I woke to the sound of birds chattering and the smell of clean forest air. The sun was nearly in the middle of the sky. I must have been out for a several hours at least. I sat up and tried to move around, finding that I was really stiff from laying on the hard forest floor.

  I stretched my neck and rolled shoulders, expecting there to be some sort of pain. I never felt it though. I glanced at my arms, seeing that the strips I'd tied on had been removed. Even more surprisingly, the scratches I had gotten were completely gone! There wasn't even a scratch.

  * How bizarre. Was last night just a dream too? *

  One glance down to my chest shattered that idea. Two balloons protruded from the remains of my shirt, now essentially a tank top. Roughly the size of a grapefruit, my two new shirt puppies stood at attention. It was a new sensation I was not familiar with. I hesitated for a moment before deciding to double check. I cupped them, once again reminding myself that they indeed belonged to me. I'm must have had the dumbest look on my face because just then, I thought I heard the faintest giggle.

  I let go and looked around, searching for the source. It was very soft but I was sure I heard something. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary...well technically everything was out of the ordinary...but I didn't see anything to cause alarm. The only thing I noticed was a little butterfly fluttering around a tree before it disappeared. It was a bit bigger than the ones I was used to, and I thought for a second it...was glowing?

  "Hello? Anybody there?" I asked.

  No response. I stood myself up and scanned around again before slowly walking over to where I saw the butterfly. I stopped about five feet from the tree and waited for a second. Just as I was about to move closer, I saw the tips of those wings poke around the side of the tree. Then came another shocker: there was a little body attached to those wings. It looked like a tiny little human with pointed ears and long maroon hair. It poked its head out from the side of the tree as it looked at me. Its tiny little eyes widened as it saw me, and with the daintiest little 'eeep!' it darted back behind the tree.

  "It's okay little fella," I said with my unfamiliar voice. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

  My own voice still shocked me. No doubt that if I had been using comms on TruHonor I would have gotten some wild comments. After a moment the head peeked out again, and seeing that I was still there, retreated back behind the trunk. This happened a couple more times before I realized it was very skittish. I didn't want to scare it any more, which gave me an idea. I turned around to face the other way, and looked back over my shoulder using my new long hair to partially hide my eyes. After several moments, the little head poked out again. This time it fluttered out from behind the tree stopping a couple feet away. After floating there for a second, it came a little closer and picked up a couple strands of my hair. It sat there, seeming to admire it. I covered my eyes with my hands, leaving little slits that I could still see through. My eyelashes must have been longer too because I could feel them brushing the inside of my hand.

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  I felt the hair get let go, and a moment later the little glowing butterfly fluttered into view. I couldn't believe my eyes! Indeed, it was a little girl with a pair of butterfly wings! She had long maroon hair with some little braids in it, and wore a couple light red rose petals for a top and skirt. I also noticed a tiny, intricate circlet on her head. She was adorable! Her most striking feature though, were her wings. They were beautiful! Both were long and flowing, and were a mixture of red and blue patterns. They radiated a faint light, even in the middle of the day. Her face was filled with curiosity as she examined me up and down.

  "...A fairy!?" I gasped.

  Almost instantly she darted away from me a couple feet.

  "No no, it's okay! I didn't mean to frighten you!" I said as I put my hands out and lowered myself slightly to show I didn't mean any harm. "My name is Mason, what's yours?

  After a minute of observing me, she fluttered a little closer. She had a puzzled look on her face, still unsure if she should trust me.

  I pointed to myself, "Mason," I said again. Then I pointed to her.

  She moved a little closer and without saying anything, just pointed at her top.

  "Yes, who are you?" I echoed.

  The little fairy pouted a little bit, and then pointed to her top again.

  "Rose petal?" I asked, "Or maybe just Rose?"

  Her face lit up as she nodded up and down, her hair bouncing up and down with her.

  "Well that's a cute name! It's nice to meet you, Rose," I said as I put out my hand.

  She flew down to my hand and just hugged one finger tip.

  * HOW CUTE!! Wait a sec...was I always this infatuated with tiny things? *

  "What are you doing here? Do you live around here?"

  She shook her head, and then pointed to my arms.

  "Are you the one who healed me?" I asked in surprise, "How did you do it?"

  She nodded her head and gave me a thumbs up.

  I was flabbergasted. How could this little tiny girl heal such serious wounds in the span of a couple hours?

  "Thank you so much! I'd be in really bad shape if it weren't for you!"

  She seemed pleased to hear that and flew right next to my face.

  "Well you see...I'm a little lost. I'm not from around here, do you by chance know the way to a town?"

  She paused for a moment to think, then shook her head and shrugged while pointing in a direction that I could only assume was east.

  "Well thank you for your help, I guess I probably should be going..." I said with a little bow. "I better try and make some progress before it gets dark again."

  As I was turning to leave I felt a little tug on my hair. I turned back to see Rose hovering there with her arms crossed. She pointed back towards the tree where I was laying earlier. Right at the base of it was the book Muganno had made for me.

  "Crap! I almost forgot! That could have been bad, you saved me again!"

  I jogged over to pick it up and Rose followed me. Well that settles it. Maybe I could use some help.

  "Say...Rose...could you maybe help me reach a town? I know I'm being a bit of a burden for you, but I'm enjoying your company and I'm a little scared to be alone again."

  She pondered for a second before flying around me and landing on my shoulder. She nodded happily before flashing me an adorable little smile.

  "Welp, I guess we can at least figure things out together!" I said as I picked a direction and started marching.