I am about seven years old now. I tied off one last stitch and held the tiny pink shirt up to the evening light. 

Mama said that I was human when I was born, and we lived with Papa for about a year and a half afterwards. 

She never told me why we left, but I am sure she had a pretty good reason. The only thing she told me about him is that he is a noble from the north.

She passed away about two years ago. I miss her a lot, but my colony has always felt like my family. They have always been there for me.

My Aunt Estella keeps an eye on me, but I mostly live in my own room in this garden. 

Our colony lives in the garden of a human noble lady. 

We could technically leave if we wanted to. Nothing physically keeps us here. No fence we can’t pass right through, no guards waiting for us, but this place is good protection from wild animals and poachers, so we stay.

Humans see us fairies as nothing but play things or decorations since we are so small and relatively defenseless. If we tried fighting back against a large human, we would surely die trying without even being able to hurt them.

Occasionally, we have to deal with the nosy guests the Lady brings around, but most of us just try to keep our distance. I can’t say the same for the rescue fairies.

She brought them here broken and scared, gave them a safe home away from the dangers they lived with constantly. They would do anything she asked.

She doesn’t treat us poorly, so it is not bad here. It is interesting to watch the humans at their table, talking and drinking tea. Though, I try to stay out of their sight when I can. Since I age slower, it is obvious that I am not a full-blooded fairy.

Auntie Estella says that the trade would rip me apart if they ever found me. It scares me to even think about it.

It isn’t too difficult to stay hidden and out of the human’s way since she doesn’t seem to care that much about remembering us. She keeps us to show to her fancy human guests she brings around, we are more like pets.

I can’t imagine having to wear those big dresses they have to wear. It makes me happy that we don’t have to dress like that. 

I usually just wear my shirt and shorts I made out of spider silk. I used dried flower paste to make them pinkish.

It isn't nearly as fancy as what they wear, but it's comfortable, and it's easy to work in.

As I flew home, I passed dozens of tiny doorways carved into the wood. Most of the colony lives inside the wall, though a few families prefer the trees beyond the garden.

While others live in hiding spots around the garden. 

My room sits on one of the corner beams near the top of the wall. A pane of glass above it lets me watch the stars late at night and the sunrise every morning.

Though it gets pretty warm in the summer… 

We live in what humans call the ‘South Region’, so we don’t see any snow. I hear snow is this big, white, and fluffy stuff that falls from the sky. It is super cold and melts when you touch it.

My days are pretty peaceful, I usually do my work at night. I hire the soldier fairies to find me spiders, I then harvest thread and other stuff from them.

After that, Mrs. Winsley weaves the processed thread into fabric, and I turn it into clothes and other things for the colony.

Tonight though? I am just enjoying my peace and quiet while I sit on the roof, watching the sunset.

As fresh air fills my lungs, I notice my friend Gustor, flying towards me. 

Gustor is only six years old, but he's already fully grown. I can't help feeling a little jealous. He's younger than me, yet he looks like an adult.

He has purple hair and amber eyes. He's always looking out for me and never hesitates to lend a hand.

“Have you heard yet?” Gustor landed lightly on the glass roof, his usual cheerful expression nowhere to be seen.

“Heard what?” I tilted my head.

“Oliver overheard the Lady talking.” He glanced back toward the garden. “She wants to move the colony.”

“Moving us?” My stomach tightened. “Where?”

He shook his head. “No idea.” He let out a quiet sigh. “But I think we should be ready for anything.”

Mama found this place while the colony was still settling in. I was only two then, so I don't remember any of it.

The other fairies welcomed us with open arms and have treated me well ever since, even with my human side. Even after my mother died, they treated me as one of their own.

“Should we gather up our things?”

“That’s what I would recommend…” Gustor lets out a heavy breath.

I forced a smile. “I'm sure wherever we're going will be nice.”

Gustor looked at me for a second before returning a small, uncertain smile. “...I hope you're right.” 

I stand and wipe off the dust from my shorts. I should gather my things from my room so I don’t lose anything. 

I glided down into the wall.  As I walk down the hallway, I notice some familiar faces through the openings.

Erwin is the lead gardener fairy, he and his wife tend to the garden and help to provide us with food for when the lady is away. She usually feeds us sweets when she is here, but the garden provides many other foods that the lady doesn’t usually give us.

Oscar and his wife Ellie are about to have a baby, I hope that the move isn’t bad for the baby… 

After reaching my room, I let out a breath and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. This place is a bit of a mess… 

I slipped a few spools of thread into my pocket.

Every fairy is born with a magical pocket, a little space only we can create to store our belongings.

It's incredibly useful, but it comes with some annoying rules. Everything I put inside has to be tied to someone by name. It doesn't have to be their real name, just the name I think of them by.

If a fairy dies, everything in their pocket goes to the person those items were meant for.

The size of a pocket depends on how much magical power a fairy has. Mama's wasn't very large, though she could turn herself into a human whenever she wanted. Mine is much bigger.

I must have inherited my magic from Dad.

I don’t know what he looks like but…

I pass by my mirror shard on the wall and look at my white hair and deep purple eyes. I can probably guess since my mama had brown hair and auburn eyes.

I carefully take down the mirror and put it away, continuing to pick up random things from the floor and throwing them in as well.

I never really had any interest in finding him or learning about the human world. In fact, humans terrify me… 

They are big and clumsy, one wrong move and I could become fairy dust, squashed like a bug on the window. Just being around humans makes me shake uncontrollably… 

I am sure he is probably a good human, but I am not willing to try and find out.

Soon, I finish cleaning up, and the only thing left is my hammock, hanging from the ceiling by sticky thread.

I ran my fingers over the sturdy thread. I made this after Mama died, when I got tired of sleeping on the floor alone. It is made of thread I twisted and made larger into rope, I tied them to make a bed for myself. It took me almost a year to finish.

Inside is my big blanket that Mrs. Winsley made for me. It is so warm and cozy!

I stretch out my arms and flutter my wings. There is no way of knowing when we will be moved, but there is no use waiting around for it to happen. I’m gonna try to get some sleep.

As I climb into my hammock, I take one more deep breath and look up at the night sky.

The stars are so bright tonight, maybe it’s a sign of good things to come.