December 23, 2008
I've always believed in them. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc. I mean, I've never actually SEEN them, but hey, there's signs! Like, who else leaves quarters under my pillow? The eggs in the yard? The stocking full of coal even though there's a bunch of presents under the tree? They've gotta be real!
Other teens my age don't believe in them, but I have my little brother to relate too. He's only 6 and he believes in them too! His names Charlie and he has short, chocolate brown hair. His hazel eyes are always wide with amazement when I tell him stories of them. He's rather tall for his age.
Me? I'm Andrea. I'm 16 with equally brown hair as Charlie that goes down to my shoulders. Quite opposite of Charlie, I'm pretty short for my age. People think I'm crazy and that I should "act my age".
Today is the evening before Christmas. I currently sported my bright green footsie pajamas and my red elf hat. Charlie had on red footsie pajamas and a green elf hat.
"I hope you were good this year!" I push his nose in like a button. "Or Santa's gonna give you a big lump of coal!"
"If anyone's gon' get coal, it's you!" Charlie laughs. "You were super bad this year!"
"I know right? I must've set some kind of record!"
"You'd better not be feeding him that Santa Clause crap." Our mom walks in, shooting me a look.
"But he's real!" I protest.
"Your too old for this, Andrea!"
"But-"
"Too old!"
I sigh and throw my hands up in defeat. If she doesn't wanna believe me, then fine. I'll prove it to her... Someday.
"Keep an eye out for Santa tonight." I whisper as I pass by Charlie.
January 8, 2009
I shake the black spray paint can, looking around cautiously in the early morning light. The sun barely peeking over the tall buildings. I push down on the nozzle, outlining the graffiti with the dark color. I step back and smile at the finished work. There, on the side of the school building, was the word "Believe" written in part cursive-part block letters.
"Hey! What do you think your doing!" The gruff voice of the security guard shouts out.
"Shit!" I pull my hood over my head, drop the spray paint can and run away.
School was just barley starting up again, yet I was already back to my old ways. Back to my same, usual trouble making ways... Not that anyone cares.
I duck into a hole in the gate, going into the alleyway that was used for trash. I smirk back at the security guard, raising my hand and twiddling my fingers in a teasing good bye. I run to the other side of the alley and find myself in the backyard of my house. I laugh a bit and discard the sweater in the shed, slicking my hair back slowly.
I take a deep breath, then put on a bright smile. I march into the house to make my being their aware to everyone. The sound of pattering little feet come pounding down the hall. Charlie rams into me and knocks me down to the ground. I groan, rubbing the back of my head in pain.
"Andy! I lost my tooth, see?" He holds up his tooth like a proud trophy.
"That's nice, Chars." I smile. "Put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy will come get it and give you money!"
"Money? Really!?" He grins, a gap in his teeth showing.
"Hey, what does the Tooth Fairy look like?" He asks, his eyes big with curiosity.
"She wears a long, beautiful dress and has glowing white hair. She has big fairy wings that take her all across the world! And not to mention her magical fairy wand!" I explain, pushing him off.
"ANDREA! Stop feeding him lies!" Our dad shouts from the living room.
I puff my cheeks out angrily, "I'm not lying, the tooth fairy is real!"
"We all know its really just you sneaking into his room at night."
"Why would I waste my time doing that?" I grumble.
"Yeah, Andy wouldn't even gi'me a penny! Why would she give me a quarter?"
"My point exactly." I roll my eyes.
Our dad doesn't reply, turning the tv up louder. I sigh and grumble under my breath. They'll have to believe me... Someday.
~That Night~
"Andrea!" Charlie's soft voice yell-whispers.
I groan turning over and pulling the blankets over my head. He repeatedly says my name until I turn over, glaring daggers up at him.
"It's 3 in the morning. What do you want?" I snap, trying to keep my voice down.
"Look, look! I caught the Tooth Fairy, see?" He opens his cupped hands enough so I can see inside.
There, in the palm of his hand(and looking pretty miffed), was something that looked like a little like a hummingbird-human hybrid.
"She looks nothing like you said though." He points out.
"Lemme see."
I cup my hands and let Charlie lower the Tooth Fairy into them. I quickly close the opening and peek inside. I knew she existed! But she's kind of small though. Does this little thing really fly all over the world? ...Or is there more?
"Let's keep her!" I grin excitedly. "I wanna test something."
"Where would we keep her?" Charlie asks, taking her back into his hands.
"In the hamster cage." I slide the old, dusty thing out from under my bed and open the cap. Charlie drops the Tooth Fairy inside and I quickly seal the cap as she tries to fly out.
"This is AMAZING." I say a little bit too loud. Charlie quickly shushes me, slapping my back as hard as he could.
I hiss and flop on my side, rubbing my back to the best of my ability. It is amazing though.
March 29, 2009
So we kept the Tooth Fairy for 2 months now, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I guess there are more, because Charlie lost another tooth and still got his quarter. Sadly, the Tooth Fairy disappeared. Not only that, but it trashed my room before it left! It wasn't that bad. She was like a little pet(though we did have issues on agreeing what to feed her).
And now, Easter is right around the corner. I was going out to get eggs with Charlie, mostly because our mom is trying to convince him that the Easter bunny doesn't exist. That we just paint all the eggs, which isn't true at all! I bought an entire tray, but stalled so much that it was getting dark. We take a shortcut into the woods. Well I thought it was a short cut.
"Andy, are we lost?" Charlie groans.
"Of course not! It's just... A long shortcut."
"So we're lost."
"Yeah..."
We walk in awkward silence, making random turns and trying to find our way out the woods. Charlie makes a turn and looks back at me, pointing forward.
"Why's there a bed in the middle of the woods?" He asks, as if I have an answer to all life's questions.
"How should I know?" I walk up to the mysterious bed, setting down the eggs. "Maybe a hobo lives here."
"A hobo has better taste." He quotes me from an earlier conversation, sticking his tounge out.
I roll my eyes and stand on top of the bed, "Whatever. Your just jealous of my awesomeness."
"Your not awesome for standing on an old broken bed." Charlie mutters. "Get off of it before it breaks."
"Oh so your calling me fat?"
"No, it's old so it might break."
"Yeah ri-"
My snarky remark is cut off by a heart-stopping snap from the bed. I shriek as I'm suddenly falling through a hole a really never noticed before. I try to find something to grab onto, having no such luck.
"Andy!"
I dig my fingers into the dirt, slowing to an unsteady stop. I gulp and look up the hole, Charlie looking down at me.
"Charlie, go get a rope!" I shriek, trying to find something stronger to hold me up than dirt.
"From where?! We're lost remember!"
"I don't care-"
The dirt comes loose before I get the chance to finish, sending me falling again. I land in a big pile of what looked like golden containers with pictures in them. I ignore their existence for now and look up at all the mini Tooth Fairies in cages above me.
"Where am I...?" I try and stand up, only managing in falling on my face when I slip on the many capsules. I start pushing them out the way and making my way to the floor. "I can't believe I just survived that..."
"Andy?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" I shout back up, standing just below the hole so high up. "I'm amazed I survived that, but I won't question it!"
"Okay!"
"..."
"..."
"Did you get the rope?"
"No."
"Go get me a god damn rope! This place is creepy..."
I stand there and wait for Charlie to return, feeling more and more creeped out with every passing minute. Why were there a billion Tooth Fairies in cages? What's with all the gold capsules? ...What is this place...?
I think of various fairy tales to keep my mind busy. Anything else would send me into paranoia at its maximum.
I go through 3 Santa stories, this one about Jack Frost(whoever he is), Rapunzel, and now I couldn't think of anymore. I try hard to make one come out of my head.
"Andrea, I found a rope!" Charlie shouts, dropping down what looks like a bunch of bed sheets tied together. I decide not to ask questions and shimmy up the line as fast as I could(which isn't very fast).
When I reach the top, I get about 5 splinters from grabbing the part of the bed I broke. I flinch and jerk my hand away, almost making myself fall again. I shimmy under the bed and pull myself back onto solid ground.
"New rule." I wave my hand, trying to shake away the pain. "We never come here again, agreed?"
"Told you so..."
"Shut up!" I cross my arms and glare at him. "To be on topic, where'd you get the bed sheets."
"Turns out we weren't too far from town..."
"Why not a rope?"
"The sheets 'er the first things I'saw!"