Sooo... I thought I was done with short stories for a while, but I saw this contest for a Christmas-related short story. Immediately, a Christmas-y children's fairytale formed in my head, and I thought, "Yes! This'll be perfect!" The only problem was, the story had to be very short: 1000 words of less. The story in my brain was already too complicated to be so short, so I decided not to participate in that particular contest. However, the story still had to be written. So, for every Wednesday leading up to Christmas, please enjoy this silly little children's fairytale Christmas short story: The Wishing Star.
Every year, grown-ups try to pound the same lessons into kids’ heads: Christmas is about more than presents, family and love are more precious than anything you’ll ever get in a box. Janet had to roll her eyes. Like she didn’t know that already. Of course you can’t pack up the most important things in life in a box. Not just things like family and love, but… whatever the word was for what stories did to her. Mom read to her every night, and every night she dreamed about being a hero like the characters in those stories. Going on adventures.
Just because the presents weren’t the most important part of Christmas, that didn’t mean they weren’t important at all. Janet still dreamed of piles of presents, under a tree decked out in sparkling, fancy ornaments. Maybe someday.
Her parents only let her pick out on special ornament a year. So every year, she tried to find the biggest and brightest. One day, she imagined she’d collect enough of them to decorate an entire tree.
But this year was different. Standing in the aisle surrounded by dazzling ornaments, something else caught Janet’s eye. Something she didn’t understand why she couldn’t stop staring at. A plain, painted star. Not the kind you put on top of your tree, just a small one to hang with the other ornaments. Made of wood, and painted yellow. Mom laughed at her selection, at first thinking she was kidding. But Janet insisted. Something about that little star had her captivated.
Mom flagged down an employee and asked about the price, as there was no tag or barcode. Janet only remember one thing he said, “Ah, the wishing star…”
He talked to Mom for a minute, wished them merry Christmas, and was on his way. But he caught Janet’s eye before he left, and winked.
It was Christmas Eve, and Janet couldn’t sleep. Well, it wasn’t so much that she couldn’t sleep, but she was resisting going to bed. She kept looking out the window, listening for sleigh bells, and turning her little “wishing star” over in her hands.
For some reason she hadn’t been able to put this new ornament on the tree. She couldn’t stop staring at it. Make a wish, she thought, just try it! Maybe it was a silly idea, but if the wishing star worked at all, it had to work on Christmas Eve.
“I wish I could go on an adventure, and be a real hero like the people in my books,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but when she opened them again nothing had changed. She shrugged, and put the star down on her bedside table, deciding it was time to settle down at last. Tomorrow morning, she’d wake to the smells of pancakes and bacon, with Christmas music playing softly, a full stoking and presents to open…
Early in the morning, Janet opened her eyes. “Merry Christmas!” she whispered, getting out of bed. Then, louder, “Merry Christmas!”
She opened her bedroom door to… Silence. “Mom?” she called, “Dad?” No voice answered. There was no music playing, no smell of anything.
She knocked on her parent’s bedroom door before pushing it slowly open. The bed was empty. “Hello?”
Out in the living room, there were no presents under the tree, and the stockings were still empty. Yet it was fully daylight, and the calendar on the wall still read “December.”
After searching the house for her parents, Janet went out into the backyard. “Mom? Dad?” She ran toward the garden, thinking she heard a voice. Nothing. She turned, thinking to go back to the house, and gasped at the sight behind her.
The house was gone. In its place was a forest, a real, enchanted forest, she thought. Yet she had very little desire to go exploring. She realized she still held the wishing star in her hand.
“I wish to go home now,” she said. “I wish it was Christmas morning, and I was home with Mom and Dad.”
Nothing happened. Maybe, she thought, I have to lie down and sleep for the magic to work. That wasn’t such a terrible thought. But where could she sleep, out here?
Or maybe she had to fulfill her first wish, see it through in it’s entirety, in order to be granted a second one. That wasn’t a bad price to pay either, though it would be a great deal more difficult than simply lying down in the grass and trying to fall asleep…
Or maybe… Maybe the wishing star only had one wish inside it, and she’d used its magic all up. That was a scary thought. Even if it was only one wish every Christmas, when did Christmas come in this world?
Before she could ponder any further, she thought she heard a small voice. Well, we’ll see where adventure takes us, she thought, and set off toward the sound, into the forest.
The forest was thick, but not scary. All the trees were enchanting and beautiful, and seemed to beckon her forward, welcoming her. There were bright little toadstools along the narrow path, and the sound of a creek not far away. It felt like a fairyland.
“Help me!” cried a small voice, much closer this time. A tiny figure was tangled up in a vine. Janet hurried to free the creature, letting out a small yelp when she realized what it was.
A fairy! A real, live, tiny girl with wings was trapped. Janet stared in wonder.
“Are you going to help or just look?” the fairy shouted.
“Oh! Sorry, I’ve never seen a fairy before,” Janet said, and hurried to untangle the vine, letting the girl free.
“Thank you,” she sighed. Janet opened her hand, and the fairly settled there. She had large eyes, green hair, and beautiful gossamer wings. She was young, too. Older than Janet, certainly, but still a child. “What’s your name, human?” she asked.
“I’m Janet. You?”
“Carla,” said the fairy. “I got lost out here. Do you think you could help me get home?”
“I’m new to this forest,” Janet said. “But of course I’ll try. Which way is your home?”
“Just follow the sound of the creek.”
“Okay.” Janet followed the path toward the sound of water. “Um, Carla? Where are we?”
“In the Mushroom Forest, of course! My family lives in the Water Circle. You must be from the Human Village.”
“No, I haven’t heard of any of that. I’m from… somewhere else.”
“Across the portal? Did you wish on a star?”
“Yes! How did you know?”
“Sierra!”
“Who?”
“The last little girl who came here!” Carla said. “She’d never seen a fairy either! Said she wished upon a star and… Oh, Janet, you must be careful. Sierra was murdered by an evil witch!”
Janet sighed. Of course she was. Of course the stupid wishing star couldn’t give her an adventure without someone evil to defeat.
“Where does this evil witch live?”
“On top of the mountain, past the Human Village. Hm… I think it’s too dangerous for you to go near her. You’ll just have to stay with us in the Water Circle!”
“But I have to get back home!”
Carla flew up to her shoulder, patting her cheek. “No, no, dear. Sierra tried getting home and look what happened to her! You’ll just have to stay with us! Look, we’re almost there!”
They had reached the creek, and a little ways up, Janet could see where it broke around an island before continuing straight ahead. A large circle of land, and fairies all about. A group of them buzzed toward Janet and Carla.
“Carla! Oh, Carla, dear, we’ve been so worried!”
Carla leapt gleefully off Janet’s shoulder and greeted her family. Janet tried not to picture a similar reunion with her own parents, who felt further away than ever.
“This is Janet! She rescued me!” Carla said, and before she knew it, Janet was receiving a hundred tiny hugs as the fairies thanked her.
“She came here like Sierra,” Carla explained. “I think she should just stay here with us! It’s too dangerous, right?”
“Well, I think that’s up to Janet to decide,” one of the older fairies said.
“What do you mean?” Janet asked. “What’s too dangerous?”
“We’ve been working on portal magic since Sierra’s time,” she said. “Here, look. A portal stone!”
She pointed at a perfectly round, black rock twice the size of any fairy, resting on the ground. Janet picked it up. “How does it work?”
“Oh, I’m afraid it’s incomplete as of now,” she said. “In order to make it work, you’ll need something to tie it to your own kind. We gave it our magic, but it would need a human element to connect back to your world. Water from the Human Village should work.”
“But the witch!” Carla said.
“I don’t care,” Janet said. “I have to get home! I can hide from the witch if I need to, I’ll be fine!”
“Ah, but the water alone won’t be enough,” said the older fairy, “It will need an enchanted flame to activate, and only the witch possesses such magic. But once activated, the portal stone can get you back home, to the exact time of your choosing. You’ll even be back to the same age as the day you left, no matter how long you spend here.”
“So you could stay for years, if you want?” Carla said.
“Hm…” Janet paused to think. It would be fun to stay in a fairyland for a while. “When is Christmas, here?”
“What’s Christmas?” Carla asked.
“Yeah, I think I want to go home.”
“Carla can guide you as far as the Human Village, and they’ll help you the rest of the way. But it will be dangerous. Take the stone, and take this, too.”
Several fairies flew around her head, lowering a necklace with a tiny vile around her neck. She carefully picked it up. It was full of something dazzling, and Janet could only stare.
“Fairy dust!” Carla said.
“Wow,” Janet whispered. “I didn’t know this was real… Any of it.”
“Well, you learn something new every day,” Carla said. “Keep it close. You’ll know when to use it.”
Just because the presents weren’t the most important part of Christmas, that didn’t mean they weren’t important at all. Janet still dreamed of piles of presents, under a tree decked out in sparkling, fancy ornaments. Maybe someday.
Her parents only let her pick out on special ornament a year. So every year, she tried to find the biggest and brightest. One day, she imagined she’d collect enough of them to decorate an entire tree.
But this year was different. Standing in the aisle surrounded by dazzling ornaments, something else caught Janet’s eye. Something she didn’t understand why she couldn’t stop staring at. A plain, painted star. Not the kind you put on top of your tree, just a small one to hang with the other ornaments. Made of wood, and painted yellow. Mom laughed at her selection, at first thinking she was kidding. But Janet insisted. Something about that little star had her captivated.
Mom flagged down an employee and asked about the price, as there was no tag or barcode. Janet only remember one thing he said, “Ah, the wishing star…”
He talked to Mom for a minute, wished them merry Christmas, and was on his way. But he caught Janet’s eye before he left, and winked.
It was Christmas Eve, and Janet couldn’t sleep. Well, it wasn’t so much that she couldn’t sleep, but she was resisting going to bed. She kept looking out the window, listening for sleigh bells, and turning her little “wishing star” over in her hands.
For some reason she hadn’t been able to put this new ornament on the tree. She couldn’t stop staring at it. Make a wish, she thought, just try it! Maybe it was a silly idea, but if the wishing star worked at all, it had to work on Christmas Eve.
“I wish I could go on an adventure, and be a real hero like the people in my books,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but when she opened them again nothing had changed. She shrugged, and put the star down on her bedside table, deciding it was time to settle down at last. Tomorrow morning, she’d wake to the smells of pancakes and bacon, with Christmas music playing softly, a full stoking and presents to open…
Early in the morning, Janet opened her eyes. “Merry Christmas!” she whispered, getting out of bed. Then, louder, “Merry Christmas!”
She opened her bedroom door to… Silence. “Mom?” she called, “Dad?” No voice answered. There was no music playing, no smell of anything.
She knocked on her parent’s bedroom door before pushing it slowly open. The bed was empty. “Hello?”
Out in the living room, there were no presents under the tree, and the stockings were still empty. Yet it was fully daylight, and the calendar on the wall still read “December.”
After searching the house for her parents, Janet went out into the backyard. “Mom? Dad?” She ran toward the garden, thinking she heard a voice. Nothing. She turned, thinking to go back to the house, and gasped at the sight behind her.
The house was gone. In its place was a forest, a real, enchanted forest, she thought. Yet she had very little desire to go exploring. She realized she still held the wishing star in her hand.
“I wish to go home now,” she said. “I wish it was Christmas morning, and I was home with Mom and Dad.”
Nothing happened. Maybe, she thought, I have to lie down and sleep for the magic to work. That wasn’t such a terrible thought. But where could she sleep, out here?
Or maybe she had to fulfill her first wish, see it through in it’s entirety, in order to be granted a second one. That wasn’t a bad price to pay either, though it would be a great deal more difficult than simply lying down in the grass and trying to fall asleep…
Or maybe… Maybe the wishing star only had one wish inside it, and she’d used its magic all up. That was a scary thought. Even if it was only one wish every Christmas, when did Christmas come in this world?
Before she could ponder any further, she thought she heard a small voice. Well, we’ll see where adventure takes us, she thought, and set off toward the sound, into the forest.
The forest was thick, but not scary. All the trees were enchanting and beautiful, and seemed to beckon her forward, welcoming her. There were bright little toadstools along the narrow path, and the sound of a creek not far away. It felt like a fairyland.
“Help me!” cried a small voice, much closer this time. A tiny figure was tangled up in a vine. Janet hurried to free the creature, letting out a small yelp when she realized what it was.
A fairy! A real, live, tiny girl with wings was trapped. Janet stared in wonder.
“Are you going to help or just look?” the fairy shouted.
“Oh! Sorry, I’ve never seen a fairy before,” Janet said, and hurried to untangle the vine, letting the girl free.
“Thank you,” she sighed. Janet opened her hand, and the fairly settled there. She had large eyes, green hair, and beautiful gossamer wings. She was young, too. Older than Janet, certainly, but still a child. “What’s your name, human?” she asked.
“I’m Janet. You?”
“Carla,” said the fairy. “I got lost out here. Do you think you could help me get home?”
“I’m new to this forest,” Janet said. “But of course I’ll try. Which way is your home?”
“Just follow the sound of the creek.”
“Okay.” Janet followed the path toward the sound of water. “Um, Carla? Where are we?”
“In the Mushroom Forest, of course! My family lives in the Water Circle. You must be from the Human Village.”
“No, I haven’t heard of any of that. I’m from… somewhere else.”
“Across the portal? Did you wish on a star?”
“Yes! How did you know?”
“Sierra!”
“Who?”
“The last little girl who came here!” Carla said. “She’d never seen a fairy either! Said she wished upon a star and… Oh, Janet, you must be careful. Sierra was murdered by an evil witch!”
Janet sighed. Of course she was. Of course the stupid wishing star couldn’t give her an adventure without someone evil to defeat.
“Where does this evil witch live?”
“On top of the mountain, past the Human Village. Hm… I think it’s too dangerous for you to go near her. You’ll just have to stay with us in the Water Circle!”
“But I have to get back home!”
Carla flew up to her shoulder, patting her cheek. “No, no, dear. Sierra tried getting home and look what happened to her! You’ll just have to stay with us! Look, we’re almost there!”
They had reached the creek, and a little ways up, Janet could see where it broke around an island before continuing straight ahead. A large circle of land, and fairies all about. A group of them buzzed toward Janet and Carla.
“Carla! Oh, Carla, dear, we’ve been so worried!”
Carla leapt gleefully off Janet’s shoulder and greeted her family. Janet tried not to picture a similar reunion with her own parents, who felt further away than ever.
“This is Janet! She rescued me!” Carla said, and before she knew it, Janet was receiving a hundred tiny hugs as the fairies thanked her.
“She came here like Sierra,” Carla explained. “I think she should just stay here with us! It’s too dangerous, right?”
“Well, I think that’s up to Janet to decide,” one of the older fairies said.
“What do you mean?” Janet asked. “What’s too dangerous?”
“We’ve been working on portal magic since Sierra’s time,” she said. “Here, look. A portal stone!”
She pointed at a perfectly round, black rock twice the size of any fairy, resting on the ground. Janet picked it up. “How does it work?”
“Oh, I’m afraid it’s incomplete as of now,” she said. “In order to make it work, you’ll need something to tie it to your own kind. We gave it our magic, but it would need a human element to connect back to your world. Water from the Human Village should work.”
“But the witch!” Carla said.
“I don’t care,” Janet said. “I have to get home! I can hide from the witch if I need to, I’ll be fine!”
“Ah, but the water alone won’t be enough,” said the older fairy, “It will need an enchanted flame to activate, and only the witch possesses such magic. But once activated, the portal stone can get you back home, to the exact time of your choosing. You’ll even be back to the same age as the day you left, no matter how long you spend here.”
“So you could stay for years, if you want?” Carla said.
“Hm…” Janet paused to think. It would be fun to stay in a fairyland for a while. “When is Christmas, here?”
“What’s Christmas?” Carla asked.
“Yeah, I think I want to go home.”
“Carla can guide you as far as the Human Village, and they’ll help you the rest of the way. But it will be dangerous. Take the stone, and take this, too.”
Several fairies flew around her head, lowering a necklace with a tiny vile around her neck. She carefully picked it up. It was full of something dazzling, and Janet could only stare.
“Fairy dust!” Carla said.
“Wow,” Janet whispered. “I didn’t know this was real… Any of it.”
“Well, you learn something new every day,” Carla said. “Keep it close. You’ll know when to use it.”
To be continued, next Wednesday!
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