A Fairy's First Flight

• Chelsea Shover, Grade 7, Martieville Middle School
• Short Story
• 2001

Finalist in the '2001/2002 Schools Short Story Competition - Magic and Mystery Theme' competition

The moonlight danced across the pond as the two fairies, Kif and Lundry flew toward the majestic oak tree. Lundry, the older of the two, was taking her younger sister Kif for her first flight. Flying without proper instruction was against the fairy rules. They were both terrified that they would be caught and thrown into the dungeon.
All of a sudden, they heard a whistling noise coming from just above them. Lundry ducked quickly to avoid the oncoming owl, but Kif, being new to flight, was caught off guard. The wind from the beating of the owl’s wings caused her to tumble downward. She tried to right herself as the plummeted, but it was no use.
Splash! Kif hit the water with great force. Fearing she was drowning, she struggled to stay above the water. After flailing, coughing and spluttering for a few moments, her toe struck the sand, and she realized the water was but three inches deep. She felt foolish thinking she would drown in such a small pond.
Lundry was furious with Kif for making such a commotion. She scolded her saying, “Now what will we do? The elders must have heard the noise. They will surely catch us now!”
“It’s not my fault that owl flew over my head!” protested Kif.
No sooner had she said this when an enraged fairy appeared. It was the leader Quabb. He immediately began lecturing on how dangerous underage flying was and what awful things could happen. “Kif, you know how risky flying without experience is! Lundry, you should have known better! What were you two thinking? I am very disappointed in both of you. This is not the last you’ll hear of me! Your parents will be expected to punish both of you.” He vanished into thin air muttering about careless children.
“Great,” Lundry said with disgust. “Now we have to get dungeon time for your flying underage. This is all your fault! If you hadn’t fallen into the pond..” “All my fault, is it?” Kif interrupted. “If you had warned me about low flying owls, I wouldn’t have fallen.”
Just then their parents appeared from nowhere. They were obviously seething. They had a good reason, too. I mean, their daughters had committed a very serious crime. The two would probably have to spend a week in the village dungeon. Think how that would affect their parents’ reputation.
After a long, monotonous lecture, Kif and Lundry were whisked away to the dungeon and locked in. This was to be their home for the next week. They would have food and water but that’s about it. It would be a long, boring week.
On the third day the sisters began plotting their next adventure. They knew they were learning magic soon. Maybe they could learn a spell to make them invisible. Then they could sneak out to fly whenever they wanted. Oh, how good the freedom would feel!