Large blocks of black and gray granite, small, elaborate stain glass windows and a dark gray slate roof, formed the house where her parent's graves had been erected. The entrance was already open and she could see the interior was dimly lit from the remaining sunlight that hung overhead. Crossing the threshold she took in the small interior of the ten by ten building. The stonework helped protect her parent's headstones from the elements. The ground was a mixture of sand, gravel and soil, the air inside smelled of salt, earth and water. Two large, black boulders with a smooth face surrounded by jagged, craggy edges formed her parent's headstones. On the first boulder was etched the epithet:

Joseph DelaCour

Beloved Husband and Father

The second boulder was also etched with an epithet:

Marina Reece-DelaCour

Beloved Wife and Mother

Raven crouched down and brushed away the sand that had stuck on the headstones. Separating the dozen roses she had brought with her she laid six roses on each grave. She closed her eyes and said a prayer for their souls.

In closing, she mumbled, "Blessed be."

She opened her eyes, readjusted her footing and reached into her pocket, pulling out a black plastic lighter and large black and white striped candle in a frosted glass holder. Burying the candle in the sand until only about two centimeters showed, she rolled the wheel of the lighter, the metal striking against the flint producing a flame that danced and jumped to and fro before she extended her hand to light the wick. The lit candle flickered and waved creating a warm golden glow in the dim mausoleum. Shoving the lighter in her pocket she rose, took one last look at her parent's resting places before turning and leaving the house of death.

Just outside of the entrance she pushed a button on a side panel, the door of the building slowly started to descend. The sound of stone scrapping against stone became swallowed by the music of nature on the verge of chaos. The waves crashed noisily on shore, the breeze increased as the wind picked up and the sounds of lightning and thunder grew louder and closer. Any minute now fat rain drops would fall and the temperature would drop. With a soft thud the door was closed. Raising a hand Raven ran her palm against the smooth, cool surface of the smooth granite, warming the surface slightly with her touch. She sighed heavily. She couldn't fathom ever becoming accustomed to her parents being gone.

Shaking her head, to dislodge the memories threatening to surface she turned toward the path she had taken to the grave site. She had made it half way to what she affectionately called her castle fortress when she heard the sound of tinkling bells on the wind. Turning her head toward what she perceived to be the source of the noise she caught a flash of bright red out of the corner of her eye. Turning fully to the left she saw what she perceived to be four tiny, pale, creamy, white sticks and bright red silk flailing in the wind. Curiosity grabbed a hold of her and she made her way over to the flailing sticks and silk.

The closer she got the more movement the sticks and silk made, the sound of tinkling bells increased. She stopped short when she was about a foot away from the twigs and silk Blinking she rubbed her eyes and blinked again trying to reconcile what she was seeing with what her mind was telling her.

A tiny person with pointed ears, bright red hair styled in pigtails, almond shaped bright green eyes that seemed to point up at the temple, wearing a forest green dress, with no shoes. Her pale white limbs shaking willy-nilly as she tried to break free from the thorn bush that seemed to have caught a hold of her dress. She made small grunting noises, her face screwed up in concentration.

"Must break free, storm is rolling in. Jessibell doesn't like storms."

The creature's struggles increased. Raven shook her head, she must have had too much coffee, her mind was playing tricks on her. The creature grunted even more and then stopped suddenly bursting into tears, the tiny wingless thing's body shook with her sobs.

"Thunder and lightning, so loud, so loud."

Raven felt her heart melt a bit as she watched the creature she dubbed "Red" in her mind, holding her hands up in a sign of defenselessness, she approached the her.

"Uh, hello, don't struggle, don't struggle, please, I'm going to help you, if that's okay?"

Now she was only a few inches away from "Red" who regarded her with weariness. Up close, "Red" had a tiny up turned nose, pointed chin and high cheek bones; her face was smudged with dirt as were her hands and feet. Her tiny green dress was strapless wrinkled and torn in some places. "Red's" eyes roved over Raven's figure, she folded her small arms across her chest.

"If you fool with Jessibell, I shall do most horrible things to you." The thing said.

"Um, okay, I promise I'm not fooling with you. Now hold still, I'll try to be careful."

Raven moved closer, she peered down at the branch that held Jessibell fast and found the fabric of Jessibell's dress caught on one thorn. She thought for a moment. She couldn't come up with a plan that wouldn't shake the poor what-ever-it-was. Then an idea formed. Reaching into her pocket she extracted her key-ring. There was a bright red Swiss Army Knife among the various keys and trinkets. She flipped through tool after tool until she came to the one she wanted. A small knife.

"Now hold on, this may cause you a bit of jolt. Okay, erm, Jessibell?"

Raven looked wearily at Jessibell. Jessibell just levitated up and down in mid-air, arms folded over her chest, a frown on her lips.

"Okay then," Raven muttered to herself. Carefully she took hold of the branch ignoring the pinch of the thorns and started to cut through the small thorn holding Jessibell hostage. The knife cut through quickly and Jessibell fell suddenly. Raven's hand's shot out quickly to prevent Jessibell from hitting the ground. But Jessibell shot up, thorn still stuck in her dress.

"Free! Freedom!"

Jessibell did victory rolls and loop-da-loops in the air as she celebrated not being stuck to the thorn bush anymore. After a minute or two, breathing hard she flew in front of Raven's face, stopping just before she smacked into her nose. Leaning forward she kissed Raven's nose softly. Then she reached back to tug the thorn out of her dress.

"I thank you kind woman. To pay you back for your kindness, Jessibell will grant you five wishes," Jessibell said as she flew alongside Raven and started to hum to herself.

Five wishes? Raven thought as she raised her eyebrow in skepticism. Okay this delusion is getting out of hand, she thought. She looked up at the sky. Dark clouds moved over head. Any minute now it would start raining and she had no desire to get drenched.

"Um, Jessibell," she said cautiously, "Can I make those wishes later, um it's about to rain and I have to get inside."

She didn't add that when she got inside she'd check herself to see if she'd gone crazy and hadn't noticed it. Jessibell shook her head vehemently.

"No, no you must make your first wish now."

Jessibell stomped her foot in mid-air. Not wanting to anger whatever Jessibell was, Raven decided to give in.

"Um okay," she thought it over and decided to go for the most ridiculous thing she could think of.

"Okay how about this, um wait do I have to say I wish?"

Jessibell giggled, "Yes, that would be nice. That way I know that you're wishing."

She giggled again and started to fly this way and that.

"I wish for a gorgeous, sexy, man, naked, chained to my bed, with a bright orange ball gag in his mouth, who will know my deepest desires, a man of my dreams, who is my soul mate. He erm, has to be older than me, much older than me. That's it, that's my wish." Raven glanced up at the sky her eyes filled with worry.

"You got it!" Jessibell said giving Raven a salute. "I'll find you that man. You can be assured of that. When you're ready for your next wish just call my name and I'll appear. Laters ... um what's your name?"

"My name is Raven," she responded.

Jessibell smiled wide showing off bright white teeth. "Nice to meet you Raven. See you later."

She was about to disappear when Raven called out, "Wait! What are you?"

Jessibell giggled, "I'm a Pixie. Bye!"

Jessibell disappeared. Raven would have stood there in disbelief if it hadn't been for the first few fat drops of rain that soon turned into a downpour. Making a dash for the side door, her keys in her hand, she managed to open the door, thunder and lightning sounding overhead. Raven shut the door and locked it sighing. Yup, she was going crazy, she had just met a Pixie, whatever the hell that was.