I wanted to write a short story about how we sometimes fall in love with a stranger—captivated by a simple gesture, a glance, a small, unexpected moment. Elves and Fantasy is a short story born from that feeling, and from the quiet fear that maybe we’re not enough, or that a hello might ruin the magic. But what if that one hello could change everything?

Short Story - Elves and Fantasy - Falling in Love With a Stranger

He sat across from her on the train he took every day to work and back. Never had he seen her before, and there was nothing else that he could do than sit there, staring at her drawing while being perplexed by her beauty. He himself had never drawn before, or maybe he did when he was still in kindergarten and just forgot how much he enjoyed it.

Seeing her made him curious. Who was she? Where did she come from? What was she like?

She seemed to enjoy the train ride, occasionally looking out of the window and smiling to herself. He couldn’t understand how anyone could enjoy it. To him, it was a tedious wait to get home and sit behind his computer screen to play games with his comrades. He enjoyed massively online role-playing games, manga, anime, and fantasy fiction. This girl was otherworldly to him, as if she was one of those elves from the games he played.

Elves... he liked elves. They were his favourite race in every book and game he enjoyed. Something about them drew him into the lands beyond imagination. He was much happier there than in reality, so he would spend hours playing, watching those movies, or reading comics. Maybe that is why he was so scared to talk to her; he rarely spoke to strangers face to face. It was easier to speak to people in the game and through the internet, without seeing them.

Or maybe he couldn't muster up the nerve to speak because he had never seen such grace in life until now. Yes, graceful… that is what she must be like. She must be one of those wine and tea lovers, right? For some reason, unknown to him, he wanted to show her the elves. Would she be in awe? Does she like fantasy or is she drawing realism? He tried to take a peek but couldn’t see what she was scribbling.

He thought to himself how boring his life was. He didn’t create anything. Maybe he should take up that streaming thing he had put off for years by now. He felt that he wasn’t artistic enough for anything else. But he was funny, at least he thought he was, and he wondered if she would laugh at his jokes. Or would she think that he is lame and childish like his mother? Why did it suddenly matter to him what she would think of him?

There was nothing in his life that he felt was worth mentioning. What if she would think him to be too awkward and boring to have a conversation with? In his mind, he painted a picture that she must like hippies and people who could talk about art passionately. But he knew nothing about art. He knew nothing of this world or so he thought. Before he knew it, she stood up from her chair and handed him a paper.

“Hey, you are funny, you know that? It is almost as if a cat swallowed your tongue," and with that, she turned her back to him while exiting the train. He looked at her dumbfounded and forgot for a moment that it was his stop too and ran towards the exit of the train.

To his luck, the train shut the doors and started moving. When he gazed down at the paper in his hands, there was a face of an elf. It was as if it had come out of one of the games or movies he had been a fan of.

And so he walked home with a smile on his face, shining like the sun even if it was raining. He couldn't be bothered by anything, not the water in his shoes or the loud cars. He just wanted to see her again tomorrow on the same train. And bring his comics along.

He didn't realize that his interests were a form of art, so he thought he had no worth to her. He couldn't be more wrong after hours of watching movies together, after hours of gaming and getting excited about new releases together with her for years.