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Elena was six when she first believed in magic.
It was one of those days. School was out for the holidays and Uncle John was in town.
Elena didn't like it when he was in Mystic Falls. Uncle John was always fun, he let her have more ice cream than Mommy liked, he told her all kinds of stories of ghosts and vampire and werewolves.
But he also always fought with Mommy and Daddy too. Sometimes these fights would go on for so very long and they sit up in the study with the big heavy doors closed so Elena couldn't understand the words they were saying. But they were still too loud and Elena heard bits and pieces of it at least. It confused her, Uncle John talked about his daughter a lot but if she had a cousin then why did he never bring her around to play with her?
Uncle John was fun. But Uncle John was weird too.
Jeremy, the little cry baby, was angry at her because Uncle John brought her a big doll house but only got him a little car so he had gone to Tyler's house to play. And Bonnie's grandmama had taken her out to see the college where she taught and Caroline was at her aunts' for the entire holiday.
Elena was all alone and she didn't want to stay in the house any longer, not with everybody shouting so much. So she got onto her pretty blue bicycle with the white basket in the front and pedalled away to the Tree house. She wasn't supposed to go there alone, Daddy had said, but they were all still yelling and Elena didn't want to stay in the house anymore.
She wriggled her way up onto the deck, her tiny legs too small for her to climb the steps properly and went into the house, only to find someone already there. She was sitting on the chair near the window in a pretty blue dress the exact colour as Cinderella's and wearing pointy shoes like the ones Mommy wore when she and Daddy had their date nights.
"What have we here?" The woman said, standing up only to bend down to look at her and smiled. "I didn't think little kittens would make their way up here all on their own."
"I'm not a kitten! I'm a girl." Elena said and felt foolish even as she said it. Of course the woman knew she was a girl, she was only teasing Elena.
The woman laughed softly, "My mistake, may I know your name then dearest?"
"I'm Elena Gilbert!" Elena told the woman, whom she was certain was some kind of fairy princess.
"Well then Miss Elena Gilbert, I am Sara Haraldsdottir, at your service." She said and curtsied.
"What are you doing in our tree house?"
"My sister used to live just down the street many years ago, you see. And I was looking for where her house used to be and I was walking and walking and would you believe, I just got lost!"
Elena couldn't help the giggle as Miss Sara enacted the whole story and made funny faces the whole time along. Like on Sundays when the bookshop did the book reading. Mrs Cole ,who ran it, was reading them George's Marvellous Medicine but she never made the faces to go with it.
Elena liked Miss Sara.
"Do you wanna play a game?" She asked and Miss Sara grinned and agreed. Elena pulled the treasure chest with all their board games in it out from under the table.
And then Elena found out something amazing! Miss Sara was magic.
Miss Sara waved her hand and the games came alive. The mouse from Mouse trap began running around the board and they giggled and laughed trying to catch him. In Guess Who, all the people kept on talking, trying to convince Elena it was them. The Hungry hippos ate all the balls and began yawning and took naps because they were too full.
Elena giggled and laughed the whole afternoon away. She quite forgot that she had only gone there to get away from all the yelling because of all the fun she was having and then Miss Sara read her a book, making all the voices and all the funny faces.
It was the best day ever.
Before Elena knew it, the sky was beginning to darken and it was time to go home.
Miss Sara must have noticed it as well because she got up from the chair and dusted off her skirt, "Well, little kitten, I think it's time we got you back home. Your parents must be missing you."
"I guess so," Elena pouted. She knew her Mommy and Daddy would worry but Miss Sara had magic!
And it was even better outside! When Miss Sara walked her back home all the gardens and the trees burst in flowers. Even Mrs Hess' bushes, which she always forgot to water and were very dry and thorny, grew little yellow rosebuds. Elena made awed noises and giggled in alternation but soon enough they were home.
She could see from the window that her parents and Uncle John were still fighting and sighed.
"It's not always like this, I hope?"
"Only when Uncle John is here." Elena turned to see Miss Sara frowning at the house, unhappy. "Are you going to your sister's house now?"
Miss Sara gasped in surprise, "Oh, not really. She doesn't live there anymore, I just thought it would nice to see…"
Elena frowned, thinking of everyone who lived near the tree house. No one new had come to stay there in all her years. Miss Sara's sister must have lived there a very long time ago. Maybe Mommy and Daddy would know. "What's her name?"
"...Tatia." Miss Sara said softly as if she was going to cry. Elena didn't want her to cry so she tugged at her skirt a little and Miss Sara smiled. "It's getting late, I must be going now."
Elena pouted but just then she heard her mother calling out for her and turned to answer. When she looked back Miss Sara was nowhere to be seen.
Like magic
"Elena, what were you doing, you know you're not supposed to go out of the house all on your own!"
"Bu-"
"No buts, young lady. Up to your room now or I won't let you play with Bonnie tomorrow."
Scowling, Elena stomped up the stairs. A car was pulling up on the driveway and she knew Jeremy was back. But when she opened the door to her room, she found a little present waiting for her. A box in sparkly blue that had Elena's name on it. She opened it up to find a black and white cat made out of folded paper in it. And when Elena went to lift it out of the box it sprang up and purred. The little paper cat meowed and walked across her room before coming back to her, a little pink paper tongue licking at her face.
'A kitten for a kitten' the letter inside said and Elena giggled, quite forgetting that she had been scolded.
Uncle John and her parents could fight all they wanted as long as she still had Miss Sara's magic cat.
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