Fairy Tales is the umbrella title for my stories involving sprites. The sprites, as I've depicted them, are children of the Spirits of Earth, Water, Sky, Fire, Night, and Sight. As I write more stories about the lore and lives of the sprites, I will keep them here. The flagship story of the series is Bowman of Wellwood, perhaps known by its working title of Seeing Eye to Eye.
I hope you'll enjoy the stories and worldbuilding I have to offer.
Sub-Galleries 5
Literature
Bowman Leafwing Shorts
Flying Lessons
"Did you see that one, dad?" I called, absolutely bouncing with pride. It was the first time I managed a midair turn and landed almost perfectly, only stumbling backwards a few steps. Until then, I had inevitably fallen flat on my back, often squashing my poor wings in the process. It was hard to figure out how to redirect momentum the right way so a graceful landing was possible.
"I did! I'm proud of you," my father answered as he strolled up. He was grinning at me and his large, leafy green wings were fanning open and closed ceaselessly.
"I can't believe I didn't fall!" I said, awed. It was hard to land backwards! Ten time
Bowman of Wellwood
6
Literature
Rain is a Good Thing
Jacob pursed his lips in an effort to school his expression. He’d definitely heard the sound of Bowman’s landing, though he hadn’t expected it at all. He tread carefully on grassy patches and whatever stones he could find until he could catch up, and then he squatted down so he could see.
Bowman sat up and lifted his arms and wings out of the mud he’d careened right into. Globs of soaked earth dropped from the limbs with tiny plops and Jacob bit determinedly on his lower lip. It wouldn’t do any good to laugh now.
Even covered head to toe in mud, it was very easy to tell when Bowman was about to boil over.
Wild
Bowman Lost
16
Literature
A Little Change (7 and 8)
Jacob’s eyes were wide as a sense of weightlessness settled over him. Tucked next to Bowman’s heart, he could hear and feel the sprite’s excited pulse. The image of how high up they were stuck in his mind, even in the dim lighting Bowman allowed him.
Then they were falling and Jacob’s whole body froze.
Wind whipped past just outside the small haven Bowman made with his hands. Some gusts filtered past the huge fingers and whipped at him before they were gone again, and the water soaking his jacket became the least of Jacob’s worries. All he could think about was Bowman losing his grasp.
He could swear he heard
Size Swap
4
Literature
Christmas Lights, Christmas Sprite
After the hustle and bustle leading up to the holiday, nothing suited Jacob more than lounging on the couch.
The living room was kept tidy, with the rug vacuumed and the coffee table free of the usual craft magazines that adorned it. There was a low fire in the fireplace, behind a worn metal grate to keep any errant sparks at bay. The furniture, well worn from years of use, had been pushed aside from its usual arrangement to make room for a tall addition that glittered and glowed.
The Christmas tree was rumpled on one side, so they’d set it up with that part facing the wall. The rest was adorned with sparkling ornaments, and a string
Non Canon Stories
1
Seeing Miscellany
2
Visiting Hours by PL1, literature
Literature
Visiting Hours
“So, I guess it's been a while,” Jacob murmured, a deep bass voice uttering quietly from his chest. In the distance, someone walked their dog, and the little creature frolicked along smelling flowers and barking at birds. Crisp winter air contrasted with the pure blue sky overhead, a picture perfect day. There wasn't even any snow on the ground.
He'd always found it funny, in a grim sort of way, that it never rained when he came there. The movies always sold the impression that it should rain when someone visited a graveyard.
Jacob lowered his gaze from the dog-walker to the plot he'd come to visit. His hands, so shaky and unsta
Bowman flitted to and fro while Jacob walked along the forest floor, his heavy steps crushing twigs and leaves beneath his boots. The pair made an odd sight navigating the woods. Where one was only four inches tall and glided on wings mimicking the leaves all around them, the other stood over six feet tall and sported a worn out hoodie.
They were as different as they could be, but they’d managed to build an easy friendship over Jacob’s visits to the forest. Bowman, despite all of his complaints about human nonsense, never stopped coming up with more questions.
Up ahead, Bowman saw something glinting in the sun and grinned. He ha
The sky above Jacob’s clearing had been a murky grey all morning. The springtime brought with it new, vibrant green leaves to form a brand new canopy over the forest of Wellwood, and that green crown formed a ring around the steel grey overhead. Jacob had made the trip hoping for more sun, since it meant his small friend would have more energy to be out and about.
That hadn’t stopped Bowman. They’d met at the clearing as they usually did. Bowman had made it part of his routine to check the clearing every day just in case Jacob popped in for another visit to the forest. He didn’t live nearby, and so it was never certai
Camping had a rugged charm to it that couldn’t be replaced. Jacob always enjoyed a chance to hike out to the middle of the woods where he could relax and ignore the outside world for a while. He could sit in his clearing and watch the blue sky give way to yellows and purples before finally allowing a black stage for the stars.
Sleeping under those stars, glancing up before he drifted off to spot a shooting star streaking across the sky. Dozing off at last to the gentle sound of the breeze in the canopy. Dreaming peacefully and hoping the following day would bring a visit from his best friend.
Waking up with a small green shape right i
The main room was cozy and warm. Candara had Prayed all morning to bring warmth coursing through their home branch, and the Earth Spirit’s magic granted them a warmer home despite the bitter cold outside. The breeze leaking through the shaded windows promised that stepping outside would require several layers.
Bowman was restless as he was every winter, but he didn’t feel like going out just yet. In the deadest part of winter, his wings twitched with shivers and the desire to fly both. Today, he remained inside with the others to avoid that chill.
Candara and Larxe sat together on one of the cushioned benches in the room, their
(Note: Short story contains references to cancer and an ailing family member )
“Jacob, baby, you can come in the room if you want. He’s awake and we can all talk for a while.” Jacob looked up from his waiting room seat to see his mother’s tired face peeking out of the thick hospital door. The bags under her eyes had become a constant feature of her face, and her curls were always untucked from her hasty ponytails lately.
Jacob always pretended he didn’t notice. He had made the mistake of asking her once why she was so tired, wasn’t she sleeping? She had broken down into tears and apologized to him over an
Bowman couldn’t sleep, and usually when he couldn’t sleep, that meant his wings twitched and he tossed and turned for hours before giving in. Tonight, he wasn’t going to do that. He lay in his bed and almost glared at his window and the serene light that broke through it. The moon cast its cool, sharp glow upon the village of Wellwood in shining bars that mimicked the golden light of its sky sibling.
Moonlight might not be quite as refreshing as the sunlight, but Bowman knew that flying through it was just as peaceful, just as liberating.
He sat up in his bed, the oval-shaped basin in his room, and stretched his wings care
The springtime always brought joy to Rischa’s heart. In part because it was her birth season and marked her growing another year old, but even more because of the joy it brought everyone else. The cold of winter melted away and brought with it warmer sunlight and longer days, which the wood sprites of Wellwood celebrated heartily.
One particularly shining spring day, the forest was full of the smell of the previous night’s rain in the soft earth. The sweet fragrance of maple was tinged with the sharp scent of grass and wildflowers, and many sprites were busy collecting fallen pine needles from the ground around the home trees.
R
Jacob was so absorbed in finishing up his homework, he didn’t notice the quiet at first. Out in Wellwood, in the clearing that the wood sprites had dubbed ‘his’, the wind whispered peacefully in the trees. The sky was an even mix of pale blue and the fluffy gray-white of the clouds scattered about.
The forest, private land with a fence to keep most people out, was an idyllic place far removed from the rest of the world. Jacob hardly had any bars on his phone. It wasn’t the first time he’d brought his homework out to try to get something done while he was relaxing out there.
However, there was usually a voice ch
Flying Lessons
"Did you see that one, dad?" I called, absolutely bouncing with pride. It was the first time I managed a midair turn and landed almost perfectly, only stumbling backwards a few steps. Until then, I had inevitably fallen flat on my back, often squashing my poor wings in the process. It was hard to figure out how to redirect momentum the right way so a graceful landing was possible.
"I did! I'm proud of you," my father answered as he strolled up. He was grinning at me and his large, leafy green wings were fanning open and closed ceaselessly.
"I can't believe I didn't fall!" I said, awed. It was hard to land backwards! Ten time