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.
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