Faery Playground

By Fae Corps Publishing

 

Come seek the children where they play and learn the lessons of the Fae. Stories, poems and art combine to paint a picture most sublime. In Faery Playground you will find the darkness stalks all faery kind.

Featuring Art by:
Patricia Harris
Vonnie Winslow Crist
K.T. Seto
Poetry by:
Cyndi Pilcher
Vonnie Winslow Crist

And 9 New Tales:

Gathering the Girls by BF Vega – Changelings and Fae children go seeking their lost siblings
Playful Faeries by Cyndi Pilcher (poem)
Angel  by K.T. Seto – A little girl sees eyes in a puddle and learns more about her mother's ancestors.
Tale of Little Jenny by Lorraine Lewis - A sprite loses her innocence and transforms
Wee Blind Mice by Ruan Bradford Wright – A fae child is born into a nightmare and learns life's lessons alone.
Lost and Found by Tish MacWebber- An innocent game of hide and seek leads fae children to learn about the mystery that caused their elders to join the fight against evil. 
Birdling by Vonnie Winslow Crist-when a young writer rescues a baby bird she gains a friend
Growing Up by Serena Mossgraves- a teenager plagued by nightmares goes to visit her therapist after her mother's death and learns of a prophesy
Blu by K.T. Seto- A Mondaó maid follows her student into danger and draws upon the lessons of her childhood to save them all.
The Boy in the Closet by Raz T. Slasher- A little girl befriends the boy who lives next door, but when tragedy strikes she learns he isn't what he seems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fae Corps Publishing
• Release date: May 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393006947

Fae Corps Publishing

A relatively new Indie Publisher, Fae Corps is all about helping the Indie Author find the magic in their art.. We are the authors and the small storytellers. We are all about helping the new and struggling authors to be seen.

Book preview

Gathering the Girls is dedicated from H.Q. to Agents: The Kid, Migs, The Man, V, Spam, Hobbe, Chicken, Minya, and Frank-a-Roni.

***

Growing up is dedicated to all of those who feel strange in their own bodies. Being a changeling is not really that bad.

***

Jazzy the Cat, author of The Jazzy Chronicles and this dedication wants to dedicate the story Lost and Found to Pumpkin and Ludvick von Hairball. I was disappointed that there were no talking cats in Tish MacWebber's story and wanted to voice my opinion about this.

~Jazzy

Tish MacWebber would also like to thank Jazzy MacWebber for not taking every single catnap in between herself and her keyboard.

***

I dedicate my poems to Patti Harris, my partner, other love of my life, and muse when it comes to poetry. ~Cyndi Snow-Pilcher

Table of Contents

Gathering the Girls by BF Vega

Merchild by Patricia Harris

Playful Faeries by Cyndi Pilcher

Angel (Story and Art) by K.T. Seto

Pronunciation Guide for K.T. Seto’s stories

Leprechaun with Paintbrush by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Tale of Little Jenny by Lorraine Lewis

Garden Pixie by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Wee Blind Mice by Ruan Bradford Wright

Laughing Rock Cover by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Three Faeries Lullaby by Cyndi Pilcher

Faery graphic

Faery Child by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Fae Fae Fae by Patricia Harris

Lost and Found by Tish MacWebber

Fairy on Fairytale Books by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Birdling by Vonnie Winslow Crist

Mab’s Swamp by Patricia Harris

Growing up by Serena Mossgraves

Blu (Story and Art) by K.T. Seto

Tiny Goblin by Vonnie Winslow Crist

The Boy in the Closet by Raz T. Slasher

Mountains by Patricia Harris

About the Authors and Artists

About the Publisher

Gathering the Girls

by BF Vega

The morning of Analina’s twelfth birthday Meredith was overwhelmed by grief, and did not make it down to the breakfast table, leaving her husband to cook pancakes for their five girls.

Looking around the table Jackie-Jane, who was a Hobgoblin and had joined the family after being orphaned and rejected by the Fae court and was only five, so she didn’t have great human vocal skills yet asked, Why mama not here?

Sam, the oldest, who was always a little sad that coming to her home as a changeling in exchange for her mom’s firstborn had caused her parents so much grief answered, Because it’s Analina’s birthday and she misses her.

Who Hanna-Leena? JJ asked

She’s the baby that Sam replaced. Val ever practical, and straightforward answered her younger sister.

Replace? JJ asked.

When you make a deal with the Fae they require payment. Val answered despite Sam kicking her under the table, Mom wanted children, the Fae magically allowed that to happen, but took the two mortal girls Analina and Miguella and gave her two changelings of the royal court, Sam and I to bring up as mortals instead.

JJ contemplated her pancakes. She waited until her father’s back was turned then using a little Hobbe magic got the strawberries that she knew were in the fridge to appear on her plate. So as not to get ratted out by her sisters, strawberries appeared on all of their plates as well. All but Frankie who was still a baby, and had only joined the family a mere eight months ago. She showed up in a basket accompanied by wolf bane and a solid silver rattle with a note that said ‘no moonlight’ at the front door. She wasn’t eating pancakes.

JJ ate all of her strawberries quickly. Then putting down her fork she looked at her younger sister Matilda and said, I not changeling, Tilda not changeling, Frankie Cubby!

Matilda showed a slight blue glow in her grey skin. As far as the family knew the apparent four year old couldn’t talk. Or rather she hadn’t talked since the family had found her in the crop circle outside of town two years ago. Somehow though JJ was able to communicate with her, and now there was always an interesting back and forth between Tilda changing color and JJ telling the family what that meant.

No, Sam answered, You three were foundlings technically. Since mom has some inhuman blood she took you guys in too. Also, nobody knows what Tilda is.

Tilda glowed slightly yellow and threw a strawberry at Sam, which JJ stopped mid-air and re-directed to her plate before answering Sam, She out-zide fairy.

What the heck does that even mean? Sam asked.

But JJ was no longer interested in the subject, and instead said matter-of-factually Fae stealed our sisters.

Technically, they didn’t steal them, Sam answered.

JJ grunted, scarfed some more magically appearing strawberries, this time covered with the whipped cream she had remembered she wasn’t allowed to have, and said, We get them back.

You can’t break contracts with the Fae court. Bad things happen. Val said.

JJ poured syrup on her pancakes as her dad turned around, before looking up at her sisters, and saying in her most no-arguing tone, We get them back. and that was apparently that.

Later that day they met to try and figure out how to steal two humans back from the Fae.

Maybe our cousin Dean knows? Sam suggested.

He might, I guess Val answered her.

At this point, JJ crossed the room to the Xbox, turned it on, and brought the controller and the headset to Sam.

Sam took the hint, and logged on to Fortnite to see if Dean was playing. He was.

Dean, sandbox mode. Family business. Important. she typed in the message box.

Only if you use my Gamertag came the reply.

Sam sighed deeply, and looked at JJ who merely pointed at the TV. Realizing she had no choice Sam typed, Oh great and powerful Lord Cheddar, ruler of the Gouda Mountains and controller of the blue cheese sea- go to freaking sandbox mode.

Ok, he replied, and then his avatar and Sam’s were being dropped out of a giant flying school bus.

What’s up? he asked over the headset.

JJ says that we have to get Analina and Miguella back, but Val and I don’t want to have to switch places. Is there any way to break a Fae contract?

"Maybe, I saw a YouTube video once that I’m pretty sure was someone who had escaped the Fae....Hey, that’s my Loot Piñata!

We’re playing sandbox, Sam said.

No, in real life, Penny is trying to steal my loot Piñata that I just got ... I have to go.

Dean this is important. Let your sister have the stupid ...

"No! Put down the cat! Cats don’t like flying, Penny!! I know you’re a fire elemental, but you are still my little sister, and I am in charge while... No! Ugh, cats don’t like fire either!! Sam, I gotta go. Maybe ask Great gramps'' And with that, his avatar on screen went lifeless.

Sam shot it a couple of times for good measure then logged off.

He said to ask Great gramps, She informed the other girls.

Val crossed over to her gaming setup, and logged in to Starbase. Well, come over here. She said. As all the girls gathered around she had them all touch her keyboard.

With a few keystrokes, the girls found themselves in an alien world. Not looking at it on the screen, but rather on a completely different world.

Are you sure this is right? Sam asked, "The last time we visited Great gramps he was on a green world, this seems all desert.

Yeah, I might have nuked the last world when we were playing, so he built this one. It’s always night time here. Oh, and there may be vampires. Val said.

Cool, both JJ and Sam said while Tilda pulsed an excited green.

As they mounted a small hill and could see their Great gramps sitting in front of a small cabin chatting with some very pale looking people, the moon came out from behind the clouds.

Uh-Oh, JJ said, and they all turned to look at Frankie, who was in a baby walker that Tilda had been pulling along behind her.

The transformation was pretty quick. And where a baby had been there was now a cute little grey puppy. JJ walked up to it.

Sit. Cubby, sit. Stay. Good Cubby.

JJ stop treating Frankie like a puppy, she’s our sister, Sam said.

She puppy, JJ said, exasperated pointing at the little furry ball of energy.

Well, you’re a goblin and we don’t treat you like a goblin Val answered her.

I HOB-goblin. She puppy. JJ said stamping her little round foot.

Silently as always, Tilda had withdrawn a collar and lead from the backpack she wore. Attaching it to Frankie, she handed the lead to JJ who said. Come Cubby, we see Great gramps, and walked off in a huff.

As he saw the girls approaching,  Great gramps Coyote said goodbye to his digital vampire friends and met the incoming barrage at the bottom of the steps to his porch.

Girls! He said, and gave each of them a hug, except Frankie who he patted on the head instead before giving her a chew toy that he had conveniently on the porch with him. What brings you to see your Great gramps?

We get sisters back, JJ said, prompting Sam to explain why they were there in more complete sentences.

Old Coyote stroked his beard a few times before saying, There is a way, but it’s fairly dangerous.

"We get