In honor of All Hallows Eve, and for the fractured fairy tale (tail)
lovers, I've written a small fairy tale entitled The Ferry Circle.  We've
all been there, at least most of us have gone that way a time or two.  We
know that helpless feeling.
 
She'd been told about staying out of ferry circles many times.  She had
never quite believed that they truly existed though, so as she made her way
through the dark forest, she wasn't as careful about where she stepped.
Suddenly she found herself tripping over nothing she could see around her
feet.  Every now and then she felt something cold and wet on her ankles,
but when she looked down, she could see only the forest foliage.  It must
be the morning dew still on the plants she thought.  She could still see
the night mists swirling around the trees.
 
She kept tripping no matter how carefully she placed her feet on the path.
Now she began to feel a sharp pain on her heels once in a while.  She
peered all around, checked behind the bushes, and even investigated the
trees that were close, but could find nothing.  She decided to be more
cautious and watch where she put her feet.  A few steps more and she was
tripped up again.  Another step and her ankle got the cold, wet treatment.
Two steps and she got that sudden pain in her heel, and so it went for the
next few yards.  She was starting to feel the panic of the unknown.  She
kept seeing these fleeting shadows out of the corner of her eye.  She
looked around and finally saw what she had missed before the sunlight had
filtered through the forest canopy to brighten the moss covered ground.
 
No, it couldn't be true.  This just couldn't happen to her.  She should
have listened to the old man, when he had warned her of this possibility.
Now it was too late.  How could she have been so foolish?  She knew they
were in this forest glade, and hadn't been on guard.  There must be a hidey
hole here somewhere.  She knew they hid out in them until some unsuspecting
passerby happened along.  She just didn't think it would have been her.
Well, there was nothing else for her to do, they had caught her fairly, and
she was surrounded by sable, chocolate, silver, albino, and some colors
she'd never seen.  She had to take one home with her, as she was under the
enchantment.  She had walked into a ferry circle and was captured by ferry
math.
 
Hope you enjoyed this little tale, and beware of ferry circles.
 
Sandy and the Ferries
[Posted in FML issue 3214]