Fairy Trouble

Written By Kruti Patel

“Oi! Move your car! I’m walkin’ here!” I wake up because of my noisy neighbors’ bickering. 

I groan, getting out of bed. I fly downstairs, flapping my wings rapidly, into the kitchen and see Dana and Raina fighting over a toy. “Give it back!” Dana screeches. “No! Finders keepers, losers weepers!” Raina shouts back. Mom simply says sternly, “Stop fighting and apologize. Raina, give Dana her doll.” In a blink, the twins apologize, Dana snatching her toy back. She scowls.

I quickly gobble my breakfast and catch the school bus along with the twins. I sit next to my BFFF-Best Fairy Friend Forever! “Hey, bestie!” I say. “Hey!” she waves. “So…can we do our secret handshake thing?” I ask. Okay. We don’t have one yet. Yet, though! “Ummmmm…” my BFFF, Marissa, stammers out of confusion. “We don’t have one yet?” “Correction: we will have one!” I explain to Marissa that our handshake would have to be super awesome! “Just like in the movies!” I say, my eyes twinkling. 

I think for a minute, and then I suggest, “How ‘bout a fist bump? And then-” Marissa interrupts me. “No. Awesome. Secret. HANDSHAKE!!! Just a high-five!” “Okay. Fiiiine. Just a fist bump and then a simple, BOOOOORING explosion. But!” I almost shout. “I’m just so sick of the fighting. Don’t you realize neighbors fight so much? Like, it happens every. Single. Day.” “Leah, of course! But we can’t do anything about it! It’s just life, you know? We gotta deal with it.” 

“Oh, puh-lease! Like we really CAN’T do anything about it.  But maybe we can! After all, everyone knows me as the school nerd! And my nickname is, ‘Leah the Smart Gal!’” I say proudly. “No one calls you that,” Marissa mutters. “I heard you!!!” I scowl. “Oh, no! I was talking to….a….another girl! Yeah, that’s it! I was talking to…uhhhh…ah…Lexi! Yeah, like, NO ONE calls her, ‘Best Baker!!!’” I can’t fall for that. In every movie, someone says something and then lies, saying that they were “talking about someone else!” 

The bus comes to a stop. “Got an idea!” I exclaim. “Oh no! Not that look!” Marissa says. I always get sparkling eyes and smile when I have an incredible idea. Marissa could probably predict what I’m going to do next. I don’t know, honestly! 

………….

After getting home from school, I look for the spell-book. I flip through the pages after I find it and finally look at a delectable spell for making everyone peaceful with each other. “Yes! Exactly what I need!” I whisper excitedly. I gather my ingredients and a large bowl. I put 3 cups of love inside, ½ cup of milk, 1 dash of pepper, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 cups of flour. I mix it with a whisk, and the mixture changes into 1222 cookies! 

Using another magical recipe to deliver the cookies to everyone in town, I clean up the mess I made. Whoops! I think I got a bit messy with the flour! I check on my sisters, who are each eating a cookie. I relax and do my homework. Okay, I don’t relax. I am still full of panic, wondering if my recipe worked or not. The recipe clearly stated it takes a night for the potion to work. 

My family and I have a yummy dinner. I realize that the whole town ate the cookies once they talk about the mysterious cookies appearing all over town. I hope this works, I think inside my mind. I go to sleep after finishing dinner and getting ready for bed. 

“Beep! Beep!” My alarm wakes me up, not the neighbors. That’s a good sign! I turn off my alarm and go downstairs, shocked at what I see. Dana and Raina aren’t fighting anymore! That’s good! Now, it’s sooo much more peaceful! I catch the school bus after eating breakfast and sit next to Marissa. “Leah…did you do something? The whole town is so peaceful!” 

“Yes, I did! And what I did was I made a spell so that everyone could be so peaceful!” I reply. “Hmm, it is more quiet than usual.” Marissa looks at me. “But, it’s kind of a weird change! Also, was that spell permanent?” “Oh, great! Now it will only last for, I think, 3-4 days!” I complain. “But, let’s enjoy it as we can. It might not last that long!” We enter the school, and soon, everything is peaceful and quiet. No yelling, no shouting, no bell ringing. Wait, no bell ringing? “What happened to the bell?” I ask. “Why isn’t there a bell ringing?” “How can we get to class?” Marissa wonders aloud. We hear a bell that’s ringing so softly.

I wonder if the town made changes-as in, being peaceful and quiet, but being too peaceful and quiet. They even made a change to the loud ringing bell! “Morning, class!” the teacher whispers. “Good morning!” Marissa, and I say loudly while the students use a hushed voice. “Hush, children! Not so loudly!!!” the teacher hisses quietly. “What’s going on?” I whisper. “We have to be very peaceful and quiet!” the teacher whispers. “It’s our new slogan: Be peaceful!” “How about I go to your house and we try to figure this out?” I whisper to Marissa. “Sure!” she quietly replies.

We have a test today! I totally forgot about it since I was so worried about the spell! Oh, well! I’m handed the test and scribble down the answers, doing the best I can! My teacher “quietly” hands my test to me, and she looks happy. I read my test. Wow! How did I get all of them right? It’s a miracle!!! 

At lunch, I sit with Marissa, and we eat our sandwiches. “How do you think we should cure the peace spell?” I ask. “Shhhhh!!!” the lunch lady shushes. “What? We can’t even shout at lunchtime?” I whisper. The cafeteria lady shakes her head. That’s a no. “Yeah, well, we should do it after school right away! We can’t shout at lunch! But, I think we can go to my grandmother’s house with the teleportation spell we learned in class! Flick the wand two times, and then say, ‘Teleportation!’ while thinking of the place you want to go to. In our case, that would be your grandma’s house!” I ask quietly, “Can we bake cake also tomorrow? My sister’s B-Day is coming up, I need to be prepared!” 

Marissa giggles. “Of course! You’re welcome at Grandma’s house anytime! Well, except when she’s sleeping, cause’ that would just be creepy!” We both laugh quietly and decide this as our final plan. 

…………..

Marissa and I get off the bus together. “Remember,” I say, pulling out my wand. “Flick two times and then say, ‘Teleportation!’ while thinking of the place you want to go to.” “Ready?” Marissa counts down. “3…2….1!” Marissa and I flick our wands two times and whisper, “Teleportation!” I get a quick thought of Marissa’s grandmother’s house, but then I start thinking about how it would be so awesome to be able to visit Mars, the mythical planet all those astronaut humans are talking about. Suddenly, I’m on a red planet. “Why did I have to think about this place?” I ask myself. Marissa isn’t with me. I soon realize that I’m in space, and in space…”THERE’S NO OXYGEN!!!” I choke out. I manage to say, “Teleportation!” after flicking my wand two times, thinking about Marissa’s grandmother’s house. 

I land on the grass in front of Marissa’s grandmother’s, Violeta’s, house. I look around, saying, “Wowww!” “Leah, what happened to you?” Marissa asks. “Oh, I accidentally went to Mars!” I say. “Cool, cool…HOW WAS IT???” Marissa almost shouts. “It was…not exciting at all! There was no oxygen! Just red dust, rock, and stuff! But,” I ask. “Where are we?” “At my grandma’s house. Duh? This is Carson Street, which is in Faraville. It’s far away from our town, so I have to video call my grandma,” Marissa explains.

“Can’t you just teleport?” 

“Man, I should’ve thought of that idea!!!” 

We knock on the door, and Violeta lets us in. “Hello, Marissa’s grandma! We were just wondering if we could come in. We have a slight issue…” I say. “A slight? A SLIGHT???” Marissa almost shakes me. “‘SLIGHT’ ISN’T THE WORD!!!” “Marissa!” Violeta says sternly. “Manners, please!” “Sorry, Grandma.” Marissa apologizes. “But anyway, can we come in please?” “Sure, honey! And is this your friend you tell me about?” Marissa nods, and we come in. “Sit down!” Violeta gestures to these fancy-schmancy couches and sofas. “Wow, is your grandma rich or what?” I ask Marissa. “Oh, she is a bit rich!” Marissa says, and I answer dreamily, “Your grandma is so cool!” with hearts in my eyes. 

“So, what’s the issue?” Violeta asks, sitting down on a comfy couch. “I may have, slightly, accidentally, cooked a peace spell that makes everyone be peaceful with each other. I cooked it for the whole town, but…it didn’t go well! Now everyone is TOO quiet!!! They’re whispering!” I explain. “Hmmm, I see! Just a sec. I’ll be right back!” Violeta goes into the kitchen, and after a few minutes of temptation, Violeta comes back with a book flipped to a spell about curing the peace spell I cast. “Great! It’s a soup! Everyone LOVES this soup!” I exclaim happily. “Let’s get cooking!” 

Marissa and I pour water into a pot, and Violeta pours chicken broth inside. Next, I sprinkle in some chopped parsley, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant, and Violeta turns the stove on, stirring the soup. Soon, we smelled the delectable aroma of the soup. Violetta puts the soup in a bowl and hands it to us along with a mini container containing water. “This is enchanted water. Just dip your wand in it, wave it, and say, ‘Ala gouche’. The soup will automatically be poured out in cups magically and be served to all in town.” Violetta hugs us both, and, taking the soup and mini container, we teleport back to my house. 

I stand with Marissa inside my house. I place the bowl and mini container on the counter. I dip my wand into the water and say, “Ala Gouche!” Marissa does the same thing. We soon see many cups of soup floating out the door. “Well, we just have to wait to see the end results!” I say to my friend. She waves good-bye and flies out the door back to her house.  I start my homework, and before I know it, it’s dinnertime. Dana and Raina are fighting again! What a relief! But I don’t relieve myself once I think of the thought of the other neighbors being so peaceful. After finishing dinner, I get ready and go to bed, dreaming about unicorns, fairies, and Mars.

I wake up to my alarm clock. I hear Lesley shouting, “Oi!!! I told you! I’m walkin’ here!!!” “Yes!” I whisper. Things are back to normal! I go downstairs past Dana and Raina, gobble my breakfast quickly, get ready, and catch the school bus. I sit next to Marissa, and she gives me a “the town is back to normal!” sign just by gesturing a simple thumbs-up! “So. What lesson have I learned?” I ask Marissa, not expecting an answer. “That you should never do that again?” she suggests. “That, and you should always do a spell with an adult’s permission!” We both laugh. “Well, want to have a baking sleepover tonight?” I ask. The four words make my heart feel so happy: “That would be splendid!”