Into the Woods

        Into the woods we went, the professor and I, around moss covered stones and dripping ferns to dapples of sunlight and dandelion seed, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fairy folk. Would they be sitting around the fairy ring on acorn cups fashioned from stumps?
      There, beneath the dark puddles of shadow I spied a tiny wooden door in the tangled roots, handle worn smooth from being turned in anticipation by so many hopeful hands.
       "Look," I said
       "Ah, Others have passed this way then."
       "But how will we get back?"
        "That is a conundrum for later cogitation" said he, "Be content with the present. Find a way to unlock the door."
         How do you camouflage yourself from fairy folk? Maybe disguised with way-side flowers we could sneak through unseen and find a way to pass through the burrs knots and rings of time. As I consider, the professor speaks again in wonder,
        "See, on the wood pile there? The present that was never given? Unwrap it from its pretty ribbon and stiff paper and reveal what is hidden within"
I did as he asked and found a vial of golden liquid, viscous honey mead full of Puck's menace. We both drank, but I never saw him again.
I have it here still. Beware, it will transport you in a fluff and billow of confusion to another land. There you will see, as I did, the little people, the Watingers and the Woodentops, the armies of Minpins. There is a whole community in collusion with nature. Think carefully. Do you want to be beholden to them? If you take the risk and go to them what you learn must be kept secret it is their law. And they will want something in return for being seen. Security, protection, a safe haven at the bottom of your garden. If you go into the secret realm you are bound by their laws you will become a gatekeeper,as I am now, a warden for the green man. Guard it well if you go and cherish it always for a gift of love may be wrapped in many different guises.