Fairy House

 

            Jenna pretended the small rock in front of her was a soccer ball as she kicked it down the sidewalk. She was walking home alone – again. Her best friend, Paisley, was staying after school for play practice. Not that she would want to walk home with me anyway, Jenna thought.

            Ever since the start of 6^th grade, Paisley had decided to become part of the drama club. Jenna supported her friend, but she had no interest in joining her. Now, Paisley had new drama friends, and Jenna was starting to feel left out. She and Paisley had been best friends and neighbors since kindergarten, but things were changing. They still said “hi” to each other, but they didn’t really hang out anymore.

            Jenna tried not to let it bother her. She had her soccer team, after all. Jenna smiled as she thought of their game last night. Her team, the Wolves, won 2 to 1 against the Panthers. She kicked the rock again as she thought about how she had scored one of those goals. She raised her arms and let out a whoop as she ran down the sidewalk. “And the crowd goes wild!” she cheered.

            She reached her house, and was surprised to see Paisley walking toward her. “Hey, Paisley,” she said cordially. “Didn’t you have play practice today?”

            “It was cancelled,” Paisley said sadly. “I thought I would just come over and see how things are with you.”

            “They’re good,” Jenna answered. “The Wolves won last night.” Jenna couldn’t help smiling at that.

            “Good for you!” Paisley said enthusiastically. “I wish I could say that the play was going well, but I’m having a hard time learning everything. I don’t have the lead part, but I feel like I have a lot of lines to learn.” She hesitated a moment, and then asked, “Would you help me practice?”

            “Sure,” Jenna said immediately. She missed her old friend, and was glad to feel needed.

            They went inside for an afternoon snack, and then went out to the backyard patio to go over Paisley’s part. Jenna read from the script, while Paisley recited her lines. Jenna soon realized that Paisley didn’t actually need any help. She knew all her lines, and they went quickly through the scenes.

            “Nice job!” Jenna congratulated her. “It sounds like you’ve got it all under control. Do you want to go do something fun? How about we go walk along the creek for a while?” She held her breath, thinking that Paisley would probably say no.

            Paisley surprised her by saying, “Yeah, sure! That sounds fun!”

            Together, they took the path down to the creek. Jenna was amazed at how much she had missed their friendship. They talked about everything. It was like they had to catch up with each other after all the time that they had grown apart. When they reached the creek, Paisley asked, “Do you remember when we used to look for fairies?”

            Jenna smiled as she remembered the hours they had spent together along the creek, trying to capture water fairies. “Yeah, and we made all those fairy houses, trying to entice fairies to move in.”

            Paisley laughed and said, “We should make one now.”

            The two girls spent the next hour gathering rocks, leaves, and twigs. They arranged them into what they thought would make a beautiful fairy house. Jenna was so relieved to know that she and Paisley were still friends. She threw herself into the task of beautifying their creek-side fairy abode. They gathered flowers and placed them around the area.

            By the time they were finished, Jenna knew she would have to go home soon for dinner. She had enjoyed the afternoon and didn’t want it to end. Both girls gazed at the miniature fairy house they had made. “You know, I think that’s way better than anything we ever built before,” Jenna said. “Maybe we’ll actually get a fairy to move in this time.” She grinned at Paisley, and Paisley grinned back at her.

            “I forgot how much fun it is to do this,” Paisley said. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been around much lately, what with play practice and all.”

            Jenna shrugged and said, “That’s okay. I have soccer practice and games, too.” She paused and then said, “Next time you don’t have play practice after school, let’s make some more fairy houses to make a whole town!”

            Paisley’s eyes lit up and she said, “Yeah, that sounds so fun!”

            The girls headed home, discussing how they were going to improve their fairy village. When they were out of sight, a fairy zoomed over the water to inspect the new house. Another fairy soon joined her.

            “Wow!” the first fairy said, as she glowed brightly. “This is the best one the girls ever made!”

            “It’s been a while,” the second fairy said. “Did you hear that they’re planning on building more? We’ll have to tell the other fairies. If they’re all as nice as this one, we could use this as headquarters, at least for a little while.”

            The two fairies continued to gush with praise over the beautiful house. Jenna and Paisley might have never seen a fairy, but they were famous among the fairies in the area. The girls weren’t the only ones who were glad to renew their friendship. As the village grew, more and more fairies moved in. It became the most beautiful spot along the creek. There were more flowers and foliage along that section of water than anywhere else.

            Jenna and Paisley never knew that they were the cause of a lot of celebrations among the fairies, or that they were the recipients of fairy magic. They both did well in school. Paisley excelled in the drama club, and Jenna played a great game of soccer. All of this because they were kind to beings that they didn’t really believe existed. You never know how far your kindness will go.

Abe and the Alien

 

            Abe laid down on the straw mattress up in the loft. He was exhausted. Repairing fences on a hot summer’s day wasn’t fun, but it had to be done. A cow had found a weak spot and had broken through, leading all the other cows with it. Not only had Abe needed to repair the fence, but he had also spent half the afternoon rounding up the cows.

            Abe felt his eyes close almost immediately after his long day, and felt his body totally relax. He was in a deep sleep within minutes. His dreams were full of cows and fences, like he was still continuing his work from the day. But then, something else intruded on his thoughts, and he jerked awake.

            He was no longer lying on his straw mattress in the loft. Everything around him looked so shiny. It was way different from the dusty interior of the barn. He had never seen so much metal used in one place. Abe squinted his eyes against bright lights that were shining down on him. It wasn’t the sun, but it was a lot brighter than candlelight or even a campfire. It lit up the entire room.

            Looking around him, Abe could see that he was in some kind of metallic room. There wasn’t a hint of wood or sod anywhere. It was just so clean. What was this place? He tried to sit up, but realized he was strapped to the table that he was laying on. He struggled against his bonds for a few minutes but realized he wasn’t going anywhere and soon gave up. Panic was growing inside him, and he did his best not to scream out in terror.

            A door in the shiny wall slid open with a whoosh of air, and Abe turned to see a short creature walk through to stand beside Abe’s table. Was his skin green? He was holding some kind of notebook, and his two very large black eyes stared down at Abe. “The specimen is awake,” it said in a voice filled with strange clicks.

            Fighting down his terror, Abe asked, “Where am I, and who are you?”

            The creature didn’t answer, but was writing things down in his notebook, muttering to itself. “The specimen expects me to answer its foolish questions. Typical of its species.”

            “Okay, wait,” Abe tried again. “Please could you talk to me? I’ll answer any questions you have about my…species.” What Abe really wanted to do was shout out for help, but he doubted that he was anywhere where someone could hear him.

            The creature looked directly at Abe. Abe’s skin crawled as he felt like the creature was looking inside of him somehow. “We already know a lot about you humans,” the creature said finally. “We have studied countless specimens, and you all seem to be the same. Arrogant and unwilling to work with others unless it profits yourself. For thousands of years, we’ve been trying to figure out why that is.”

            Abe gulped and asked, “I hope that you have found at least a few that aren’t arrogant.” He swallowed again and said, “We’re not all that way.”

            The creature scoffed and said, “If you weren’t all prideful, you would take better care of each other. Instead, you use other humans to be your slaves to do all the work for you.”

            Abe thought back to his humble farm and said, “We don’t all own slaves.”

            “Your society is based on wealth. You only get to own slaves if you have the means to do so. Just because you don’t personally own any slaves does not excuse you.”

            Abe thought this was a little unfair. He lived in a non-slave state where slavery wasn’t officially allowed. But then, he grimaced as he thought about how all races weren’t treated equally. The creature continued to make notes in his notebook as he studied Abe.

            Finally, the creature finished his note-taking and turned to leave. “Wait, what will happen now?” Abe asked worriedly.

            Without turning around, the creature answered, “You’ll wake up back in your bed, not remembering anything that’s happened, and the human race will continue to survive for a little longer while we gather more evidence for your extinction.”

            Abe almost swallowed his tongue. “You can’t kill us all!” he spluttered.

            “We can when that species has been judged to create more harm than good.”

            Abe’s mind raced as he shouted, “Wait, give me a chance! Let me try to make things better! Let me remember this night, so I know that we will have to change our ways to survive!”

            The creature tilted its head to the side to consider Abe’s request. “What would one puny, insignificant human from your glorious state of Indiana be able to change?”

            “I don’t know,” Abe answered honestly. “But at least give me time to try.”

            The creature slowly turned around and stared inside Abe again. Abe shivered involuntarily. It was like someone else was inside his mind, reading all of his thoughts. Finally, the creature said, “Very well. Your request shall be granted. We will be monitoring you closely, Abraham Lincoln. If you can’t make significant changes in your lifetime, we will have grounds to wipe your species from the face of the Earth so that other species may evolve and become dominant.”

            With that, the creature walked back out the whooshing door, and Abe was left alone. How was he going to change anything? He turned the matter over and over in his mind until finally, the rooster crowed, and he found himself awake in his own bed in the loft.

            Was that just a dream? He rose to get ready for the day, and noticed a sheet of paper next to his bed. There was only one thing written on it, in large letters. It said, “We’ll be watching you, Abraham Lincoln.”

            Abe gulped down the tremendous responsibility as he started his new life. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he would give it his all. He was on a mission – a mission to change the world.

Wolf Battle

 

            Rowan ran faster than the wind when the report came from the scout. Lester’s warriors had crossed into Rowan’s territory. Rowan’s father, Sulfur, immediately dispatched his own warriors, with Rowan at the head. Lester’s pack had become increasingly bold lately. While on patrol, Rowan could see them just beyond his own territory. He didn’t think they would actually invade – at least, not until now.

            As the best warrior in their wolf pack, Rowan was confident that they could defeat Lester’s scraggly band. A thought grew in his mind, however. What if Dune had joined them?

            Rowan’s brother, Dune, had run away the week before. He and Sulfur were way too much alike and never got on particularly well. Things came to a head when Dune suggested that they take warriors into Lester’s territory to rid themselves of their thievery. For many months, Lester and his wolves would sneak in to Sulfur’s territory to hunt and chase prey into their own. No one had ever witnessed this, of course, but Dune was sure that it was happening. Sulfur wouldn’t listen, so Dune ran away and hadn’t been heard from since.

            Rowan shook these thoughts from his mind and called out, “As soon as we see them, we take out their chief warrior. When that happens, the others will scatter without a leader.” He heard yips of approval from those running beside him. They reached the White River, and Rowan could smell the other wolves, along with…was that Dune?! He led his warriors along the scent trail, which followed the river for a while, and then headed onto an old trail that would lead them straight to the rest of the pack.

            Rowan let out a howl as he charged off, with seven other wolves following him. He had to reach the invaders before they got to the den.

            Suddenly, a gray and white shape slammed into Rowan from the side. He was forced into a side roll, and then the other wolf was upon him. With a yelp, he recognized who it was. “Dune?” he asked incredulously.

            Dune looked down at him with a furious scowl on his face. “You fools walked right into our trap,” he said scornfully.

            Rowan shook himself and went into a defensive stance. “What have you done?” His warriors were fighting other wolves who had similarly ambushed them. Snarls and yelps filled the area as they tried to fight back. They fought well, but they were outnumbered. At least 15 of Lester’s warriors were engaged in the battle.

            “Father never listened to me,” Dune said bitterly. “All he wanted to do was hide, but Lester knows that you have to fight to make things better. There’s a spot for you with Lester, if you would like it, brother.”

            Rowan snarled, “I will never betray my home! You have made a serious mistake!” He leaped toward Dune, and landed with his paws in Dune’s chest.

            Dune immediately rolled backwards, but righted himself and smiled back at his brother. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Rowan!” The two started to circle each other, each letting out low, threatening growls.

            “Take your friends and get out of here, Dune,” Rowan hissed. “I will do whatever it takes to protect our home.”

            Dune let out a low laugh. “Look around you.” His eyes gestured to Lester’s pack. “We outnumber you at least two to one.”

            Rowan knew the odds. He also knew that if the leader was taken down, the rest of the pack would retreat. Dune seemed to be the leader. Only he would have known about this other, secret, trail to their den. Rowan was the best warrior in their pack and had scrimmaged against his brother many times. He always won, but it had all been done in play. He had never hurt his brother before. If he wanted to save his pack by taking out the invading pack’s leader, he would have to kill or seriously maim Dune.

            Rowan groaned inwardly. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he would do whatever it took to protect the others. He tried to reason with Dune one last time. “Please, don’t do this brother. Call out the retreat and lead these other wolves out of here.”

            Dune’s face was determined as he said, “I will not come back to be pushed around by Sulfur. My future is with Lester. He actually listens to me, and I’m going to follow him!” With that, Dune sprang again at Rowan.

            Rowan met the attack. He was ready. The fight between them was furious, filled with shouts, savage barks, and soon, blood.

            When it was over, Dune lay at Rowan’s feet with a gaping wound in his side. He was alive and breathing heavily, but he wouldn’t be able to run anymore that day.

            Feeling sickened, Rowan looked down at his brother. The wound was serious, but he should be able to recover, in time.

            Rowan let out a victorious howl and cried, “Your leader is down! Leave now, while you still can!”

            Of the 17 wolves that had come with Dune, only 10 were still standing. They immediately retreated back toward the river. Rowan’s warriors had suffered their own casualties. Almost all of his seven warriors were down, and a few would never get up again. Rowan let out another triumphant howl, but this one was tinged with sorrow. His home was safe, but he knew that things would never be the same again.

            Dune recovered, and was allowed back into the pack, but he was demoted to the lowest rank. He knew that he owed Rowan his life. He never again challenged his brother, but he avoided their father ever after that. Rowan eventually became chief and was a good leader, and a fierce warrior. Lester never challenged them again. Rowan was glad, because he secretly thought he could never go through an ordeal like that again. War was horrible, and he had definitely seen enough of it.

Dragon Blood

 

            The sun shone through the curtains of Alex’s room. It was summer break, and Alex was taking full advantage of being able to sleep in. But that sunshine was so bright. He turned over and tried to fall back asleep. Then, with a start, he bolted upright when he realized that today was his 14^th birthday. He was finally old enough to learn what had happened to his father.

            Alex’s dad had left their family soon after Alex was born. Mom said that he had a really good explanation, and that Alex would find out on his 14^th birthday. Privately, Alex was sure that his dad had just abandoned them and Mom just hung on to that thin excuse to make them both feel better. He knew that it had been hard on her. She worked two jobs so they could get the things they needed. Alex was used to not having a father around, but he always wondered what had happened. Today, according to Mom, he was finally old enough to find out.

            Alex jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes without noticing what they were. He ran downstairs to find Mom making breakfast in the kitchen. She had taken the day off to celebrate Alex’s birthday and was making waffles, his favorite.

            Alex breathed in the heavenly aroma as he sat down at the table and said, “Good morning, Mom.”

            She immediately turned around and said, “Happy Birthday, Alex! The big 14!” She served them hot waffles and they started to eat.

            At first, their conversation was all about how they were going to celebrate his birthday, but Alex finally got up the nerve to ask, “What about Dad?”

            At this, Mom’s face fell slightly, but then her smile reappeared and she said, “I guess you’re old enough, then.”

            Alex hated to see Mom sad, but he really wanted to know for sure what had happened. “I’m old enough now, Mom. I need to know. Did Dad abandon us?”

            Mom looked at him with pain in her eyes. “No, he wanted so badly to stay, but he had to leave.”

            “Why?”

            In response, Mom handed him an old envelope that had been sitting on the counter. She pushed it over to him and said, “This will explain everything.”

            On the outside of the envelope, it said simply, “Alex.” Alex slowly picked it up and broke the seal. “Do you know what it says?” he asked curiously.

            “Yes. I didn’t read it, but your father told me. He said you were to have it on the day you turned 14.”

            Alex took out the single piece of paper inside and started to read out loud.

“My dearest Alex,

 I first want to let you know how much I love you and your mother. I wish I could have been there to watch you grow up, but I have other obligations that I must fulfill. Now that you are 14, you are old enough to learn what they are.

            Son, you are of noble, royal blood. Our ancestors have ruled the magical realm of Trellis for thousands of years. In my youth, I wanted no part of that and so escaped to the human world. For many years, I lived amongst the humans. I love your mother deeply and we were so excited to be your parents. My father knew exactly where I was and respected my wishes of letting me live my own life. However, after my father unexpectedly died without another heir, it was my obligation and duty to return, and rule as king of Trellis.

            I have never done anything harder in my life than having to leave my family behind. Your mother is human, and unable to enter the land of Trellis. But you, Alex, are of the race of dragons. You can come anytime you wish. I want you to know that you have a choice of staying in the human world, or living in Trellis. Whatever you choose, I will respect and honor your decision. However, there are things that you must know about yourself.

            You have dragon blood in you that comes with magical powers. In order to use them, and control them, you must come to Trellis where I will be able to teach you. After your training, you will be free to live your life however you wish. Without this training, you will be a danger to everyone around you. Our powers lie dormant until the age of 14, when they begin to manifest.

Take the passage in the basement to get to Trellis. I will see you soon. I love you, son.

Love,

Dad.”

            There was silence in the room as Alex tried to process this information. There was a huge jumble of emotions churning inside of him. Was this a joke? How could he possibly believe this? Stronger feelings were burning inside of him too. If he was of royal blood, why didn’t they live in a palace? How come Mom had to work two jobs for them to live?

            Mom watched him, waiting for him to say something. Alex felt himself getting hot with anger. “Is this really true?” he asked angrily.

            Mom sighed and said, “Yes. Now you know why I didn’t want to tell you. If it were up to me, I would never have told you, but your father insisted.” Her eyes misted over, tears threatening to spill out. “I still love your father. He always wanted what’s best for us, but he had to leave.”

            Alex felt the ball of anger inside him grow hotter. “He could have stayed!” he shouted. “If he really loved us, he would have stayed!” Suddenly, the letter that Alex was holding caught on fire. In shock, he dropped it to the floor, and Mom quickly doused it with a glass of milk from the table.

            “Your father did that too when he got angry.” Mom sighed heavily. “Whatever you believe about him, you are definitely his son, and you will need that special training he talked about. I always hoped that you wouldn’t be like him, but now we know for sure.”

            Alex was still looking at the puddle of milk and the soggy letter that he had somehow set on fire. “What am I supposed to do?” he said softly.

            “You’ll have to do like your father said. Take the basement passage to Trellis.” Tears were spilling onto her cheeks now. “I don’t know how long it will take to control your powers, but then you’ll have to make your decision. Like your father, I want this to be your choice.”

            Alex looked up with hurt in his eyes. “So, I might not come back?”

            Mom pulled him into a hug and whispered, “It’s up to you, but I imagine that the magic there might make it hard to leave.”

            Alex hugged her back tightly as he tried to process this. What was he going to do? Trying to think of something matter-of-fact to say, he asked, “What should I bring?”

            Mom pulled back and said softly, “You won’t be able to bring anything with you.”

            Alex felt like he was in a bad dream as they both walked downstairs to the basement. Mom led the way until they were standing in front of a closet. She opened it, and Alex looked inside. He was expecting some kind of magic or something, but what he saw was just the inside of the closet.

            “It’s just through there,” Mom said, as she pointed inside.

            “Through where?” Alex said, thoroughly bewildered. It wasn’t a deep closet. He could reach out and touch the back of it.

            “Only you can go through there. Just walk toward the back, and you’ll find it.” She gave him one last hug and whispered, “I love you, Alex. Whatever you do, don’t forget me.”

            “I love you too, Mom,” Alex whispered back. Not knowing if anything was really going to happen, Alex took a step inside the closet, and felt a faint breeze hit his face. He held out his hand to touch the back of the closet, but he didn’t feel anything but air. He shuffled forward, and it grew dark around him. His skin started to tingle, and he thought he saw shimmering stars moving all around him. He went down on his hands and knees because he felt like he was losing his balance.

            After walking for what seemed a long time, it finally started to get light again. With a sigh of relief, he recognized trees growing on either side of the path. He looked ahead and was astounded to see a golden dragon standing on the path ahead. Alex stopped in his tracks, unsure if he should run or not.

            While he was debating, the dragon spoke. “Hello, Alex,” it said in a deep voice. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

            Alex had no idea what to say to this. He still wasn’t sure if he should be running back the way he came. Then the dragon said something that really floored him.

            “Let me formally introduce myself,” the dragon said. “My name is Arthur.” It paused and then said in a softer voice, “Your dad.”

            “W-w-what?” Alex stammered. “How is that possible? You’re a dragon!”

            The dragon let out a snort that could have been a laugh and said, “Look down at yourself, son.”

            Alex looked down and saw sharp golden talons on the ends of his front dragon paws. He turned his long neck to look behind him and saw wings and a tail attached to his golden body. He flapped his wings experimentally and turned back to stare at the other dragon - his Dad.

           “Welcome home, son,” Dad said with a dragon’s smile.

Tidus

 

            Seth breathed in the salty sea air. He had lived near the beach for most of his life. He walked along the shoreline in the waning afternoon light. It was low tide, so the beach seemed to stretch out much farther than normal.

            This was Seth’s favorite time to be near the water. The low tide meant that he walked on the wet sand which was a lot more firm than higher up on the beach. Spotting something, he leaned down to pick it up. The stranded starfish in his hand was still alive, but it wouldn’t be for long if it continued to stay out of the water. Seth gently tossed it out to the ocean, far enough that hopefully, it would be okay.

            Seth smiled as he continued walking. This was another reason he liked to come out at low tide. He loved to see the starfish. Who knew if it really made a difference, but Seth knew that he had at least saved a few of them. He continued to walk along to a rocky outcropping near the water. This was a fantastic place for tide pools. He would generally spend about a half hour studying what the tide had left before he walked back home.

            As he reached the rocks, he thought he saw some crabs scurry around the rocks toward the waterside. Seth hurried to get a better look. He gasped when he saw that there were at least 20 large crabs standing together in a group. These weren’t the ones that were usually found in the tide pools. These were at least three times bigger than the small crabs that Seth was used to seeing. They were also the brightest neon orange that he had ever seen.

            Seth gaped at the crabs as they stood without moving, watching him. Nothing seemed to move except for the waves that were getting closer to the rocks. Seth took a hesitant step forward, and the crabs started to back away toward the water. Slightly disappointed to see them go, he watched as they all went into the waves.

            The last crab disappeared, and Seth sighed. Suddenly, a monstrous, roaring wave reared up where the crabs had just been. Seth gave a little yelp as he quickly backed away. The wave crashed right where Seth had been standing, and then quickly retreated back to the sea. In its place stood a strange looking man with wild long hair. His clothes seemed to be covered in seaweed, or were they made out of it? Seth couldn’t tell. The man was staring right at Seth with piercing blue eyes.

            “You are the one who helps the starfish?” the man asked Seth in what almost sounded like a watery voice.

            The question seemed so odd, that it took a moment before Seth could answer, “Well, I throw them back in the sea when I come across them on the beach.”

            The strange man nodded and said, “You’ve saved hundreds of starfish over the years, and I want to formally thank you.”

            “You want to thank me for saving the starfish?” Seth asked, confused. “Who are you and how do you know if I’ve saved that many?”

            “I’ve been known by many names over my lifetime, but you may call me Tidus. I’m the ruler of the sea and I’ve noticed what you’ve been doing. We’ve been watching you for a while now. Not many people do what you do.”

            Seth started to feel uncomfortable. Ruler of the sea? How could any man be a ruler over the water? “Well, it’s really not that hard. I like starfish and even saving one life is a good thing, right?”

            Tidus smiled and said, “If only every human felt like you do about saving lives that they feel are beneath them.” His eyes got a faraway look in them, and he grew quiet.

            Seth stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do. Finally, he said, “Well, Tidus, it was nice to meet you, but I’d better be going now.”

            He started to turn away, but Tidus said, “Wait, what is your name?”

            “Seth,” Seth said warily.

            “Well, Seth, because of what you have done, I can grant you a boon.”

            “A boon? You mean like a wish?”

            Tidus chuckled and said, “I’m not a genie, but I might be able to grant your wish, if it’s in my power.”

            Seth thought about what kind of wish this strange man could grant. Who was he really? Where did he come from?

            Tidus chuckled again, and said, “You have no idea who I really am, do you?”

            Seth shrugged his shoulders, and Tidus laughed. He held his hand out over the water, and the water moved up into his hand, like it was going through an invisible pipe or something. Then the water changed into something solid, and Tidus was holding what looked like a trident.

            Seth was flabbergasted by what he had just seen. How could this be possible? “A-are you…?” he couldn’t finish the question. It was too crazy.

            But Tidus finished it for him. “Poseidon?” he asked, laughing now. “Yes, that is one of my most popular names.”

            Seth looked at Tidus in awe. An ancient Greek God, right here in front of him? “Whoa,” he breathed.

            “Well, now that we’ve established who I am, what about you?” What boon would you like me to grant you?”

            Seth’s mind raced as he thought about what the God of the Sea could do. “I want to learn more about the ocean,” he said slowly. “Would you teach me?” He held his breath, hoping that he hadn’t gone too far.

            Tidus, however, was nodding as he said, “Yes, but I can do better than that. Let me show you.” He held out his hand to Seth, waiting.

            “What?” Seth asked, confused. “You know I’m only a mortal human, right?” I can’t just go with you in to the ocean.

            Tidus’s piercing blue eyes stared right in to Seth’s brown ones. “I promise that no harm will come to you.”

            Seth believed him. He took a deep breath and shook Tidus’s outstretched hand. Immediately, Seth felt engulfed with water all around him. He was no longer standing on the shore, but he was still breathing – underwater.

            Tidus took Seth on a short tour of the ocean. They traveled to places that Seth had never even imagined. They saw ancient shipwrecks on the sea floor. They saw nightmarish-looking fish in the deepest parts of the ocean. Seth lost count of all the myriads of kinds of fish that they saw. He saw the neon orange crabs guarding what appeared to be an underwater palace.

            Seth tried to take everything in. There was so much to see, and they were traveling so fast. Then, he was on the beach again, next to the same rocky outcropping that they had left from. Seth shivered as he realized that he wasn’t even wet from their trip. “Thank you,” is all he could say to convey the tumult of feelings inside of him.

            Tidus smiled kindly back at Seth. “You’re welcome.”

            Another wave crashed over Tidus, and when it had retreated, Tidus was gone. Seth stood there, thinking about all that had happened as the tide started to wash over his feet. He realized he needed to get home before his family started to worry about him. He started to run home, but stopped when he saw another starfish. He immediately bent over and picked it up. He threw it towards the ocean and said softly, “Thanks again, Tidus.”

The Old Castle

 

        The late afternoon sun shone brilliantly down on to the old castle ruins. Jem smiled as he and his family walked up the magnificent sweeping lawn. This is what he had wanted to see so badly on their trip to Scotland. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed all of their other sightseeing, but this place was something that could just be explored. There were no stuffy tour guides telling him not to touch anything.

        The crumbling walls looked imposing as Jem got closer. He ran ahead through the main archway and looked around him. He was inside an immense grassy courtyard with several passages leading off of it. There was no ceiling, as it had disintegrated long ago, but the position of the sun cast long shadows that nearly covered the courtyard.

        “Hold on Jem!” Mom called, sounding slightly worried. “This is a pretty big place, so we need to stay together.”

        Jem heaved an exasperated sigh and said, “It’s not that big Mom. Please can I go exploring?”

        Mom looked down at Jem for a moment and then nodded. She rustled around in her backpack and pulled out a few maps of the castle. “At least take this, so you won’t get lost.” She handed a map to Jem, and gave one to each of his brothers. “Just make sure to meet back here in an hour.”

        Jem was the youngest, so he felt like he was always fussed over a little too much. His two older brothers took their maps and walked off, staring at their cell phones. They were too cool for this place apparently. They weren’t as excited as Jem was.

        Jem looked down at the map, and thought that it would be kind of hard to get lost. There weren’t that many different rooms here. He walked off confidently, tucking the map in his pocket. He didn’t need it. He was an explorer. He admired the old stones all around him and thought how cool it would have been to be actually living in this place back in the 1200s. He had no doubt that he would have been a knight, or at least a duke. He liked the thought of being called Sir Jem.

        Wandering deeper into the castle, Jem continued to imagine what it would have been like to live here. He would probably have had lots of servants, and he could have done whatever he wanted. He walked through another shadowy doorway and sneezed as he stumbled on to a dusty stone floor. He was pretty deep into the castle now. There probably weren’t as many visitors that ventured this far.

        It was growing darker, and Jem wished that he had thought to bring a flashlight. It was hard to see and he walked right into a wooden door. Rubbing his nose, Jem felt around for the doorknob. The wooden ridges on this door were worn and immensely old. Not finding any kind of doorknob, Jem leaned against the door and felt it give slightly. Trying not to damage anything, he continued to push on the door until he had created an opening that was just wide enough for him to get through.

        Jem squeezed himself through the opening and was surprised to come face to face with another boy his age. “Hello,” Jem said cheerily to the boy. “I thought I was the only one that would be back here.”

        The boy looked back at him with wide eyes and whispered, “Shhh, he’ll hear you!”

        Confused, Jem waited for his eyes to grow accustomed to the dimness. He realized that he was in some kind of storage room. There were two doors leading off of this room. There was the one that Jem had just come through, and another one that was on the opposite wall, which was slightly ajar. Seeing this, he whispered to the boy, “Who are you worried about? Is your dad looking for you? Are you guys playing hide and seek?” Jem’s face brightened at this thought. Of course, an old crumbling castle would be the perfect place to play hide and seek!

        The boy just looked with worry and fear back at Jem and said, “It’s the master. He’s looking for me because I accidentally spilled some of his wine at the dinner table. I ran before he could grab me, because I don’t want to be whipped again. That would be my fourth time today.”

        As Jem listened, he started to get worried. It sounded like this boy was in a bad family situation or something. “How about you come back with me?” he asked. “I’ll go find my dad and he’ll be able to help you.” He offered him his hand, and, after a few moments, the boy slowly took it.

        The two boys walked back through the old door that Jem had come through. They stumbled over some debris in the darkness, but finally came to an area with a little more light. Jem looked back at the boy following him and was surprised to discover that he was wearing some really old fashioned clothes. These were things that Jem would have sworn he saw in the old museum that he visited yesterday. The boy was wearing a long, cream-colored shirt with worn brown pants. He wasn’t wearing any shoes.

        The boy was looking around him in shock. “What happened to the castle?” he asked incredulously.

        Jem looked around, expecting to see something wrong, but it looked exactly the same as it had a few minutes before. “What’s wrong with it?” he asked the boy.

        The boy turned to look at Jem like he was mad. “The roof is missing, and all the master’s stuff is gone.”

        Jem studied the boy’s face to see if he was being sarcastic. He certainly didn’t look like he was joking. “When did you see it with the roof?”

        “Only a few minutes ago, before you found me hiding in the storage room.”

        Something started to click in Jem’s brain, but he couldn’t really believe it was happening. “Who is the master?” he asked curiously.

        “Lord Alexander MacDonald, of course.” The boy was now looking at Jem curiously. “Don’t you know him?”

        For answer, Jem pulled the map out of his pocket. At the very top it said, “MacDonald Castle.” On the back of the map, it talked about the history of the castle. It was built by a ruthless man named Alexander MacDonald, a wealthy clan chieftain. After reading the history, Jem looked back up at the boy and said seriously, “I think I might have just brought you hundred of years into the future.”

        That was the first day that Jem met Henry Cooper. No one could ever explain where he came from, including Henry himself. Jem and his family took Henry in and eventually adopted him. Jem tried to get back into the room where he had found Henry, but he could never find the old door. They became as close as brothers could be. Only they knew the truth of what had happened that day. They never tried to explain it to anyone, because they could hardly believe it themselves. Who would believe a story about a magical portal to the past that was no longer there?

Dragon Trouble

 

            Justin felt like he had rocks in his backpack as he left his house to walk to school. He readjusted his bag as he struggled to reach the top of the hill. “Just a little bit farther,” he muttered. As soon as he judged that he was out of sight of his house, he took his backpack off and set it gently on the ground. It wiggled a little.

            Justin was now in front of his friend, Wade’s, house. He leaned down to unzip his bag as Wade walked up. “What’s up, man?” Wade asked with a grin.

            For answer, Justin revealed what he had hidden in his backpack. An orange and yellow snout poked out of the bag, sniffing the air. It was immediately followed by the rest of its long dragon body.

            “Oh, wow, you got it?!!” Wade cried excitedly.

            Justin nodded and said, “We just picked him up last night. His name’s Chester.” He reached out a hand to pat Chester’s soft scales as he fully emerged from the pack. “I was supposed to leave him at home, but I wanted to show everyone.”

            “Dude, you’ll never be able to hide him at school.”

            “He fits in my backpack, and he should be okay in my locker. Dragons like to hide in dark places. Plus, he’s not that big.”

            Wade looked doubtful, but he said, “Well, good luck with that.”

            Justin fit a leash onto Chester, and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders. Chester flew ahead, straining at the leash. The boys started walking to school as Justin talked about how they had gone to pick up Chester the night before. “My dad put him in a crate in the garage this morning, but I rescued him. No one will know he’s even gone.”

            They were joined by another friend, Carson. Carson exclaimed over Chester and talked about how cool he was, and how lucky Justin was to have a pet dragon. They all exclaimed loudly about dragon facts they knew. None of them had actually had a pet dragon before, but they each pretended to be experts.

            Once they reached the Junior High School, a crowd immediately formed around Justin and his friends. “Aww, look how cute!” one girl exclaimed. “What tricks does he know?” asked another girl. “Can I hold him?” one of the boys asked.

            For ten minutes, Chester was passed around until the bell rang, and people started to dash inside the school. Wade looked worried as Justin tried to shove Chester back into his bag. “Are you sure that’s going to work?” he asked.

            Justin tried to appear confident as he said, “Yeah, it’ll be fine.” The truth was that he was definitely having second thoughts about his plan. It had all seemed so simple before, but now he realized that this probably wasn’t the best idea. Chester didn’t want to be stuffed back inside a bag. After struggling for a minute, Justin finally achieved it and walked inside the school to his locker. He put his backpack inside, and then carefully unzipped it. Out came Chester, and Justin hurriedly shut the locker door before the dragon could escape into the hallway.

            Knowing that he was now very nearly late, he ran to homeroom. As the school day went on, it had rarely seemed so long. After every class, Justin ran back to his locker to check on Chester. At first, he seemed to be doing okay, but the dragon was growing increasingly restless. He chewed several holes into Justin’s backpack, and shredded so much paper that it looked like a confetti explosion.

            The real problem occurred at lunch time. Justin went to his locker to grab his lunch and check on Chester, and discovered that the dragon had already eaten his lunch. Wondering what he was going to eat now, he was a little distracted and Chester escaped. Too late, Justin lunged for him, but his serpentine body slipped right though Justin’s fingers. “Chester!” Justin shouted, panicked.

            Several kids tried to grab the runaway dragon, but Chester evaded them all. He was finally free of the small locker, and he took full advantage of his freedom. He happily explored the hallway full of kids by flying up above them. He ignored Justin’s cries of “Chester, come back!” He spotted something shiny and flew to the school’s trophy case. Trying to get to the golden metal inside, he tapped on the glass with his sharp claws.

            Justin groaned as he heard glass shatter. He reached the trophy case, just in time to see Chester fly away with a glistening track trophy. The dragon perched himself on a high shelf to better admire his prize.

            By this time, the whole school knew about Chester, and everyone seemed to be in the hallway, watching what was happening. Justin groaned again as he saw Principal Terrence walk toward him. “Is that your dragon?” he asked.

            “Yes, sir,” Justin mumbled, with his eyes cast down.

            “No pets at school, son. I’ll have to call your parents.”

            Justin sighed as he thought of the talking to he would get at home. Why did he ever think it would be a good idea to bring a dragon to school? It took twenty minutes to catch Chester and put him on his leash. Looking back, it was probably the most interesting lunch period that the school had ever seen. Everyone had ideas about how to catch the dragon. After several failed attempts, they finally managed to catch Chester by luring him with the remaining trophies from the school’s trophy case. They set everything in the middle of the hall, and waited for Chester to come and grab one of the trophies. Chester took six or seven of them before someone was finally able to grab him. By that time, Justin’s mom was there, waiting to take Justin and Chester home.

            Holding firmly on to Chester’s leash, Justin climbed into the car, exhausted. His mom had several things to say, but Justin was only half listening. He had learned his lesson today: Never, ever bring a dragon to school.

Crazy Katie

 

        Katie hiked along the path to her house in the early morning light. She was returning from a visit to the general store in town. She clutched her purchases in one hand while she gestured rapidly with the other, talking in to thin air.

        “I couldn’t say no to my own sister!” she hissed vehemently. There was the sound of chittering for a moment, almost like the sound of dry leaves, and then, “At least we have some time to warn everyone. We’ll have to make sure the dryads remain on their best behavior. If they can’t stay in their tree form, they will have to retreat further into the woods. The winged foxes will also have to vacate for the afternoon. Tell the rest of the fairies and pixies that their weekly get together will have to take place tomorrow, or at least later this afternoon.”

        Katie continued to hurry and issue directions to an invisible being until she reached her home. It was this constant talking and muttering to herself that had earned her the nickname “Crazy Katie.” Everyone in town thought of Katie at the very least as a little odd. Katie knew what everyone thought of her, of course. That was one reason that she lived so far away from the center of town and inside the woodland boundaries. The other reason was actually quite practical. She was a member of the Magical Protection and Secrecy Force.

        Ever since Katie was a little girl, she could see and hear things that no one else could. She would constantly talk about strange things that she had seen in the woods. It was an adorable trait as a small child, but it turned into something else as she got older. Katie stopped describing things she was seeing when she realized that no one else could see them.

        Katie never questioned her sanity, but others did. When she was 12, she officially became a part of the Magical Protection and Secrecy Force. The centaurs had approached her with this position, and she had accepted gladly. She was tasked with helping to keep the magical realm hidden from anyone who didn’t have magical abilities. She moved into her own small cottage, deep in the woods, as soon as she was 18.

        Katie was constantly taking care of and entertaining all sorts of magical creatures. As soon as she was inside her own gate, she called out, “All right everyone! I’ve got human company coming in half an hour, and everyone has to leave!” To an outsider, all they would have seen is a sudden furious windstorm where everything seemed to be blown every which way. To Katie’s eyes, however, a menagerie of creatures came out to protest.

        “Aww, I was just about to settle down for my mid-morning nap!” a strange hedgehog with horns complained as it lumbered from underneath the hedge.

        Several fairies flew out of the house and flitted around giving complaints like, “But today’s our weekly flower meeting!” and “Yeah, how are we going to organize our assignments?”

        A young unicorn gave a little neigh of protest as it bolted out into the woods. The winged foxes flew out from their nest in the eaves in a flurry of feathers. Katie tried to appease them all. “Don’t worry! It’s only for an hour or two, and then you are all welcome to come back later.” As all of the magical creatures vacated the premises, Katie looked around her and sighed. Her house truly seemed deserted now. She was used to the hubbub of having everyone around her. Slowly, she started to straighten things up in her home and got ready for her sister’s arrival.

        Half an hour later, Katie’s sister, Mary, knocked sharply on the door. Katie pasted a smile on her face as she went to answer it.

        As the door opened, Mary smiled and said, “I love your rosebushes, Katie! How do you get such beautiful roses?”

        Knowing full well that it was due to the fairies, Katie said, “Oh, I just make sure that they get enough water, but I think they are even more beautiful this year than they have ever been.” She hugged her sister and spotted a small satyr on the edge of the yard. Frantically, she waved it off before her sister could see.

        They had a marvelous afternoon, according to Mary, but Katie kept spotting evidence from her previous visitors. She nervously slid a tiny flower wreath from one of the fairies under her couch. She nearly cried out when she opened the fridge and found a small snow bunny enjoying the cool. She nervously set it outside the window and lowered it to the ground while her sister talked about all the goings on in town.

        Finally, Mary left, promising that she would come and visit again soon. Katie fervently hoped that “soon” meant not for at least a month.

        Mary hadn’t been gone more than five minutes before Katie’s forest friends started to reappear. Katie welcomed them much more warmly than she had her sister, and with a much more genuine smile. Katie didn’t care if she was called crazy by the entire town. This is what she loved to do and where she loved to be.

Magic Music Box

 

        This was the first time that Sharon had been back to her grandma’s house since the accident. Just walking through the front door made Sharon want to cry. Grandma had traveled all around the world, seeing all kinds of things. When they got word that she had crashed in her own private airplane, Sharon felt like a piece of herself had gone down with Grandma.

        Sharon’s family only lived ten minutes away from Grandma’s house, and Sharon spent most of her weekends there before the accident. Now, Sharon was here with her dad to help clean and move everything out of the house. The thought of going through Grandma’s things made her feel sick. As grandma’s only child, Sharon’s dad had inherited everything. He wasn’t very interested in any of the knick knacks that Grandma had collected over the years. He wanted to just sell everything and get rid of it. That’s why Sharon was here. She wanted to save everything she could.

        Sharon had inherited one item from Grandma. An antique music box that Sharon had spent hours admiring, was the one thing that Grandma had specifically left Sharon in her will. Sharon loved it. It was made out of carved wood and was very delicately painted. The amount of detail on the box as a whole was amazing, but the spinning figurine inside was absolutely exquisite. The detail was so fine that it didn’t even look like it was made out of wood. It was a figurine of a fairy with delicate wings. Sharon remembered watching it spin around and almost thinking that it looked alive.

        Dad wanted to sell the music box, of course, but there was no way that Sharon would allow that to happen. While Dad started boxing things up, Sharon went to find the music box. She pushed open the door to Grandma’s bedroom, and saw the precious music box sitting on the dresser. She breathed in the smell of Grandma as she turned the mechanism that would allow the music to play. She sat down on the end of the bed with the music box in her lap. Very carefully, she lifted the lid as the music filled the room.

        Sharon gasped as she watched the fairy. It was even more exquisite and beautiful than she remembered. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of Grandma. This music box had been her most prized possession. She would do whatever she needed to keep it from being sold with everything else. She finished listening to the song, and sighed as she went to close the box.

        “Wait,” said a small voice.

        Sharon jumped as she looked around for whoever had said that. Dad was still in the living room. She could hear him taping up boxes. There was no one else around.

        “Down here,” the voice came again. “In the music box.”

        Sharon looked with amazement at the open box still on her lap. The little fairy that she had always admired was now talking to her. “Umm, hello?”

        The fairy beamed up at Sharon as she waved enthusiastically. “My name is Magnolia, and you must be Sharon.”

        Sharon blinked, completely nonplussed. “W-what?” she finally stammered.

        Magnolia smiled warmly as she flew up out of the music box and landed on Sharon’s shoulder. “Your grandma told me all about you, you know. I’m your guardian.”

        “My what?” Sharon asked, even more confused now.

        “You come from a long line of fairy friends. Over 1,000 years ago, your ancestor performed a great service for the fairies, and all she requested in return was protection for her and her female descendants. That’s why I’m here.”

        “Wait, weren’t you supposed to protect Grandma, then? Why did she die in a plane crash?”

        Magnolia flitted around to hover in front of Sharon. “Nothing could kill your grandma. That was just a cover up story. She just left to spend her final years with the fairies in the magical land of Fae.” Magnolia’s eyes sparkled.

        Sharon felt something like hope blossom in her chest as she asked, “Is she still alive, then?”

        “Yes, and no. Once you fully commit to the land of Fae, you will never be able to leave again. Your grandma will live happily with the fairies for many years to come, but she will never be seen in this world again.”

        Sharon felt herself deflate at this news. “So I’ll never see her again?”

        “I didn’t say that.”

        “But, you said she can never come back here.”

        “True, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t come and visit her sometimes. Someday, you will commit yourself to Fae too, but until then, you can come and visit as a friend of the fairies.”

        Sharon inhaled hope again as she said, “Can I go see her now?”

        “Well, there is the little matter of proving yourself a fairy friend. Just because your ancestor was one, it doesn’t mean that you are automatically one as well.”

        “What do I need to do?” Sharon asked resolutely. She knew that she would do just about anything to see Grandma again.

        “All you need to do is act as a liaison between the human world and the fairy world. This has been the task of your family for the last 1,000 years.”

        Sharon didn’t have to even stop and think before she said, “Yes, I’ll do it.”

        Magnolia looked pleased as she said, “Your grandma is very proud of you, you know. She’s wanted to tell you all of this for years, but we had to wait until you were old enough.” She landed gracefully on the music box again. “First thing’s first. You have to protect this box with your life. If anything were to happen to it, I would disappear, and you would never hear from me or any of my kind again.”

        Sharon nodded, as she thought about everything. She wanted to earn Grandma’s pride.

        “Secondly, we need to save all of the various fairy artifacts that your dad is currently shoveling willy nilly into all those boxes.” Magnolia flew up to land on Sharon’s shoulder and abruptly disappeared.

        Sharon gasped and asked, “Where did you go?”

        Magnolia’s voice sounded right in her ear. “From now on, I am always with you, but I can never be seen by another human. Now let’s go.”

        Sharon nodded as she accepted this, but had another thought as she asked, “Why doesn’t Dad know about you?”

        “Only female members of your line know our secret. Male humans would never be tolerated in the land of Fae.”

        Sharon nodded again as she headed downstairs, wondering how to convince Dad not to sell everything. But just knowing that she had Grandma’s confidence allowed her to have confidence in herself. She walked with her head held high, ready to step into her legendary role.

A Dark Night

 

        Barry had spent much longer than he planned to at the town gathering. The rest of his family went home hours ago, but he wanted to spend more time with his friends. As the oldest school-age boys, they felt like they ruled the town. They spent hours together, playing games, and just having fun. After finally saying Good Night to them, he started for home.

        The town square had been bright with a large bonfire and merrily burning torches, but outside that circle of light was a deep darkness. Barry’s farm was only a mile and a half away, but tonight that seemed like 20 miles. The half moon shone down her feeble light behind a mass of clouds.

        Without consistent light, Barry was forced to move slowly down the path. After a while, he came to a junction where the main road was wide and open, and a smaller road led straight through the woods. Barry hesitated for a moment but then he walked decidedly onto the smaller path. This path may be darker, but it would cut off half a mile of the distance that he needed to go. Having taken this road countless times before, he knew the way. But soon, the trees moved in around him and he had to really slow down and step carefully. The darkness felt oppressing as it surrounded him.

        Trying to only focus on the path, unbidden thoughts came in to Barry’s mind. Everyone knew the legend of the Master Wolf around here. Barry had grown up with stories of a monstrous black wolf that lived in these woods. His own parents used the legend to keep their kids in line. When he was younger, his mother would warn Barry that if he didn’t do what he was told, the Master Wolf would come and get him. Those kinds of threats worked on small children, but Barry had wised up and dismissed the legends as fairy tales.

        Now, however, Barry thought of the other stories surrounding the Master Wolf. Some of the old timers in town talked about the giant wolf as if he were real. At the gathering tonight, a few people laughingly talked about the mystical legend, but Old Bill had told his story of how he had seen a great big, black wolf in these very woods when he was just a boy. He had run away before the creature knew he was there, but he had a story to tell for the rest of his life. He said the wolf was bigger than any other he had ever seen, and it was prowling around the forest.

        Barry gave an involuntary shudder as he thought about other stories that claimed the Master Wolf was a protector of the forest and would defend his charge with violence if necessary. No one had seen the wolf for at least 50 years, but there were always a few stout believers of the Master Wolf.

        Barry tried to pick up his pace as he moved deeper into the forest. He felt increasingly like he was going blind as the darkness grew more intense around him. His whole body now felt like a taut bowstring as he hurried on as fast as he could. Suddenly, an owl hooted nearby, and Barry nearly jumped out of his skin. He took off running, and only stopped when he got smacked in the face with some low hanging branches.

        Somewhat dazed, Barry shook his head as he tried to get his bearings. He realized that he was no longer on the path. Groaning, he turned around to face the direction that he thought he had come from. After sever minutes of walking, however, he still hadn’t found the trail.

        He was now trying hard not to panic. How could he have let this happen? He should have gone home with the rest of his family. Furious and scared, he continued on, praying that he was going in a direction that would lead him out of the forest.

        Stumbling over tree roots, he suddenly heard a low growl off to his right. Heart in his throat, he veered off to the left to get away from whatever it was that he couldn’t see, and tripped over a fallen log. He landed hard on his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath.

        Overhead, clouds moved away from the moon, and suddenly Barry could see. With relief, he saw that he had fallen onto the trail and that the trees were starting to clear, just ahead. Letting out a whoop, he jumped up and felt pain in his ankle. It’s only a sprain, he thought, as he gingerly ran his fingers over it.

        Taking a deep breath, he carefully stood up again, taking care not to put his full weight on his hurt foot. He started to limp along the path, but again he heard a strange growl. Fearing what he was about to see, Barry slowly turned toward the noise and felt his insides disappear. A hulking great beast watched him from just under the tree cover. Barry could see its shining eyes focused on him, and could just see the outline of its massive furry body. It was the biggest wolf that he had ever seen, probably bigger than a bear. He drew in several ragged gasps until he realized that the beast wasn’t coming after him.

        Barry took a hesitant step along the path, away from the beast, and the wolf followed him with his eyes, but otherwise didn’t move. Barry continued to walk slowly, turning around with every step to make sure the hulking wolf wasn’t following him.

        Finally, Barry left the tree cover and felt blinded by the moon’s light after his dark time in the forest. Relieved beyond words, he saw his family’s farm bathed in soft moonlight. As he hobbled toward it, he thought about the legends again. Did he really just see the Master Wolf – Protector of the Forest? If he had, he didn’t seem to have anything against Barry. Maybe he was just making sure a scared youth found his way out of the forest. Whatever the case, Barry knew that he would never discount the legends again. Also, he would never ever take the shortcut in the dark. Once was enough for a lifetime.