Once upon a time...on Earth-F.

Once upon a time, in a world very similar to our own, but somehow slightly different, there lived a girl named Esperanza. She was a kind soul, and she spent most of her time in her back garden playing make believe around all the flowers her mother had put so much effort into growing. Esperanza loved the way the flowers smelled, and all the beautiful colors they filled her garden with; she often would take her imagination journal with her under the flower covered bushes to write.

Esperanza did all of her most important thinking under the flower bushes. In fact, she had been under them a lot more recently: she was working to plan her thirteenth birthday party. Esperanza knew she wanted to have a tea party in her back garden. She had even already researched how to make cucumber sandwiches for her friends, and she was intent on coming up with some new fun games for them to play together.

Esperanza's 13th Birthday Extravaganza!

RSVP'd: Julie, Julia, Maria, Sophie, Hazel, & Ben

Food: Tea, duh. Cucumber Sandwiches. Fruit? & Cupcakes.

Games: musical chairs....charades....card games?

She stared at her notebook, wondering if there was a way she could combine the games she could think of to create something new and fun, when all of a sudden her friend Julia came rushing into the garden--soaking wet.

"Espie! I know you're out here somewhere." Julia was on edge, and Esperanza could tell.

Normally, Esperanza thought, Julia is nice about not giving me away when I'm hiding in the garden. Not only that, but Julia hates getting wet. Something strange must be going on. Esperanza crawled out from under her flower bushes.

"What's up? Are you okay? Why are you wet? Is it raining on your side of town..?"

"Well, no, but it was raining on the trail."

Julia lived about as far away from Esperanza's house as she could, while still being in the same town. But, as the girls like to point out, that's only the case if you planned on driving between their houses. If someone was brave enough to walk the trail through the forest in the center of town, that someone could get from Julia's house to Espie's in less than twenty minutes.

"The trail?" Esperanza was startled. She and Julia had taken the trail before, but they had only ever been brave enough to walk through it together.

"I know, I know. It's a dark and strange place, anything can happen there and I need to be careful if I go alone. Which I was! I needed to get here quickly, Espie. Banjo saw a squirrel at my end of the trail head, and he ran into the forest casing it! I need to find him," Julia was really starting to panic now. She had held herself together the entire run here, she knew that once she got to the garden at the end of the trail, Esperanza's mom's garden, Espie would know what to do.

"Oh, no, Banjo!!" Banjo had been Julia's pet puppy for as long as the two could remember, but he had never run off into the woods before. "We have to go after him," Esperanza declared factually and calmly, and then the two ran back onto the tail.

....................................

The woods were dark around them. The ground was still wet, though the rain had stopped. As the two girls walked the path slowly, their eyes scanned both sides of them, looking deep into the trees for any sign of Banjo.

“You said he ran into the woods right near your house, right? Do you think he maybe went back to your house?” Esperanza was trying to see all possibilities of what could have happened to Banjo, she knew that he wasn’t a huge fan of hanging out alone, so it seemed likely he would have gone home.

“I told my mom to call me if he shows up at home, she hasn’t sent me anything yet. I know he is still out here somewhere.”

A silence fell over the two, neither one wanting to admit that he may be lost forever. Then, out of nowhere, a squirrel appeared in the middle of the path ahead of them.

Esperanza jumped, as Julia exclaimed “That’s the squirrel from before!! I know ‘cause he has the same cut on his right ear! Do you see that?” Espie looked closer, squinting her eyes to see that the squirrel’s right ear was indeed torn in half. The poor dear, she thought, just as the squirrel took off into the woods behind Julia.

“We have to follow him!” Julia turned on her heel and sped into the forest so fast Esperanza almost missed it. Julia bolted after the squirrel; nothing was going to stop her from finding Banjo.

Esperanza raced after the two of them. She had never seen so many trees and branches in her life. As she ran, she started to notice more and more flowers on the trees. Flowers of all different colors and scents, just like in her back garden. Then, Esperanza saw a clearing. She stopped running and turned to face it, mesmerized by the sunny plot of land in front of her.

“I lost the squirrel,” Julia said, as she paced back to where Espie was standing.

“I’m not sure that matters,” Espie started, “That clearing over there…. I think we might find Banjo if we walk into it.”

“Well that doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see him in it, why do you think we’ll find him?”

“I don’t know.” Esperanza pondered the question. She really had no idea what force was pulling her into the open area, but she felt the warmth it gave off, she smelled all the flowers surrounding it, and she knew she was meant to be there.

Esperanza walked into the clearing, followed by Julia who had started pouting at this point, angry that she still hadn’t found Banjo. 

Once they were in the center of the circle of trees and flowers around them, Esperanza saw a small fountain materialize in front of her. She looked into the water, and she saw Banjo. She saw Banjo see the squirrel, just as Julia had described it to her. She saw the squirrel bring Banjo back to this very same clearing, and then, she heard Banjo.

“Banjo! You’re okay!!” Julia was over the moon. She ran past Espie, to the other side of the fountain where she saw her beloved basset hound sitting on the ground, and she gave him an enormous hug as she started to tear up.

Esperanza remained still. She was confused. She was certain that when Julia had heard Banjo bark and ran to him, she had heard Banjo say “You made it!”

This made no sense. Esperanza had never heard Banjo say anything before--it had been exclusively barking, with a once in a blue moon growl. As she thought about this, she watched Julia play with him, and a smile crept up on her face. It must have been in my mind, she thought to herself.

Just then, a little sparrow fluttered down onto the fountain in front of Esperanza. “Welcome home!” The sparrow tweeted, and Espie’s mouth dropped open.

“I know you haven’t been here before, but believe it or not, you mother made this place. The whole forest, actually. So this really is your home.” Espie’s heart stopped. Her mother? Her mother was the one who created this forest? How was that even possible?

“Umm….” She didn’t know what to say, but she wanted to respond. She stuttered a little more, but finally got out: “How can I understand you?” It was at that point Julia looked up and began realizing what was happening. 

The bird started tweeting again, Julia looked from the bird to Espie, trying to comprehend the reality of the situation. She didn’t want to scare the bird off, though, so she stayed silent as she waited for Esperanza to fill her in.

This is the most insane day of my life. I am talking to a bird, in a garden very similar to the one in my backyard.  Maybe my mom did make this place.

“No one knows the story,” the sparrow ultimately let out. “No one here has been around long enough to know how it happened. All we know is your mother created this forest, linked it to your back garden, and put in place the safe keeping of your abilities.”

“Wait a second, my abilities?” Esperanza was clearly not grasping the concept of what was happening, so the sparrow continued.

“Well, did you think she created this forest by growing it from seedlings? Your mother was a fairy, Esperanza. And that makes you half of one. She didn’t want you to lose access to your abilities when she left, so she put us in charge of making sure you got them.”

“That’s right!” the squirrel interjected. 

“When did the squirrel get here?” Julia asked Espie, who shrugged in response, desperate to hear what the squirrel had to say.

“I’ve been here since you found Banjo! I was up in the trees,” the squirrel replied, attempting to calm Espie knowing Julia wouldn’t understand him.

“We devised a plan to lure you out to this clearing just before your thirteenth birthday. Your mother told my great-great-great-grandmother we must bring you here, to the fountain, before you turn thirteen.” The squirrel was so proud of himself for getting her there; he had been waiting for this day his whole life.

“So, now, you can talk to us! And probably a bunch of other stuff, too...but I don’t know what.” The squirrel trailed off, then quickly added, “I’ll do my best to help you figure it out. I’m Harold, by the way” and with that, he scurried off into the trees.

Esperanza looked around and saw the bird was gone now, too, and it was just her, Julia, and Banjo left. “I guess that’s all the information I get for now, then,” Esperanza commented, “Are you ready to take Banjo home? I’ll explain everything that just happened as we walk.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Julia chuckled as she stood up, “but I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to explain that."

....................................

“Alright, Banjo! Enough with the jokes,” Esperanza had almost started crying, she was laughing so hard.

“Who knew my dog was funnier than me?” Julia laughed along with Espie, truly excited about her best friend’s new ability to talk to animals.

“Me, I guess? I do now. My mom might have known…” Esperanza was still unsure of herself, and these new gifts she had somehow received from her mother, though she hadn’t seen her mother since she was seven years old. “Why didn’t she tell me she was a fairy? Do you think she's still alive somewhere?”

Julia was silent for a moment, but slowly she started to comfort her friend. “I don’t know, Espie. Maybe? No one knew what happened to her long before we knew she was a fairy. If anything, knowing this adds more questions to the mystery...but I definitely think your mom knows how to take care of herself. I mean, look at this garden! Think about that forest. She made that. She made this! And she could talk to animals, too, yeah? I think it’s very likely she’s out there somewhere.”

“Thanks, Julia.” Esperanza smiled at her friend, touched by the understanding of her mother. 

“I may never know,” she continued, “but I’ll always have these flowers to remember her by...and maybe, Harold will come through on his word! Help me figure out how to use my abilities, and, hopefully, find my mom.”

“Well, you know you have hope on your side, Esperanza,” Julia laughed at her punny joke, “and you know I’m there, too. We’ll figure this out.” She paused before adding “But let’s figure out what games we want to play at your birthday party tomorrow first!”

The End.