There Were Pixies Dancing

There were pixies dancing happily about in a circle. In the center of the circle was an intricate design made of the petals of roses and daisies. There were exactly a dozen pixies in all. They were varying shades of glowing pink and purple, and about 4 inches tall. They had beautiful butterfly wings and long flowing hair that was decorated with petals and ivy. Each of them was female, and each of them was naked.

They danced about the flower petals because it was a very special day. It was the first day of spring. They had all emerged from their dens that morning after a long sleep through the winter, and immediately took to arranging the petals for their ritual. When they completed the dance, their magic would be released and spring would officially start.

There was a prince walking through the woods, on a hunt for a princess, or a stag, or a dragon or whatever it is that princes hunt in the woods. He was searching and trudging through the trees and brush when he stumbled upon a circle of glowing pink and purple creatures. And they appeared to be dancing.

How peculiar! thought the prince. I wonder what manner of insect they are. The prince crept closer to the circle, and saw the pixies for what they really were.

"Pixies!" he exclaimed. "Impossible!"

The prince startled the pixies with his shouting, and they panicked and scattered away into the bushes and trees. They peered out at the prince from behind leaves and branches, waiting for him to leave.

"No, don't go!" he said. "I won't hurt you."

One of the pixies fluttered its wings nervously and came out from its hiding place. The prince held out his hand with his palm up, inviting her to come to him. She warily floated over to him and landed in his hand and sat there. The prince raised her to eye level and examined her.

"Well aren't you beautiful?" the prince said to her. She pulled her legs in close timidly and turned away, as if she were embarrassed. She said something to the prince in a quiet, high-pitched voice, but he couldn't hear her. "What was that? Can you speak louder?"

She tried again, but she was too small, and her voice wouldn't reach his ears.

"I wish I could hear what you were saying. I imagine you have a lovely voice. I'm sure I could hear it if we were the same size."

Hearing this, the pixie perked up, and fluttered happily up to the prince's mouth. She tossed some sparkling dust on his lips and kissed them gently. There was a flash of golden light and the prince was no longer there. There was a pile of his fancy clothes where his feet had been. The pixies all came from their hiding places and flew down to the clothes. After a quick search, they found a tiny naked man, buried under a pair of trousers. It was the prince! But he had been shrunk down to pixie size. He was bent over, trying to cover himself.

"What happened?" he cried. "Why am I tiny?"

"You wished to be the same size as me, so that you may hear what I was saying," said the pixie that he had been holding as she approached him.

"I wanted you to be big, not me tiny!" he declared.

"Well you should have specified, then. At least you can hear me now, like you wanted, yes?"

"I didn't want it that bad!" cried the prince.

"Well," said the pixie, obviously offended, "now you won't get to hear it at all."

The pixies gathered their petals from the ground and flew off into the woods to complete their dance elsewhere. The prince stood there, tiny, naked, and alone.

A gnome came out of the trunk of a tree and plodded clumsily over to the prince.

"I seen the whole thing," said the gnome. "She cast a spell yeh."

"How can I break it?"

"Yeh gotta kiss a prinsis of course," the gnome chortled.

"Where could I find a princess around here?" the prince said sadly.

"Well," the gnome chuckled, "you already kissed one."

The prince's shoulders slumped and he fell to the ground with a hopeless thud.

"Best be mindin' yer manners nextime, purty boy."