Peri rushed through her breakfast of eggs, tomato, cucumber and toast. While the adults chatted away, catching up on lost time. Whenever she visited her grand parents meals turned into a feast of colours and mouth-watering smells. She loved summer holidays, spending all her time outdoors, running around going on adventures and being spoilt by her fathers family. Her grandparent’s village was so different to London. Peri and her parents lived in a flat with no garden, spending time outdoors was a real treat. It was only on trips to the park that she could run in the grass, pick flowers and look for bugs. But here, she was allowed to go around on her own and explore the fields without a worry, she was free. Everyone in the village knew each other and the adults would often spend their time going from home to home having tea and catching up some more. Peri finished breakfast and immediately wanted to go out for a morning trip. Her mother did her best to catch all Peris curls in a scrunchy, they always found a way of escaping. While she battled with her daughters hair she reminded her she was to come home in an hour or so. She put her shoes on and set off, making sure she had on her favourite bright yellow watch.
Outside the sky was completely blue, not a cloud in sight. The morning breeze was fresh but nonetheless the temperature was warm. She made her way up the hill from where she could look down on the village. Its houses built haphazardly around fields of all sorts of trees; orange, pear, apples. She liked the view from up there, and the silence and tranquillity was great. She didn’t feel scared being alone, instead she loved exploring, imagining that under the flowers between the grass little people would be going about their lives. She had always wanted to find fairies, many of her adventures started with that in mind. She was yet to find any but the search was always fun. She had grown up with a curiosity for them and what they would look like. Especially because her name actually meant fairy, her father had told her. Of course her mother had read her many stories, and shown her pictures in books, but that’s not the same as seeing them yourself.
She walked between pomegranate trees, through the melon fields being careful not to step on any in her path. She stopped to collect a few wild flowers here and there, when she was disturbed by cries coming from between the trees ahead. ‘Hello’ she called, ‘are you ok?’ No one responded, she made her way further into the fields. ‘Excuse me, who’s there? Are you alright?’ No answer. Looking around she couldn’t see anything but trees and flowers. Who had made that noise, she wondered. Not wanting to go any further she sat against a tree, listening out for any clues as to what direction to go in. It was a lovely spot with colourful flowers dotted around the long grass. Peri scanned the area and decided to eat a tiny chocolate bar from her backpack, while she waited. She counted how many colours she could spot surrounding her; pinks, purples, yellows, reds, and more shades of green than she could name. She always enjoyed how bright everything was outdoors, this spot seemed alive with colour. As the light seeped through the branches high above, butterflies danced in its glow, shimmering in an array of colours. Everything was so vivid, the breeze carried with it the sweetest aroma.
Suddenly something disturbed the grass to her left, she froze, not expecting it, she was very still in case it was dangerous. Then nothing. She focused on the spot, and slowly closed her bag trying not to make too much noise with the zip. There it was again, the noise she had heard earlier coming from where she had seen movement. She got up very carefully and walked a little closer, not calling out this time. She took in a huge gulp of air, there it was, the source of the noise. It was a furry ball with a long fluffy tail, it had it’s back to her but it looked like a cat, except it was much smaller than an average cat. It certainly didn’t sound like a cat before. As she approached no longer worried of getting close, her footsteps startled it and it ran off. ‘Wait, wait kitty’, Peri loved all animals, but cats were her absolute favourites. ‘Kitty, come back’. She crouched down low so as to not scare it and crawled in the same direction she had seen it go. Something pounced and the next thing she knew she was struck by something. It knocked her over, making her roll on her back. She tried to fight it, swinging her arms and legs around in all directions. When she opened her eyes she couldn’t see anyone or anything around. What was that? It seemed big and heavy. She sat there, still shocked, and completely confused.
‘I’m velly solli, I planicked.’
She sat up like a bolt.
‘Yous can calls me chatty.’
‘Where are you? What are you?’
‘I will comes out if, you don’ts makes any sudden moves.’
‘I promise.’ She looked around from one side to the other but still nothing. A spark appeared in front of her, it glowed intensely on the spot, it seemed to contain a complete spectrum of colour. From its centre a tiny ball of fluff began to grow, in a matter of seconds, the tabby was standing where the spark had just been. Peri stared at the now empty space above the creature and then at the creature itself. It was definitely similar to a cat, but its ears were significantly larger and it’s legs rather short. It struck Peri that it had one blue eye and one green eye, its fur seemed incredibly soft. From so close she could see, that in the sunlight, its fur was the slightest shade of grey. Dark lines ran in perfect symmetry through its face and body. She quickly found herself bursting with questions; What are you? Are you lost? How did you do that? Can you do that again? But where would she start? Not wanting to appear rude she decided to introduce herself first, and then ask questions.
‘I am Peri, I am staying with my parents in the village at the bottom of the hill, across the fields.’
‘ Pelli?’
‘ No, PERI, P-E-R-I, Peri.‘
‘Are yous a fairy? You don’ts look like one.’
‘ No, I am a, a person, a human. But you, what are you? How come you can talk? I have never heard any other cat talk.’
‘I can talks the same way a yous can. I’ms not a cat, not really. I ams a white.’ He stopped mid–sentence and vanished. ‘I am a white Korshak, you can’t be here any longer, its dangerous! . Go back home now, make sure you stay away from the Dark Korshaks. Go!’
