One day, I was working with the elves on a little project and they said: "We're so sorry about your finger!" I asked the spirits what they were talking about. "Oh, you're going to break it tomorrow. It's the relationship finger because you're not allowing yourself to get enough joy from your relationships (the relationship finger is the left hand thumb).

I immediately started a time of contemplation, thinking not only about the joy of my loved ones, but also the great blessings of my 'family' of spirits and beings from other kingdoms. But as I sat there, waves of joy washed over me. After a while, a little face appeared in front of me.

The little one was a fairy. She had the most perfect, exquisite purple face. Her hair fell in waves, changing from purple to green and back again. I had just met Aribafira, the fairy of joy. I tried to get her to live with me, as does Firiha, the little fairy who lives with and rides on my office manager's shoulder. But she preferred the garden.

But Aribafira isn't the first one to make effort to cheer me up. The hardships of the responsibilities as cosmic gatekeeper sometimes wore so heavily on me I forgot to smile. During that time, I was working day and night to produce thousands of angel sigils that were needed to protect the earth from what was then a threat. But on occasion, I would hear a little song, and the first two words were always the same: "Pedlbufpaba, pedlbufpaba...", followed by some other strange words.

It was during a lengthy ceremony, when my body ached from 18 hours of lying on a wheel of symbols, that I saw Pedlbufpaba, the elf. Once again, only his little face appeared in front of me. Uncombed curly brown hair, about chin-length, framed a 'suntanned' looking face.

Brown sparking eyes in a slightly dirty face stared back at me. The little nose was very stubby and he smiled as he sang his now familiar song to cheer me.

King Elrinkra of the elf kingdom, and his right hand elf Elvichbaspla, have become very close to me. They are always willing to help and their elves are dependable and very proud of doing their work well. They shout when they become excited and their courage and cheery love of life make them seem 10 feet tall, even though they are only a few inches high.

Excerpt from Secrets of Hidden Realms