Katie hiked along the path to her house in the early morning light. She was returning from a visit to the general store in town. She clutched her purchases in one hand while she gestured rapidly with the other, talking in to thin air.
“I couldn’t say no to my own sister!” she hissed vehemently. There was the sound of chittering for a moment, almost like the sound of dry leaves, and then, “At least we have some time to warn everyone. We’ll have to make sure the dryads remain on their best behavior. If they can’t stay in their tree form, they will have to retreat further into the woods. The winged foxes will also have to vacate for the afternoon. Tell the rest of the fairies and pixies that their weekly get together will have to take place tomorrow, or at least later this afternoon.”
Katie continued to hurry and issue directions to an invisible being until she reached her home. It was this constant talking and muttering to herself that had earned her the nickname “Crazy Katie.” Everyone in town thought of Katie at the very least as a little odd. Katie knew what everyone thought of her, of course. That was one reason that she lived so far away from the center of town and inside the woodland boundaries. The other reason was actually quite practical. She was a member of the Magical Protection and Secrecy Force.
Ever since Katie was a little girl, she could see and hear things that no one else could. She would constantly talk about strange things that she had seen in the woods. It was an adorable trait as a small child, but it turned into something else as she got older. Katie stopped describing things she was seeing when she realized that no one else could see them.
Katie never questioned her sanity, but others did. When she was 12, she officially became a part of the Magical Protection and Secrecy Force. The centaurs had approached her with this position, and she had accepted gladly. She was tasked with helping to keep the magical realm hidden from anyone who didn’t have magical abilities. She moved into her own small cottage, deep in the woods, as soon as she was 18.
Katie was constantly taking care of and entertaining all sorts of magical creatures. As soon as she was inside her own gate, she called out, “All right everyone! I’ve got human company coming in half an hour, and everyone has to leave!” To an outsider, all they would have seen is a sudden furious windstorm where everything seemed to be blown every which way. To Katie’s eyes, however, a menagerie of creatures came out to protest.
“Aww, I was just about to settle down for my mid-morning nap!” a strange hedgehog with horns complained as it lumbered from underneath the hedge.
Several fairies flew out of the house and flitted around giving complaints like, “But today’s our weekly flower meeting!” and “Yeah, how are we going to organize our assignments?”
A young unicorn gave a little neigh of protest as it bolted out into the woods. The winged foxes flew out from their nest in the eaves in a flurry of feathers. Katie tried to appease them all. “Don’t worry! It’s only for an hour or two, and then you are all welcome to come back later.” As all of the magical creatures vacated the premises, Katie looked around her and sighed. Her house truly seemed deserted now. She was used to the hubbub of having everyone around her. Slowly, she started to straighten things up in her home and got ready for her sister’s arrival.
Half an hour later, Katie’s sister, Mary, knocked sharply on the door. Katie pasted a smile on her face as she went to answer it.
As the door opened, Mary smiled and said, “I love your rosebushes, Katie! How do you get such beautiful roses?”
Knowing full well that it was due to the fairies, Katie said, “Oh, I just make sure that they get enough water, but I think they are even more beautiful this year than they have ever been.” She hugged her sister and spotted a small satyr on the edge of the yard. Frantically, she waved it off before her sister could see.
They had a marvelous afternoon, according to Mary, but Katie kept spotting evidence from her previous visitors. She nervously slid a tiny flower wreath from one of the fairies under her couch. She nearly cried out when she opened the fridge and found a small snow bunny enjoying the cool. She nervously set it outside the window and lowered it to the ground while her sister talked about all the goings on in town.
Finally, Mary left, promising that she would come and visit again soon. Katie fervently hoped that “soon” meant not for at least a month.
Mary hadn’t been gone more than five minutes before Katie’s forest friends started to reappear. Katie welcomed them much more warmly than she had her sister, and with a much more genuine smile. Katie didn’t care if she was called crazy by the entire town. This is what she loved to do and where she loved to be.
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