Unlucky Charm

Drip, drip My popsicle gave another mournful drop of pink liquid. There was nothing left but a small portion of the popsicle. It had melted almost entirely. I tried to get one last lick, but before I could, the whole frozen slab slid off of the wooden stick and into the sewers beneath the sidewalk. "No! That's the last one we have at home!" I moaned. I was always dropping things there. Today it was my popsicle, yesterday it was my $20 bill, next time it would be a diamond ring or something. I tried to get the sticky residue off of my hands, but I just ended up getting it on my shirt. Pink loganberry juice on a white shirt. Great job, Nancy. I trudged back into the house, thinking that if I just went back to bed, nothing else would happen. I'm Nancy Kingsley, the neighborhood jinx. I have really bad luck, and I bring bad luck to everyone I meet. Let me give some examples. Last week, I said hi to the Jenson family across the street. 1 second afterwards, they dropped all of their groceries. I played soccer with the Kellerman's daughter a month ago. She broke her leg on the same day. Understandably, because of this I had no friends. As I trudged towards the staircase, I tripped on 8 blue legos, tripped over 6 lego structures, and knocked over a bowl of Cheerios, all courtesy of my little brother, Joey. I leaned against the banister of the staircase, rubbing my aching foot as I yelled "Joseph Hamish Kingsley, I will end you!!" Six year old Joey ran down the stairs. "Don't use my middle name!" He groaned. I made my way up the stairs, stubbing my toe three times. "Ow, ow, ow!" Joey started giggling, as usual. I gave him a murderous stare and reminded him "Hamish" He turned as pale as a sheet and ran into the kitchen. I made my way to my bed and lay down staring at the ceiling. I heard a knock on my bedroom door. "Come in," I sighed. It was my mom. She came and sat on the side of the bed. "What's wrong?" She asked in a soothing tone. "I don't have any friends because of my luck! It's so stupid! I must be the unluckiest person in the world!" My mother patted me. "At least I know that you are a wonderful person." I turned away from her. My mother was perfect, everyone loved her. She was kind and beautiful, and perfect. She would never understand. I heard her leave my room and lay back down. I closed my eyes and my mind began to wander away from the rest of my body.

I felt a tapping on my shoulder and opened my eyes. "Mom?" I said groggily. "I'm not your mom. Wake up kid." I turned around and saw a little creature. It had wings and was dressed in all green. I jumped out of bed and picked up a pillow, ready to hit the thing. It held up its tiny hands and said "Whoa there buster, calm down and drop the pillow." It did a little twirl. "I am the Luck Fairy." I dropped the pillow and pinched myself. I was obviously dreaming. I felt the sharp pain in my arm, but I didn't wake up. "Fairies aren't real. Joey, take your toy back." The creature crossed its arms and huffed indignantly. "I am no toy-Ow! Stop that!" I poked and prodded at the little thing, trying to find its batteries. "Why don't you have a battery port?" "Because I'm real, dummy." I sighed and decided to see what this thing had to say. "So you're the Luck Fairy. Why don't I have any luck?" The fairy sat on my shoulder. "Okay firstly, I'm here to fix something. You said that you were the unluckiest person in the world, right?" I nodded. "Well, you aren't. The unluckiest person in the world is Frane Selak. He is a Croatian music teacher. He has had seven near-death experiences." My eyes widened. "Wow, that's a lot." The fairy continued. "But the thing about Frane is, that he is also the luckiest man in the world." My brow furrowed. How can someone be the luckiest and unluckiest person in the world? The fairy saw my look and continued. "He is the luckiest because he went through every single one of those near-death experiences and came out alive and perfectly fine. Oh, and he also won the Croatian lottery later." "Wow." I said. That was amazing. But what I still didn’t understand was why a fairy came to my bedroom to talk to me about the luckiest man in the world. "Luck Fairy, why did you come here?" "You said that you were the unluckiest person in the world. But the thing is, we are all lucky in our own ways. You are lucky to have a roof over your head, a loving mother, an overall nice little brother, and lots of other stuff. Things may seem hard sometimes, but it will all work out. Just wait and see. In the meantime, here's a little something to help you out." The fairy made a glowing ball in between his hands and sent it into my palm. I felt something smooth and metal inside it. I suddenly heard a faint echo. "Nancy!" It was my mother. "I have to go," said the Luck Fairy. "Make sure to remember, we are all lucky in our own way."

"Nancy!" I heard my mother call once again. She was standing in my doorway. "The Kellerman girl wants to play soccer with you again. Do you want to?" I smiled. "Yes mom, I do." As she walked downstairs, I opened my palm. Inside, there was a small green charm, a four-leaved clover. I smiled. Thank you, Luck Fairy. I thought to myself. Then, I got out of bed. I had some soccer to play.