Amanda Everett
11/1/04
Wish Carefully

Fayette narrowly missed a billboard on the side of the road as she flew full tilt towards the Ludington's. She was late, very late. She was already in enough trouble with her boss, and if she procrastinated much more, she'd probably never get to their house before they passed on of old age. Then she'd be in trouble. They'd probably strip her of her wings then and there and break her wand in half like they did to Orin. She shuddered at the thought. They'd probably use that as an excuse that younger fairies can't be fairy god parents, she thought with a sigh. It never got old; they always said that 15-year-olds weren't supposed to be fairy god parents, that it wasn't right. Kheelan was already passed being a fairy god parent by the time he reached 18. Of course, he wasn't a girl, she thought in a nasal voice mimicking the headmistress of the Fairy God Parent's Corporation (FOPC).
Fayette realized with a start that she was heading straight for a giant tree in someone's yard, luckily, months and almost years of training prepared her for moments like this, and almost like it was a second nature, she pulled a tight right turn, what she hadn't been counting on was for another tree to be waiting right there, so consequently, she landed smack dab right into it. "Oof!" the impact forced out of her. She slid down onto the wet mossy floor. Since when was I in the forest already?! I guess I was flying faster than I my thoughts were wondering. Great, another score for the headmisfit. She thought as she groaned. She slowly sat up and tested all her limbs carefully, her legs seemed all right and her arms did to. She tested her fragile wings before stretching then walked a few paces. Well, I'll have a nice big bruise to show off in the morning, her tone was even sarcastic in her head.
She inhaled a deep breath, sucking in the familiar scents of nature. Maybe her day wasn't going to be so . For one long moment, she felt content to absorb all the sights and sounds of the area around her, but she knew she had work to do, so, with that, she searched for the Ludingtons. Her senses reached out, groping, searching for that familiar vibe of the Ludingtons. After a moment, she found them; they weren't too far from here, not even a mile south. She smiled at her luck, and then flew off towards them.

"Dear, do you think it would be nice to go into the city and visit your son? We don't see as much of him as I would like to," Mrs. Ludington said without looking up from her knitting. The fire burned cheerfully in front of Mr. Ludington's chair, shading his wrinkles with its ever-moving light. But, surprisingly, it didn't make him look old, it made his face seem kinder and softer. He scratched his leg in thought, an old strange habit he had picked up after he injured himself mountain-climbing. It limited his movements and the possibility of what he might do all the time, but still, he refused any fancy motorized chair.
"Well, I think I can manage, but as it gets colder, this leg of mine starts getting a bit numb, we can try, Maddy," He said.
There was a moment of silence, but there peaceful reminiscings were interrupted by a loud crash and an "Ouch!". "Oh my," Mrs. Ludington said, "I wonder what that could have been, I'll go have a look."
Slowly, she got up from her seat and headed towards the door, just as she was reaching for the handle, though, the door opened, and a young, pale face peaked in. This face wasn't your average 15-year-old-size face, it was small in proportion to what was normally the right size. Unless they were mistaken and kids today had some crazy surgery-and Mr. and Mrs. Ludington highly doubted that-she wasn't your average young girl, in fact, as the door opened, they found that not only was her face small, but her whole body was small, and all that supported her in mid-air where two tiny almost transparent wings. "Hi," the girl said, "I'm Fayette, your fairy godparent." And just like that a wand appeared in her hand in a flash of brilliant light.
"Our what?" Mr. and Mrs. Ludington said in unison.
"Fairy godparent. You see," she paused looking quite sheepish, "I decided to go to the underground mall with my friends and, well, I lost track of time, and fairy world time passes by much differently than your world and you see," she paused for breath, "I'm just a wee bit late." Her head was bowed and her shining blue hair covered her face.
"Exactly how late are you?" asked Mr. Ludington, trying to find some simple thing that might give him a clue that this was not only a dream or a hallucination, but this really was his fairy godparent.
"Er, try 46 years late."
"You mean you were supposed to be here when we were ten!?"
" I'm supposed to grant you three wishes, so if you'll just be quick about it, I'll take number one so I can get back without them noticing how long I've been," Fayette said quickly.
Three . and Mrs. Ludington's thought's echoed one another's. After a moment of thought, they exchanged glances, and without a word being spoken, they nodded in agreement and Mr. Ludington looked up, "Any three wishes?"
"Shouldn't you discuss it real quick?"
"We already have, living with each other in the woods for almost four decades will do that to people."
"Alrighty then, what's your first wish?" Fayette asked surprised at how willingly they accepted the fact that she was a fairy and all.
"We wish I had never injured my leg during that climbing trip," Mr. Ludington said.
"Hmmm." Fayette thought a moment, "Okay, here we go!" With a flourish, she waved her wand, and out of its tip came a brilliant array of colorful sparks of light, and in an instant, a life was changed.

Mrs. Willman touched looked at the picture of her husband with regret. If only her had never gone out in his car under the influence. She buried her face in her hands and let her body shake with the unrelenting sobs that convulsed her body. After a moment the only sound that could be heard was her sobbing, then she wiped the tears form her eyes chastising herself Maddy, it happened ten years ago, you're 56. She breathed deeply as she walked out the front door. Well, it's off to the hospital for work.
After the short drive through the empty streets of the morning city Mrs. William arrived at work. As she got out of her car, Ms. Jenny was rushing out of the front doors shouting, "Maddy, come quick, a man was injured in his right leg, and he needs your medical skills immediately!"
That was all it took for Mrs. William to follow closely at Ms. Jenny's heels until she reached the emergency room breathlessly. She was one of the few who had gotten very far in medical school in this small town, and often things like this happened, but she had a funny feeling.
When she opened the curtain to where the patient lie, something strange happened, when their eyes met, his eyes lit with recognition, and she imagined if she were looking at herself, they were lighting up with recognition knew him from somewhere. "We'll get you fixed up nicely now, Mr.."
"Ludington," he answered.
"Ludington."she said, testing the way the word felt on her lips, and it felt familiar. He had fractured his knee-cap and had a buckle break to his ankle. Expertly, she and her companions set his leg and placed a cast on it, layer by layer.
Later that night, Mrs. William went into the room to check on the unusual patient that she seemed to remember. "Mr. Ludington," Mrs. William began, and would have continued, if it were not for a sudden crash and the appearance of looked to be .
"Whew," said the small winged figure, "You guys just disappeared when I granted your wish and." she stopped, her eyes widening as if just realizing something. She played with her hair a moment, twisting it around her finger in thought, then looked up at them, "I can see I'm going to have to explain myself," She took a deep breath," My name is Fayette and I'm your fairy godparent. I came to your house and told you this, only then you were married, and had been for a long time, you," she pointed to Mr. Ludington, "wished that you hadn't injured your leg and therefore-I'm assuming-you guys haven't met, but now you have, so what's your second wish?" She inhaled deeply and looked expectantly at them.
Both Mr. Ludington and Mrs. William were looking at her aghast and both of their faces had gone pale. "Are you saying." they looked at each other. What this creature was saying did explain a lot. After a moment Mr. Ludington asked expectantly, "Any wish?"
Fayette sighed, talk about dejavu she thought sarcastically. "Yes, any wish." She said. The two looked at each other. They had never met before, and yet they had. After a moment of silence, Mrs. William inquired, "May I do the honors?"
"Be my guest," answered Mr. Ludington.
"I wish we had met even though his leg wasn't injured."
With extra bravado, Fayette waved her wand once again and shimmering sparks emanated from the tip.

Mr. Ludington glared at Mrs. William. He hated that despite himself, he had to agree with what she was saying. She smiled smugly and couldn't help but triumphantly say, "You now, for an old geezer, you sure are stubborn."
"You're one to talk, you're my age!" Mr. Ludington said haughtily.
"I'd hate to interrupt the two of you," said a hesitant voice, "But you still have one more wish."
They both jumped and immediately turned their anger on the speaker, "We don't have time for your childish fairy tales so-" But they stopped short, floating in front of them was a small person, and thin, semiopaque wings and in her hand she held a wand. "Look, stop gawking at me like that, we've been through this before. I'm your fairy godparent, blah blah, and I'm here to grant your last wish," she paused to let this sink in, "To get you up to speed; your first wish was made when you were married and you wished you had never injured your leg," she was speaking to Mr. Ludington at this point, "And you wish," she said pointing to Mrs. William, "was that you two had met, and apparently you have, but not on good terms."
They looked at each other in disgust, both thinking the same thing, Us, married!? But nonetheless, seeing a fairy right in front of them proved she wasn't some crazed teenager. "How do we know what you're telling us is true?" Mr. Ludington asked, scratching his chin and glancing at Mrs. William suspiciously, as if he suspected her to be behind this whole charade. Mrs. William was giving him a similar look.
Fayette sighed, this time in exasperation, "You two, you were bother married not but a few hours ago, if it had not been for your wishes, and you were getting along quite nicely, how can a relationship have gone so downhill so easily? Geez! And those stupid head people at fairy world think that older people are mature!" she asked as she hovered in their faces, her look was a look of incredible annoyance, more or less anger.
A few hours ago, them?! What the heck was this crazy little creature telling them? But after a moment, something strange happened, Mrs. William's face softened and she said, "Deary, would you grant me one last wish?"
"No duh, of course."
"I wish that we had met on better terms." And with that, Fayette granted the last wish with a wave of her wand, and just as she did, Mr. Ludington's face changed into a look of anger into a look of astonishment. Did Madiline mean to be clever by.? But he never finished his thought.