I looked at the moon, which hung blue in the twilight sky and questioned, “What’s the moon and twilight got to do with it?”

“The twilight moon is the time to cross; return too soon and you will be lost.”

I had by now had enough of this cryptic Leprechaun and retorted, “Can you tell us the way back or not?”

“What’s the rush? Enjoy your stay but just watch out for the beast I pray.”

Then with a flash our cheeky little friend on the branch was gone.

My rational mind told me I must be seeing things; psychotic illusions can be one of the symptoms of bipolar. Yet I had never experienced such vivid and real illusions in the past. Still I questioned my sanity, refusing to believe what I had seen and heard was real. I looked down at Trinity for reassurance, only to find she was gazing back up at me with her faithful eyes, seemingly unperturbed by our recent encounter. It was great to have such a trusting dog; the only problem was that right now I didn’t trust my mind and could no longer distinguish between what was real and unreal.

“Right,” I said more to myself than Trinity, “let’s find our way out of here.”

We were now in a glade with a grassy hummock in its centre. Just a short climb and we should have a good view over the forest.

I beckoned Trinity to follow and started climbing the mound. All at once I heard the sounds of small bells tinkling around us. Psychosis seemed to be taking hold of my mind, with unreal sounds and visions plaguing me. I looked at Trinity who seemed oblivious to the bells and kept climbing. The further we climbed, the more bells I heard. I became more and more convinced that I was losing my mind especially when I heard the sounds of laughter, sweet and clear around me.

What madness is this that I hear bells and laughter, yet see nothing but grass and trees?

A flash of light caught my eye but was gone before I could focus on it. I turned hoping to see where it had gone, but nothing was there. Soon I began glimpsing more flashes of light but was never able to see what was causing it. The light seemed to be accompanied by more sweet laughter, almost as if it was mocking me. I tried to ignore it and kept walking up the hillock. How far had I travelled from the real world since setting off on this twilight walk?

As I neared the top of the hillock daisies and buttercups appeared amongst the grass, which were most unusual for this time of year. What awaited me at the top was even more extraordinary though. As I rounded the top of the hillock before me was what I could only describe as a fairy court. Sat upon a buttercup throne was the fairy queen in gowns of gossamer and gold. All around her was the fairy court, resplendent in yellow tunics and silver dresses. The fairies flew around the hill top with translucent wings shimmering like rainbows in the moonlight. Tiny bells tinkled attached to hats and dresses and there was laughter all around. Each fairy was only a few inches high; no bigger than a large butterfly.

“Welcome to my fairy mound mortals. What brings you to twilight woods this eve?” greeted the queen in a chiming voice.

“Err … Hello your majesty,” I answered hesitantly. “We got lost in the woods and do not know how we came here.”

“You were found then my mortal friends. Was it a deer perchance?”

“A red stag, tall and proud!” I exclaimed. “Trinity chased it and now we are here.”

“The stag is a creature of two worlds and can cross over on a twilight moon. The stag found you and brought you here; for what purpose I currently don’t know.”

“How, may I ask, are we to get back?”

“Return you shall, but not yet I am afraid. There is a reason for you being here and until your purpose has been resolved, here you shall stay.”

“Cannot the red stag lead us back?”

“He is lord of two worlds and will only return when he feels you have achieved that which is set out for you.”