I smiled as I noticed a turny-topsy thing Terrence had brought me the day before. He was so nice, I was lucky to have him as my friend. But….I fluttered over to it and picked up. It was a bit heavy but when I held it something within it slid around. I smiled and shook it. I soon lost interest in it as well. I set it on the table and went to my bed. I lay down and listened to the rain. My mind wandered back to the dream I’d been having. It always had a golden hammer. I glanced over to my hammer; it was worn from use, but not golden. I rolled over and drifted off.
There was the hammer. It had a golden head and the wood was smooth and white, like birch trees. I reached for it and heard a voice, stopping me just millimeters from my fingertips.
“You are more than a simple tinker fairy, Tinkerbell.”
“But what am I?”
“But what am I?”
Suddenly before I could get an answer, a knock on the door woke me from the nap I didn’t even realize I was taking. I sat up straight and hit my head on the low hanging cover. I groaned and scrambled to the door.
“Tinkerbell?” Said the gentle voice of one of my fellow fairy friends. As I opened the door, I was greeted by the water talent fairy, Rani. She didn’t seem to mind the rain, but really none of the water talent fairies did, the rain didn’t seem to weigh down their wings like the rest of us. I smiled and beckoned her in. Rani’s long blonde hair was dripping and so was her blue petal dress.
“Hello Rani! What brings you out in the rain?”She smiled sheepishly as she dripped everywhere. I was actually surprised to see her. Most everyone was trying to get ready to visit the mainland again. She was always early with her preparations though, so I guess she had time on her hands.
“Well I was out on the streams and I found something that you might like. It’s a lost thing I think.”
My ears perked up. A lost thing? I looked back out at the rain and bit my lip. I didn’t like going out in the rain if I could help it. But then I suddenly remembered the thing I had made the last rainy day. It was a parasol, the Wendy girl had shown it to me in a story book, but I pushed thoughts of her away quickly before they could devolve into thoughts of Peter. I made one my size and it was wide enough to cover my body and wings if I held it right. It was made out of thick leaves and petals. I hoped it would hold up in the rain.
As we stepped out into the rain, I was glad to see that my parasol worked. Rani gave it one curious look, but didn’t seem much more interested after that, probably knowing that it would give me opportunity to explain how it was made and where I got my inspiration. I smiled as I thought about my poor friends faces as they tried to stay interested, but quickly grew bored. Silvermist was always the first to lose interest, often getting confused and finding my answers to her questions even more confusing. Terrence always put on the best show of keeping up interest. I was grateful for that. I smiled thinking about him. He was a good friend.
These thoughts kept me from noticing that we were deep in the mountain woods before I knew it. I looked around, surprised by the darkness. It was still day time in Pixie Hollow, the rain didn’t cause this much darkness. But the Mountain woods were suspicious. We hardly ever went into them. I was surprised Rani did. Not to say she was skittish or anything, she was just a little more cautious than the rest of us. I looked at her with eyebrows raised. She saw my look and shrugged with a slight smile.
“I was following the stream, the water is cooler and has more nutrients up here.” She said insistently.
“If you say so!” was my only answer. I couldn’t really say anything. I had the tendency of flying all over Neverland and the Mainland too when I tagged along. I hadn’t got lost yet in the Mainland, but it was only a matter of time, I’m sure. Finally Rani stopped, looking around as though making sure this was the place. We were at the stream’s source and next to it was a cave; it would be about lost boy’s size, large for a pixie, but small for a human.
I immediately felt something, the hair on the back of my neck prickled and I looked towards the cave. Rani fluttered over to the stream and looked down, slightly confused. She turned her deep blue eyes back to me, her brow furrowed.
“I don’t see it. It was right here, but now it’s gone!” She put one hand to her hip, bringing the other up with a finger tapping her lips. After a few moments she turned back to me and shrugged. I bit my lip, closing the parasol, glancing towards the cave again. It felt like fighting the wind internally, I was being mentally drawn to that cave, like Rosetta to a flower. Rani was still talking, but I only caught the tail end of it. “…sorry for dragging you all the way out here Tink! Maybe it’ll show up downstream.”
“Oh yeah, you’re probably right!” I said, after a few moments. I didn’t really know what she said and Rani looked at the cave then back at me with worry. She shook her head furiously.
“Don’t go in there Tink! I’m serious! It could be very dangerous. I’ve heard of pixies going in there to see if there was another river and light fairies seeing if they could light up the place for parties or something, and they always come out scared and confused! Don’t go in there!”
I jumped as she grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. Rani looked serious and I blinked, feeling a loosening grip on me. I nodded and shook the feeling off.
“Okay I won’t go in there. Does anyone know what’s back there?”
Rani shook her head with a shudder and jumped into the air. She beckoned and I followed only with a slight glance back at the cave, knowing despite the warnings I would come back. There was something ridiculously familiar about the cave and I thought about it all the way back to Pixie Hollow, where it had finally stopped raining.
Everyone was getting ready for the party. It was a celebration of all the hard work over the last few months and tomorrow night we’d all head to the Mainland with our various jobs. I would tag along for fun and seeing if I can find anything good for making things (you’d be surprised what mainlanders throw away!), but for some reason I just couldn’t get the dream or that cave out of my head. I helped Iridessa with some lights, Rosetta with flowers, Terrence with giving out dust, and kept Silvermist from falling off a ladder, but it was Fawn, who I was helping herd some stray lady bugs, that finally noticed I was distracted.
“Tinkerbell?”
“Uh, yes, Fawn?” I had answered holding a ladybug. She pointed to the ladybug and I looked at it. I had been holding it upside-down. It was wiggling for dear life. I gasped and put it in the corral. “Sorry little guy!”
“What’s wrong, Tink? Do you have something on your mind?” Fawn closed the gate and glanced at me with her head tilted, braid swinging. She always could tell things about everyone just from their looks. I guess it’s from being around animals so long. I sighed heavily and looked around, making sure everyone was distracted.
“Can you keep a secret?” I whispered as I got closer. She smiled and glanced around; making sure the coast was clear like I had just done. She nodded and I continued. I took a deep breath. “I’ve been having these dreams.”
“Dreams, like a bad nightmare?” She said and watched as one of the light fairies restrung a fixture near us, then looked back at me. I shook my head and continued.
“Not a nightmare, but a dream. It’s been coming every night and in it I see this hammer.”
“A hammer? Why a hammer?” Fawn asked confused. I gasped in exasperation.
“Fawn! Let me finish! Please!” She gave me a sheepish look and gestured with one hand to continue. I took a deep breath and tried to remember where I was. “Yes, a hammer, like mine, only different. It has a golden head and a white wood handle with something gold written on it, but I can’t see it. Then a voice says something.”
Here I stopped, unsure if I should go on. It did kind of sound like I was just full of myself. I mean really? Who was I to assume I was more than a “tinker fairy” like the voice said. Maybe it was my overstressed brain trying to find reason after leaving Peter. I winced slightly at the memory, of him smiling and us playing together. I shook it away and Fawn prompted me.
“What did it say?” She said in a hushed voice, like I was telling a scary story instead of what was actually happening to me.
“It said ‘You are more than a simple tinker fairy’ and then I always wake up, but today something really weird happened. Rani came to show me some lost things in the stream in Mountain Woods, but it was gone when we got there. There was this cave-” Here she interrupted me, looking scared.
“Not the cave at the top of the river! It’s dangerous! Don’t go there Tink!” Fawn shook her head, her long braid slapping her in the back. I was surprised, why did the voice want me to go in there? I shushed her as she started to get louder. She brought her voice down. “More pixies go in there and come back changed!”
“But I have to Fawn!” As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. I had to go back up there and look in the cave. There was something there for me and it would haunt me until I got to it. She looked at me with fear, but seemed to accept the necessity in my voice. Fawn bit her lip and looked around.
“Well go now while there’s still sunlight and I’ll cover for you. Please be careful though.”
I hugged her tightly and then flew off as quickly as my wings could take me. I stopped by my house first to get a quick pumpkin muffin, then I made my way up the mountain. I had a little trouble, since the woods dark in the daytime, were almost like pitch in the coming twilight. I kept my eyes on the stream and finally made it to the source.
The Cave looked darker than it was before, but the pull was just as strong. I landed at the entrance and looked down into it. There was no end in sight. I could feel a slight breeze whistling through it, sounding ancient and powerful, the breeze seemed to be pushing me towards the inside of the cave.
“Okay, Okay! I’m going!”
“Okay okay okay okay I’m going going going….”
The echo sent chills down my spine. I took a deep breath and fluttered into the cave. Stepping carefully, to try and avoid anything. My own light was enough to direct me, but I could feel a strong pull inside my chest deeper and deeper. After what seemed like hours of walking and flying, I felt the pull drop, as though it had never been there.
My brow furrowed in confusion. Did this mean I was at the place I was supposed to be? Or did I go the wrong way? I turned around and looked behind me, the light from the outside just a small dot. I felt a nervous lurch in my stomach.
