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My eyes bulged and I stared at Mallory as the idea seized me. The gnome could have been any old short man, but a unicorn ... if a unicorn ran across the field, it had to be the journal.
I grabbed my pen and without hesitation began to write.
Mallory and I were talking about how fantastic it would be to see a unicorn run around the track. I’d love to see one up close. Are they like a horse, but with a single horn? Or are they magical?
As soon as I finished, Mallory looked out at the track. “See? Nothing there.”
A little disappointed, I kept searching for the unicorn anyway. “It took a couple minutes for the gnome to appear, so maybe there’s a delay factor.”
Mallory snorted and opened her mouth, but never uttered a word.
Hooves pounded the ground.
I jumped to my feet and scanned the field, searching for the source of the hoof beats. I’d be so disappointed if it turned out to be someone riding a horse past the school.
But there, galloping down the track, mane and beard streaming from its neck and head, was the most beautiful white horse. Except, it wasn’t a horse. A long horn protruded from the forehead and the body had a radiant quality, as if lit from the inside. It ran with perfect fluid motion.
Mallory’s jaw dropped. “I don’t believe my eyes.”
I squealed. “I know.” I bounced on the balls of my feet. “It’s wonderful.” I looked around to make sure we were the only ones on the athletic field.
The unicorn slowed to a halt, then beckoned us with a toss of its head.
When Mallory got to her feet, her knees trembled. Mine didn’t feel all too steady, either.
She clutched my arm. “W-w-what if I d-d-d-on’t want to get up close and personal with it?”
“I don’t think we have a choice.” I glanced at the unicorn walking toward us and nearly squealed again. Its cloven hooves clip-clopped on the ground. Definitely not a horse dressed up to look like a unicorn.
Mallory squeezed my arm even tighter. “Why don’t we have a choice?”
“I said we wanted to see it up close.”
“Why did you do that?” Her voice became a high-pitched squeak.
The animal, already big from a distance, grew larger as it advanced. I caught a touch of Mallory’s nerves.
Unicorns are peaceful creatures. They had to be, right? None of the myths talked about the attack of the killer unicorn. Well ... not unless provoked. And we weren’t going to do anything to make it angry, like trying to steal its hair or horn. Unicorns went together with rainbows, for crying out loud.
I sure hoped the myths were true. It was just much bigger than I had expected.
“Come on, Mal. This is what you wanted. Let’s go meet our first-ever mythical creature.” I strode toward the beast, dragging Mallory with me.
The unicorn stopped when we approached.
I held my breath. “She’s beautiful, don’t you think?”
“How do you know it’s a she?”
Trust Mallory to dispute the gender. “I don’t. It just seemed like a she to me.” I grabbed Mallory’s arm. “Isn’t this incredible?”
The unicorn blinked. I gazed into its dark brown eye and a feeling of peace came over me.
“Mal, we’re the only ones in our school who’ve ever been this close to a unicorn. Isn’t that fantastic?”
Mesmerized by the creature, Mallory spoke, but her eyes remained wide and her jaw slack. “But we won’t be able to tell anyone. They’ll think we’re crazy.” She stretched out her hand. “Do you think I can pet her?”
The unicorn gave a brief nod.
“I think she just gave you the go ahead.”
Mallory slowly moved her hand toward the unicorn’s muzzle and gently stroked its nose.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to touch it too. For the briefest moment, I felt prickles on a bed of velvet.
At my touch, the unicorn dissolved into the air like a wisp of smoke. I turned toward Mallory, my eyes huge, and a laugh bubbling up. I grabbed her and we hugged each other, jumping up and down, shrieking with delight.
“That was awesome.” I didn’t care if we couldn’t tell anyone. My best friend experienced a unicorn with me. We’d carry the memory for the rest of our lives.
When we reached the place where we left our stuff, I picked up the journal. “So what do you think now?”
“Definitely magic. Nothing else could have put a unicorn on our track. The odds against it are astronomical.”
Since it truly had magic ... I picked up my pen and scribbled.
I will now be able to fly around the athletic field.
I dropped the journal on my backpack and waited.
Mallory’s eyes grew big. “What did you write?”
A buoyancy filled me along with a desire to spring into the air. I bent my knees and jumped.
Mallory screamed as I zoomed up, up, up. I leaned forward and flew out toward the track. Amazing. I felt so free ... it was incredible.
The rushing wind became a jet stream behind me. I put my arms out to the side to better guide my flight. I couldn’t believe it ... I was flying! A laugh bubbled up. This was by far, the coolest thing I had ever done in my life.
I glanced down at Mallory waving her arms like they were semaphore flags and jumping up and down. I should probably fly back to her and land. Besides, I had a ton more things I wanted to do with the journal.
As I approached the ground, I pulled back and slowed so when I hit the volleyball court I only had to run a few steps before I stopped.
I turned to face Mallory. “That. Was. Awesome.” In a few short strides I covered the ground back to my bag and scooped up the journal. “Do you want a turn?”
“No. What if someone had seen you? How would you explain flying around the school?”
What? Who cared?
Mallory tilted her head to the side. “Angela, think about it ... if anyone else in the school gets a whiff that you have a magic journal, everyone is going to want you to write something for them. And I don’t think conjuring up a mountain of candy or making kids invisible counts as using the journal wisely.”
She had a point. I’d get exhausted taking requests. And what if kids wanted stupid things and wasted the pages ... the journal wasn’t all that long.
She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Besides, we need time to examine how the journal works and possible repercussions. We need to keep it a secret.”
“Okay.” She was right. We needed more time to figure out how it worked and how much it could do. I grabbed my pen. We needed time to study the book away from school.
I grinned. “I know ... I’ll just write that school’s out for the summer and—”
“Angela, no!” Mallory lunged toward me and wrestled the pen out of my hand. “Are you crazy? What if the magic wears off? How will I get into the Ivy League if I’m missing a year of middle school on my transcripts?”
Wow. I had always known Mallory took school seriously, but I didn’t know she was already thinking about college. And Ivy League? Ambitious didn’t quite cover it.
“Okay, Mal. I promise not to cancel school.” Though for most kids, I’d be a hero for doing so. “We’d better eat before we have to go to class.” I took my pen back and sighed.
A troublesome thought hit me as Mallory sat on the ground to finish her lunch. “Mal? What if my mom’s job disappears like the gnome and the unicorn?”
Mallory chewed on her turkey sandwich and squinted at the sunshine. “I don’t think it will.”
I plopped down next to her. “Why not?”
She swallowed. “Well, for one thing, the company your mom got the job with is real, and she applied before you got your journal. But the unicorn and the gnome defy reality, so I don’t think they could stay for long.”
I hoped she was right. Another thought hit. One I couldn’t stop giggling over. I grabbed the journal and scribbled quickly. And waited.
A fairy dressed in a lilac and purple dress, with short dark hair and rainbow wings stood next to Mallory and picked through the baggies of food. Mallory didn’t notice.
And I wasn’t going to tell her. I waited.
The cat, nose to the ground, hind end held high, crawled out of the bushes. One stealthy step at a time, it stalked the fairy as she checked out Mallory’s lunch. I held back a snicker.
Mallory’s nose wrinkled. “What is that obnoxious smell? Angela, did you fart?”
I broke out laughing. “No.”
But then the smell reached me and my laugh turned to a cough. Mallory was right. Definitely foul.
“Then what is that smell? It’s horrid.” Mallory plugged her nose and her eye lit on the fairy. “What did you do, Angela?”
I took a deep breath to try to get my laughter under control. I nearly choked, which stopped the laughing.
“You’re always saying fairy farts, so I thought I’d give you real ones.”
I doubled over laughing at the look of outrage on Mallory’s face.
She got to her feet and backed away from the fairy. “Hey fairy, do you think you can keep your toots to yourself?”
The cat dodged Mallory to keep from getting stepped on. Before it could pounce on its target, the fairy drew herself up to her full height and flew into Mallory’s face.
“I do not appreciate being called fairy. Do you like it when someone calls you girl?” She hovered with arms crossed, waiting for a response.
“What’s your name, then?”
“Tatiana. And what may I call you?” Her arms dropped slightly.
“My name is Mallory and this is my friend, Angela.” Her lip curled in disgust.
Tatiana must have let another fart fly. The cat dashed over and sat next to my backpack, twitching its tale, but stayed aloof.
“How does something so small put out such a powerful, evil smell?” She pinched her nose again.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Tatiana’s cheeks turned pink.
Mallory took a few steps toward me to get away from the smell. “I thought fairy farts were supposed to smell like roses.”
I laughed so hard my side hurt and tears rolled down my cheeks. No matter where Mallory went, Tatiana followed.
“Angela, make her go away.”
I tried to catch my breath.
Tatiana yelped. “Mallory, I think that is very rude of you. I’m trying to make friends and you keep running away from me.” Her squeaky little voice sounded indignant.
“Look Stinkerbell, I don’t think this friendship is going to work. Maybe you can make friends with a skunk.”
“Stinker ... Stinkerbell. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.” I literally rolled on the ground laughing.
Mallory picked up the journal and dropped it on me. “Angela, I’m serious. Write in the book and make Tatiana disappear. She doesn’t seem to be going the way of the gnome or unicorn.”
Opening the journal, I quickly scrawled:
No more fairy farts.
We both stared at Tatiana, who flew to the grass, picked a dandelion and flew back. She didn’t appear to be going anywhere.
“Um, what if I can’t reverse it?” I tried to keep from giggling.
Mallory crossed her arms. “You’d better figure out a way.”
Tatiana fluttered next to Mallory and plucked a petal off the dandelion. “She loves me ...” She pulled another petal off. “She loves me not ...” She let the petals flutter to the ground.
Mallory waved her hand in front of her nose. “Tatiana, dude. You’ve got to learn to control your flatulence.”
Tatiana ignored her and continued plucking petals.
The five-minute warning bell rang.
Mallory clutched my arms. “Angela, what am I going to do? Mr. Griffith won’t understand Tatiana.” Her eyes widened and her face paled. “What if we’re the only ones who can see her and everyone thinks the obnoxious smell is coming from me? I’ll die of embarrassment.”
“Let me try again.”
Tatiana will stop all flatulence and disappear.
Tatiana pulled the last petal off the dandelion and held it in the air. “She loves me.” She flapped her colorful wings and flew up to Mallory’s shoulder.
Mallory looked cute with a little lavender fairy sitting on her. Well, except for the stricken look of horror on her face.
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m going to have to get a gas mask and wear it for the rest of my life.”
We gathered our stuff. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe she’ll disappear like the gnome and unicorn. The unicorn stayed a lot longer than the gnome. Maybe the journal is getting stronger.”
As soon as I picked up my things, the cat rubbed up against my legs, but before I could pet it, it dashed back to the bushes.
“Where are we going, Mallory?” Tatiana zipped off and sped away.
Before we could take a step, she was back and threading flowers through Mallory’s hair.
“Tatiana, I have to go to class. I can’t wear flowers in my hair. And I can’t take a fairy to class with me.”
Fluttering her wings, Tatiana crossed her arms and pouted. “But I want to stay with you.”
Mallory searched the sky and took a deep breath. “But if you come with me to class, then the teachers will want to capture you and will keep you in a glass jar to study you.” She held Tatiana in her palm. “You don’t want to be examined, do you?”
She shook her head. “I think being kept in a jar would be horrible. They’d have to catch me first, though.” She buzzed up into the sky, made a loop, and returned to Mallory’s hand. Her body sagged. “Where should I wait for you?”
Mallory shot a look at me. I shrugged.
“I’ll meet you back here after school, but we have to go or we’ll get in trouble for being late.” Mallory set her on a bush as we passed.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Tatiana hummed and used the branches of the bush as a trampoline.
We hurried away from the athletic field.
Mallory swung her pack to her shoulder. “Angela Ashby, have you saddled me with a farting fairy for life?”
