A‍n Old Friend

Once upon a time, in a cozy corner of the world, a young woman named Guinevere was enjoying a moment of peace. She had returned home from school, found something to eat, taken care of everything that needed her attention, and settled in with a good book. But something in the air was strange.

‍ Her room felt odd in a way that she faintly remembered. Something deep inside her stretched and sniffed the air, catching something imperceptible to her waking mind. The space around her felt like it had grown larger, walls becoming insubstantial and giving way to some greater expanse beyond them. She could almost make out a voice, approaching her from a distance of space and time, just beyond the door to her closet.

‍ When she looked in to investigate, it took her a moment to realize what was different. Tucked between hanging clothes and stacks of half-completed artwork, a small door set into the surface of the wall had opened. She bent down to look through. Beyond the tiny red door she could see a room built of sticks and twine, lit from above by dappled light streaming through the leaves and boughs of an oak tree. Small makeshift furniture decorated the room and trinkets hung on the walls – foreign coins, crayon drawings, and small toys gifted by a child to her forest companion.

‍ Guinevere glanced around the closet, memories rising from the days when a little house of twigs in the woods was the most magical thing in the world. She knew the owner of that door... She smiled when she spotted a small figure peeking out from behind a picture frame, clad in green with shimmering butterfly wings gently fluttering at her back. “Peaseblossom?” she asked the pixie, old adventures flooding her mind.

‍ Peaseblossom spiraled up around her, giggling and sparkling. “It’s so good to see you! You got so big!”

‍ Guinevere couldn’t help but smile in grateful recognition and sympathetic energy. “It’s good to see you too!”

‍ Peaseblossom stopped for a moment in front of her. “I know you have lots of grown-up places to go and things to find now but I really really wanted to visit.”

‍ Guinevere tried to hug a hovering girl a twentieth her size and found it surprisingly easy, so long as she didn’t think too hard about the logistics of what was physically happening. Her mind slipped into a particular space where things like that could happen, the place she kept alive with the everyday magic of writing and painting and dreaming. “I’m sure you’ve been going on adventures of your own. Where’s your cousin?”

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom flashed through another series of energetic maneuvers out of sheer manic enthusiasm. “We have to find herrrrrr!”

‍ ‍ Guinevere was taken aback for a moment at the sudden shift in tone. “Is Waterlily missing? What happened to her?”

‍ ‍ “She’s not missing, silly! She’s exactly where she is!” Peaseblossom slowed again, wings fluttering madly as she tried to pull Guinevere’s hand toward the small door. “So we have to go there!”

‍ ‍ Guinevere’s smile returned as she started to recognize a pattern. “This wouldn’t involve some kind of adventure, would it?”

‍ ‍ “Yes yes yes! We need a Princess Knight to go get her! It’s a long way away and there’s lots of problems to solve so you have to come with me right now!” Peaseblossom tugged with all her might, completely failing to move Guinevere closer to the tiny door despite her best efforts.

‍ ‍ “Just a moment, sweetie,” Guinevere told her, scooping Peaseblossom up and settling her on her shoulder. “I can’t go on an adventure without my Princess Knight things.”

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom nodded vigorously, grinning like her head would split in two. “Yes yes yes but quickly! We have to go get Waterlily!”

‍ ‍ Guinevere reached into the back of the closet and pulled out a suit of green and gold armor mended in places with shoelaces and twine. When her fingers brushed across its surface, she could feel the craft foam it was made from and the steel that it wanted to be all at once. When she tied it on, the plates settled onto her with a solidity and weight foreign to their physical form. Her well-practiced mind took up the old familiar strain of pouring magic into the suit, and soft foam sheets clanked against each other just like armor should. She strapped an old sword to her hip, edge growing keen in its scabbard and leather creaking. She could smell the oil on the blade, a detail her younger mind had lacked the context to add.

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom orbited her head excitedly as Guinevere looked back to the small cardboard door with ‘Peaseblossom’ carefully written on it. It was a minor effort to call up the magic necessary. Her father had made that door for her, years and worlds ago, and a door crafted by a wizard for his Princess Knight would never keep her out.

‍ ‍ She didn’t grow smaller – that was impossible. The door didn’t stretch open wider – that wasn’t necessary. But a flex of will shifted Guinevere’s perspective to one that matched the space beyond the small red door, and with a step she was inside Peaseblossom’s home.

‍ ‍ The pixie, naturally, had no problem following her through. She enveloped Guinevere in an enthusiastic hug now that her arms could reach.

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom’s home matched her size, and Guinevere matched the home, so here they stood at the same height. Guinevere’s closet could be seen through the red door, shelves and boxes towering over her shifted perspective. “It still fits!” the pixie exclaimed.

‍ ‍ “I never stopped being the Princess Knight,” Guinevere told her. She grinned. “Now. Where’s Waterlily?”

‍ ‍ “Far away,” Peaseblossom told her with wide eyes. “We have to go find her.”

‍ ‍ “Do you have any more specific instructions?”

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom tried, and approximately succeeded, to pout gravely. “This is the wizard’s job.”

‍ ‍ “That’s okay,” Guinevere told her, trying to match her serious expression despite a few facial twitches to the contrary. “I’m sure we’ll find her if we adventure enough. I’m getting pretty good at wizard things myself.”

‍ ‍ “Oooooooo...” Peaseblossom breathed, hands on her cheeks and eyes huge. “What should we do?”

‍ ‍ Guinevere looked around the single-room cottage before glancing back toward the red door. “Well, where does that door lead?”

‍ ‍ Peaseblossom looked too and found the door closed. Her face broke into another excited grin. When her eyes met Guinevere’s they were sparkling. “I don’t know. Where does it?”

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‍ ‍ ‍Guinevere opened the door to reveal a crossroads, with strange signs pointing in many directions: Turn to 32.

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‍ ‍Guinevere opened the door to reveal a lake shrouded in mist and skirted by quiet trees: Turn to Page 62.

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‍ ‍Guinevere opened the door to reveal a sunlit meadow of colorful flowers: Turn to Page 40.

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‍ ‍Guinevere opened the door to reveal a town populated with many pixies like Peaseblossom: Turn to Page 81.