“Stop talking. You’ve got one last chance. You know my daughter?” Beren asked, already knowing the answer. Thane bit his lip, trying not to say the wrong thing. “You’ve got your first Keeper assignment.”
“Keeper assignment?” Um…”
“If you can keep her, you can keep any wish,” Beren floated away. He was done with this conversation.
“But what do I do with her?” Thane asked, hoping it was a joke.
“Keep her safe and out of trouble. You do that, you’ll get your Keeper wings,” yelled Beren as he was already half way to the agency headquarters.
“Safe and -? Yes. Yes, of course, sir,” Thane muttered.
6
The Babysitter
Flying along the bottom of the forest, Thane searched for Shea. “If this is what it’s come to, chaperoning a whiny, stuck-up brat who thinks she’s better than me, then maybe I don’t even want to be a Keeper,” Thane thought out loud. “Seriously, this is ridiculous,” he stopped flying and looked around. The forest was empty but for a chipmunk munching on an acorn nearby. It stopped chewing and stared at him.
“What are you lookin’ at?” Thane asked the chipmunk, daring. It continued to stare at him as if he knew something Thane didn’t. “At least tell me where the red head is, please,” Thane continued. At that, a branch fell and bonked Thane on the head. Leaves tumbled down, then another branch. Thane looked at the chipmunk again.
“You’re a big help.”
The plump chipmunk eagerly went back to nibbling on its acorn. With a frustrated sigh, Thane looked up and saw the sunlight glimmer off of a moving object in the trees. Red hair shined and another twig fell. He kicked off the ground and reluctantly flew up into the tree.
Gritting her teeth and grasping branch after branch, Shea climbed, determined not to look down. “A liability. I’m the liability? Maybe wishes haven’t been coming in because he sucks at his job. Like I’m the reason wishes aren’t fulfilled,” Shea complained to herself as she climbed. Quickly stopping her climb, she noticed a caterpillar on the branch that she was about to grab, “Move please! I’m climbing here.” The caterpillar barely budged. “I’ll smoosh you, I swear,” she warned, but the caterpillar obviously didn’t understand the threat. A frustrated grunt from Shea and she stretched for another branch. It was just out of reach.
“You’re lucky I don’t feel like having bug guts on my hands today.”
Just as Shea was about to grip the other branch, Thane appeared floating out of breath. “Whoa!” startled, Shea missed the branch and almost fell, holding on to the other with one hand.
“What was that back there? Not only did you almost get me killed, but -,” Thane grabbed Shea by the waist and helped her right herself.
Once settled, she pushed his hands away, “Are you following me or something? Leave me alone.”
“My name’s Thane. Nice to meet you too,” Thane said.
“I know what your name is, stupid,” Shea replied, eyeing another branch to continue her climb.
“I’m pretty sure it isn’t ‘stupid’, but whatever. And yes, I’m following you,” Thane said. Shea was already mid-climb.
“Take this,” she handed him her aviator goggles.
“Sure. I mean, would you stop for a second and listen please? The general ordered me to -” at that, Shea slipped and almost fell. Thane screamed, a bit like a girl.
“What is your problem? Scared me half to death!” Shea said.
“Sorry, I just - what exactly are you doing?”
“I’m climbing a tree. What does it look like I’m doing? And what order did the great general give you?” Shea asked, patronizing and reaching for another branch.
“From the looks of it, detention,” Thane replied, more to himself than to Shea. The climbing fairy finally reached the top of the tree. She took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings.
“Goggles, please. What do you mean, detention? You leading a Lost Fairy support group or something? You already know them so well.” As Thane gave her a dirty look, he handed over the goggles.
“He ordered me to keep you,” he replied.
“To what?” Shea asked, sincerely not understanding. She looked down, put the goggles over her eyes and took another deep breath, ignoring Thane’s explanation.
“Yeah, but listen, I’ve got one last chance at getting my Keeper wings, so would you just work with me here?”
Shea looked at him. He was actually kind of cute for a hopeless recruit. She stretched her arms and looked out at the valley below her. Not caring about his request and after a brief teeth-filled smile, she jumped - a free-fall dive.
Suddenly panicked, Thane was frozen, not knowing what to do. Finally, he dove after her.
Shea barely dodged branches as she nose-dived, weaving through the air and tearing through unsuspecting leaves. She loved the rush of the wind against her cheeks, the whipping sound the leaves made as they whizzed by. She’d almost forgotten about her annoying companion until he finally caught up.
“Hey don’t you think this is a bit dangerous since you can’t -!”
Shea pointed her wand directly at his face. He flinched as she blasted a spell just past his cheek. The spell caught a branch and attached. Like from a grappling hook, Shea swung away from Thane. It was definitely not her first attempt at this as she flung herself from branch to branch just as the Lost Fairies did, but she showed even more skill and expertise, turning it into an art form. Thane zipped through the trees, trying to keep up. The chase was on and Shea loved every second.
“Would you just let me explain?” Thane cried out, but before he could continue, a giant maple leaf crashed into him, covering his face. He couldn’t see as he struggled to rip the brown leaf off. Finally tearing it away, he searched for Shea and saw her grappling far ahead. Like a determined arrow leaving its bow, Thane zipped after her.
“C’mon, Big Nose! You’re supposed to be keeping me, right? Better keep up!” Shea taunted.
A wrangling spell suddenly crashed around her, gripping her tight at the waist. On the other end of the spell was Thane and like a cowboy throwing a lasso around a calf, he tugged. Shea was stuck and falling fast.
Thane pulled and reeled her in, but they continued to plummet to the ground at a rapid pace. He pulled and pulled, tugged and tugged, gritting his teeth as they fell. Finally bringing her in close, he hugged her, squeezing, buzzing his wings and trying to slow their descent.
Grunting as hard as he could, Thane’s powerful hug was suffocating Shea.
“Would-you-let-go?”
Thane opened his eyes. He stopped the fall about a foot above the ground. With their faces inches apart, Thane quickly let go. She gasped for air and fell to the forest floor. “What are you doing? You could have killed me!”
“Killed you? I just saved your life!” he replied, out of breath.
“I was doing just fine!”
Thane was still out of breath and walking off the sudden heavy workout. “Seeing as though you almost ended mine earlier, now you owe me double.”
“What do you want?” pleaded Shea.
“I told you. The general ordered me to keep you. Do you do this a lot? Because I almost had a heart attack.”
“You’re actually serious!” Shea said. “Like a babysitter?”
“He wasn’t incredibly specific. Just told me to keep you out of trouble.”
“Unbelievable! I’m done with him!” and with that, Shea bounded away, done with Thane too.
“Wait. Are you going to the fulfillment ceremony tonight?”
“Just stay away from me.”
“I can’t. Orders. And it’s the first ceremony in almost a year. I’d really like to go.”
“Then go! I’m not stopping you,” Shea continued to hurry through the forest as Thane followed.
“Fine!” Thane yelled, unable to hold back his frustration. Shea returned it with her own, “Fine!”
“Hey!” Thane yelled, “I have my orders, and I can�
��t let you -,” with that Shea stopped, put her hands to her hips and stared, daring him to continue.
“Would you just come with me, please? Make this whole thing a lot easier. And if the wish is fulfilled, there will be a really fun party after.” Thane smiled, as if the party would completely change Shea’s mind.
“Bye, Big Nose,” Shea hurried off through the forest leaving a frustrated Thane behind. His disappointment ran deeper than just failing at his job, and felt that maybe he actually wanted her to attend the party with him despite his orders.
7
Unfulfilled
The night sky was lit by a bright full moon when Shea was sitting along the edge of a small oval lake just outside the Wish Nursery. The moon’s grey glow illuminated the Nursery’s main barn built into the base of the mountain. The Nursery had the semblance of a stables, but cleaner, more comfortable and without the smell. Wishes had no need to, as some might say, relieve themselves as some stable-bound animals tend to do. They were quite comfortable there, and despite the open-air construct of the grounds, the wishes were bound to this place. There was no worry of a wish escaping. The Keepers welcomed the occasional roaming wish as exploration aided the wish in its growth process. The wishes knew their place and were happy to be there. Because of this purposefully relaxed set of rules and no real need to police the Nursery, Shea always felt the role of a Nursery Hand was virtually pointless, unless some worthless recruit needed help. Throw some wishing dust feed into the meal pens three times a day, keep the place tidy and pretty much just sit and stare.
Assigning a Keeper to the Nursery was either a reward for a young Keeper wanna-be, or a demotion. After just being fired from her GateKeeper position, she was surprised her father didn’t even demote her back down Nursery Hand. Despite its peaceful surroundings and serene landscape, Shea wasn’t looking for a place to meditate or relax. She had to do something. Sitting with only her thoughts to keep her company would drive her to insanity. A burning desire to escape, explore and, in general, leave Paragonia and everyone in it, inflamed like a growing bruise inside of her.
Above the stables and in plain view was Exclamation Point. A large, flat rock cliff that protruded out from the top of the valley mountain like a shelf, Exclamation Point was the final resting place of all soon-to-be fulfilled wishes. Fairies of all kinds were preparing for a ceremony, flying about and eagerly awaiting their first granted wish in almost a year. The magical source of the early creators’ spell - the dark magic used to escape The Other Side - resided atop Exclamation Point. Upon completion of The Bittersweet Spell and the creation of their new world, a marble statue of a WishKeeper was placed in front of a white waterfall that splashed into a small, stone-ridged pool. The Keeper statue remained nameless on purpose as it wasn’t meant to represent one Keeper, but all Keepers. As a small fairy, Shea dreamed of having that statue named after her, after all of her heroic, brave accomplishments in WishKeeping. She hadn’t looked at the statue since her mother died and she had no intention to do so any time soon. Every wish since The Bittersweet was brought to the statue for its exclamation - its fulfillment or non-fulfillment. While beautiful, the exclamation statue was a source of impending anxiety in recent years since its judgment of presented wishes had been harsh, to put it lightly. No wishes had been granted in nearly eight Wishing Seasons and its glistening pool was slowly receding, evaporating and disappearing. For Shea, it was just another catalyst for her anger. Acting as if she didn’t care was her only defense against such anger.
She sat along the grassy shoreline of the lake, staring at the rippling reflection of the full moon as playful wishes swooped along the glass-top water. The shimmering light of the wishes reflected in the waves like water-bound shooting stars.
Angrily wiping a tear from her cheek, she couldn’t let go of the notion that suddenly she wasn’t even good enough for the Nursery, a place she never wanted to be in the first place.
She looked to her left at a Purity Wish that was hesitant to join her. It bounced a couple times, getting a bit closer. It wanted to sit with her, but could sense Shea didn’t want visitors. This Purity had a slight yellow tinge to it. Any wish with a hint of yellow marked that it was near the end of its life cycle and either ready to be granted, or about to disappear and go unfulfilled. These days, most wishes in the Nursery had a yellow tinge - a sad reminder of an impending and helpless doom. It was something all too familiar to Shea, and she’d grown numb to the many yellow-stained wishes.
Its long eyelashes fluttered above its big bulging eyes and looked at Shea as if to ask if she was OK. Even from a Purity, Shea didn’t want any sympathy. Noticing her aviator goggles nearby, it nudged them toward her inch by inch until finally they were close enough for Shea to reach. It snuggled up to Shea’s hip and she couldn’t help but pet the little pink ball of fluff, despite her foul mood.
Shea looked at the wish, expressionless, as another tear formed in her eyes. Picking up the goggles, the Purity’s smile expanded, thinking it was helping. Shea, for a moment, looked at the goggles and, frustrated, tossed them away. The Purity, thinking it was a game of fetch, happily bounced after it.
Behind Shea, Thane cautiously approached. She gave him a dirty look, quickly stood and walked toward the Nursery. He picked up the goggles as he followed, snatching them out from under the Purity’s mouth.
“What?” Shea asked as she opened a stable gate.
“I’m just doing my job.”
“Try keeping some other hopeless case.”
“You’re the only one I know,” Thane returned playfully.
Shea ignored the banter as she entered the stable. Even if she wasn’t technically a Hand anymore, she couldn’t just sit and stare. Especially since her new babysitter hovering over her. The compound was lined with pens, most empty. A few dimly lit wishes slept nearby as Thane hurried in after her. A couple of the wishes woke and perked up like puppies.
“And I don’t have anyone to watch the ceremony with,” Thane continued.
“Yeah, well neither do I and I like it that way. And could you clam up, please? You’ll spook the wishes.”
“Right, sorry. I made you this,” Thane held up a poorly formed cupcake with an unlit candle on top. It looked like a half-melted mushroom.
Entering a pen labeled “Money Wishes - West”, the largest by far, Shea followed a dirt path through the middle. A few dozen Monies zoomed about, excited to have visitors. They darted around Shea, bopping her on the head, snickering and hollering. Pranksters, to say the least.
“Confident little things, aren’t they?” Thane said.
“Money Wishes. Zero manners,” Shea replied as she pulled a wand from her sheath.
“It’s customary to make something for a friend before a fulfillment ceremony. So…here,” Thane handed her the cupcake.
“We’re not friends. And it looks like it’s dying,” Shea said, barely looking at the gift. She stopped at a stone table at the center of the pen and placed her wand into a hole at the center of it. Tapping the end of the wand, yellow sparks showered up like a wishing dust sprinkler. The wishes loved it, whooping and hollering as they swooped through.
“I’ll just leave it here for you then,” Thane said as he placed the cupcake on the stone table. He removed his wand and lit the candle. “Here’s to wishes coming true.”
“It’s been forever since we granted a wish. They don’t come true,” said Shea with more frustration than remorse, and swatting at incoming Monies.
“Some do.” He looked at her and tried to get a smile out of her. No good. High above them, they watched fairies fly toward Exclamation Point.
A crowd of Keepers in the thousands hovered in anticipation as Beren approached a wishing pool with a bright blue wish in his arms, an Athlete. The most basic of wishes, Athletes represent personal gain or advancement. Most wishes are of an Athletic type; material items such as bikes, cars, or some other meaningless WishMaker object. There was nothing overtly special about this particular
wish. It’s wishing time had simply come and its Maker believed in it enough to allow for the Keepers to grant it. But to the fairies, this wish represented the possibility of breathing life back into their world. As the stone statue of the WishKeeper held out her hands as if in a perpetual state of waiting for something, the crowd of onlookers held its collective breath.
The pool was rimmed with ornate stone and the statue was standing within a grotto built into the side of the mountain - its once gushing waterfall dropping barely a stream from the shoulders of the mountain. The lifeblood of wish fulfillment, Exclamation Point looked out over the entirety of the Paragonian valley. On the other end of the valley, resting in darkness, was a massive human-sized castle. The castle of the WishingKing. Dormant and silently lurking, the castle loomed as a symbol of Paragonia’s prominent past, and yet stood as an incessant reminder of how even the truest of hearts can be darkened. Now, in a place where a million wishes had been granted, where wish-granted light used to burst on a regular basis within the hands of the Keeper statue, the fairies floated with baited breath, crowding Exclamation Point and hanging their hopes on one little Athletic Wish.
Beren hovered above the pool. A faint breeze whistled through the nearby evergreens as the crowd hushed. He raised the Athlete above his head, offering it to the waiting statue. “You are the giver of hope, the bringer of dreams. The one who gives flight to the grounded chance. May you forever be granted,” he said, as he released the wish.
The eyes of the watching Keepers eagerly waited as the Athlete cautiously floated toward the statue.
Beren backed away as the light of the pool shined in his eyes. The wish lightly bounced and finally rested within the palms of the Keeper statue. A rumble echoed around The Point as the Athlete lit up, shining brighter and brighter. The rumble and light grew bigger and louder until - poof.
The wish disappeared and the light quickly faded.
Failure and rejection dripped from Beren’s eyes as the crowd of onlookers were stunned. The wish wasn’t granted. So much hope and anticipation, only to have it disappear once again. A few hiccups of tears chirped throughout the noiseless crowd as Beren continued to stare, thinking maybe this was a mistake. Maybe it wasn’t over yet. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe…just maybe.
The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) Page 4