The Origin of Childhood

7

Next day, I come across a leaflet about a Fairy Meeting at the clubhouse of the Magic Hood. I decide I want to join the meeting, even though it's at 12AM tomorrow. Dennis agrees to come with me to the meeting. He then asks me if I can come with him to a small market, close to the park we walked in some time ago. I say yes, and he tells me we will go at 3PM. He then, after a small breakfast, tells me he has to go to school now, and I come with him, even though I'm not at the same school as him.

Then, when I come at Dennis' school, a teacher keeps me out. I then try to find my own school, and end up one hour too late due to getting lost frequently on my way. And so, the teacher sends me back home. I call Dennis to tell him about this misfortune, and he says sorry to me. But then he reassures me that the rest of today will go as we planned together! But that got me thinking of the adult that Dennis magically stripped of their free will. I command him to come with me, and he follows the command perfectly. For now, I walk with the adult along the streets.

Then, when I and the adult come back home, Dennis is also home. It's 2PM. Dennis and I walk to the market. The adult promptly follows. Dennis tells me I have to command the adult to stop walking along with me, and so I do. I then command the adult to go back home, and he promptly walks away. Meanwhile, we come close to the market. Once there, Dennis and I have a look around, to see what's there. We end up buying a copper rock an an iron wand. We also come across a small copper pot. I ask the seller what it is, and the seller responds: "This is a small container, in which you can store a fairy you summoned." I end up buying it as well.

When we head back home, we come across Anne. I sit down with her, tell her what we bought, and ask her what else we need for the use of fairies. She tells us: "Not much anymore, really. But that container is very handy. It allows you to store a fairy for up to a week, so you don't have to summon one every time you want to use it." Then, I ask: "Is there a catch?" Anne says: "Fairies can't be stored continuously. It's still important you let them out of the container at least once a week. Otherwise, the fairy will die out."

After the conversation with Anne, we continue to walk back home, and once there, I take a quick nap for the meeting at 12AM. After I wake up at 10:50 PM, I see Dennis is also asleep. I wake him up and give him a small brownie. Dennis thanks me for letting him up, and we walk to the clubhouse of the Magic Hood, where the meeting will be. Once there, we just have to wait a couple of minutes before the meeting starts. The first part of the meeting, Anne stands in front to tell everyone else about the basics of fairies, but then things get really interesting, like a true meeting. Everyone talks to each other about fairies and magic in general, filling each other's gaps in knowledge.

Once the meeting is over, we walk back home, taking Anne on our side. She tells me her parents are very nice to her, and they learned her her first magic spells. I say: "That's very nice! My parents were much worse than yours! I was grounded as soon as my parents noticed I was getting started with magic!" She says: "Well, thatś not your fault at all! Your parents really are just afraid of magic. Either they never knew it, or they lost their ability when they turned 18." I then ask why. Anne answers: "I really don't know"

When we're home, I ask Dennis if he has the fairy container so I can try it out. He gives it to me, and I look in The Advancements in Time and Space to find out howto use one. It tells me that in order to put a fairy into the container, I have to first command the fairy to move towards me. Then I have to hold the iron wand in one hand and point it towards the container held in the other hand.