by Sheila Bragg-Hopkins
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Ready or not here I come,” hollers the young boy. Pulling himself up fast, spinning around until he nearly falters, Liam carefully cast his green eyes all around him. Squinting at the glaring sun, he tries to see as far as possible in the distance. Where is she? I know she is here somewhere. But his eyes take him further in the distance again. Surely, she wouldn’t. They told us we weren’t allowed to go that far. Yeah, but this is Fiadh. She usually does whatever they tell us not to do. Sighing as he shakes his mop of red hair all about his pale face, Liam starts the hike up the green meadow, whistling in tune with the waves off the Irish coast as they clash with the rocks situated just below the bluffs.
Huffing and puffing as he keeps trudging upwards, he finally spies the small figure of a young girl. Darting her head side to side, she looks like she is trying to catch something. Why isn’t she hiding? She is supposed to be hiding. She knows how the game goes. One of us counts, the other one hides. I counted; therefore, she hides. Ugh! As she comes closer into his view, he sees her blonde curls bobbing all about her round face. “Fiadh! Why aren’t you hiding?”
“Did you see it? The light? Or maybe a flit. I swear it looked like a girl. A small girl. I think—darn it Liam. What took you so long?”
“What girl? I didn’t see any girl; didn’t see any light either. What are you even up here for? You know we aren’t allowed near the old well, Fiadh. If you keep doing things that get us into trouble, we won’t be allowed to play together anymore. You know how protective my parents are after…” his voice barely a whisper now.
Feeling bad, she stops moving about and says, “I’m sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean to come up here. I was going to hide in the big oak tree, but when I started to climb it, I saw something. A girl, I think. Maybe a light. Yeah, a light for sure.”
Spying that the sun was setting soon beyond the ocean, Liam places his hand into hers and says, “Come on, it will be dark soon. If we are out past dark, they will never let me play with you again. Or anyone else. And your grandma will be mad as well.”
“Okay, but Liam, I really did see something,” she insists sternly.
One year later…
Same red hair boy holding the little blonde hair girl’s hand again. This time, neither are speaking. Silence can never fill the void the little girl is experiencing, Liam knows this all too well. Some things, once lost, can never be again. That’s what his grandpa said, the day tragedy hit his family. I guess it’s Fiadh’s turn now. Her poor parents. All gone. Hit by a vehicle, just like Siobhan was. Dad is right, what is this world coming to?
“Fiadh? Did the retirement council say you could stay here with your grandma and grandpa?” he asks gently.
“Yeah. They understood I don’t have anywhere to go. Without them, I would be an orphan, Liam. I would be all alone!” she gasps out as tears fall from her pale blue eyes.
“No, you wouldn’t, I won’t allow that, Fiadh. We would run away together, I swear it,” he promises as they see the remaining guests pay their last respects to her parents.
Three months later…
“Hey, Mr. McDonough. Is Fiadh around?” inquires Liam.
“No, Liam. I think she went up to play at the meadow. She was supposed to come home for lunch, but you know how she is. She gets in her head so deep, she wouldn’t know if a troll was chasing her to carry her away. Visiting your grandparents again, are you, lad?” The old man asks. Liam nods in the affirmative.
“Is that you, Liam? You haven’t seen Fiadh, have you? She didn’t come home for lunch,” wonders Mrs. McDonough.
“No, mam, I haven’t, but I only just arrived. I can go look for her. I wanted to play anyway,” he answers.
“That’s a good young man, you are, Liam. Here, take these sandwiches with you. The two of you can have yourselves a right good picnic in the meadow. Remind her to be home before dark,” she instructs. He took the bag and set about searching for his best friend.
Three hours later, and dying to polish off one of those sandwiches, Liam mumbles under his breath, “Where can she be? I looked everywhere.” No, you didn’t. You know darn well you didn’t look up on the high bluffs where the old well is, and you know she is obsessed with that stupid well ever since she swore she saw something near it. Gee, Fiadh, why do you always have to go searching for trouble? Finally, seeing the big oak tree,Liam suddenly sees a flash. Then a figure of some sort. Abruptly, it vanishes! What was that? That is what she saw last year. A light of some sort, then a person. I swear, I saw a person too. She wasn’t fibbing, she really did see something. But, what, exactly?
Dropping the sack lunch, he takes off at full speed, bounding for the spot the figure disappeared to, just as rain clouds open up and deluge of water drenches him. Trying to see where the figure went next, he unexpectedly finds himself at the mouth of the old well. He sees a single purple sneaker with a light on it flashing next to some old stones that helped make up the well’s entrance.
“Fiadh! Where are you?” He shouts as loud as he can, looking frantically in the well.
“Here! I am here,” he hears her yell back, “Be careful, Liam, it isn’t safe. The well is crumbling, and the water is pouring in fast. You might get swept in it. Go get help. Hurry!”
Liam looks around and sees the water is making the well crumble into the murky pit below. Knowing he can’t make it to her grandparents’ house for help and get back in time, he starts pacing, trying to figure out what to do. Lightning flashes, and he hears thunderclap seconds later. He knows they don’t have much time. Deciding he cannot experience any more loss in this lifetime, he says to his dearest friend, “Fiadh! The well won’t hold. The rain is too fierce, and I promised you would never be alone. I am coming down to you.”
“No, Liam, you cannot, your parents, they cannot lose you too,” he hears her sobbing.
“She is right, Liam. You cannot die, and neither should she. I can save her. The well is filling up fast with the rainwater, but not fast enough before she tires. I can grab her; I can fly down the well with my wings and grab her. She is heavy for me, but the water will help me balance some of her weight. Please be ready to grab her. She is your destiny,” speaks a small girl with the same red hair as her brother. His eyes widen in recognition. He tries to speak but finds no words, as she continues, “I been waiting here for some time now. I always knew she would fall in one day. I saw it; we as faerie folk can do that. We can save her together, and then I must go to my new home. You understand, don’t you, brother?”
Liam nods his understanding, and together, the two red haired siblings rescue Fiadh.
Ten years later, a red hair man and a blonde hair woman are holding a small red hair baby girl. The mother says, “We never forgot you, Siobhan. Please meet your niece. We promise to always remember what you did for us.”
The father whispers, “I love you, sis.”
Leonardo Magazine 