expect to take me. I shall not come willingly and I hardly think you are larger enough to take me anywhere.”
She saw her mistake straight away as the faeries straightened up, a steely glint in their amber eyes. The noise was deafening as they rose as one into the air, their wings beating away like hummingbirds. They advanced on her, Jodie tried to back away but found more faeries blocking her on that side. Suddenly they darted towards her, some flew upwards, some downwards and some straight on as they lifted her into the air and flew her away to the mysterious person who was to condemn her fate.