Julian K. Jarboe

Estranged Children of Storybook Houses

My brother thought that he might burn the fairy out of me when we were children. Common wisdom held that a fairy would reveal itself if held to flames or iron. Then it would cry out in its own wicked tongues, leave the home it had invaded, and return the rightful child from its realm. My brother tested for my sinister nature with the hot end of a fireplace poker.