The crinkle of papers being pulled off the tables filled the classroom. Judith Berry folded hers in uneven halves as she scooped it up from her table. Her folded hand reminded me of that video of a bear swooping up fish. Poor fish. Killing animals is bad. I treat my paper nicely. I drew a dragon. A grandmama dragon actually. All grandmamas are nice, so the dragon has to be nice. But not all dragons are nice. I told this to Maddie while we unhooked our backpacks.
“But, what if the dragons are actually nice but they’ve been cursed by an evil fairy? Like Beast?” Maddie asked, her hair's so pretty. I wish my hair looked like that, all blond like the princess’s and good fairies.
“That could happen. But you can’t break a evil fairy’s curse by true love’s first kiss, that’s only for witches. Who would want to kiss a dragon? Maybe you would have to get a good fairy to break the spell.” We left room 10 and headed for the door that says exit in big letters and also in bumps. “I wish I was a fairy. I don’t see Clover.”
“He’s probably meditating. Rainbow might walk us home instead. I want to be a fairy too. My parents say I can be anything I want to be. Clover and Rainbow said that teaching yoga was their dream and that I need to find my dream.”
“Maddie, why are your parent’s names Clover and Rainbow? They’re such pretty names but no one else has names like that.”
“Lily, your name is a flower name. See, people do have names like that! But I don’t know, Rainbow said that they didn’t like the names their parents gave them. They said it didn’t reflect their aura the right way.” I don’t know what aura means but maybe it has to do with titles, like princess or King. Then Mr. Dave walked by. He looked like he had been trying on my mom’s eyeshadow but under his eyes. “Mr. Dave! Do you want to be wizard? Or a prince? Or maybe both, you could be both! Being a prince is very noble and if you have magic powers to go with it then nothing can stop you.” He probably didn’t know that. Adults don’t read the right books. He stopped walking and turned really slowly. He always does things so fast I don’t know why he did it slowly. Then I looked at his face. He normally looks so nice, it looked like his face had been twisted, especially his lip. His mouth looked like Auntie Rose when she saw something she didn’t like.
“Lily, really? Again with the make-believe? You’re seven now, almost a third grader. It’s time for you to grow up. It’s ridiculous how much time you put into this. Fairies, wizards, and all that silly stuff you think is real? It’s not. None of it’s real and magic doesn’t exist, ok? It’s time to grow up leave fairyland or whatever you call it behind.” No. No no no no no! What was he saying? He’s lying. What do I do? Run. So I did. I ran through everyone until I was out the door. I could see the large oak tree that lives in our front yard. I kept running, I could feel myself crying but I concentrated on running. I need to get to the fairy circle. Finally I got to the tree and it hit me. I’m changing the plan and I didn’t tell anyone. But I don’t care right now, I just need to get to my circle. I know mom is home but I don’t want to talk to her right now. I need to get to the fairy circle. I can probably open the back gate. No one really uses the back gate unless they need to. I need to. If I jump high enough I can open it. Maybe.
It’s open. It didn’t even squeak. Dominic said all old doors squeak. Maybe this is magic. It is! The good fairies want me to come to the circle. Our backyard is so pretty. Lilies grow everywhere until they reach the forest. It’s nice having a forest start in your backyard. People always end up in my backyard. But off to the side behind a rose bush that came out of nowhere, it really did come out of nowhere because mommy and daddy promised they didn’t plant it plus there are no thorns so it must be magic, the fairy circle is hidden. It’s a circle of perfect mushrooms, just like in my books. Rose petals are around it but they never fall in because it’s magic. I step into it, because if there was ever a time for magic, I need it now. Mr. Dave might be a evil wizard or even a evil fairy or night or, or, anything! I put my other foot in. No one can see me because the rose bush is in the way. It’s time for the spell I learned from my favorite book about fairies. The book is really pretty, it’s purple.
“Fairies, fairies hear my voice, my name is Lily and I want a choice, let me see you where I stand, or take me please to fairyland.” My face feels wet. Oh, it’s because I’m still crying. Stop crying Lily, good fairies like happiness. “Please, please, please.” I whisper so no one else can hear. Then, all of a sudden, the wind starts blowing. It’s soft and light like the cloud bread that daddy makes for me, but just enough to give me shivers like when you feel a super small fly creep up and down your arm. It sweeps the leftover tears off my face. I look at the ground hoping for some sign of fairy dust. Pixies are the evil fairies and their dust is used for bad things. But thankfully, pixies don’t usually come out during the day. I don’t see pixie dust but something else. The rose petals that surround the fairy circle are moving. They’re flying! The petals are dancing through the air around the circle, around me. They’re circling like the magic when Elsa changes clothes in Let it Go. Is that what this is? Is this magic?
I reach for a petal. Maybe it can tell me if this is magic. My hand reaches the edges of the circle, wait, circles don’t have edges, oh well. I try to grab a petal but as my hand scoops like a bear paw around one a golden light flashes and before I know it my hand is grabbing my backpack straps. It’s magic. I knew it was! I knew it was. I was right this entire time and I can’t believe it. Wait, I can believe it.
“I believe.” I whisper. My little noggin, what daddy calls my head, can’t handle just thinking about this. I have to say it. “I believe. It’s real! I believe. I believe. I believe…”
“We know you do” It sounds like chimes, only softer and quieter. “We know you do Lily, that’s why I’m here.” I feel like my entire body has been stuffed inside a ice cube, which would make me a Lilsicle. I look up from the swirling rose petals into the most amazing, and real thing I’ve ever seen. But, she wasn’t a thing, she was a fairy. About the size of half a dollar bill, she was so defined like she was in HD but so much better. Silver sparkles danced off her wings into the air, dressed in the most beautiful Cinderella blue dress anyone could dream of. Her hair was like mine, brown with a whole lot of red mixed in. Mommy calls it auburn. I couldn’t see her shoes but I know they were beautiful.
“I knew it! This is amazing!” I could barely breathe. “Hi, I’m Lily, I’m so super excited to meet you!”
“Hello Lily,” her laugh sounded like warm popovers coming out of the oven “my name is Regina. I know you have a lot of questions, but they will have to wait. Your mom knows you left school without anyone and she’s worried sick. You need to go to her and let her know you are safe.” That’s right. I changed the plan and didn’t call or anything. What if I had gotten kidnapped? Oh my gosh what did I do?
“Oh my gosh I forgot! I have to go tell her. Miss Regina, could you wait for me?” I took a step towards the house. The petals were still there and again gold light flashed. It almost hit me in the face!
“Lily, please just call me Regina. You can’t go in quite yet. I have to leave, but I need you to promise me to keep this a secret. Don’t tell anyone, even your best friend.”
“Not even my mom?”
“Not even your mother. Please keep this a secret, for both of our sakes. Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
“Excellent. Well, I have to go now, but I will see you again. I promise.” And with that, Regina disappeared. Everything stopped. The rose petals fell to the ground and the wind stopped as quickly as it started. I took a deep breath. That’s what Rainbow said to do anytime I felt like. I don’t get it but it works I think. I took another one just in case. I need to remember, don’t tell anyone. Ok, I got this. Time to go talk to mom. I carefully stepped out of the circle and into my backyard. One last breath for good measure, and I started the walk