missmara13

I wrote this last month as a gift, and ironically it also kinda fits one of the advent prompts this year. At the end of the story is also the picture that inspired the story.

Sophie Rose was 4, and devastated by Seth's revelation at dinner that magic and fairies and elves were all fake, when Ryan tiptoed into her room early Christmas morning and presented her with a necklace, it's pendant a tiny bottle filled with something that sparkled in the light of the candle he'd brought with him.

"You know what this is, Soph?"" he asked her in a hushed voice.

"What?" Sophie Rose replied in a whisper, entranced by the reflected light.

"It's fairy dust, the real stuff," Ryan said. "Seth just isn't nice enough to remember the fairies anymore."

Sophie Rose giggled. "You are," she said, completely sure of it.

"Well, the fairies don't like to be seen, but, if you're really special, they give you some of their fairy dust, and it tells all the other fairies that you're nice and you don't play mean tricks on them. So you know what that means?"

"What?"

"They do their best to keep the mean old pixies from knotting your hair as bad when you sleep, and they put special medicine on your skinned elbows and knees at night so they'll heal. They can't get out all the knots, and it still takes time for owies to heal, but they help you along."

"Wow."

"They gave this to me years ago, but I know that now, they want you to have it," Ryan said, slipping the long chain over her head and placing a kiss to her curls. "At night, take it off and hang it right hear on your headboard, and the fairies will do what they can to help you. Just don't ask them to do your homework or chores for you, they don't like that."

"Okay," Sophie Rose said.

"You know what Fairies do like though?"

"What?"

"Watching sweet little sisters wake up their mean big brothers with pouncing!"

Sophie Rose giggle and nodded, taking Ryan's hand to get out of bed and following him quietly down the hall to Seth's room, neither noticing they were being watched.

"We should stop them," Sandy whispered.

"Seth deserves it," Kirsten said, pulling her husband towards the stairs. "No little girl should lose her belief in magic this early."

Sandy nodded, then had to smile as Seth suddenly cried out, startled. "Seth really does deserve it," he agreed as Ryan and Sophie Rose's laughter echoed down the hall.

The End

I imagine, of course, that as she got older Sophie Rose realized that her 'fairy dust' was actually flakes of gold leaf left over from a project of Ryan's, but she still called it her fairy dust, even after they both knew that she knew better, and it's always hanging right by her bedpost while she sleeps, because it reminds her of her big brother Ryan.