Rainbows
Written August 2002.

She heard a soft laughter coming from across the river. Her curiosity now aroused, she started slowly over the bridge, her tiny feet making no sound. As she crossed the bridge, she thought of who it could be - a friend perhaps. As she came to the end of the bridge, she felt a faint tingling on her skin, as if something had brushed her. She saw footprints in the sand, and she followed them, admiring the tall trees as she always did.

As the path ended she came upon a huge clearing. Funny, she had been here before, but she didn't remember a clearing being here. She remembered a road at the end of the trail. Nevertheless, she stepped out into the clearing. She saw a group settle in one corner of the field. As she crept towards them, she inadvertently stepped on a pile of leaves. The group turned around as one to look at her, and she started.

The group was not normal by any stretch of imagination. What are they? she thought to herself. They seemed to be something out of a fantasy story. There were creatures as huge and ugly and trolls at the back, and others that were tiny and had wings hovering over the group.

*Hello, my name is Sparklez. Who are you? We've never seen your kind before. And I am from the Fairys Realm. This clearing here is a crossroads from the different Realms.* came a voice in her head.

She started again. "What was that?" she said aloud without meaning to.

*Mindspeech* came the voice yet again. *We can understand what you're saying aloud... but I'm not sure if you'll understand us. This is the Crossroads, however, and each race understands the words of the other.*

"All right...", she said shakily. No one had ever mentioned anything to her about these creatures. She had thought that only humans existed in this world.

"Of course not" said the fairy hovering above the group. She knew the fairy had spoken in a different language, but she could comprehend it. The fairy laughed a tinkling laugh. "There are many beyond the human world. You cannot see us usually, for the only way to move between the worlds is through gates like the one you came through. Someone seems to have left it open. Or maybe you opened it."

Sarah stared at them indignantly. "You can read my thoughts!" she said.

"Of course," said the troll at the back. "But it does not interest us at all. We really do not care much about each others races."

"Well..." she said uncertainly, wishing she had never stumbled onto this gathering, if this was what it was, "I guess I could believe that. I'm a human and my name is Sarah. What is a gate and who are you?"

"The troll is Ragadu, " came Sparklez the elf again. "Lise is the fairy, Cymry is the horse, Alisa is the halfling, Skif the shadow, Semir the centaur, Iceshadow the dwarf, Lorinth the diva and Midan the triton. A gate is a means of transport to get from one place to another in seconds. It takes magic - power - to create, obviously. And the one you came through should not have been there. Care you to stay and join us?"

The last was a little too complicated for her to comprehend. Well, she thought. All I really need to know is that I kind of walked into this Crossroads place and I need a way back out. Aloud, she said, "I'd love to stay, but I have to go back to my world."

As if reading her thoughts, the horse nudged her. Go back the way you came, Cymry seemed to say. And should you ever wish to return, rub the stone. A stone dropped into her hand.

"Do not tell anyone of us," said the troll. "We do not wish to be known yet. One day, the human world will know, but right now, there is too much chaos for them to have to deal with us." She nodded numbly, trying to take in all that way new to her. She waved at her new companions and ran back through the bridge, remembering to seal the gate behind her.