The Magic of the Fairy

Once upon a time, there lived two girls named Emily and Tina. Both of
them had long black hair and blue eyes. One day while they were
playing in the back yard, Emily heard a tinkling sound. She jumped
up. "Listen", she told her twin. They listened. The noise came again.
This time Tina heard it. She sat up. "It came from over there", she
whispered, pointing to the zinnias. They crawled forward to investigate.
Then something flew out, making the same tinkling sound they had
heard before. The children looked at one another. "Was it a bee?" asked
Tina, puzzled. "I don't think so", replied Emily. "Do bees make a sound
like bells?!" "Lets call it the Tinkle Bee anyway", said Tina. Emily
nodded, barely listening. What had made that noise?

The next day, Emily and Tina brought their cookies outside. Tina took
her plate by the zinnias. Suddenly she made a grab at something.
"Emily!" she called. "I've got the Tinkle Bee!" Emily rushed over. They
sat down on the grass. Tina opened her hand very carefully. There was
that sound! Something was sparkling in Tina's hand. They smiled. Then Emily
gasped. "I-It's a fairy!" she cried. Tina looked down at the creature in her
hand. It looked like a girl. A tiny girl with wings! Tina dropped it before
she noticed that a wing was torn. The little fairy could not fly away
so she took a piece of grass out of the ground and sat on it.

Emily was the first to recover from the shock. Tina was still staring
open mouthed at the creature. The fairy turned to Emily and said "Hello,
I am Marabella." Then she added "Marabella the Fairy." Emily smiled.
"I'm Emily", she said. Tina said "I'm T-Tina. Are you really a fairy?" "Oh, yes!"
replied Marabella. "I've always been a fairy." Tina gasped. "Then you are
the Tinkle Bee!" she said excitedly. "Yes, I am", Marabella said, nodding.
"But I'm a fairy, not a Tinkle Bee." "Uh, Marabella?" she asked hesitating.
Marabella smiled. "It's okay to call me by my name" she said. "Marabella,
can you do magic?" Emily breathed out the word magic. Marabella nodded.
Tina said "What about your wing?" Marabella laughed. "When you grabbed
me, I accidentally tore the wing myself" she said. "You startled me and I tore
my wing." "It's all right", she added, seeing the twins horrified faces. "I'm
fine really." the fairy said. Tina and Emily were both glad about that.
"Is there anything we can do to help you, Marabella?" asked Tina, who
was sorry for Marabella. "No, not really", answered Marabella. "It doesn't hurt."

Emily said, "Will you show us some magic?" "Yes", said Marabella. "What
do you want me to do first?" Emily thought for a second. "Can you do
our homework?" she asked. "I'll do your homework", said Marabella, nodding.
"Where is your room?" Tina smiled. "This way", she said. They ran in the
door, up the stairs, down a corridor, turned right, up some more stairs, turned left,
opened the door, and there was their room. Tina pulled open the desk drawer
and got out some sheets of paper. Emily laid them down on the desk top
while Marabella got out her wand. "Ready?" she asked. "Ready!" the twins
yelled in unison. Marabella muttered some words and waved her wand.
Suddenly, there was their homework in their hands! It was all done!
And it was in their own handwriting.

Then there was a knock at the bedroom door. "Emily! Tina!" It was
their mother. "Have you finished your homework yet?" Tina called
back, "Yes!" "Good", said their mom. "You can have some gumdrops."
She left to get the gumdrops. Emily looked at Marabella. "Do you like
gumdrops?" she asked. "Oh, yes!" said Marabella. "I love them!" "We'll
share them with you, then", promised Tina. "Oh, thank you!" said
Marabella. "We eat gumdrops on my planet. They're our main food."
"You live on a fairy planet?" asked Emily, interested. "Yes", said
Marabella. "What are you doing here?" Tina wondered aloud. Before
Marabella could answer, the twins mom came in with a dish full of
gumdrops. "Here you go", she said. "Thanks", said Emily. "Bye!" said
Tina. Their mom looked at them strangely before she left the room.

Emily divided her gumdrops with Marabella. Tina ate all of hers, while
Marabella and Emily got less. "That was very selfish of you, Tina",
said Emily sternly. "What?" asked Tina innocently. You didn't give me
or Emily a single gumdrop!" explained Marabella. "Only Emily shared
with me." "What's the matter with that?" asked Tina angrily. "You were
the one who promised that you would share", said Emily. Hastily, Tina
changed the subject. "Why are you on earth?" she asked. "To get gumdrops",
said Marabella. Emily felt sorry for her twin.

"Why don't you just wave your wand, and make gumdrops appear?" Tina was
asking Marabella. "We don't use our magic like that", answered Marabella,
patting her red, curly hair and smoothing down her sparkling blue dress.
"Oh", said Tina thoughtfully. "Then how does it work?" asked Emily. "I really
don't know", a bewildered Marabella answered. "I haven't really thought
about it!" "You must know!" cried Tina. "Why must I know?" Marabella asked,
looking from one twin to the other. "What she means is that because you use
the wand, you should know how it works", explained Emily gently. "Oh," Marabella
thought for a second. "Well, I don't know," she stated. "We'll have to find
out!" Emily cried, jumping up. "No!" said Marabella firmly. "Magic has its
limits, and I don't want to disturb any secrets." "Oh," said Emily, sitting back
down. "I guess I don't want to disturb any, either." "Good," said Marabella,
greatly relieved. Tina looked thoughtful. "There must be a way to find out how
the wand works," she mused. Emily's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! Like cut the wand
up and look inside," she said. She tried to imagine what would be inside.
"Maybe it will be hollow," she said. "Or filled with dust. Sparkly dust!" Marabella
was shocked. Emily whirled around just in time to see Marabella grab her wand
and hide behind a book. Tina turned around. "Hey, where's Marabella?" Emily
sighed. "Behind that book," she answered. Tina bent over. "Marabella!
Come out!" she called.

The twins mom walked in just in time to hear. "Who's Marabella?" she inquired.
"Um..." Emily bit her lip. "Well...," Tina said, shaking out her black ponytail.
"Marabella's our fairy!" Emily burst out. "Our invisible, imaginary fairy," Tina
added. "Oh," said their mom. She looked from one twin to the other. "Okay,"
she said, smiling, and left the room.

Marabella poked her head out from behind the book. "You won't really cut my
wand up, will you?" she asked nervously. "Of course not!" Emily and Tina said
together. "Thank goodness!" said Marabella. She was plainly relieved. "Besides,"
she added, "If we cut up my wand to find out how it works, I wouldn't be able to do
magic any more." "Don't you have a spare?" asked Emily. That made Marabella
laugh. "A spare!" she exclaimed. A wand isn't like a tire! I only have one wand."
"But where did you get it?" Tina wanted to know. "Well, on the day when I was born,
the other fairies had a dress made for me," said Marabella. "Then what?" asked Tina.
"Well, then a wand just appeared, and that was that," Marabella answered. She
shrugged. "The end." Tina nodded her head. "I think I understand," she said thoughtfully.
Emily looked at her. "Okay," she said."What?" Tina didn't answer. "Tina!" Emily yelled.
"What do you understand that we don't?" "Sorry!" said Tina, startled. "Well, wands are
given to fairies naturally." Tina explained. "We know that," Emily pointed out. "So you
see," continued Tina. "I see your talking in riddles," a frustrated Emily interrupted.
"Okay, okay," said Tina. "Wands are just magic. They just appear out of nowhere."
"So?" said Marabella. "What's your point?" "My point is," Tina said, "There's probably
some kind of fairy that handles wands, and that's why we don't know anything about
them." "That makes sense," Marabella said, nodding. "Now we don't need to worry,"
said Emily. "That's right," Tina said matter of factly. "Besides," she added, "Having a
fairy of our own is going to be a lot of fun!" Tina looked at Marabella, who was standing
very stiffly. "Marabella! What's wrong?" Emily gasped. "Marabella stayed quiet for a
little while, and then she shook her head, and looked sadly at the twins. "Are you okay?"
Tina asked worriedly. "Yes, I'm fine," Marabella told them. "But I have some very bad news."

Emily looked worried. "What?" Tina finally asked. "I have to go back home. I got
a mental message that they need me." Marabella replied. "Oh," Tina said sadly.
She sighed. "Well," she said. I guess you have to go back home." "Yes," Marabella
answered. "I do!" Emily and Tina said together, "Good-bye, Marabella! Come again."
Marabella smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "I will! Bye!" Then she disappeared. In
her place were two yellow sparkling rings. The twins looked at each other and
grinned. Then taking their rings, they went outside.

THE END