If You Dream of Fairies

Whimsical Wednesdays

If You Dream of Fairies is a story I wrote for my daughters and niece last summer. I will present it here in serialized form. It was my first foray into fiction.

In case you missed something:
If You Dream of Fairies - I
If You Dream of Fairies - II
If You Dream of Fairies - III
If You Dream of Fairies - IV
If You Dream of Fairies - V

On the last day of school the girls rode the bus home, Maria clutching an armload of awards and a certificate proclaiming that her attendance – like everything else about her – had been perfect and Liz holding her report card. Maria turned to Liz and said, “My parents want to go for a little trip next week. Could you look after Keebler while I’m gone?” Liz accepted this opportunity with enthusiasm. She always missed Maria when she went on vacations, but it would probably be a lot less lonely with Keebler to keep her company.

The two girls and the pup stayed in the garden well past dusk that night. Maria had gone over Keebler’s instructions so many times that Liz was pretty sure she could recite them back word for word. They watched the sky turn orange, then pink, then lavender, and finally a deep inky blue as the sun set over their neighborhood. They watched the moon begin to glow and the stars begin to twinkle. They saw a few fireflies, the surest sign that summer was upon them. When their mothers indicated that it was time to come in, the girls embraced. It had always been hard for them to spend time away from one another. Maria swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched Liz walk away with Keebler in her arms. A solitary tear grew in her eye, then, when it became too large for her eye to contain, flowed over her lower eyelid and down her cheek. One perfect tear. Liz’s eyes were red, as she wiped the back of her hand across her tear stained face. She had never experienced the perfect tear phenomenon. When she cried, her whole face became wet. And red. And usually a little splotchy. She sniffed loudly as she turned around just in time to watch Maria quietly close the door behind her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day Liz found herself very busy with Keebler. She knew puppies were cute. She knew puppies were fun. She had no idea that puppies were so much work. Just keeping track of him was hard. Her parents had told her that she could keep Keebler for the week, but they made it very clear that she would be the one who would be completely responsible for his care. By the time she’d fed him, brushed him and taken him for a walk she was already exhausted. It wasn’t even lunch time yet.

After lunch they headed out to the yard. Maybe if she ran around with him for a while she could wear him out. Now that school was over, she was looking forward to sitting under the tree in the garden and reading something just for fun. She’d pictured herself doing so while Keebler snoozed contentedly beside her, his head resting sweetly on her lap. It was quite a pretty picture, in her mind’s eye. That particular scenario was looking less and less likely.

“Keebler, you’re on your own for a little bit.” She said, making herself comfortable with her back to the tree and opening her book. When Keebler realized that he’d lost his playmate, he settled down a bit, too. He didn’t snuggle into her lap as she’d hoped, but at least he wasn’t running around like a thing possessed anymore. He rolled on his back in the ground cover, offering his belly up for Liz to rub. She obliged him absentmindedly, allowing herself to finally get involved in her book.

Quite without warning, Keebler stood up and stiffened. He was fully alert and sniffing the air. “What is it, Keebs? What is it, boy?” Liz asked, placing her finger in her book to hold her place. Keebler began to whimper. He very slowly made his way towards the tree, his eyes never wavering from the fairy door. “What the HECK, Keebler?” she asked, abandoning her book entirely and brushing leaves away from the bottom of the tree on the opposite side from where she’d been sitting. “What the HECK?”

The door was ever so slightly ajar.