Free A Fairy's Guide to Disaster by A W Hartoin

in the house. They just found an empty spot and burrowed in. Nobody minded. Other families moved in when they needed a place. It was the changing of the name that bothered people. I once heard Grandma Vi describe it as disloyal. Disloyal to what? Was Gerald’s family disloyal to their original tree?
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I guess they must’ve left the Ogle house for a reason. I never thought about it.”
    Soren’s mother squeezed my shoulder. “About this little boy, who are you looking for?”
    “Gerald. He’s about this tall.” I gestured the appropriate height. “His wings are not as…” I stopped. I was going to say that his wings weren’t luminescent like mine because he wasn’t a Whipplethorn, but it didn’t seem like the kind of thing Soren’s mother would want to hear. “His wings are blue and grey.”
    “Why did he leave you?” asked Soren.
    “He wanted to find his parents. I tried to tell him to wait, that they would find us. But he climbed out the window and ran away.”
    “So your parents are gone, too,” said one of the other dryads.
    “Yes, but they didn’t leave us. It was an accident.” I flushed and looked around, daring anyone to say otherwise. “I’m the babysitter and I decided we had to stay together when the humans came. Maybe I should’ve let him go when we were still at Whipplethorn.”
    “Tell us what happened,” said Soren.
    He gestured for his family to sit in a semi-circle around me. They carefully folded their long legs and arms in and waited for me to tell my tale. I bit my lip, searching for the words to explain what had happened.
    “Humans came,” I said.
    “They always do,” said one of the dryads.
    I told them everything about the humans, the mantel, Gerald, baby Easy, and my sister, Iris. The dryads asked few questions. They seemed to know everything before it happened in my story. When I finished, Soren rose to his feet and told his family to do the same. It was a slow process.
    “You must find Gerald immediately,” he said. “Your sister is right. It’s not safe out here for little ones on their own.”
    I looked around at the dryads standing around me with expressions of worry on their painted faces. “What could happen?” I asked.
    “Well, there’s the spriggans for one,” said Soren.
    “We met one,” I said. “He came into the mantel.”
    The dryads murmured to each other. An intense worry radiated off them and settled in my chest. All I could think about was Iris. She was alone with Easy. Alone.
    “Was the spriggan very interested in Gerald?” asked Soren’s mother.
    “He offered to take him off our hands,” I said.
    Soren’s mother turned to him and he began giving orders. He told certain dryads to organize a search and another one to get supplies. He ordered his mother to take care of me and she led me around the back of the bed to one of the legs. It looked normal from a distance, but up close it was out of proportion. The Maples’ home was built right on the leg and painted to match. Soren’s mother opened a long, narrow door at the back and ushered me inside. Tiny pinholes in the walls let in light. My eyes took a moment to adjust in the dim glow after the glaring light of the antique mall. When I could see, I was astonished by what I found. The house was bigger than it looked, with several rooms and comfortable furniture. Everything was wood or painted to look like it. Soren’s mother sat me on a cushy couch and left the room. The fabric on the couch was silky and painted to look like Birdseye maple, my favorite wood. I ran my hands over the fabric again and again. It was so perfect I wished my parents could see it.
    Soren’s mother came back into the room with a warm cloth and a set of clothing, wood-grained, just like hers. “Here, dear. Tend your scratches and change your clothes. They’re ruined, anyway. There are some here in the mall who would help you, but they’d be shy of you in your present