Baby

Wow. He found an actual golden fairy. Hopping up, he made a grab for it. The fairy unwound his long tail and disappeared over the side of the rock. Scotty leaned over the edge, the fairy nowhere to be seen.
    Carefully, he lowered himself down the rock, slipping on the sharp footholds as he descended. Desperately, he looked around, trying to discover where the fairy disappeared. Gee, Mom will never believe this. He wasn’t sure he could convince her unless he brought the fairy home. Holy mackerel, no one will believe this. His excitement gripped him, a touch of something special in his life for the first time. He knew he must find the hiding place the fairy lived in. Stumbling over the loose pile of rock heaped near the hillside, he discovered an enormous rip in his pant leg. Squatting down he examined it. Mom will not be happy about this. And he didn’t even have the fairy to show her. Straightening up, something caught his eye. A golden glint; just like the fairy.
    He tripped over the rocks, his footing unsteady until he located where the glint came from. Digging down between the rocks, his fingers withdrew an object. A coin. He rubbed it on his jeans, removing some of crusted dirt so deeply embedded. He stared, his wandering eye refusing to focus. Turning it around and over in his little fingers, the heavy coin finally revealed more of the golden sheen and a date, 1702. Hmm, it wasn’t even new. He wondered if the fairy left it for him. Maybe the fairy knew of his birthday and left it as a gift to make up for his dad ruining his day, hurting his mom and calling him bad names. If he did, Scotty wished the fairy could make the coin a new shiny one. But at least he could show some kind of proof to his mom now. Glancing around for the last time, he brushed off his pants and started home.
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    The creature stood on the inside of the Hive. She felt full of furious agitation, yet oddly exhilarated. She wished the little Brother had not run off. She supposed she could have followed him. She wondered if he might return. If he did, she better figure out a better way to handle the situation. Even though the encounter went badly, she felt different; hopeful. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling about this little human Brother. Maybe he could be The One .
    ###
    The little boy hurried down the path that took him out of his magical woods, the golden coin tucked safely in his pocket. Running down the hill past his neighbor’s homes, he could see his house. He noted with relief that his father’s car no longer sat in the driveway. Bursting breathlessly in the front door, he beheld his mom and Abby waiting for him.
    “Oh baby, we were so worried. Where did you go? We called and called. Didn’t you hear us? We even went up to the woods.” His frazzled mom hurried over as fast as she could, her brace clinking at her side. She awkwardly sat on the floor in front of him, holding out her arms to sweep him to her chest. Tears coursed down her face, the worry lines standing out in relief as she softly ran her fingers over the bald spots on his head.
    “It’s okay M om . I’m okay. Please don’t cry, I’m sorry I ran away.” He hugged her tight, his young head fitting under her neck for comfort.
    “Hi, sport,” Abby said. “Glad you came home—got’cha something.” Joining her brother and her mom on the floor, she gave Scotty a kiss and put a brightly wrapped slender gift in his lap. He fingered the ribbon with wonder. The bow was bright gold. Unwrapping the gift, he grinned in amazement at the book about fairies. Wow, did this mean they knew? Leafing through the book, he located a whole chapter on Wood Fairies. He would study that chapter first. He knew he would learn everything he needed to know about his fairy in the book.
    “Gee, thanks, Ab. Mom, I met a fairy in the woods today. He left me a present. Did you tell him it was my birthday?” His face shined with unconcealed innocence.
    “Sweetie, I’m sure you met your very own birthday fairy. But what do you mean, he gave you a present?”
    Scotty sighed, knowing his mom worried about child molesters. Though unlikely any lived in the neighborhood, she monitored everything, knowing you must be extra careful ever since they abolished the sexual predator register (declared unconstitutional, they have rights, you know). The Socialist Democrats went nuts over political correctness, although the Muslim Brotherhood rebelled, insisting they police their