By Hailey Huntington
My gaze followed the little girl as she approached the rear of the building.
Intriguing, I thought as I kept to the shadows. She wasn’t the type who normally stalked stage doors.
The girl sat on the steps twirling a dandelion puff, her eyes focused on the flower and her disheveled, curly brown hair hiding her face.
I moved closer, crossing to the other side of the back parking lot. Hiding behind an empty car, I peeked around the hood at the girl twenty feet away. What was she doing here?
The door opened and the girl jumped to her feet, spinning around. “Are you Percy?” She looked up at the young man standing in the doorway. “The magician?”
Ah, yes. Percy the Illusionist. People had been flocking to his show like madmen the past several days. They didn’t know what real magic was and settled for smoke and mirrors.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Who are you? Where are your parents?” He looked past the girl, peering out into the patches of light from the streetlamps. I flittered closer to better hear the conversation while making sure to say hidden.
“I’m Renee. You do magic, right?” The girl’s voice was tiny. She couldn’t have been more than seven years old.
“Yeah. Did you see the show? Um, if you got a backstage pass and thought you were supposed to come back here, I’m afraid that’s over now. But I can get you a refund… ”
“I need you to do magic for me!”
I raised an eyebrow. This was getting interesting.
Percy shoved his hands in his pockets. “Oh, you want to see a magic trick, but you couldn’t make the show.” He nodded slowly. “Okay. Well then.” Pulling out a deck of cards, he fanned them out, face down, towards Renee. “Pick any card and then—”
“No!” Renee looked up with wide, hopeful eyes. “I don’t want you to do a magic trick. I need you to do magic!”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“My mom.” Renee twisted the dandelion stem. “She’s really sick. The doctors, they don’t know how to make her better. But magic could heal her!”
Sympathy washed over me. She was so young to go through something so hard.
Percy’s shoulders slumped. He crouched in front of Renee. “Oh, kid. You want magic, like the stuff in books. The magic I do isn’t like that. That kind of magic—spells, wizards, fairies, magic wishes—they’re not real.”
Jumping backward, Renee shook her head. “You’re wrong. Magic is real!”
“Where’s your dad? Listen, Renee—”
“No! I don’t believe you!” She flew down the steps, dashing past the cars and right past me, oblivious to my presence. While Percy stood motionless, I darted after Renee.
A few minutes later, I found her kneeling on a porch. I stayed several feet back. Sobs racked her small frame. Sniffling, she raised her head and stared up at the stars. “I believe in magic,” she whispered. “No matter what grown-ups may say.”
A faint smile crossed my face. I knew she was someone who believed in true magic.
Renee lifted the dandelion puff and took a breath. “I wish my mom would get better,” she whispered, then blew the dandelion away. Wiping her tears, Renee slipped inside the house.
Her words echoed like a chime in the silence. I rolled my shoulders back. Dandelion seeds blew past me in the breeze. I had work to do.
The next morning, I fluttered outside Renee’s window.
Not a second after opening her eyes, she threw aside her blankets and teddies and hurried across the room to her dresser—to the note I’d left under her clock. She grabbed the paper and scoured the page, her eyes growing ever wider.
Renee,
I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation last night. Percy was right; he doesn’t do the kind of magic you were asking for. But that kind of magic is real.
Your mom should start feeling better soon. You were smart to wish on a dandelion—we always notice those wishes. The dandelion puffs float and find us, whether we’re near or far.
Keep believing in magic,
~ A Fairy Friend
Renee glanced around her room, but she didn’t see me standing on the corner of her windowsill. Then she let out a happy shriek.
“Dad! Dad, wake up! You have to read this!” she shouted as she darted out of the room.
I stayed on the windowsill, fluttering my wings slowly. Nothing could compete with the joy I felt when I watched someone realize their wish came true.
Something soft and fuzzy brushed against me. I turned and saw a dandelion seed resting next to me on the sill.
I smiled. Time to answer another wish.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
:D What a sweet kiddo!
The note was an especially nice touch.
Thank you for reading!
I like how you incorporated wishing on a dandelion into this story. Never believed it myself, but I’ll have to try it when dandelions bloom again!
Thank you for reading!
very touching, Renee’s sincerity was palpable. nicely done!
Thank you for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed it!