River Fairies

 River Fairy kneeling

Bank Dwelling River Fairies are a beautiful type of fairy that are known to help people who get in trouble on the waterways that the fairies protect.  They love water.  But they are not mermaids.  They live on the shore and often in the nearby woods, although they can swim quite well.  To swim they fold their wings tightly against their backs. 

There are other types of River Fairies that actually have fin-like wings.  Those types of fairies live in the rivers and lakes.  The drawing below is of one of those River Fairies swimming in the river.  They are called Aquatic River Fairies.  They are actually a type of fresh water Mermaid.  They can breathe water like a fish.  So they get their needed oxygen from the oxygen that is trapped in the river.  Aquatic River Fairies are actually a specialized type of Nyad.  Aquatic Water Fairies, unlike regular Nyads, can fly out of the water and even walk on land, however, like an amphibian, they can not allow themselves to get dry or they will dehydrate and die.  For this reason Aquatic Water Fairies like to fly on rainy days or nights.  The rain also tends to hide them from mortal eyes. 

A science note now:  The animals with gills that live in the water still need oxygen to live.  They extract the oxygen from the water.  The rivers and creeks have more oxygen than a lake.  Water that is moving picks up more oxygen. . . especially when it tumbles down a waterfall or over a boulder that is in the water.  Also, an amphibian has leaky skin.  When the area outside of their skin is dry. . . ie air. . . then the water moves out of their cells.  This is why frogs on land look like they have slimy skin.  . . the water is leaking out.  When an amphibian gets back in the water they re-hydrate. 

NOTE:  The top drawing is based on a beautiful Medical Assistant.  She has pink hair and lovely eyes.  The drawing, of course, does not capture her true beauty.  It is done in a cartoon style or a stylized cartoon.  The printable version of this cartoon drawing is found by clicking on the correct buttons at the top of the page.  That would be the  Fantasy Myths and Circus and the All Printables buttons.  The new drawings, like these two, are placed at the bottom of the lists of printable drawings.

River Fairy swimming