by J. E Hanson
She left me alone in my bedroom. All I could do is cry myself to sleep, but Jazzy curls up next to me in my bed. He licks my face to try to cheer me up. I love my doggy. Jazzy is someone, who I can talk to every day. He loves me, and I love him too. Now he wears a teal doggy collar with his name on it. I’m his owner, but Jazzy is my best friend.
I hide in my bed for the rest of the week, and I milk it for everything. They still believe that I’m sick until Uncle Oberon returns home.
He sits down on the edge of my bed, “A little birdie tells me that you’re sick. I will have to take your temperature, and I will also have to take a blood sample to see exactly how sick you are.”
He takes my temperature, and he looks at it. He takes out a very long needle and starts to shoot water in the air.
“WAIT! You don't have to take my blood!”
My uncle smiles at me, and he puts the needle away, “I always seem to catch the fakers with the needles. Why are you missing a week of school?”
I look down at Jazzy to pet him, “I don't want to disappoint grandma and grandpa. If they find out my secret, then they will no longer love me. They will have to get rid of me.”
He doesn’t look very happy, “That is utter nonsense! They love you unconditionally! Everest, Skylar, and I love you unconditionally too. There’s nothing in the world you could ever do that would take our love away from you. We love you unconditionally, Rosalie. The secret that you’re hiding from us will eventually have to come out. When you feel like talking to us about it, we are here for you. Just know that we love you very much, and we will always support you no matter what you do. Now you have a few minutes, before you have to change. This is an extremely important occasion for us, since you will be a McCloud,” he smiles, he kisses my cheek, and he left my bedroom.
Skylar joins me in my bedroom, “Are you ready for tonight?”
I shake my head yes. She fixes my hair, and she quickly curls it, “Are you excited?”
She keeps talking, but I have to come up with another way to run away from this. I hope they don’t expect me to dance, because they will be so mad at me.
“Your mom was an excellent dancer, and she won her first of many bracelets during her kinder year. I know that you will win this year.”
I know that I will upset all of them. My family members are ready. My grandparents left to take their places. Aunt Skylar carries me outside, and there are eight additional men escorting us too. Uncle Oberon is right beside us with Snow and Ice Winters walking beside us too.
I look at her strangely and she smiles, “We have to be escorted by the Fairies Of Light. We call them our Fairy Enforcers. They keep all royal family members safe from harm. That’s why they’re walking with us right now. Just call them our extra special bodyguards.”
I can see both my uncles walking with us too, and this feels weird. Why do we need extra protection? She puts me down, and we walk through the city with the Enforcers. Jazzy follows right behind me. We follow the loud claps, and cheers from a distance to make it to the mandatory Fall Festival that all fairies must attend. Skylar, Jazzy, and I walk through the large crowd. A long yellow with gold rug runs through the crowd, and the symbols on the rug match the symbols on their crowns.
Skylar has to wait until grandpa makes his announcement, “Welcome my fellow Fae! I want to welcome you to our annual Fall Harvest!”
The crowd cheers and we hear even more claps. My grandpa silences the crowd, “Today is a very special occasion for the McClouds, because we are welcoming one of our family members back into the fold. We thought we lost her, but miracles happen. The theme for this Fall Harvest is, ‘Miracles Do Happen.’ We never stopped believing that my granddaughter would return home. Please remember that if you lost someone you can no longer find that miracles will happen for you too, if you just believe in them. I want to introduce you to our beautiful granddaughter, Princess Rosalie Summer Ocean-McCloud! Come forth my child!”
Aunt Skylar takes my hand, and she walks with me through the huge crowd. I notice that the Enforcers surround my grandparents. There are many fairies staring back at me. There are a few gasps and shocks from the crowd. I move to the front of the crowd, and to a stage. On the stage, grandpa and grandma sit in very large gold chairs. I look over to see a tiara sitting on a yellow with gold pillow. My grandpa kisses the tiara along with my grandmother. Grandma pins the tiara to my head. Aunt Skylar also wears a matching tiara.
“Your tiara will fit better once you grow bigger,” Skylar whispers.
Grandpa takes a hand full of dust, and then he blows it into the sky. Fireworks of gold, red, yellow, with purple; shoot from the dust, “Rosalie is a part of this family for forever more. She is also your princess, and she will retain her title for all eternity. May her aunt and uncles protect her and guide her. This adoption is finalized, and may the Fall Harvest begin!”
More fireworks light up the dark sky. This is the first time I’ve ever seen fireworks. I get to sit in between my grandparents. My aunt and uncles sit on either side of them. My uncles wear their prince crowns. Grandpa sets off more sparks from his dust.
The older fairies bring out the toddlers who can walk first. The baby fairies are so cute! They are only in their baby skirts. You can’t tell who is a girl—or a boy. Brandy turns on the music, and the little toddlers bounce up and down on their feet. They are so adorable.
After five minutes passes, the pre fairies take over the dance floor. These are the three to four year old age groups. Lilly Lantana leads the pre fairies. She has long brown silky hair like Brandy, but she’s not as nice as Brandy is. My Uncle Oberon leans in, and he watches Lilly a little closer. He keeps staring at her weirdly. Their group finishes, and they return to their seats. I clap for the pre fairies.
Grandpa stands up, “Now we are ready for the kinder fairies! Our prior history shows us that we had two fairies, who beat the adults in the past. One of them was a male, and the other was a female fairy. I think it might be time for history to repeat itself. I wish all the kinder fairies good luck tonight, and especially my granddaughter, Rosalie.”
I panic, but the group divides. The boys dance first, and Ashe Pines wins for the boys. Oberon carries me to the dance floor, and I want to puke. Poppy walks over to me, and she pushes me down, “I will take the lead this year, and you can be my backup dancer.”
Mr. Puck stands me back up, and he places me in line. I follow the other girls, by copying the way that they’re standing. The music starts, but I fall flat on my face. I look around to see that everyone is upset.
The other fairies in the crowd are just as upset, “We have a fairy who can’t even dance!”
I know that I disappointed them, and so I run away in tears. I found the nearest oak tree, and I quickly climb the tree to hide out on a branch.
Rosalie, please come back! Where did you go, squirt?” A voice yells for me, and the voice belongs to Uncle Oberon.
A branch above me crumbles, and Jesse jumps on a branch beside me, “This is an awfully big tree to hide away from your family. Why are you hiding from them?”
Jesse can hear me cry, but I keep my head on my knees, “I made my family upset!”
“I’m sure it’s not all that bad, Rosalie. Why are you hiding?”
“I can't dance Jesse! I’m probably the only fairy in the world, who can't even dance!”
Jesse lifts my head, “Every fairy knows how to dance. Just some are better at it than others are. Why don't we see if you can really dance—or not? You never know unless you really try. Come on down. This tree will hurt your butt after a while.”
Jesse helps me out of the tree. He snaps his fingers, and he makes a small radio appear out of thin air. He turns the radio up, “You have to let the melody and the beat take over your body. Music is a secret addiction to all fairies. We love music, and it does something to us that make us move.”
Jesse puts a hand over my eyes, “I want you to really hear the music.”
I hear the
melody, and my body starts to move to the music. I’m doing something that I never thought I could do. I have no idea, what I’m doing either.
“There you go, and you got it kid!”
I open my eyes, and my body has a mind of its own. I do moves that I never thought I had in me.
Oberon walks over to us, “Thanks Jesse, and Rosalie do you think you’re ready? I think you might be stiff competition this year, squirt.”
I giggle, and start to feel good about myself. My strong uncle carries me back to the dance floor. He shakes his head yes, and he gives two thumbs at Mr. Puck.
Mr. Puck kneels down, “Are you ready to give it another shot, Rosalie?”
I shake my head yes, and Mr. Puck places me back in line.
Poppy laughs, and she points at me, “You can't even dance! I’m so going to win this, and I have this one in the bag!”
I roll my eyes at Poppy. They dim the lights down low. I close my eyes, and take my spot. The music starts to play, and I move by twisting my hips. The other fairies clap and whistle. I take over as lead dancer, and I can hear a round of applause. Even my grandparents stand up cheering for me. I smile and continue to dance. I keep the crowd happy for a change. I dip, turn, and move my feet. My body continues to have a mind of its own.
The dance ends, and Mr. Puck picks me up, “I think you may have just won this year Princess, good luck.”
He kisses my cheek, and I giggle.
My grandparents stand up, and announce to the crowd, “The winners from the kinder fairies are; Ashe Pines, and my granddaughter Rosalie Ocean-McCloud! Congratulations to the both of you! You will both advance to the final dance of the Fall Harvest!”
Ashe hugs me; and we jump around happy, “We did it Rosalie!”
I laugh with Ashe, “This is so awesome!”
I take my seat in between Skylar and grandma.
“You’re definitely not your mom! You’re even better than she was, and she won it all,” she whispers to me.
I squeeze her tightly, and we watch the rest of the dance competitions together. The dance goes well for the rest of the night. Jesse wins for the third graders along with Gardenia. The dance contest continues until the adults take center stage.
Grandpa announces at the end, “We have our children decided, and now I need all the single adults to take their spots. This includes my sons, and my daughter Skylar. We will continue with the show, and this is a dance contest for the entire single crowd only!”
Oberon beats Snow Winters by a few more claps. Brandy, Lilly, Skylar, and Lavender take over the stage. The competition is extremely close, but my aunt falls behind first. She’s a bigger fairy than the others are. She loves food, and she never intends to stay away from it anytime soon. Lavender falls quickly behind next. That leaves Lilly and Brandy. I don't think I can out dance those two, because they are too good!”
The dance stops and Brandy wins, but I cheer for her.
“I need all males to take over the dance floor for overall male fairy winner. This dance will last ten minutes for our ultimate male fairy winner! Good luck, gentlemen,” grandpa announces proudly to the crowd.
All of the male winners from kinder fairy to Uncle Oberon's group take over the stage. The music starts and Ashe is the first one out. He doesn’t even hold a candle to Jesse.
I wonder who the other fairy was, since my mom won the overall female fairy during her kinder fairy year, “Who was the male kinder fairy winner?”
My aunt points at Mr. Puck's mom, who sits on the front row next to a man with long blonde hair, “One of her missing sons did. Joey won the other kinder fairy. I will tell you a story about him, as soon as you’re a few years older. He was extremely cocky for your mom, but it was through him that she met your father.”
“Where is he now?”
“He has disappeared for the last eight years. There are reports that say the vampires have him, and then there are other reports that claim he ran away from a broken soul.”
I want to know more, but she wants to watch the men dance. Grandpa stops the music, and Jesse is the overall male fairy winner. I cheer for my best friend.
Skylar points at the dance floor, “You have to dance right now.”
Mr. Puck winks at her, and she winks back at him. I take the stage with all the winners. Brandy is my new competition, and she can dance. Grandpa starts the music. I close my eyes, and the dance competition starts. I let my body loose, and it once again, has a mind of its own. The moves are completely different from earlier tonight. I can hear screams, claps, and even more whistles. But, I try to keep my eyes closed. I allow the music to take over my body. After a few minutes, I peek to find that I have the lead. Brandy drops quickly to the back. I smile big, and notice that many fairies are pointing at me. The Enforcers stand and they cheer for me too. The horn sounds after my final minutes.
“We have a clear winner! My granddaughter has made me the proudest grandpa in the whole universe! Congratulations to Rosalie! You’re the first winner, since Rosebud to win against this stiff competition!” grandpa announces to the crowd.
I watch Mrs. Cirrus, and she still whistles at me. She gives me the two thumbs up sign. I wave to her and smile.
Grandma places a solid gold bracelet around my wrist, and it has my name on it. My new bracelet has the Fall Harvest for 1999 on it too. I even won the trophy, and the trophy is taller than I am. My family takes pictures of me with a snap of their fingers. I have to dance with Jesse since he won.
“You were just hiding all your dancing skills, and I knew that you could dance all along,” Jesse picks on me.
“Thank you, Jesse!”
“You’re okay, kid!”
After our dance, grandpa and Uncle Oberon take their turns to dance with me. “It looks like Jesse might be a boyfriend someday,” he teases.
“Jesse is just a friend, and boys are really gross!”
“You say that now, but time will change things.”
“For me they won't! All boys are so gross and yucky! I never want a boyfriend, and I’m never getting married either!”
He picks me up, and he hugs me, “I will remember this day forever. Never say never, baby niece. Things will change as well as fairies. I think you will have the same problem as Rosebud did when she was older. I will enjoy these precious moments for a little while longer.”
I stick my tongue out at him, and he smiles at me. After a few more dances, we return home. Skylar and Oberon help me put my trophy next to mommy’s trophy. I sit on the floor just looking at her trophy.
“Did mommy ever have to dance with Joey?”
He groans at us, “Skylar, why did you tell her about Joseph?”
She kisses my forehead, “She wanted to know, who won the male kinder fairy, and so I told her the truth.”
“Yes, your mommy had to dance with him even though she never liked him. They brought the house down as a couple. He has never had another dancer as good as your mommy was. Unfortunately, Joey can come off as a really arrogant and cocky fairy. From what I hear, he’s a lot worse as of late, since he was ditched at the altar over eight years ago,” he answers my question.
As I start to feel more comfortable with my new family, I ask even more questions, “What does ‘ditched at the altar’ mean?”
“He was supposed to marry Clover, but she ultimately gave her light to another fairy. She dated him for years, but she failed to mention her lover. Now he has no wife, or a girlfriend. He wanted to find out where she was on the day of their wedding. He found her with the other man,” Oberon told me about Joey.
“She broke his existence, and he left Avalon never to be heard from again. Joey could not bear to see them together. He will never return home, because he still believes that they’re still together,” she adds to his story.
Oberon lifts a finger, “Actually, she died giving birth to her son. He can return, but I don’t think he has a clue that she’s dead now.”
She makes a sad face, “I don’t th
ink he will ever return though.”
~~~***~~~
I run with Jazzy, Daisy, and Ashe. We spend our days playing hide-go-seek, and playing fetch. To my left, I stop to see that Mrs. Cirrus is struggling with her groceries. I have to run over there to help her.
Jazzy and I follow her down the dirt road. He even helps with her newspaper. We walk inside her huge white house. She snaps her fingers with one of her hands, and the front door opens. I carry her bag inside for her, and put it down on the table.
Mrs. Cirrus looks so tired, “Oh, thank you, Rosalie. You’re such a good girl. I always wished my son would have settled down with your mother, but they never really got along. I think they were both arrogant to a fault.” Mrs. Cirrus stops talking, and then she spaces off, while staring out the window. After a few minutes passes by, she continues to talk, “I’m not as young as I used to be. I’m over three thousand years old,” she turns to Jazzy, “hi Jazzy, here, have a treat.” She snaps a dog bone for Jazzy. Mrs. Cirrus continues, “I have three very obstinate sons. None of them have any intentions to make me a grandmother any time soon.”
I look at her pictures hanging on the walls. I can see a picture of my mom, and another male fairy standing beside her. My mom isn’t smiling, but the man in the picture beside her sure is. I point to the other fairy, “Who is that? That man has the same blue eyes as Mr. Puck.”
Violet Cirrus stands up, and she shows me her pictures, “This is my baby. This is my Joey with your mom. That is the last picture they took together, before they left Avalon. They clearly disliked each other.”
I look at all the pictures, and all the dance competitions they won together. Their outfits are yellow. She has more pictures of Joey as a baby, “Is this Joey also, Mrs. Cirrus?”
“Oh yes, he was a baby in that picture. He had the cutest blonde curls. I almost lost him, when I was pregnant with him. I had to spend the remainder of my pregnancy in bed. He is the one, who I’m the most overprotective of, and worry about the most.”