Transformation

That first time she was especially disoriented, dizzy even, and was uncertain and disbelieving. In the beginning she had not willed the experiences to happen, in fact was overwhelmed and bewildered when, while simply admiring a mossy knothole or a fern shrouded gnarled stump, she would suddenly feel herself falling in dark spinning space until she found herself inside the hollow, free to explore, incredulous that she fit. These first basic portals did not lead very far, and she did not, as you might be hoping, see any faerie people, though it seemed entirely possible.

In time, through attention and focus, she was able to exercise control and actually initiated these liminal experiences. First she would recognize a portal, which wasn’t so much a discovery as a declaration; “Ah, that is an enchanted spot, a sacred place”, she might say to herself and whoosh, she was in, at once both the consecrator and the consecrated. Each time she found there were vaster reaches to explore, and she spent more and more time in these secreted passages, feeling sanctified and whole. As she gained experience and confidence, she recognized more doorways into contemplation, became bolder. A bit of blue sky showing through clouds; whoosh! A bit of cloud in blue sky; whoosh! Even a worm hole; whoosh! And then, a raindrop suspended on a blade of grass. Whoosh! Here she was transformed by the warming sun, and ascended as mist.

There she contemplated the possibility of returning as a faerie person.

Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt #22; Prose Challenge – Write a story with a maximum word count of 250 words that tells the story of a character or group of characters who discover a secret doorway.