CHAPTER TWO

THE HALL OF DREAMS

Alex woke up the next day wearing a big smile. She had woken up with a smile every day since she began living in the Land of Stories, but her smile was especially big today because she had talked to her brother the night before. And although her new home had brought her huge amounts of happiness, spending time with her family made her feel better.

The Fairy Palace was the most beautiful place Alex had ever lived. She marveled at its beautiful golden pillars, archways, staircases, towers, and vast tropical gardens. However, one downside was that there were very few walls and ceilings in the Fairy Palace—it was always so pleasant outside the fairies had no need for them. So every morning when the sun rose over the Fairy Kingdom, Alex had no choice but to rise with it.

Luckily she had been able to enchant a magnolia tree to grow its branches and blossoms around her room like drapes. This gave her an extra few minutes of rest each morning before she forced herself out of bed and started her day. Other than the enchanted drapes, Alex kept her chambers quite simple. She had a large comfy bed with white rose-petal sheets, a few shelves filled to over-capacity with her favorite books, and a small wardrobe in the corner, which was practically unused thanks to a few magical tricks her grandmother had taught her.

Alex stepped out of bed, picked up her crystal wand from her nightstand, and waved it around her body. Her plain nightgown was instantly turned into a long, sparkling dress the color of the sky and a headband of white carnations appeared on her head—it was her standard fairy uniform and resembled her grandmother’s.

“Good morning, Mom, Conner, and Bob,” Alex said to a framed photo on her nightstand. “Good morning, Dad,” she said to another framed photo, this one of her late father.

Alex took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “All right, three wishes by noon, three wishes by noon,” she said to herself. “You can do this, you can do this.”

Every day at noon Alex met her grandma in her grandma’s chambers for a new lesson. Sometimes the lessons were magical, sometimes historical, sometimes philosophical, but whatever it was, the lesson was always highly enjoyable.

And although it wasn’t expected, Alex had recently taken it upon herself to grant at least three wishes every day to the villagers nearby using the little magic she knew. It was very ambitious of the fourteen-year-old fairy-in-training, but Alex didn’t feel like herself unless she was overachieving. Alex also found that the busier she kept, the less homesick she felt—and the less she thought about her home in the Otherworld, the better her training went.

She briskly walked out of her chambers, through the palace, and down its front steps. The shimmering golden walls and floor had taken some getting used to but they didn’t make her nearly as dizzy as they had the first week she lived in the palace.

Alex passed Rosette, who was trimming a luscious rose garden just outside the palace. The roses and thorns were as big as her head.

“Good morning, Rosette!” Alex said.

“Good morning, dear!” Rosette waved at her as she walked by. “Another early morning, I see?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Alex said. “Three wishes by noon, that’s my daily goal! I haven’t missed a day in two months!”

“Good for you, dear! Keep up the good work!”

Alex continued through the gardens until loud snoring to her left startled her. She looked at the ground and saw Mother Goose sleeping against a large boulder, clutching a silver flask. Lester was passed out beside her—obviously the two had had a late night in the gardens.

“Good morning, Mother Goose!” Alex said loudly enough to wake them both.

Mother Goose snorted as she came to life. “Is it?” she said with one eye open. Lester yawned and stretched his long neck.

“Did you sleep outside all night?” Alex asked.

“Well, the last thing I remember was taking a walk with Lester after dinner and we stopped to sit for a moment,” Mother Goose said. “It looks like we’ve been here ever since. Lester, you mattress filler! You were supposed to wake me up! I’m getting a bad reputation.”

Lester rolled his eyes as if to say, “That ship has sailed.”

“Why do we have to live in a morning kingdom?” Mother Goose said to the goose. “I swear I’m going to move to the Eastern Kingdom. At least people know how to sleep there!” Mother Goose climbed on top of Lester and took his reins, and together they flew toward the Fairy Palace.

Alex chuckled as she watched them fly away. Then she reminded herself of her schedule and proceeded with her walk. She reached the edge of the gardens and found herself in a large meadow.

“Cornelius!” Alex called out. She smacked the side of her leg loudly. “Here, boy! Where are you? Cornelius?”

Across the meadow, sipping from a stream, was a unicorn—but he was unlike any other unicorn in the kingdom. Cornelius was frumpy with a big tummy that swung underneath him when he walked. A silver horn grew out of his head but had broken in half during an accident when he was a baby.

“There you are, Cornelius!” Alex said.

Cornelius was glad to see her and trotted over so she could pet his large nose.

“Good morning, boy.” Alex sensed something off about her horned friend today. He didn’t have as much of a bounce in his step. “What’s wrong, Cornelius? You seem sad.”

Cornelius lowered his massive head and looked gloomily across the stream. Alex looked, too, and saw a herd of magnificent unicorns in the distance. Each was more beautiful than the next, with their long, lean bodies and perfect horns that glistened in the sunlight.

“Oh, Cornelius,” Alex said, and stroked his mane. “You’ve got to stop comparing yourself to the other unicorns.”

Cornelius nodded but Alex could see the self-consciousness in his eyes. He was never good at keeping any emotion to himself—he wore his heart on his hoof.

“Do you know why I chose you to be my unicorn, Cornelius?” she asked him.

The troubled unicorn opened his lips and showed off his large pearly white teeth.

“Yes, I know you have a good smile, but that’s not the only reason,” Alex said.

Cornelius stood on his back legs and moved his front legs in tiny circles.

“Yes, you’re a good dancer, too, but those aren’t what I’m talking about,” Alex said. “I chose you because you are different from all the other unicorns in the Fairy Kingdom. Your horn may be broken and small, but your heart is big and strong.”

Cornelius exhaled a gust of air and turned the other way. Alex had made him blush, the pink showing through his white hide.

“Are you ready to help me grant some wishes today?” Alex asked him. He neighed excitedly. “Good, then let’s get going!” Cornelius bent down and Alex hopped aboard his back. She waved her wand over his head and whispered into his ear, “Take us to someone who needs us, Cornelius.”

Cornelius’s broken horn began to glow, his head jerked northwest, and he started galloping at full speed to wherever it was the magic was leading him. Unicorns ran much faster than normal horses and Alex had to hold on to her headband as they went.

They zoomed through the trees, over a river and two streams, and eventually found a path that led them into the Charming Kingdom. A small and simple village came into view in the distance and Cornelius slowed down. He took Alex into the heart of the village—his horn was guiding him like a hound’s nose. Many of the villagers stopped in their tracks as Alex and the unicorn strode by them.

“Hello, good people of the Charming Kingdom!” Alex said. She awkwardly waved at them. “Don’t mind us, we’re just granting wishes!”

The villagers weren’t as excited as she was hoping they’d be, and went back to their daily errands. Cornelius came to a halt right in front of a tiny cottage with stick walls and a hay roof.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Alex asked. Cornelius nodded confidently and his horn stopped glowing.

Alex hopped down from her unicorn and walked to the door. She knocked lightly but the sticks broke under her knuckles, leaving a small hole in the door.

“Oh dear,” Alex said. She wasn’t off to a good start.

“Who’s there?” a faint voice asked from behind the door. Alex looked through the hole she had just made and saw a pair of eyes staring out at her.

“Hello,” Alex said. “My name is Alex and I’m a fairy! Well—technically I’m a fairy-in-training—but I’ve come here today to grant wishes. My unicorn has led me to this location. Does someone inside this cottage have a wish they’d like granted?”

The wrinkled eyes looked her up and down. Alex knew her introduction was as much of a work in progress as her magic, but to her surprise, the door opened and an elderly woman appeared before her.

“Come in,” the woman said, although she didn’t seem thrilled to have company.

“Thank you,” Alex said. She took a step inside and looked around the small home. It was dirty and dim, as frail on the inside as it was on the outside. “You have a lovely home,” Alex said politely. “What can I help you with?”

“These are my granddaughters. I’m assuming you’ve come to help them,” the woman said. Had she not addressed them, Alex wouldn’t even have seen the identical triplet girls standing against the wall. They were so dirty they blended into the rest of the house.

“Nice to meet you,” Alex said but they wouldn’t shake her hand.

“They need nice clothes for school,” the woman said. She sat down at a table covered in thread and fabric. “We can’t afford to buy new dresses so I tried making them myself, but my hands aren’t what they used to be.” She raised two hands that shook with arthritis.

“Say no more!” Alex said. “I’ll turn their tattered clothes into beautiful dresses they’ll be proud to wear at school!”

The triplets looked at one another with wide eyes—could she actually do it? Alex was asking herself the same question. She raised her wand and flicked it at each of the girls like she was conducting a symphony. One by one, a bright sparkly light circled each girl, transforming her dirty clothes into a vibrant pink dress with a white collar.

The girls looked down at their new dresses in total silence. Alex figured they were shocked from witnessing magic—but she was very wrong.

“Gross, they’re pink!” one of the girls said.

“I hate pink!” another said.

“Can you make them another color?” the third asked.

Alex was taken aback by their ungrateful remarks. She looked at their grandmother, expecting them to be reprimanded.

“Don’t look at me. You never asked them what color they wanted,” the woman said.

“Oh, sorry! My mistake,” Alex said. She raised her wand and flicked it three more times at the girls, transforming the dresses into yellow, purple, and blue.

“Better?” Alex asked.

“I don’t like my collar,” one of the girls said.

“I want green,” another said.

“I liked the pink one better,” the third said.

Alex’s nostrils flared and she bit her tongue. “Fine,” she said with a tight jaw. She flicked her wand to grant their requests. “Are we all happy?”

“Sure,” one of the girls said unenthusiastically.

“It’s fine,” another said.

“Can I have my old clothes back?” the third said.

Alex was floored. She wanted to tell them that beggars can’t be choosers, but as a fairy she couldn’t bring herself to say it. After all, she wasn’t helping them because they were poor; she was helping them because that’s what she was supposed to do.

“Girls, I want you to thank the nice fairy lady for the new dresses even though she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” the old woman said.

The triplets frowned. “Thank you,” they said in unison, not meaning a word of it.

“You’re welcome,” Alex said, not meaning it, either. “Enjoy school.”

She left the house in a huff and found Cornelius nibbling on a piece of the roof. She convinced herself that even though her first deed of the day had been unappreciated, it had still been a good one. Alex jumped on Cornelius’s back and waved her wand over him again.

“One wish down, two more to go,” she said. “Take us to our next stop, Cornelius!”

The unicorn’s horn glowed again and he began to run in another direction. Soon they arrived just outside an even smaller village in the northern part of the Charming Kingdom. Cornelius took Alex straight up a hill and dropped her off beside a well where two village children stood staring down into it.

Alex smiled and struck a pose for them with her wand raised. “Hello, children!” she said, but they continued staring down the well. Alex cleared her throat. “How can I help you? Did you drop something down there?”

The children finally looked up at her, but their subdued expressions didn’t change.

“No,” the boy said. “It’s been dried up for a while.”

“Our mom sends us here every day with a pail, hoping there’ll be water,” the girl said. “But every day we return with nothing.”

Alex was happy to hear of their misfortune. “I can help you with that!” she said, feeling useful.

“How?” the boy asked.

“Are you going to build us another well?” the girl asked.

“No, I’m a fairy!” Alex said, a bit disheartened that she had to tell them. She was certain her grandmother never had to tell people who she was. “I can cast a magic spell to make the water come back.”

The village children both raised an eyebrow at her, not buying it.

“If you’re a fairy, then where are your wings?” the boy asked.

“Not all of us have wings,” Alex said. “We come in all shapes, sizes, and variations.”

The children cocked their heads and stared at Cornelius behind her. “Is that a unicorn?” the boy asked.

“It sure is! He’s the reason I’m here—he brought me to this spot knowing I could be of service,” Alex explained. Cornelius lifted his head proudly, showing off for the children, but they were a tough crowd.

“Why is he so fat?” the boy asked.

“Is his horn broken?” the girl asked.

Cornelius lowered his head and looked at the ground sadly.

“He broke his horn when he was a baby and he eats his feelings, okay?” Alex quickly told them. “Now do you want me to fix your well or not?”

The village children shrugged. “I suppose,” the boy said. “It can’t get any worse.”

Alex was so glad to finally get to the point. She instructed the children to stand a few feet behind her. She peeked inside the well and saw nothing but dirt at the end of a very long drop. She raised her crystal wand and swung it toward the well. The sound of water echoed up the well as the bottom of it was magically filled. The village children jumped and clapped for joy.

“You fixed our well!” the boy said happily.

“You are a fairy after all!” the girl said.

“Let’s take you back to the village so they can reward you!” the boy said.

Alex shrugged and her cheeks went a little rosy. She was very pleased to be appreciated. “No need to reward me,” she said. “Everything I do is for the greater good and I never expect—”

Alex stopped talking and the village children became very still. The ground underneath their feet shook and a loud whistling sound came from the well as it filled with more and more water rushing to the top.

“Oh no,” Alex peeped. She and the children and Cornelius slowly backed away. A massive geyser shot out of the well and into the sky like an erupting volcano.

“I was wrong!” the boy shouted. “This is worse! This is worse!”

“Run for your life!” the girl yelled.

The children ran down the hill and back to their village as fast as they could, screaming their heads off. Villagers dashed outside their homes and shops to see what all the fuss was about—they couldn’t believe their eyes. Water from the geyser rained down on the village, drenching everyone and everything.

Alex and Cornelius were getting drenched, too. “Cornelius! Sit on the well! Plug it up until I can think of something to do!” she said. The unicorn looked at her like she was out of her mind. “Please?” Alex pleaded.

Cornelius carefully went to the well. His hooves were messy from all the fresh mud the geyser was creating. He lifted his tail and sat right on the well, plugging it up and stopping the geyser. It was a degrading experience for him but it proved to be useful. The village cheered from below, but it only lasted a moment. The water built up inside the well and shot the unicorn straight into the air. He landed on the muddy hill and slid toward the village like an avalanche. All the villagers ran back into their homes and shops to avoid him.

Cornelius crashed into the side of a barn. He was covered in so much mud he looked like Black Beauty.

“Dry!” Alex yelled, and pointed her wand at the well. “Dry up, I said! Dry! Dry! Dry!”

Suddenly a huge ball of fire erupted from the tip of Alex’s wand and hit the well, blasting half of it into pieces. Thankfully, the water pressure diminished and the geyser died down. The well was broken but full of water—and the village was covered in it, too.

“I fixed it!” Alex happily called down to the village below. The villagers peeked out from their homes and stared up at her, each soaked, dripping, and furious. “The good news is you have water again.” Alex tried to laugh it off, but no one joined her.

The muddy unicorn joined the young fairy at the top of the hill. “Okay, Cornelius, let’s get out of here.”

She climbed on his back and they took off—not in the direction of their next stop but just as far away from the soaked village as they could get for the moment. They found a tiny stream in the woods and cleaned themselves up. Cornelius had a hard time looking at his reflection in the water; he was fat, broken, and dirty.

“Would you like me to use my wand to make you clean again?” Alex asked Cornelius. The unicorn shook his head—he didn’t want what had happened to the well to happen to him. “Okay, then,” said Alex, “let’s move on to our final stop.”

It was a couple hours till noon and Cornelius’s magic horn steered them to the southwest corner of the Eastern Kingdom. A farm appeared in the distance that Alex thought she recognized.

“Haven’t we been here before?” Alex asked Cornelius, but he was certain his horn was leading them to the right place. Up ahead Alex saw a farmer building a fence around his vegetable garden and figured he was the man they were looking for.

“Excuse me? Do you need any help?” she asked the farmer.

The farmer wiped the sweat off his brow and looked over his shoulder at her. He instantly got to his feet and waved her away like she was a wild animal he didn’t want to deal with.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the farmer said. “I don’t want any trouble, lady!”

Alex was insulted. What about her could possibly make him believe she was bringing trouble?

“Sir, I’m not trying to cause any harm,” Alex assured him. “I’m a fairy. I’m here to help.”

The farmer placed his hands on his hips and squinted at her. “That’s what you said the last time,” he said.

“The last time?” Alex asked. “So I’ve been here before?”

The farmer regretfully nodded. “Yes, you helped me put a fence around my yard to keep out the rabbits and deer,” he informed her.

Alex pressed her index finger to her mouth as she recalled. “Oh, I remember you! You’re Farmer Robins!” she said. “But what happened to the fence I gave you?”

Alex heard a door shut. She looked up and saw Farmer Robins’s son coming out from their house—Alex didn’t have any trouble remembering him. He was tall and strong, no more than a year older than her, had wispy hair that covered his face, and in Alex’s opinion, was very handsome.

“The animals ate your fence,” the farmer’s son said with a brash smile. “It was made of vines and leaves—it was fun to watch you make it magically grow out of the ground but it wasn’t ideal for keeping out herbivores.”

“Don’t you have a table to build?” Farmer Robins asked his son.

“I’m on a break,” the son said. Clearly he wanted to stick around now that Alex was there. She tried her best not to look him directly in the eyes—she could feel herself blushing when she did.

“Well, why didn’t you tell me the fence wouldn’t work the last time I was here?” she asked the farmer.

“You didn’t give us much of a chance,” the farmer’s son answered for him. “You just sort of waved your wand and then left, insisting there was no need to thank you.”

Alex shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Gosh, no good deed goes unpunished,” she said to herself. “Well, then I insist you let me make it up to you!” Alex raised her wand; she was just about to make a new fence appear when the farmer blocked her.

“Young lady,” Farmer Robins said rudely, “I’ve got a full day of chores ahead of me and building this fence is just the beginning. The best thing you can do is leave us alone and stop wasting our time.”

“That’s silly,” Alex tried to argue. “All I have to do is wave my wand and the fence will be done—”

“I said LEAVE!” Farmer Robins yelled, losing his patience with her. “We don’t want your help and we don’t need it. I know you people solve everything with just a flick of your wrist, but people like us know how to take care of ourselves. So please go turn a maid into a princess somewhere before I do or say something I’ll regret.”

Alex’s mouth dropped open. She wasn’t going to let someone speak to her like that, especially after the awful morning she had been having. Farmer Robins had picked the wrong day to mess with this fairy.

“No!” Alex yelled back at the farmer.

“What?” the farmer said.

“No, I will not leave,” Alex said.

The farmer’s son perked up—this was going to be interesting.

“I’m really sorry for going out of my way to help you but you aren’t the only one with a job, buddy,” Alex said. She stepped closer to Farmer Robins. “The fact is, you need my help whether you want it or not, and that’s why I’m here! That’s why my unicorn brought me! So swallow your pride, step back, and get out of my way because I’m not leaving until this fence is built!”

Farmer Robins looked genuinely terrified of Alex. His son bit his fist and choked on the laughter building up inside of him. Alex set her wand on the ground and rolled up her sleeves. She walked over to the farmer and reached for his hammer.

“What are you doing?” the farmer asked.

“Give me your hammer,” Alex demanded. “I don’t need magic to build this fence.”

She yanked the hammer out of his hand, picked up a couple pieces of wood, and continued to build what the farmer had started. Farmer Robins and his son stood motionless and watched the young fairy work.

“If you two have so much work to do today, I suggest you get to it while I build this,” she snapped with a dirty glare. They didn’t argue. Farmer Robins went to work a few feet away, pulling carrots out of the ground, and his son went back inside the house to finish the table.

Alex built the fence at a very quick pace. Fueled by frustration, she had the whole thing done in just under two hours. She pounded the final nail into the last piece of wood and returned to her unicorn.

“I’m done!” she called to Farmer Robins. His son stepped back outside to see the completed fence—he was very impressed by the young fairy’s craftsmanship. She retrieved her wand from the ground and jumped onto Cornelius’s back.

“Have a nice day, gentlemen!” Alex said. “And by the way, no need to thank me! BECAUSE I’M A FAIRY, IT’S MY JOB!”

Alex and Cornelius galloped away, leaving the two stunned farmers in the dust behind them. It was a few minutes past noon by the time Alex made it back to the Fairy Kingdom. She left Cornelius in the meadow at the edge of the gardens and hurried toward the Fairy Palace, not wanting to keep her grandmother waiting a minute longer.

“Oh come on now, they aren’t going to sting you!” said a perky voice in the garden. Tangerina was feeding acorns to a family of squirrels in a tree when Alex ran past her. The bees flying around Tangerina’s beehive were making the squirrels very apprehensive.

“Hi, Tangerina,” Alex said.

“Oh my goodness, what happened to you?” Tangerina asked when she saw Alex hurrying past her. Between fixing the well and building the fence, Alex had become filthy. “You look like you fell into a stream!”

“It’s a long story,” Alex said, trying to avoid getting wrapped up in an explanation.

“Did someone say stream?” an airy voice asked from across the garden. Skylene surfaced in the nearby pond. Her long, silky hair and gown were one with the water as she floated through it.

“Poor Alex has had a rough morning,” Tangerina said.

“Just trying to help as many people as I could before my noon lesson with Grandma,” Alex told her fairy counterparts.

“Don’t work too hard, Alex,” Skylene said. “You’ve got a big day coming up!” She floated through the pond and gently touched the surface with her finger, causing gorgeous white lilies to appear around her. “I’m getting a head start on the decorations. I’ve always loved a good fairy inauguration celebration. It’s an excuse for the kingdom to look its best!”

“I can’t wait for the Inaugural Ball! My bees are making me a brand-new honeycomb gown as we speak!” Tangerina said.

“How fancy is this Inaugural Ball?” Alex asked them, feeling a hurricane of anxiety forming inside her. “I thought it was just a simple ceremony. Do I have to dress up?”

Tangerina and Skylene exchanged the same worried look—as if she had asked them what the sun was.

“Sweetheart, the Fairy Inaugural Ball is how you’re introduced to society,” Skylene said. “You need to look how you want to be remembered.”

“Every fairy in the kingdom will be there,” Tangerina said. “And they’ll all be there to see you!”

Alex closed her eyes. “Oh great…,” she said, “as if joining the Fairy Council wasn’t enough, now I’ll have to worry about looking nice in front of the whole kingdom. Why does it seem like fairies always spare the details until the very last minute?”

“Not to worry, dear, you’ll look fine in whatever you choose,” Tangerina said.

“Yes, just don’t choose that,” Skylene said, and pointed to the dirty dress she was currently wearing.

Alex sighed quietly. She waved her wand over her body and her dress sparkled until it was like new again. “Well, good talk, girls! Thanks!” she said, and continued to the Fairy Palace.

Alex rushed up the golden front steps of the palace, down the main hall, and up a flight of stairs to the top floor, where her grandmother’s chambers were. They were some of the only parts of the palace that had four walls, so Alex had to knock.

“Come in, dear,” Alex heard her grandmother say, and she stepped inside. It didn’t matter how many times she had been there, her grandmother’s rooms always dazzled her.

To call the Fairy Godmother’s chambers anything but spectacular would be an understatement. The furniture was made of rosy-dusk clouds and floated around the room. Her bed was under the branches of a white willow tree with crystal leaves. Instead of a fire burning in the giant fireplace to one side of the room, bubbles emitted from it and filled the air. A chandelier made of a hundred perched doves floated above the center of the room, although there was no ceiling for it to hang from.

Every surface in the room was covered with the Fairy Godmother’s collectibles. Jewels given to her by monarchs from both worlds over time covered the mantel. A large table near the fireplace was covered with colorful bottles of potions and elixirs. A glass display case mounted to the wall contained the Fairy Godmother’s wand collection. A mini-library of books of spells, fantasy, and history covered the wall across from the fireplace.

But in front of all these valuables were countless family photos of Alex and Conner and their dad, crayon drawings they had done for her as kids, math and spelling tests they had received A’s on, and horrific macaroni creations the twins had made her for Grandparents’ Day. She hadn’t thrown out anything the twins had ever given her.

In the back of the room, elevated on a platform, was the Fairy Godmother’s desk, made entirely of glass—although Alex never saw her sitting behind it. She always found her standing by one of the four tall windows behind it that looked out to a breathtaking view of the Fairy Kingdom.

“Hello, Alex,” Grandma said by one of the windows. She was in her trademark blue robes that sparkled like a starry sky.

“Sorry I’m late, Grandma,” Alex said. “Things got a little carried away today when I was granting wishes.”

“Oh?” Grandma asked. “Why is that?”

Alex sighed. “Sometimes I don’t know if I should be a fairy,” she confessed. “Don’t get me wrong: I love magic and I love helping people. There are days I’ll get up and feel so good about what I’m doing for people, and then others when I feel like I’m just screwing everything up. Some days I don’t think I’m helping enough people, and then other days I don’t think people even want my help. And when I don’t feel confident, my magic suffers—it becomes so unpredictable. And when that happens I feel like I have no business being on the Fairy Council.”

Alex sat on the steps of the platform and rubbed her tired eyes. Her grandmother walked over to her and gently stroked the top of her head.

“You’re overexerting yourself, Alex,” the Fairy Godmother told her granddaughter. “You’re only one person. No matter how hard you try, you can’t help everyone. And you’re beginning to learn that some people can’t be helped, not because they’re helpless, but because they don’t want to be helped.”

Alex looked at the floor—this was a hard lesson to learn.

“I’m glad you brought this up,” Grandma said. “There is something I wanted to show you. Follow me.”

The Fairy Godmother helped her granddaughter to her feet and escorted her out of the room and down a very long hallway. They stopped at a large pair of doors in an impressive arched entryway. Alex had never seen these doors before.

“Where are we, Grandma?”

“This,” Grandma began with a smile, “is the Hall of Dreams.”

The Fairy Godmother pushed open the doors. Alex gasped and her eyes grew to twice their size. The room inside was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was a dark and endless space that seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. Bright orbs of all sizes floated around them. It was like the whole galaxy had been squeezed into the room in front of them.

They stepped inside and shut the doors behind them. Alex wasn’t sure how they were standing since there was technically no floor.

“This room has been here since the beginning of fairies,” Grandma said.

“What are they?” Alex asked as the orbs flew around her.

“They’re dreams, each and every one of them,” her grandma told her. “No matter how big or small the dream, a record of every wish or want can be found in this room.”

“There are thousands—no, millions of them!” Alex said.

“Oh, yes, possibly more!” the Fairy Godmother said. “As you can see, even with all the fairies in the world, it would be impossible to make every dream come true. When you look inside them you can see what they are and who they belong to.”

A medium-size orb floated directly into Alex’s hand. She peered into it closely and could see a small girl wearing a paper crown inside.

“That little girl dreams of becoming a princess,” Grandma said. “You’ll find a lot of those in here. We tend to pay special attention to the ones more like this.”

One of the largest orbs floated into her hand and they both looked into it. Inside the orb a sad little boy watched over his younger sister, who sat in a wooden wheelchair.

“This little boy would give anything just to see his sister walk again,” Grandma said. “It’s one of the larger orbs because it’s one of the larger dreams—and it’s easier to hold because it’s selfless. I’m going to save it and see if there’s anything I can do for them later.” Grandma promptly placed the orb in a pocket of her robes.

“So this is how you find all the people you help?” Alex asked.

“Indeed,” the Fairy Godmother said. “Much more efficient than unicorns, don’t you agree?”

The two exchanged a smile. Alex tried to reach for another large orb, but it wouldn’t stay in her hand.

“Why can’t I grab that one?” Alex asked, afraid it was something to do with her.

“Because whoever that dream belongs to doesn’t want your help, and from the looks of it, they don’t even want you to know what their dream is,” Grandma said.

“That’s silly,” Alex said. “Why wouldn’t they want me to see it?”

“To know someone’s deepest desires is to risk knowing them more than they want to be known,” the Fairy Godmother said. “I’ve had to learn that lesson the hard way many times.”

Alex thought for a moment and stopped trying to grab the orb. “It must be so frustrating to see all these dreams and know you can’t make them all come true,” she said.

“When I was younger, perhaps,” the Fairy Godmother said. “But we should do what we can, and not torture ourselves over the things we can’t. It’s unfair and unrealistic to expect yourself to solve every problem in the world. Never forget that no matter how many dreams you find in here, there would be many more if it weren’t for people like us. Every wish granted by the magic from a fairy’s wand inspires a dozen more that will be achieved by the magic within people themselves. Take a look at that one.”

The Fairy Godmother gestured at an orb floating in front of them that slowly faded away until it disappeared.

“What happened to it?” Alex asked.

“The dream came true,” Grandma said. “And it had nothing to do with us. After years and years of being inspired by other dreamers, that person made their own dream come true and probably inspired countless others to do the same. We wouldn’t want to live in a world where no one believed in themselves enough to make their own dreams come true.”

A shy smile came to Alex’s face. “I think I get what you’re trying to teach me, Grandma.”

Grandma smiled back at her. “I’m glad to hear it.” A small orb landed in the Fairy Godmother’s hand but it instantly faded away.

“Whose was that?” Alex asked.

“Mine,” Grandma said. “Every lesson that you learn is a dream come true for me. And I have to say, you’re learning much faster than I ever did.”

Alex smiled again. Despite how frustrating her day had been, her grandmother made her feel like she was accomplishing her own dreams. She knew that somewhere in this room an orb that belonged to her had just disappeared.

“Now, aside from our lessons, I want you to relax for the rest of the week. You can’t help anyone if you don’t know how to help yourself first,” the Fairy Godmother instructed her.

“All right,” Alex reluctantly agreed. “Thank you for the lesson, Grandma.” She hugged her and left the Hall of Dreams. She didn’t know what to do with herself for the rest of the day—it’d been a while since she had allowed herself any free time.

Once her granddaughter left, the Fairy Godmother closed her eyes and tiny tears formed behind her lids. She had never thought it would be possible to be as proud of someone as she was of Alex. She knew that one day Alex would be an even better fairy godmother than she was.

And unfortunately, due to some changes the Fairy Godmother had recently felt inside herself, she knew that day was going to arrive much sooner than either of them wanted.…