Heart of Darkness The friendly Orb.

Fegger was the king of that forest, he was , and I could understand why. Yes, he may have fleas but we all have our hang-ups, right? I never knew until he sat me down and taught me tricks to use in the Triond forest that he had been turned into a Fegger by an evil witch. He made me laugh and took me in to help with finding myself. I obviously thought I knew who I was but I guess that wasn't true. My first indication would have been the ugly fight outside the king's cottage. I had a lot of bitterness toward that mean old fairy king and that is why I was beating myself up. I thanked the king for his vast knowledge of the human mind and kissed him sweetly. But the king couldn't linger, for he had some arguments to settle within the walls of the city. And with a wink of his eye, he disappeared. I walked from the little cottage back out into the fast growing night. I was alone--no little black devils this time either. I thought about what he said to me and frowned.

I was deep in tranquil thought, leaving my dark half in the background for the moment. I simply paced outside the cottage with all the rushing thoughts baraging my restless mind. I walked into the tree line and sat down hard upon the ground. My little black tutu bounced up sending faerie dust everywhere. Putting my head in the palm of my hand, I began to comtemplate serious things.

"Wow!" I thought, "what am I to do now?"

The darkness returned to me suddenly and my tears began to fall. The night inside me crept up to join the darkness of my surroundings. I exhaled and looked up into the dark sky. They were all there winking at me; those silly little stars. I nudged a smile and winked back. "Ah, but you are just jealous because you can't come down from there, you little bastards."

As I watched the sky in interest, an orb began to appear from the corner of the heavens. It moved slowly downward and the sky grew light. I couild hear a strange grunting sound as the orb bounced off the treetops and continued its descent. My fascination sent me jumping to my feet with a tilt of my head. "Golly gosh, what the fairies ass is that?"

The light descended down through the trees and onto the ground where it hovered there pulsing. I watched intently as it shown so bright through the underbrush. I shook in my little fairy boots at the sight of it. Then it spoke.

"Hey--who are you?" The light trembled at the sound of its own voice. "What are you doing in these bad ole woods, dude?"

The voice was gentle and friendly and it welcomed me to approach. I walked closer hugging a little gray sapling. "I..I ...I am Spirit..I am daark faerie."

The light shook convulsively and made a strange whining noise. "Ah--Spirit dude, nice to meet you. Wont you come fly in the sky with me a bit. I can show you around the area. Do not worry, I am a friendly being and sometimes I tell a joke or two." the Orb chuckled.

"Who are you?" I asked balling up my tiny fists and stepping forward bravely.

The Orb changed color and shone brightly in an instant. "I am Duff, a peaceful being. Well, except for when I battle giant wombats..eck, they are nasty creatures. You wouldn't want to battle a wombat." The Orb shook slightly and changed colors again.

Before I could respond to this obvious hallucination, a short man stepped from the shadows and began to bicker. No, I couldn't understand a word he said but I knew it wasn't very friendly. He was an ugly little fucker, with hair growing out of his ears and big bulbous knots covering his face. He made a grimace and laughed hartily. He appeared to be a troll from some of the stories my mother told me. As I watched him in curiosity, he strutted around like a damn peacock and then bent to pick up some stones. I stared toward the light in question but got no answer. Spinning around the little creature threw a large stone at me, striking me right between the eyes. The last thing I remember was the Orb swelling as I fell to the ground.

I am unaware of how much time passed before I woke but it seemed like days. I awoke at an unknown time with a bright light shining into my eyes. I was kind of pissed at first because of the blinding radiance that was invading my pupils. "Damn, turn the light off, for Puck's sake, I can't see a damn thing."

As the light dimmed, I rose and looked around. The Orb was still flashing by the trees and emitting a rather strange giggling sound.

"Whew, I am quite relieved you are okay--Spirit dude. I thought I was gonna have to smack you to wake you and I think that might have left a burn." The Orb was still. "You will not have to worry about that guy again--I ate him."

I gasped and clutched at the front of my 'that's hot' t-shirt and looked at the Orb in horror. "You did what?"

The Orb chuckled and wiggled in the light breeze. "It is okay spirit dude, I eat those little things, or rather, I absorb them."

The Orb burped loudly and my hair blew all over my head from the wind off his being.

I rose and smiled. "You know, I thank you and I believe you are just the person to show me around this place. Do you know who that little shit was that popped me in my head?" I ran a hand over my forehead feeling the rather big knot pulsing between my eyes. My eyes crossed trying to see the wound.

The Orb chuckled. "I think, my dear faerie friend, that you just met your first troll."

I smirked. "wow! That is nice."