A Cinderella Story (Part 1)

Chapter 11: Finding Fairies (Elliana's perspective)

I looked up from the book, How to Catch a Faery.

"And all we need to do is sprinkle sugar around the house?" Mira asked skeptically.

"That other book we read said we have to pick a blossom from the Tree of Destiny on a blue moon during an eclipse," I grumbled.

"How are we supposed to know which book to trust?" I asked Mira.

She brightened up.

"We can read a book by an author we know is credible," she suggested.

I thought about it. There was only one problem...

"Do you have any authors in mind? I haven't really been worrying about authors who write about how to summon fairies until now."

Mira nodded.

"I know just the one."

Five minutes later, I stood at the table with Mira. We both stared at the book, almost expectantly.

Suddenly, Mira stepped forward.

"This is it," she said.

It was true. If this didn't work, we were back at square one. Mira flipped to the first page. We stood in silence, except for the occasional murmuring of tricky words by Mira, reading.

I looked up and met Mira's eyes. She noticed the movement and returned my gaze.

"I think this is it."

Mira nodded.

"And it better work," she said.

We shared a smile. And then we were off to work.

First up: getting the ingredients. One pumpkin, six mice, one rat, and six lizards.

And that's how Mira and I ended up embarking on yet another wild goose chase. We set mousetraps, mouse treats (mostly things like nuts and dried fruits or meat we found in the cabinets and were far too chewy to eat), small cardboard boxes filled with wood shavings, and chunks of Lady Remington's expensive aged cheese. No, of course it wasn't petty revenge for kidnapping me and giving me a bruise the size of an apple on the back of my head. Besides, it was all going toward a noble cause. And tiny mice bellies. Next, the pumpkin. Mira and I found the biggest one in the patch. Of course, I was the one enlisted for scooping out all the orange goop. When the pumpkin was hollow, a large ceramic bowl was full of the slimy mess, and, most importantly, my hands were clean, we decided that the next step was to find the lizards and bake pumpkin pie. So, as I left the room to find some slippery reptiles in the garden, Mira started preheating the oven, because it is extremely important to accommodate our guests while I had to find a bunch of weird, sticky creatures. Was it irresponsible of me to let an eight-year-old stay alone in the kitchen, free to use the stove and knives to any extend? Maybe. But Mira insisted. And she can be extremely bossy when she wants to. And soon, I had six lizards in a box with a perfectly fine white towel, which will soon go to waste. I'll spare the details. Let's just say they were slick, cunning, and hateful. Which is fine because I hate them too. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the island. And waited. And waited. Aannnnnnnddd, you guessed it, waited. I groaned. The fairy would never come. But Mira was very stern when she said we would not be giving up, by oath. And I took our oath seriously. I got up. Time for plan B. I grabbed the bag of sugar. So... heavy. But I started trudging around the house, sprinkling sugar on the floor.

"What in the world are you doing?"

I sighed.

"Plan B: Lure the fairy with sugar," I grumbled.

A laugh, like twinkling stars.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

Startled, I looked up from my jolly sugar sprinkling.

And then I saw the fairy, perched on the crystal chandelier. Our fairy godmother had arrived.