AnYi 安亦

Try to convince your reader that the mythological creature of your choosing exists.

I’m not going to insult your intelligence by claiming I can make you believe in fairies. At its core, belief is an opinion – if you do not wish to believe, that is your prerogative. That said, I hope we can both achieve something positive from this experience: by the time our conversation is through, I hope you will concede that – whether your instinct is to believe or to denounce – it is at least possible they exist, and we are simply unaware.

The first logical question would be which variety of fairy we are discussing; after all, there have been many. I’m not talking of those that tinkle as they fly and emit copious amounts of brightly coloured light. If such a creature existed, then it would clearly have a hard time concealing its presence and, as such, this conversation would be of fact rather than opinion. Instead, I talk of the aspect of the fairies that many refer to as the fey. Secretive and fickle, these beings exist – excuse me: could exist – just outside the reach of our perception, manipulating king and pauper toward their own inconceivable ends. They are credited with many a varied power, but by far the most crucial is that of invisibility; to keep oneself and one’s people completely unknown gives one an awesome and terrible power over the unaware. I draw your attention to this ability for good reason, as these fey are not the glowing, tinkling lies that we sell to our children; these fey are cunning. Cunning enough that they could have existed all this time, we just… haven’t noticed.

Do I believe in the fey? A good question, to be sure. But that’s rather not the point, is it?