Catching fairies...

... "Fairies are tricky little creatures."  Abbie's mother told her as they sat out on their back porch, sipping cold lemonade with fresh strawberries floating at the top.  "If you catch one, you could ask it to grant you a wish."

Abbie's eyes widened, "Any wish?"

Her mother smiled, "Yes, any wish."

"And it'll come true?"

"Well now, that's where fairies are tricky.  Some fairies, when you catch them, will grant your wish right away, but others aren't so agreeable.  Sometimes, the fairy will say she'll grant your wish, just so that you'll let her go, and then she'll forget all about you the moment she's gone.  Other times the fairy will laugh at your wish and then run and tell all the other fairies so that they can laugh too."  Abbie's mother took a long drink of the cold lemonade as the ice cubes tinked against the sweating glass.  She leaned in close to her daughter's captivated green eyes as the wide brim of her white sunhat brushed the top of Abbie's brown curls and she smiled, "But all that only happens if you can catch one."

Abbie was totally lost in this magical world.  "Where do I find the fairies, Mommy?"

Her mother's eyes scanned up to their flower garden, "See those little white things floating over there?" She gestured over past the archway and gate that posed as the garden's entranceway.  The enraptured Abbie nodded.  "Well, those are the fairies."

Suddenly Abbie couldn't tear her eyes away from the garden.  She watched as tiny, white, delicate clouds of fluff danced up and down in the summer breeze.  They twirled in and out of the daisies and daffodils, lept past the bluebells and geraniums, and waltzed among the red climbing roses that laced the back trellis.

"But remember Abbie," her mother interposed, "you have to catch them while they're flying, not if they've landed.  Otherwise your wish doesn't count."

Just then Abbie's dad stepped out onto the porch, "Now where are the two most beautiful ladies in town?"

"Daddy!"  Abbie ran and jumped into his arms.  "Daddy, I'm going to catch fairies!"

Her dad passed a smile at his wife, "Are you now?  Well make sure you have a good wish in mind."  He put his daughter back down, "I wonder if you're as good at catching fairies as your mother."

"Mommy, you catch fairies too?"

Her mother laughed, "When I was your age I was the best fairy catcher on the block!  And I'm sure you will be as well."

Abbie looked excitedly back at the garden.  She watched as the monarchs fluttering through the leaves and slices of sunshine.  A robin perched on a branch and chirped out at the flowers below.  Abbie hopped off her chair and scurried over to the garden, "I'm going to go find fairies!"  Her parents said 'ok' and to have fun.  Abbie unclipped the gate and slipped through.

It was quieter on this side, like the plants were whispering secrets to one another.  Her parents' voices fell into the distance and the air of the garden came to life before her eyes.  The world seemed bigger now and yet somehow closer to her.

Abbie soaked up every bit of that moment as she slowly floated down the stone path.  Then a ball of white brushed past her nose and she was off.  The fairy was hard to catch.  It ducked and dodged around the petals and leaves and branches quicker than Abbie would have thought.  And the instant she thought the little fairy was in her grasp, the breeze would pick up and it would be off again.  Abbie couldn't stop giggling while running after it.  'It's like we're dancing!' She thought to herself as the fairy landed on a spider web.  Abbie giggled again and curtsied to her partner.  "Thank you so very much for the dance, dear fairy."  And with that she twirled around and went off to find another fairy to catch.

For an hour Abbie skipped around the garden, the sun and the bright blue sky watching from above.  Finally she decided it was time for a break and so she went over to the fountain in the middle of the garden and laid down on her stomach.  She hummed to herself as she pulled at the petals of a nearby snapdragon.

"How goes the hunt?"  Abbie's dad came over and sat down next to his daughter.

"They're really fast, Daddy.  How can I catch them when they keep flying away?"  Abbie seemed somewhat disheartened at her lack of fairy-catching abilities.

Her dad smiled and twirled a daisy between his pointer finger and thumb.  "Sometimes you might find that when you lay still, the fairies come find you."

"But Mommy said it doesn't count if the fairies have landed."

"That's true.  But if a fairy lands on you," he got up and set the daisy in his daughter's hair, "then that means the fairy wants to be your friend."

Her dad walked back to the porch and Abbie laid a moment thinking about that.  "I'm sure I'd love to be friends with a fairy."  she told the snapdragon.  And with that she rolled onto her back and stared up at the red leaf that hung above her head.  It had gold swirls all over it, as if it came from a magical place.  'I bet a fairy would live on something like that.'  she thought to herself.

The garden was magical once again.  The fountain bubbled as two birds came over to bathe in it's cool water.  They sang 'hello' to one another as a third joined the party.  Abbie giggled again and then returned her attention to the red leaf.  She gasped when she saw a little white puff floating out from behind it and down to where she laid.  It fluttered a moment and then landed, ever so softly and ever so sweetly, right onto the tip of her nose.

"Hello new friend!"  Abbie cheered.  And she could almost hear the little puff giggling with her, it's voice ringing like tiny bells...