Naida flitted past the boundary rock that marked the edge of her garden. She breathed a sigh of relief to be within the safety of her glamours once more where no human eye could see things for what they really were. Not that it would make much difference. Those great lumps wouldn’t recognise truth if it jumped up and bit them. From what Naida had seen, it biting them wouldn’t even help them much.
To the outside world, Naida’s house was a random pile of rocks by the side of a stream. To those who could see the truth, though, it was a beautiful stone cottage. Her bluebell-trees were back in season — at last—casting a little shade over her moss lawn. This wasn’t just a house. It was a home.
The glamours weren’t just visual illusions. To humans and other predatory animals the whole area gave off an air of unease. Something that would make them wander away in the other direction as if they’d planned to do that all along. She was safe in her home. No one wou—
Something was there. On top of her cottage. Her beautiful roof! A large flat object. A human object. She could feel the arrogance pouring off it. Its shiny transparent surface allowed Naida to see the contents. A pencil and notepad. Somehow a human had taken notice of her home. Not only that: it was settling in. Bullying its way through the world, redefining her house as a table!
Naida started forward. Her wings lit up with incandescent fury. There was no way she’d settle for this. She would sort out this human intruder! And with the glamour still in place the human wouldn’t even know what had hit it.
The human skipped into the clearing humming happily to itself. It stopped a few metres away from Naida. “Oh,” said the girl. “Hello there. I’m Emily. Do you live here?”
Brandon Lim 