Shimmer: A Faerie’s Tragic Tale Claudette Melanson

Once upon a time, two faeries were very much in love. The female faerie was a Silver Faerie. Her eyes shone like newly minted human coins, and her hair was a night ocean, shimmering in the moonlight. Like the white-hot stars in a winter sky was the shine of her pale skin. And her name was Ariane. Ariane loved best a golden elf, whose name was Aurelia. In his eyes, she saw the light of a perfect June morning. His hair was a daylight, sunkissed ocean wave, and his skin was the colour of golden wheat swaying against a summer breeze.

They were summer and winter, brightest day and deepest night. Together—a perfect complement. Or rather, they should have been. Ariane always assumed she would be allowed to live with Aureliam forever. After all, they played together every day during their shared childhood. She’d given him her first dance and first kiss, but there was one more first she was waiting for. Her heart told her it belonged to Aureliam just as every other part of her, worldly and unworldly, did. But she had betrayed Aureliam, betrayed both he and herself, without realizing she had done so. One autumn day, a human boy appeared as she waited for the light of her heart to meet her in the forest. His hair was a dull gold, especially compared to the sparkle Aureliam’s held, his skin a sallow charade of the one she held most dear.

Worst of all were his eyes. They were a sort of blue that reminded her of a poisonous lizard she’d almost lost her life to as a toddler. As repulsive as he was—as nearly all humans and all faeries were to her—Ariane had a kind and soft heart. She felt pity when the boy spoke to her and allowed him to join them in her afternoon games. Aureliam was gracious enough to accept the human boy merely because she had.