You may not believe in fairies, but it's good to know their rules anyway.
When it comes to creatures of folklore, there are many handy rules to keep in mind that will protect you from their wicked ways. Some of them are widely known: vampires, for example, hate garlic, crosses, and sunlight.
There are other rules, though, that follow particular cultural traditions, and may not be known to all. Thus it was that when this Irish hiker shared a story of her close call with the good folk of Twitter, those beyond her ancient green isle had no clue how it was she got away.
In the thread, Twitter user @Viriconia tells the store of how she got lost out on a walk and ended up going 20,000 steps out of her way.
She was hiking in the woods and passed between two trees, one which felt hot and dry, and the other which felt clammy and wet.
Almost instantly, everything changed. The sun vanished, the trail dwindled, and the usual forest sounds either ceased or seemed as if they were coming from very far away.
And it got worse. She heard a female voice call "Over here!" and then give a terrible laugh, and chills went down the woman's spine. A moment later, the same call, but from a different spot.
"And then I, a GROWN ADULT, stood in the middle of the overgrown forest, took off my t-shirt, and turned it inside out," the hiker writes.
Turning your clothes inside out is a long-held Irish tradition to banish fairies, and many think it as effective as iron or church bells.
Whatever the truth was, as soon as she did this, she found the trees again, stepped out from between them, and saw the sun once more.
Close call. And now you know-if you're about to be taken by fairies, turn your clothes inside out, and run.