Chapter 1

*Please note this is not a complete chapter.

I grew up to fairy tales, just like everyone else. My grandmother swore up and down that every word she shared with me was true, earning an evil eye from my mother. I guess Mom didn't want me to get caught up in my grandmother's "dreamland", as she called it. I always thought it would be wonderful to be a magical, little flying person. That is, until trails of glitter began to fall from my hair and wings started to bulge from my back. That's right. I. Am. A. Fairy. But I wasn't always like this. The changes didn't start happening until a couple weeks ago, when I turned fourteen. So here I am, sitting in my new room, in my new house, in a strange place that's so incredibly new to me. That place? Amirlyn, A.K.A: Fairy World. Who would have thought that pouring a little magic powder on an ancient tree could open up a whole other world? I sure wouldn't have. Maybe I should just start from where this whole thing began.

I was studying my back in the mirror. It had been feeling kind of strange for the last few days. It had this weird ticklish, itchy feeling. But, when I examined my back for possible insect bites, what I found was even more worrisome. Right in the center of my back, were two red lines in the shape of a V...Um,I'm pretty sure that is not normal. Not to mention it looked sort of...sparkly.
i burst into the kitchen, where my father was reading the Sunday paper and enjoying his morning coffee. His black hair had a bad case of bed head and he was still in his pajamas.
"Dad, I have to go to the doctor," I informed him. “I think I may have been bitten by some weirdo bug. It looks infected."
Dad looked up from the paper, worry crossing his face. "Let’s have a look."
I ran back to my room. I took off my shirt and replaced it with my blue robe. I put it on backwards so dad could get a good look at what those little beasties have done to me.
"What do you think?" I asked. I couldn't see Dad's expression, but he was silent.
After a moment, he said, "Mina, we..er, need to have a little talk."

“Mina, I’ve been meaning to tell you about something,” my father said.  We were sitting on the couch in the living room. He was really starting to freak me out. If he was going to start talking about the “birds and the bees” I just might die.

“Dad, if this is about sex, I-“

“No, no, no.” At the mention of that, he seemed to get even more nervous. He cleared his throat and continued. “Um…no. Nothing like that.” He leaned forward on the sofa, gathering his thoughts, I guess.

“Honey, you may have realized that your mother hasn’t been with us since you were very young.” Well obviously. Its kind of hard to miss not having a mother for ten years. “I don’t know how else to say this…so I am just going to come out and say it.” Thank God. I could not stand sitting there, waiting for him to spit it out already. “Your mom is in a place called Amirlyn. She is taking care of your little sister.” Whoa. “And I need you to listen and believe me when I tell you this next thing.” He looks me straight in the eye, his chocolate brown eyes serious. “Your mother is a fairy and so are you.” It was kind of hard to take him seriously with his straight hair sticking up in every direction. I honestly did not know what to think at that point.

I decided to play along.

“And my, um, sister?” The word didn’t sound right in my own mouth. It was foreign to me. Sister.

“She is, too.” Dad looked a bit relaxed then, relieved to have his confessions off his chest.

“Then why am I here? Why aren’t we with them?” Was this really happening? Was this some sort of joke?

“Because I am not a fairy. Humans and fairies don’t usually, er, fertilize with each other. Your mother and I weren’t sure how you would turn out. You seemed pretty normal all these years, but it is clear that you are changing. You are going to have to live in Amirlyn.” Whoa. Kid’s not joking.

“What is this Amirlyn place anyway?  Is that, like, in Canada or something?”

“It is, for lack of a better explanation, the fairy world. Ami was born a fairy, so she and your mom had to stay there. I will have to get you there quickly.”

I stood up from the sofa. The tickly-itch on my back reminded me that I could be popping wings any minute now.

“What about school and my friends?” I felt a lump in my throat. That annoying lump that always shows up when tears threaten to fall. I’m wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much, It wasn’t as if I loved school. I guess it was because school was all I had ever known.

“Don’t worry about that. You will make a lot of new friends.” Why do parents always say that? Dad stood up. “Now, have you noticed any sparkly dust?” Come to think of it, there had been some mysterious red glitter on my pillow. And a little on my bedroom floor. And on my hairbrush.  

“Yes, but I don’t see-          “

He cut me off. “Excellent! Gather up as much as possible.” Okay, if I thought Dad sound crazy before, this would be a definite confirmed case of insanity.

                                             ***

Two hours and one cup of red glitter later, me and Dad were standing in the city park. He had lead me over to a tree. A huge tree. I was holding the white Styrofoam cup of sparkles that I supposedly “shed” form the tips of my hair.

The park was basically empty,  with a jogger or a person walking their dog, passing by every now and then.  Dad studied the tree and then tore off a small piece of bark. He looked better then compared to earlier that morning. His hair was combed and he wore jeans and a dark green fall jacket over a t-shirt.

“Hand me the dust,” He requested, holding out his hand. I placed the cup in his large hand.

A part of the bar tree could be seen, where he ripped off the bark, which he was still holding in his left hand. I watched as he slowly filled the bare spot with the glitter and then replaced the bark. It stuck there, as if it had never been removed in the first place.

Suddenly, the tree was opening, right down the middle. It separated like an opening door. It seemed like there was nothing else in the world. There was only me, Dad, and the tree. The rest of it had disappeared, as far as my mind was concerned. Before I knew what was happening, Dad was pulling me into the tree.

“Come on, “he grabbed my hand. “Quickly.”

I stepped into a tree, but I stepped out into a completely different place. Everything actually looked quite normal.
Except it was more colorful, clean, and overall better. And the people had wings. But it was mainly the color that overwhelmed me. Everything was much more colorful. I hadn’t even realized my mouth was hanging open until I saw the way Dad was looking at me, smiling. The grass was greener, the sky bluer. Even the people were more colorful. Each person had a color scheme. Their wings, clothes, and make up matched. The colors repeated sometimes, but there was definitely variety.  I watched as they passed by, going about their usual daily lives.

If a Crayola factory threw up on a town, that town would be Amirlyn.