Beyond the Firefly Field by R.E. Munzing Page A

were finished, and they chatted happily as they cleaned up.
    â€œCool knives!” Clayton said as NarVan handed him one to examine. The knife was about six fairy-inches long. The shiny, brown handle darkened to a black, polished point. “How do you get it so sharp? We make wooden knives, but we can never get them this sharp. They just break.”
    â€œWe soak them, shape them, and fire-harden them over and over. Then we polish and polish. If we had to fight a battle, we would put poison on the tips.”
    â€œYou have battles?” Karl asked while inspecting one of the knives.
    â€œOh!” Clayton practically shouted as he fished a Swiss Army pocket knife out of his pocket. It was red and had a white crest at one end. Satisfied at NarVan's bewildered expression, Clayton watched his face change to one of amazement as he pulled out the shiny knife blade. He placed his knife in NarVan's hand and watched the fairy study it.
    NarVan pulled out another blade, then quickly found the tweezers and toothpick tucked into the end of Clayton's knife. He seemed the most fascinated with the scissors, and squeezed it shut against its spring. He folded everything, handed it back to Clayton, and said, “I can make one like this out of wood.”
    â€œYou can keep this one,” Clayton said.
    NarVan shook his head. “When I make one like that, we can trade.”
    â€œA wooden one would be awesome,” Clayton assured him as he put the knife back in his pocket.
    Everything was finally cleared from the tables and loaded into woven leaf-strip baskets. Then the fairies began folding the furniture. The chair backs collapsed over the seats, and the legs folded underneath. The chairs were flipped under the tables, which folded into themselves and down over the chairs. A rough bark cover pivoted over the disguised furniture, making the whole thing look like a natural, raised blemish on the branch.
    â€œThat's really clever,” Clayton said. As their walk continued, he became lost in thought, wondering just how good the fairies were at making things out of wood.

A Different World
    A s the seven followed SeeLee, an entirely different world opened before them, making their own human world seem like a dream.
    Laughter coming from the dead branch above caused them to look up. There they saw a fairy, her tiny hands reaching skyward, perched on the edge of a puffy knot crater. Bending her knees, she dove out of sight toward the center of the branch, causing a splash sound. The water-filled crater in the branch must be a fairy swimming pool, as happy voices were drowned by more splashing.
    Walking further along the branch, they passed fairies busy with their activities. Hundreds of fairies poured from inside the tree to join their friends. Clayton was glad the fairies weren’t all crowding around to gawk at them. Humans wouldn’t be so polite if fairies suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He worried that the only way to protect this fragile fairy secret would be to stop coming to the fairy tree. Wanting to banish that unsettling thought, Clayton glanced around. He could see many knots with doors and windows embedded in them. Lights were shining from the knothole windows, and it looked like the tree contained an entire city of fairies.
    Stretching to see further down the branch, he saw crowds of fairies sitting or standing behind booths displaying clothes, beads, shiny stones, food, drinks, and wooden gadgets of all kinds.
    In some booths, pairs of fairies were busily setting up their shops. Other fairies walked slowly among the booths, trading for the goods they wanted. Each had a pack slung over a shoulder, which carried bartered goods.
    Some booths had tables and chairs, which unfolded out of nowhere and looked to be picnic areas where fairy traders could enjoy food and drink. A festive mood filled the air as the exhaustion of a day well spent mixed with the satisfaction of good things accomplished. He was