Kets the Fairy

Allow me to tell you a story. Now, how to start? The old ‘once upon a time?’ No, I think I’ll skip straight to it.

There lived a man who seemed always to live a life of misery and misfortune. Even on his lucky days, when he found a coin on the street, his pocket would rip and two coins would fall from the hole. And on his bad days— well, let's just say that a miller's dog discovered it did not care for the flesh of man. All this was not accidental, for you see this man was haunted by a malicious little fairy named Kets.

You see, fairies are creatures that feed on our feelings. Each of us has one; they help guide our fates. And Kets was a foul, gluttonous little beast of a fairy who thought misery and sorrow tasted best. Every day Kets would play a new devious trick on the man and every night he’d dream up a new horrible prank to pull. His favorite trick by far though was to dangle a string of happiness in front of the man only to yank it away at the last moment, for Kets loved the bitter taste of disappointment. And for years he continued like this, tormenting the man and having his fill of his misery till one day.

Kets awoke excited to begin his mischief and fill his tummy but something was wrong. The day wasn’t starting. No, it wasn’t that the day hadn’t started. The sun had risen after all but the man lay in bed as though it were still night. At first Kets thought the man simply overslept and decided to give him a rude awakening using his magic to conjure up all sorts of terrible noises. But still Kets could not seem to rouse him.

Kets then decided to try giving the man a horrible nightmare but found that no dream could enter his mind for as it turned out he slumbered not. Kets wondered for a bit the reason the man lay lazy like this but soon decided he did not care and made ready to gorge on his sorrows. However, Kets found much to his surprise that the man had no sorrows for him to eat, nor anger, nor fear, nor any type of misery; it was as though he was empty.

Now for a human, being denied a meal at a pub or inn may not be pleasant but even so, they can simply go elsewhere to eat. For fairies it is more complicated. They have strict rules they must follow when it comes to eating. One is that they may only feed upon the feelings of one human at a time. Another is that they cannot change the human from which they feed ‘til a harvest moon, which, for the fairy Kets, was quite a ways away.

Naturally Kets began to worry. He tried to remedy the problem with his usual tricks: cutting the legs of the man's bed, making it break, opening the window to let in a chill and give the man sick. He even resorted to lighting a small fire to scare the man into action but ended up having to put it out himself when the man remained still.

A day had passed and Kets was getting more afraid. Though he preferred the taste of miserable feelings, he could eat happy ones as well, so he changed tactics. He flew outside the man's home to find something that could bring him joy. After some searching he found a beautiful singing maiden with a voice more gentle than a babbling brook. Kets wore a disguise as was required of the fair folk when showing themselves to humans.

Kets had told her that he was a nobleman and that his nephew was incredibly sick and that he would like her to sing to him to ease his ills. He gave her directions to the man's house and said he’d reimburse her in gold if she could bring him joy. After sending her off, Kets went to search for some more remedies in case she would fail.

He later came upon a radiant white horse, with a beautiful glossy mane, whose trot seemed to out speed lighting itself. Kets went up to the horse and told him that the human whose feelings he feeds on had, for some reason, become empty and that if he could bring him joy by becoming his steed then he would use his magic to grant him a pair of majestic wings so that he may soar the skies. The horse, though proud and not keen on the thought of being owned, was seduced by the idea of flying through the air and agreed to those terms and galloped off to the man's house.

Kets still searched for things to bring the man joy in case both the woman and horse were to fail when he stumbled upon a merchant selling gold and jewels. Perfect, thought Kets. After all, humans loved their shiny things. This would be sure to bring joy. And so Kets sneakily nabbed the prettiest and shiniest of the merchant's wares.

On his way back to the man's home Kets spotted the horse. Kets asked the horse why he was not with the man bringing him joy. The horse only said to him that the man did not desire a steed and trotted off. When he arrived at the man's house he saw the woman outside the door singing a song. Kets asked her if she had brought joy to the man but she told him the man did not even open his door to her though she still did sing to him. Kets gave her one of the pieces of gold jewelry he’d stolen then sent her on her way.

Kets then flew through an open window into the man's house. The man was eating a roast chicken but seemed to get no enjoyment out of his meal, only eating so as not to die. Kets snuck the gold and jewels under the man’s pillow and made to wait for him to notice his surprise. However, after the man had finished eating he simply lay his head down on his pillow and slept not noticing the load of treasure underneath. Kets tried that night to get the man to feel by filling his mind with dreams both wonderful and terrifying but it was no use.

Kets was now starving. Knowing he could not go on like this he reluctantly journeyed to the castle of the Fairy Queen for an audience. The Fairy Queen asked of Kets what had troubled him and Kets told her that his human had somehow become empty. The Fairy Queen looked at him scornfully and told him that because of his years of torment the man had become unable to imagine any happiness for himself and only saw pain and sorrow in his future. Therefore he had locked away his heart and had chosen to stop feeling altogether.

Kets begged the Fairy Queen to unlock the man’s heart again so that he might feed, and she obliged, producing a magic elixir that when poured between the man’s lips would restore him, but demanded of Kets a vow. In exchange for this gift he would have to protect the man from misfortune from now till forever more. Kets happily agreed to those terms and that night while the man slept he poured the elixir down his throat. The next day the man reached under his pillow and discovered the jewels and gold that had been placed there the day before. He jumped up and down with glee. And although Kets much preferred the taste of misery, after his days of fasting he thoroughly enjoyed this feast of joy with the same.