A Puff of Feathers

A lone rice farmer trudged through the mounting piles of snow with the last bundle of his crop on his back. That was it for the winter, and it would hardly be enough to last him through. He made his way through the frosted pine trees, feet and shins already numb to the cold, though that was thanks to the only thin, worn leather boots he owned. The only thing he was thankful for currently was the fact that the air was still; a wind chill would have made the weather all the more freezing. The silence that pervaded the forest however was broken by the noise of a child’s laugh; a soft, merry giggle. He perked up instantly, scanning the trees for another person- he could have sworn no one else had gone this deep besides him. He waited one second, two seconds in stillness, straining to hear another noise. Then it came again, a bubbly little giggle that washed over the forest like the pleasant streams in spring. Abandoning his previous route, Thasvan ventured towards the noise- the laugh sounded almost like a baby’s, and if any young child was left out in the cold like this… even for how poor he was, he could never suffer to see another child younger than he have it worse off. He stopped in a clearing where the knee-deep layers of snow were untouched, sparkling like clean sheets of diamond. A light snowfall had started up, tiny snowflakes drifting aimlessly down towards the ground in the windless atmosphere. There. The giggle sounded again, and Thasvan craned his neck to try and see past the trees. He stopped in his tracks however when he saw a figure pop into view, romping through the piles of snow and kicking up flurries in merry delight. He was frozen in awe by the tree he stood next to. The little figure was a boy, he couldn’t have been more than seven years old. But Thasvan couldn’t comprehend what he was looking at- the creature before him didn’t even seem real, there was an ethereal beauty to him. He had china-like skin and golden ringlets that curled around his rosy cheeks and ears; his silken clothes seemed to shift colors and shimmer in the light, they were embroidered with the most beautiful cherry blossoms. When he bent over to pick up a handful of snow, he startled even more. A pair of white, downy wings sprouted from his back, glistening like two clouds hovering there, wavering in even the slightest breeze. The boy turned and threw his handful of snow in the air, and he could see his demure smile squishing his cheeks and making his emerald green eyes glimmer. But at the sight of the farmer, the boy seemed to freeze, his green eyes growing wide and round. He seemed just as startled at the sight of the farmer as Thasvan was of him, and he stumbled backward, dropping into a snow drift on accident with only a squeak of shock. Thasvan snapped out of his trance, his own eyes widening before he hurried over to where the child had fallen. “Are you alright-??” He asked as gently as he could, despite how worried he was. He reached down, gently wrapping his hands around the child’s torso to lift him out of the snow. He felt the child give a little shiver underneath him, but he did not resist the help. His silk robes were even softer than he could have imagined, and he swiftly pulled him out of the snow, setting him on firmer ground. “Are- are you okay?” He repeated quietly, still in a state of awe as he looked the child over. The child said nothing, but stared up at his face with an unreadable expression. His eyes were wide, but he didn’t seem afraid. Up close, his beauty was even more stunning. Unable to help himself, Thasvan slowly raised a hand, barely even caressing the tip of his wing. The feathers felt like a pure cloud against his fingers, billowing like a sea of glimmering waves. The child’s wings twitched and sent a ripple through the down, and he smiled faintly. The smile almost knocked him off his feet. “...Are you a fairy-?” Thasvan breathed, thoroughly entranced by the appearance of this child. He only smiled wider, his silent, boyish merriment twinkled in his eyes. Thasvan looked around at the forest again, as if expecting more of his kind to burst through the trees and fly away with him in a shining sea of crystal feathers, but the trees were only filled with snow. However, the moment he looked back he realized that the child in front of him was no longer there. He turned full circle, looking around wildly for the creature he’d only just met, but no signs of him were left anywhere. He was left standing in the middle of the clearing, bewildered and confused by the strange meeting he’d just experienced.