The Young Wizard

The Visitor

Josh was trying to solve a crossword puzzle. As he looked up at the window he saw something like a glowing butterfly flutter through his room window. There was a blinding flash and a woman dressed in a sparkling gown stood right in front of him.

"Greetings, from the world of fairies," said the woman, as Josh dropped the pencil he was holding. "I have come to seek your help."

"My help? Are you a fairy?" asked Josh, who had always thought that fairies were tiny beings. But the woman that stood in front of him was not tiny and she didn't have wings either. "Were you a butterfly a moment ago?"

"Yes, I am a fairy, not just any fairy, I am the sister of the fairy queen, Arya," said the fairy, taking a leaf out from a pouch hanging at her waist.

"Use this in front of a mirror when you want to speak to me. I am in a bit of a hurry, I have someone to meet. I will be back at midnight."

There was another flash of light and a glowing butterfly floated out of the open window. Josh stared spellbound as the butterfly became a speck in the distance. He wasn't sure if he had imagined the whole thing. But he looked at his hand and felt the leaf against his palm.

"This leaf proves that I didn't imagine the whole thing," he said to himself, turning the leaf this way and that in his hand. He carefully put it inside his desk drawer. He thought of going back to his crossword puzzle but he couldn't quite focus on it.

Josh was living with his father's best friend. Ever since his mother disappeared, his father kept on working on different jobs and side projects. He was a scientist. But Josh felt that he was not just another scientist. For one thing, he noticed that his dad had strange books with strange writing on them unlike he had ever seen. His father's workroom was beyond limits and he always carried the keys with him so it was only very rarely that Josh got a glimpse of what was in there. There were strangely shaped instruments, odd solutions in glass vials and racks of old and new books.

Josh had often asked his dad what kind of scientist he was, and he'd always say, "I am just a scientist who is trying to unravel some of the mysteries of the universe."

But Josh had always felt that his dad was keeping something from him. When he had asked about the strange books his dad had brushed it off saying, "I just got them from an old bookshop. I just keep antique books as souvenirs."

That day during dinner, Josh said, "Dad, what do you know about fairies?"

Mr Taylor, who was gazing absent-mindedly at the clock asked, "What did you just say?"

"I said, what do you know about fairies?" said Josh, thinking about the fairy he had seen that evening.

"They are make-believe, they are just the stuff of stories," he said taking a sip from the glass of water that stood next to his plate.

"Have you ever wondered if the stories people made up were somehow based on something, well perhaps, something that might be real?" asked Josh, who thought that he might have imagined seeing the fairy. He made up his mind to check if the leaf was still there in the drawer where he had kept it.

"I suppose you could say that about some things," said Mr Taylor, adjusting his spectacles which were slightly askew.

Josh washed his plate. "Goodnight, Dad," he said as he left the dining room.

"Goodnight, Josh," said Mr Taylor, taking out his cell phone from his pocket. It rang and he picked it up and left the dining room.

Josh was lost in thought as he went up to his room. He climbed the staircase and walked into his room. He switched on the lights of his room as well as his table lamp. The first thing he did was to check his drawer to see if the leaf was still there.