Fairy Tale Wedding

 

            The wedding ceremony was taking forever. Andrew tilted his head back and closed his eyes as the music played. His brother Tony was already officially married to his new wife, Tanya. The preacher had already said, “You may now kiss the bride.” But the guy was still talking. Something about “Thank you all for sharing this special day with Tony and Tanya.”

            All Andrew wanted to do was get out and explore the place. He would have left already if he hadn’t had to sit in the front row. He couldn’t sneak away without Mom or Dad noticing. Tony and Tanya had chosen to get married at “The Forest Glade.” It was a wooded area designed specifically for weddings and owned by some millionaire who wanted to provide a fairy tale experience. As Andrew looked around, he appreciated the set-up. It looked like they were literally in the middle of the forest.

            As soon as the last Amen was said and people started to stand up, Andrew got away as quickly as he could. Finally, he could go check out the creek that he’d heard bubbling close by. He loved being outside and was glad that his brother decided not to get married inside a stuffy old church.

            Andrew walked through dense brush, away from the beaten path. Branches snagged at his tuxedo jacket, and the forest seemed to close in around him. The sound of the creek was getting louder, but it was also getting harder to move forward. The forest didn’t seem to want to let Andrew through, but he continued to push on until at last, he reached the bank of the creek. “Whoa!” he exclaimed.

            The creek was purple and was boiling and bubbling with heat. Dumbstruck, Andrew just stared at it for a few minutes before he went in for a closer look. Not only was the water purple, but it also seemed to be thick, like slime. Andrew really wanted to touch it, but realized that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. He grabbed a stick and poked the purple goo with it.

            “Hey, watch it!”

            Andrew stumbled backward in shock as the purple creek rose up and changed shape and colors until a small boy stood on the grassy bank, staring accusingly at him. “S-s-sorry!” Andrew stuttered. “I didn’t know!”

            The boy rolled his eyes. “You must be one of the humans from Tanya’s wedding. I told her she should have gotten married somewhere else, but she really loves her human.”

            Andrew had so many questions, he didn’t know which to ask first. Finally, he asked, “Tanya’s not human? Does Tony know?”

            The boy waved his questions away. “Of course, of course. No one else was supposed to find out. We were all supposed to pretend to be part of the normal forest. I was doing all right until you poked me with a stick!” He glared back at Andrew.

            “But…you were purple. I’ve never seen a purple creek before.”

            The boy’s expression changed from anger to pleasure. “I know water shouldn’t be purple, but it looked really good, right?” His eyes twinkled.

            As Andrew nodded, he heard his name being called back where the wedding had taken place. “I, uh, gotta go.”

            The boy smiled good-naturedly and said, “All right. Nice to meet you…”

            “Andrew.”

            “Andrew.” The boy shook Andrew’s hand and continued. “My name’s Jansen. Next time, don’t poke me with a stick, okay?”

            “Sure. Sorry about that.” Andrew waved and headed back up to the wedding.

            “There you are!” Tony said, exasperated. “Mom wants everyone for pictures. Where have you been?”

            Andrew stared at Tony seriously before saying, “You never told me Tanya was some kind of magical being.” Before Tony could protest, he continued. “I just met someone named Jansen who was pretending to be purple water in a creek.”

            Tony’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “Didn’t I tell you that Tanya was unique?”

            “That’s not what I was thinking about when you said unique.” Andrew started walking over to his parents, but Tony stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

            “Hey, Andrew, wait.” Tony’s face turned anxious as he said, “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

            Tony could always get Andrew to do anything. Andrew nodded and said, “Of course. Who would believe me, anyway? If I told anyone else, they’d think I was crazy.”

            Andrew couldn’t believe how the day had changed. He’d gone from being super bored at a wedding to being asked to keep a massive secret. He suddenly had lots of questions for Tanya. Now that they were all family, he knew he would have plenty of time to ask them all. Yes, today had turned into a spectacular day.