The Fairy Lantern and the Fox Doll

The Final Audience; The Black Cat

Sam dragged his mother into the wood next to the house. Alice laughed at Sam's insistence, unsure of what her son was trying to do. Ash walked beside them quietly. Sam knew she was not sure Sam was doing the right thing, but Sam was.

"Do you remember what Grandma Lacy used to say about the Fairy Lantern?" Sam asked his mother sombrely, making her giggle.

"Sorry, Sam. This is obviously serious to you. Yes i do, I told you last week. She said "the Fairy World is only a breath away.""

Sam nodded, holding up the lantern. "I think Grandma Lacy was a lot more literal than you realise." While Alice grinned at him, Sam held up the Fairy Lantern and blew into the open window. A soft green glow started to spread from the lantern and cast its light on the ground.

Alice breathed in in shock. "What kind of trick is this, Sam?" She asked not unharshly.

Sam moved the lantern's light to cast between the same two trees he had used the first time. Like then, the green light unveiled a curtain of shimmering material and when Sam blew on the curtain, it turned into a heavy wooden door.

"Sam, seriously? What kind of joke are you trying to play?" Alice stepped back from the magical door, fear clear on her hunched in body.

"It's not a joke, Aunty Alice," Ash finally stepped into the conversation. "It's a door to the fairy world. I've been this way with Grandma Lacy a bunch of times."

A look of betrayal crossed Alice's face. "So this is where you two would go?"

Sam held out a hand to his mother, still sombre. "Come on, Mum. It's your turn now. I told you. We're going to see Grandma Lacy. But we need you, Mum. Only you can call her."

Her whole arm shaking, Alice let Sam take her hand. The wooden door opened of its own accord and together, all three stepped through.

Sam opened her eyes to the fairy world, and instantly pulled Kirla from her pocket. With whispered words, she let the spirit free of his wooden shell. Sam's best friend sprung free and became a seven tailed fox.

"Mum? This is my friend. He lives inside the fox doll."

Alice didn't notice the doll for a moment as she was stuck by the beauty of the midnight forest. All around her, her elation was making the tree trunks become rainbows in pulsing waves. It was only then Sam noticed his mother was much younger, almost the same age as the photo.

"Sam, darling. Why do you look like me as a teenage girl?" Alice tried to sound calm but the fluctuation colours of the trees around her bellied her lie.

"I don't know, mum. I try not to think about it too much. I don't mind or anything. But this is my friend."

Kirla curled around Alice's legs and barked in a friendly way. Alice fell to her legs and hugged the fox with pure ecstasy.

"You have a fox friend, Sammy? I always dreamed of having a fox friend. Mum used to talk about her fox friend and I always thought it was a lovely story. Could it.."

"This was Lacy's fox. But stuff happened. It's a long story and I only know a part. I'll tell you later when I can. But we have to find Grandma Lacy first."

Lacy stood up, brushed leaf litter off her pristine white dress. She moved forward and gave Sam a long, tight hug. "Sam dear. This place is amazing. Thank you for taking me here. But Grandma Lacy died. She's not here. I'm sorry that you have some idea."

Sam stepped away, resolve settling inside her. "Mum, I know she's here. I've seen her. But she'd forgotten who she was because people transform when they join the Fairy world. You have to trust me, Mum. Can you do that?"