I didn’t know what to say as it happened suddenly. Heather opened the door and I scrunched everything into my hands and stepped inside. I looked back at Heather and smiled, “Thanks, Heather. I am not sure what to say right now, but it felt good.” I stepped back and closed the door and heard Heather walking away. I did hear her say, ‘Yes, I did it!’

I turned around to see my Mom there, and I was sure she knew what happened. “I see something happened outside of the neat box in your mind. I hope you can handle it.”

I said, “But how do I handle it?”

Mom too was growing in wisdom as she didn’t try to fix me. “It takes time. I suggest you take one foot and put it in front of the other, be patient with yourself.”

Mom followed me to my room, not for a big talk, but to see what I bought and talk about my day. She said the new panties and the jeans were a sign that I was maturing. She suggested it was time to have a mother/daughter talk.

That night and the next day went well; come Thursday I wanted to stay home to see Marpe when she came. My parents insisted I go to school; right after I moved my things into Josie’s room.

Heather and I got a chance to talk during study time. Heather explained, “Like your little sister I never stopped believing. Micayla and I have talked from time to time. She is like having another sister. I don’t mean to scare you but my feelings for you aren’t the same.”

I said, “My feelings for you are not the same as I have for Micayla or other girls. They are more like I feel about Jeff. All I do know is I need time and space to find me. I don’t know if you remember about you splinter. It was a small thing, but important to me. It was buried but I used a gift of healing to get it.”

Heather said, “I wasn’t sure why I asked your help. I thought it was just my affection for you. But I realized along with your love there was something more. I have no problem believing you. I have imagined being your nurse.” I knew this was why I should have been to school today.

If I knew how to shrink my laptop and books; I would have flown home after school. I did hug Jeff and apologized I would get to see his baseball game. And yes, we also kissed.

My mother had stayed home from work to welcome Marpe. They were talking over some wine and cheese when I got home. Marpe was her young attractive self.

I joked if she flew to be with us because I could see her wings.

She said, “I can’t use them except in an emergency for protection. Three hundred years ago a council of faeries said I used them too often to act like a hero.”

“I thought, you were supposed to be?”

Marpe said. “I was like you are now; I had too much of the world in me. …I do like your enthusiasm and the fact you have grown as much as a faerie as a being.”

I heard someone come out of the bathroom; I turned around at it was Grandma Nora. I turned back around and noticed an old book on the table.

I rushed to her and gave Grandma a hug. After the hug, Grandma held me at arm’s length and looked at me up and down. My wings expanded and actually sparkled with a luminescence light show. Marpe encouraged me to take three deep breaths and try to relax. The light disappeared and the wings were back to their normal position.

We resumed talking and included Josie when she got home. But soon Mom sent Josie to her room to change out of her school clothes and to begin her homework.

Mom wanted to use the time to tell Marpe about my affection for Heather. Marpe smiled saying, “What’s the concern? Girls often explore their bodies and feelings and some are indeed attracted to one another. You talked Erin into taking her time and it sounds like she has. Her friend Jeni also has affection for Erin, but faeries don’t have relationships the same way beings do.” I blushed when mother looked at me. I hadn’t told her about Jeni’s affection for me, nor mine for her.

Come, Friday morning, very early Marpe and I made our way towards Faerie Island. I didn’t see when Marpe became faerie size. I too changed my size and we were able to go down and then into the faerie canyon. Princess Ayala met us there and Jeni was with her. Marpe and I both bowed to Princess Ayala.

Rise Marpe that I might greet you more warmly. Marpe rose and they hugged one another. Princess Ayala said, “Daughter Isy, come and greet your mother please.”

I did and was glad to feel her warmth for me. I went and greeted Jeni. I was relieved to see her wings and limbs doing so well. Marpe examined Jeni more closely and said she was ready to have the supports taken away. Marpe said to Jeni, “I see you have used your wings. How much flying have you actually done?”

Jeni bowed her head as she smiled. “You are not in trouble with me. It was to be expected being a faerie that you would try. I am glad that it looks like you were very careful.” Jeni lifted her head and was truly happy.

We made our way to a room where there was a table. Marpe prepared to make sure she was clean and ready to help Jeni. She had me wash up as well. She placed her hands in a solution and had a bowl of the solution nearby Jeni on a small tray.

Jeni was first on her stomach as Marpe worked on the back of the wings. It looked like Marpe was shooting the solution under the glued stems causing the glue to liquefy and come loose. Her small fingers continue to move under, loosen and lift the binding off of Jeni’s wings.

Marpe knows I am anxious to help, but she said, “Be patient there will be another time.”

It took over an hour for Marge to do the back of the wings. They let Jeni sit up and she enjoys the increased freedom of movement.

Jeni asked while Marpe had stepped out, “Do you still want to help in removing the bandages you set for my wings to heal?”

“Yes, but Marpe indicated I have to wait. However, that might be.” I didn’t hide my disappointment.

I was quiet when Marpe came back, but Jeni spoke up, “Couldn’t you give Isy the opportunity to remove some of my bindings? She was the one good enough to set them, this can’t be any harder than that.”

Marpe had two smooth chunks of wood, brought in. “Isy see those dried mounds of sap on the boards. Use some solution on them and use heat from your fingertips to remove them.”

I didn’t know I could emit heat from the tips, but I was sure it couldn’t be too difficult. I placed my hands flat and pointed as I saw with Marpe. It took time and even added effort, but the first nodule of dried sap finally lifted. The nurse wiped the spot and there on the wood was a burnt spot. Marpe asked, “What if that burnt a hole in Jeni’s wing, how would you heal it?”

I said, “That shouldn’t be the issue. I need to perfect that procedure before I do it on any patient.”

Marpe insisted we move to another room that was sterile. This time I watched more intently as Marpe freed the front of the wings from their bindings. This part took even longer because of the slight inward curvature of the wings.

I did notice that Marpe’s fingers were slightly above the wings and it was only one fingertip that I saw electricity jump from. I mentioned what I saw and Marpe said, “If I was disabled I might have tried to instruct you through the procedure if it were necessary. But I would still worry about the outcome and decide not to risk it. A mistake on a friend could have scarred your gift for life. Both her possibly being hurt, or scarring your gifts would have been too great a price to pay.”

As Marpe finished the procedure, she complimented: “Isy, you did a very good job in healing Jeni’s wings and arms. You can be very proud of that.”

I said, “You have a ‘but’ to say, please say it.”

She waited until we were alone before she said anything more to me. “It is your arrogance and ignorance again and I will not tolerate it when you are working with me or still in your training. You used Jeni’s sympathy for your gain that is behavior unacceptable for a faerie or a healer.”

Marpe hugged me, and I was confused as the words and actions were not congruent. She explained, “You are only sixteen as a being and barely a few weeks as a faerie. Princess Ayala is bringing you along well, but you are an infant as a fae. It would be like you trying this as a being of only three. That you did as much as you did excites us about you.”

She bared her left breast to me and asked me to suck from her as she pulled me to her breast. I knew to suck and not question her. My teeth felt like soft tissue and I tasted her milk. I had closed my eyes and when I opened them. I was finishing on her left breast. A blanket was put over me and I slept. It was seven when I woke.

I felt my teeth and could not understand what happened.

I was asked by Jeni to go and fly with her. It was good to see how well she was flying. We flitted from one flower where she ate some pollen and another where she drank some of the nectar. I asked, “Wouldn’t it be easier to drink more of the nectar of a flower than to go drinking from other flowers?”

The flower will last a day or two longer and produce more if we conserve at each flower. There are exceptions that you will learn in time. Jeni pounced on me as we entered one blossom. I became excited and what I learned was my clitoris became hard and grew. I got so excited that a secretion came from it.

Jeni said, “Another thing about faes in a rare instance two faeries like us. It is possible for one of us to impregnate the other. You have been a male being would more likely impregnate the natural female. …If you would sleep with someone who believes in us, you could do the same. Though no one in that world would believe it.”

I was sent to shower without Jeni being with me. Princess Ayala had us sleep in the same bed, but we knew it was as sisters.

Saturday and Sunday, Princess Ayala took time with me as my mother. I was waiting for her to indicate how much longer I needed to be with her. I was learning volumes of knowledge and experience. I was now accepting there was much more to learn. My spirit gained a sense of peace. Time was becoming less important.

“Before I send you back Erin; I want to encourage you to take your time in your relationships, especially with Heather who believes in us and Jeff. They have a relationship with each other that I want you to be considerate of. I know you have affections for both. As a young fae, your body and feelings can more easily well up with strong passion. As a being your body and emotions at a similar stage.”

“If it were most others I wouldn’t let go of you yet, but I know where you are in your development. You need more time as a human being right now. Both you and your Mother have grown more than I ever imagined in a short time. Her love for you is much more mature than it was. She loves you enough now to hold you responsible. You have matured to become more loving and responsible.

“You will surprise yourself with the wisdom you have learned as a fae. Even as a being you will always be a fae forever inside. Your life will be as a fae being. Hopefully, you will spend some time with us twice a month in your world’s time.”

“But I am not ready to leave,” I said, “I have so much more to learn.”

She said, “That is why you need to leave now and learn some as a being. If not now, you would have more trouble balancing the two worlds in your life. You cannot work through your relationships with Heather, Jeff and others from here. You need firsthand experience in growing there.”

I ask, “But which one do you want me to fall in love with? You know me better, that I know me. You probably know which one I will fall in love with and if it will last.”

Mother Ayala said, “You are baiting me like a child that I might answer your question. I do not know these things. They are yet to be determined by you. Life is a journey to be lived, not a place or any one decision.”

“Would you like to go back to your human family as Aaron and be a boy again, or to be Erin and remain as a human girl? …You will continue as Isy here.”

I asked, “What you’re talking about, are you talking about sometime soon?”

The Princess glows with a warm smile and the edge of a giggle, “Yes, I am ready to send you onto your new life now. But I am giving you the option of being Aaron or Erin.” I look at my Mom and I can see the rich aura glowing from her. It is the essence of her beauty that I’m seeing more than ever before. When I give her a hug I can feel that I within that glow, it tingles down into my bones.

I said, “I am wanting to continue as Erin. I am growing so much as her and it feels like that is who I always should have been.”

Mother Ayala said, “There will be a 2-3 week time I will have you as Aaron again when your school is out of session. It will be to give you the opportunity to live as Aaron again to make sure the choice as Erin is what you want and should be.

Princess Ayala visited with Marpe and took care of other matters.

Jeni took me and we went flying. She showed me Heather’s home, as well as Micayla and two others that I had not heard of. One was that of a not so pleasant person, who blamed the fae for something that happened in the past. One of Jeni’s tasks was as an ambassador for the community. I was like an invisible presence in the room when they visited.

I heard a child in another room and went to look. I entered by the crack under the door. The child was probably two, maybe three. Though she could see me, she wasn’t hearing me. When she knew I tried talking to her she became frustrated.

Being a faerie made it easy to look into her ears. One ear had no membrane and the small bones looked dystrophy. I checked the left ear and it was encased in a yellowy wax. I could hardly scratch the wax it was packed so hard. I warmed my hands and used them to soften the wax so I could move my hand around the edges. It was a while before I had softened enough areas to allow me to pull out the wax.

The young child was more content being able to hear me.

I went back into the good ear to see the structure of the small bones behind the membrane and then went to the other. I was able to duplicate the appearance but the ligaments and two connections I did not know how to heal.

I made my way out to where Jeni was and got her attention. I told her of the child’s problem and what I did to help. Jeni did not even know there was a child. Jeni told Hilde she heard a child. It was then Hilde responded with fear and guilt. It took minutes before Jeni convinced her the child was okay, in fact, better.

Hilde’s love for the child became evident as she hugged and talked to her baby. Hilde turned to Jeni, “You have another who went and helped her didn’t you?” Jeni was not sure if it would be good news or not. Hilde said, “I am grateful and only wanting to know you helped me.”

Jeni called my name and I appeared. I was introduced to Hilde Moore. I told her, “One ear is not working and needs to be looked at. And the good ear had wax caked in front of the eardrum and sound could not get through.”

Hilde said, “But I cleaned her ears as my Mama showed me with cue-tips.” She was alarmed when we told her that way often packed the wax further back and blocked sound from getting to it.

Jeni told me, “Hilde must be suffering from something called postpartum depression. She needs to get a doctor’s help. The normal anxieties should have been over a long time ago. She also is seeing a pediatrician for her daughter.”

“I think Marpe can be of some help as well; especially if an appointment is further out.” Jeni is open to that but thinks this is an emergency and should qualify her to get in immediately.

Jeni talks to Hilde who starts weeping. I can’t get in because I don’t have insurance, and I couldn’t get online to apply for relief. Jeni brightens up, “I know where a treasure is in her back yard.”

“Yeah, someone stole money, buried it here and forgot where she left it.”

“Almost correct,” Jeni said, “A British payroll was robbed between the battle at Montclair and before another at Monmouth. Two bags were emptied and buried under the base of a young tree. Now hush.”

“Hilde do you have those coins I gave you last fall? I tell you they are worth hundreds of your dollars,” Jeni said to Hilde, “And I know there are more.” Hilde brightens up saying she still had them. Then she became despondent again.

Hilde said, “My Mom told me I was a loser. That your coin was a tarnished button and worthless. That the treasure is no more real than you are.”

I asked, “Is that why you are angry with Jeni because you quit believing Jeni’s a Faerie?” I pinched Hilde, “Was that your imagination or are we faeries? If you get the coins, I will look for a silver cleaner.”

Jeni helped push Hilde up, and Hilde says, “Off of the kitchen there is a closet with cleaning supplies. It should be there.”

She found the three coins wrapped in a handkerchief. I found the silver polish with an old rag next to it. She used a bristle brush to help scrub the coins with the cleaner. Not the best way, but it got two showing silver rather quickly.

Hilde smiled, “I need to clean up and get my child to an emergency room. I don’t want them thinking I’m crazy. Or that I neglected Clarice. She needs help and I don’t want her to lose me when I’m becoming healthy.” The shower is running as we wash Clarice in a deep sink.

Hilde took her Clarice to the emergency room in New Brunswick. She was right they would not look at her child without proof of insurance or her Medicaid card which she did not own. Jeni was on her shoulder saying, “Tell this woman to ask for Bradley Rodgers in finance he can approve using these coins and he knows their value better than you do.”

Hilde asked nicely, holding her bubbling temper. “I request that you ask Mr. Bradley Rodgers in your finance department if these are acceptable.”

She then saw a police officer. “Sir while I am waiting here to have my baby helped can you get someone to watch my house so it isn’t robbed.” The officer looked at Hilde and suspected she was crazy. That would last until Mr. Rodgers came and checked the coins.

Mr. Rodgers came, quickly saying the hospital didn’t usually accept coins. When he saw the first coin he requested a magnifying glass. And asked, “Do you know what these are?”

She replied, “They’re British, they were robbed from their army. They should be very valuable.”

“Yes, they are, more so, if your story is true and we can verify it. Don’t let the British government claim the treasure. They lost the coins, and they lost the war. They would be considered forfeited by the British and not yet in the American Army’s possession. They should be yours.”

Rodgers turned to the person registering the child. “Give her a paper saying she has given them in lieu of payment. We will owe her both coins when she can make payment. …Hurry and get a doctor, not a resident to see the child and her mother.”

He looks at the officer nearby, “Are you here to guard her?”

“No, she asked me to get someone to guard her home. I thought she was crazy, but I’ll get on it right away.”

The first doctor asked for a pediatrician specialist. Dr. Marcy Childs came and in checking Clarice said, “This is peculiar, you know your child is presently deaf in this ear.”

Hilde said, “The other ear had been blocked by wax, but is now clean.”

Dr. Marcy asked, “Can you tell me who cleaned this ear and reset the bones in the other ear?”

Hilde said, “Do you believe in things you can see?”

Marcy said, “I’ve seen several things I couldn’t explain. I am open to hearing about this one. You couldn’t get in to be seen before, so I’m open. I will even close the door.”

“Please close the door,” Hilde asked? …Now does your imagination to believe in good fairies.”

Marcy said, “I love good folklore, but I haven’t seen any nor friends who claimed they did.”

“But you are open to believing?” Hilde said, “Relax and look at my shoulder.”

“Wow! That has to be my imagination.” She looked again and couldn’t see Jeni though she was there.

I said, “Can you hear me, I’m on your left shoulder.”

Marcy asked, “Are you the same one or are there two of you?”

“There’s two of us but you now need to focus on Clarice and her mother. You won’t be able to see us until you’re done.”

We became invisible with the exception of Clarice. I left the room and it was decided I would fly back home to Ayala. Where I informed Ayala, Marpe, and Marie about where Jeni was.

Ayala, “I insist you go home and trust us to go help Jeni and the Moores. Let’s see if you can trust and obey for once.

I couldn’t get them out of my mind, but I knew I could trust Ayala and Marpe to help. I knew I had to pass this test, as hard as it was for me.

I hugged and said my goodbyes. I wanted to hug and kiss Jeni but knew I couldn’t. I was ready to fly back home and become Erin again. Princess Ayala came to me and I bowed to her. “Daughter, this journey is done and there will be others. We will get word to you about Hilde and Clarice.”