Kyle drove his rusty pickup down the snow covered M313 and tried to concentrate on the road as the radio blared out an 80s hit. Only twenty-two he liked the music but only knew it because of his mother's obsession with that era.

The snow was falling heavier, as was predicted and Kyle knew that he needed to get off the road soon. The young man knew that it was a bad weekend to come up to the cabin but it was the only place he could think of going after getting fired.  Again.

Sipping some coffee he checked the time and it was nearly 4:45pm. The sun would be down all the way soon and then it would be harder to see the road. The white snow would help some unless it was blowing so hard that it stuck to the window.

It was looking to be that kind of storm Kyle thought. Michigan was funny in February, it was either 50 degrees and beautiful or a three feet of snowfall. He was used to it mostly.

A loner mostly, he had not called any friends to go up north to the cabin with him and with no other family beside his uncle he only had the big cabin. Kyle and his 'Uncle' Martin did not see eye to eye on much and truth be told Kyle really did not like his Uncle much.

Driving the winding road that eventually led to the cabin, Kyle had plenty of time to think.

When his dad had died in a car accident, Kyle was just four years old. Uncle Martin became more involved in his life and his mother had accepted the help.  What they did not know was that Kyle had heard them arguing many times behind closed doors.  Sometimes it was about him, sometimes about things he never understood.

Three years ago his mother was killed by a hit and run driver and her death hit Kyle badly. She was on her way to speak to him about something she called 'life altering' and that she needed to speak to him directly and not on a mobile phone.

He laughed at the memory of how she spoke. Like an old time school teacher. Very proper and yet as if she did not know what to call modern things.

Stopping for gas and last minute supplies, in case the storm did not blow over, Kyle was approached by a strange man with long white hair in a pony tail. 

The man asked, "Have you ever seen such weather? Like it's being pushed along by magic or somethin' ya' know?  Be cautious this night for this kind of thing could change you forever."

Kyle just nodded and got back into his truck. A mile down the road the man was forgotten but the comment stuck.

Turning onto the winding side road that led to the cabin Kyle was hit with a blast of wind and snow. It reminded him of going into hyperspace on a movie. Laughing and driving faster, his youthfulness showing for a moment, he forgot about his parents and his Uncle and getting fired for awhile. Which was why he had come up to the cabin in the first place.

It normally took about twenty minutes of driving to get to the nearly hidden drive of the cabin. After slowing down and nearly getting hit by other drivers heading into town the trip in was taking a long time. Now fully dark Kyle had to strain to see the road.

The road dipped into a swampy lowland area and he knew he was getting close to his destination. The snow let up some but now it was sticking to everything.

A tiny light flew across the road in front of him causing him to slow even more than he was. He would have missed it but something about it called to him.

Braking hard when the light got caught in a bush and went out.  The truck slid and nearly went into the swamp along the side of the road. His instincts kicked in and he got the old truck under control.

Opening the door to get out he was blasted with blowing snow and some ice.  Only wearing a long sleeved shirt and a thin green flannel he ignored the cold and walked to where he saw the light caught in the bush.  It had gone out so he had lost it.

Feeling an urgency deep in his bones he began to search the area for the odd light. From a low pinetype bush nearby, a light flared. Excited for some unknown reason, he rushed over to see just what it was.

In the pine needles was a small female doll. Light emeted from the doll and lit up Kyle's face. It had white wings and wore a brown homespun dress style that reminded him of some fantasy movie he had seen once.

Picking the doll up he was amazed at how real it looked.  The light brown hair on its head flowed in the wind beautifully.  The face was rosy red and it's nose looked cold.  It was all to real, but with her in his hand he knew that she could not be real at all.

Then she sneezed and Kyle nearly dropped her.

Shivering from the cold she tried to pull his fingers closer to get warmer. He wondered if she thought his hand was a blanket. Then he laughed at his own insanity, for he thought the doll was alive. Not possible since it was about the length of his hand

Still feeling as if he was supposed to do something he gently carried his new cargo to the truck. With his coat sat on the seat next to him so he placed her into the fur lining inside.

Turning the heat up full blast he tried to figure out just what it was that he was doing.

Why do I run away everytime something bad happens? he wondered.  Why can't I just get along with slow witted people?  I know it's not there fault.  It's mine for getting fired!

He also knew his uncle would be on his case again. The man never let up and he still controlled the money. The deal in the Will his mother left was that Kyle could not have anything till he turned twenty six. Something about being a man by the old laws.

Lost in his thoughts, Kyle did not notice that the small doll began to move and stir. She began to stretch and to flutter her wings to dry them off.

Still unaware Kyle put the car in drive and began to head to the cabin once more. It was two miles up the road when a burst of movement next to him ripped him out of his musings.

Now sitting next to him was a full sized version of the doll he had picked up from the bush. The girl was smiling at him and he almost drove off the road from confused fear and being struck by her beauty.

Then she spoke and he did hit the brakes, "Thank you, Wizard for finding me and getting me warm innn..." She flew forward in the seat and it cut off the rest of what she was going to say.

The truck slid into a snow bank this time. Kyle did a double take and looked at the girl sitting next to him. Her now large wings went from seat to roof.

"That was abrupt." She said fixing her hair and cloths. "Are you well, Wizard?  I'm not sure what just happened."

"Going crazy is what's happening, but otherwise, I'm just great." Kyle said back. "How are you? What are you?"

"I'm Llandra of the Oak people's. I have come seeking a Wizard to help us in our dire need." Llandra said with a straight face.  "And now I've finally found you!"

"Oh? Ok. Better question would be how are you now big?  Or better still, how where you ever small?"

"Like all of my family we can alter our size as needed in emergency." She  started to use his coat to dry her long hair.  This made Kyle stare even more.

Turning her light blue and gold flecked eyes on him she noticed his gaze and suddenly blushed. This caused him to look away, quickly embarrassed.

She continued to dry her hair but was watching him from the corner of her eye.

Still feeling caught he backed the truck up and began up the road. Llandra looked around but said nothing.

"Ok," Kyle began, "your some kind of special being and I'm the idiot that finds you, right. So at what point does the bad guy jump out and go boo?"

She let out a laugh. It was like nothing that he had ever heard before. Like bells softly chiming over a gentile waterfall. Just beautiful.
She sounded like a fairy should sound he thought.

His mom had taught him that magic was real and that fairy kind did exist. She also said that demons were real.
She also spoke at length that not all things that appeared good where so.

"So.. you came from where exactly?" Kyle was still trying to piece together if he had gone crazy or not. That the pressure of life had not finally taken hold of him and twisted him all up.  Oddly he has no doubt that she was who and what she said she was.

"I crossed to this place from my land because we could no longer trust the Wizards of our homeland." She said matter factally. "My mother, Queen Llashna, sent me on this errand with three trusted fighters. They died or were captured getting me here."

He glanced at her to gauge if she was lieing or not. When he did Llandra looked into his deep green eyes and snapped her head back in shock.

"I've never seen a Wizard with green eyes before!" She blurted out. "How strange! Are Wizard kind different here in this place?"

Not sure what she was going on about Kyle kept driving. Then he asked her, "Still not sure I'm getting all this. You're a princess fairy from a world of fairies and wizards?"

"Yes." She answered simply. "But why do have green eyes? Never before have I met a Wizard with those eyes. They pierce the soul like Wizards and you smell like them as well. I'm confused."

Letting out a big laugh of his own he responded to her statement, "You're confused? I'm twenty-two and never have I seen a real girl go from hand sized to full sized before. You're confused? Really!? Wow, and why do you keep insisting that I'm a wizard?"

Pulling out a tough knot in her thick hair Llandra grunted, stomped on the floor mat, and let out a word that Kyle did not know but was pretty sure was a swear word in her language.

"My people have died and I'm being hunted, and you make jokes! The Mother Oak is in danger and the Wizards College does nothing, while you take me God knows where." She said between pulling knots and drying pieces of her hair.

The dirt drive was coming up so Kyle slowed down. In his head lights he could see tracks leading up the long and winding driveway. The only one who it could be was Uncle Martin.

This was the last person that Kyle needed right now. The man must have anticipated where Kyle was headed and was going to lecture him. How his uncle found things out Kyle could not guess but he always found out that Kyle had gotten fired or quit.
Like Kyle was being watched or something.

"A second Wizard is up that road." Llandra said calmly while looking up the cabins long drive. "Is he with you, or against you?"

Not sure why a memory came to his mind. He was five years old and his father was still alive. Mother and father were arguing about Uncle Martin. Mom was calling Martin a shade dealer. This made Kyle grin cause he had never heard someone be called that before.

Father told her to be quiet and that they owed Martin their freedom. That without Martin they would not even have a son. At five most of this went over his head but remembering now Kyle had to process it in an adult way.

Other memories came popping up unbidden. Uncle Martin not crying at either if his parents funerals. The bearded man constantly pushing Kyle to go to collage. That he had a great one planned for him.

"I'm not a Wizard you know, and if I'm not that man up there certainly is not." Kyle said it out loud to feel better.

Llandra thought he was talking to her, "If you did not know that the one waiting for you is a Wizard that means that he has been hiding from you his true self. Ask yourself why would one do that?"

That was what he was thinking too. Something he could not understand made him trust her. Years of life made him distrust uncle Martin. Whom he knew was not his blood uncle at all, his mother had revealed that before her death.

Backing up he spun the truck around carefully. He was not worried about Martin seeing for between the heavy snow and the distance from the road it was impossible to see activity on the road.

"You have made a choice, I can feel the resolve. What are you going to do?" Llandra asked.

"No idea but we are going to find a place out of this storm for the rest of the night. I've gotta have time to process all this and to see if your really real at all.

Hope your enjoying this little tale of a girl that finds hope and life. Llandra was still born and I miss her very much so I created this story for to have the life she did not get. Making her a fairy princess of sorts was my mind dealing with it and making her life fun. Please enjoy!