I'm a mortal girl who's gotten involved with an immortal one--perpetually young, beautiful, magical. But sad. Over the centuries, she lost love after love to old age and death, or to other mortals of the same apparent age (while she, fey, stayed unnaturally young). Human legends call the fae fickle, but that's how she sees us. So she quietly improved my health and stretched my lifespan--or am I completely unaging? I don't know yet, and won't for decades. Either way, it's a hell of a powerful gift.

But she's possessive too. Her spell also makes me forgettable, near-invisible, to other women.

And she didn't ask, or even tell me. It took time for me to notice--few illnesses, women ignoring or forgetting me. Partly masked by the fact I'm still perfectly visible to guys! But she knew they're not her rivals--I only like girls.

I'm not sure her secrecy was all arrogance; she may feel embarrassed at her insecurity. I'm a bit offended, sure, but not furious. Would you be? Health, long life, a really sexy, attentive lover, and years to create and develop skills--really, the only things off the table are fame and cheating.

I wish she could've trusted me, but she's got centuries of losses weighing her down; I can almost forgive her. Even be flattered a bit. She must really like me! It's proof she's in it for the long haul.

But when I ask her about the spell, she just blushes, ashamed! So I set out to test for myself how far this half-invisibility spell extends. Phone calls & messages go through, but get overlooked. Try video. Get just 8-10 frames a second, not 24-30. As if the software forgets me, but then forgets it should forget, so every third frame or so slips through. Choppy motion, but watchable. And my voice records just fine. I can have a web presence!

Oddly, this digital experiment was a project that a teacher asked me to try--and she's female. So it seems I'm visible to some women. Hmm... she old. Maybe it's only women I feel attracted to who can't see me? And I'm fussy; maybe 5% of women attract me, and no men. If attraction's the key, most people can see me.

Still tracing the parameters of my strange life, but one thing's clear: the benefits look real, and the costs less than I first thought.

Unless I fall out of love with her. And I haven't. I'm... happy. Life and love are what matter to me; fame never was more than a frill.

NOTES IN THE MORNING

• Immortality means losing friends and lovers: the manga Frieren's about an elf who has to watch her friends age and die.
• Sorceress, good or bad?: in T. Kingfisher's Minor Mage, the Spirit of the Forest (ghost of a murdered woman) is widely feared, yet helps the Minor Mage.
• Spell or curse? Echoes Carol Levine's Ella Enchanted! Ella's "blessed" with perfect obedience--thanks, Jerky Godmother!
• Hidden from a specific population: in Margo Maloo by Drew Weing, monsters hide from adult humans, but ignore kids--no one believes them.
• I confuse the camera: in Barbara Truelove's Of Monsters and Mainframes, security cams can't see vampires--just as mirrors don't reflect them.
• Underneath all these book references, I feel like the dream's rather literal: I really have made a soul-bargain. I do want health, artistic skill-building, and a long quiet life--to hell with reputation and fame. And the dream suggests I can have those things--at that price.

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites