Makenna’s dream continued, but this time, its setting changed. This time, instead of being out at sea with the mysterious girl and the ship that almost ran them over, she found herself on a mysterious island, and directly in front of her, coated in all green, hovered a mysterious figure that actually looked a bit like a person; except, it was bizarre; this person appeared to have wings on his/her back! Makenna couldn’t help but to feel like this figure looked like, bleh, a f-a-i-r-y. Oh no, not more fairy nonsense! Makenna was so done with fairies. However, something about this figure intrigued her. She felt warm and safe around it. There was a moment of silence between the two beings, and then, the mysterious, fairy-like figure held its hand out to Makenna, and she feebly smiled. Reaching out her own hand, she took the mysterious being’s hand, and it slowly started to lift her into the sky. Gasping, young Makenna peered down at her feet and smiled as she watched the ground become smaller and smaller. When the mysterious being finally stopped and hovered in midair with Makenna still holding onto its hand, the two stared at one another, and Makenna continued to smile. Then she noticed that she herself, just like the mysterious being, was starting to glow up, but she was glowing up blue and pink. She gasped and quickly let go, but the second she did, she started to fall, and yelling, Makenna saw that she was falling straight toward the mouth of a volcano! Up above, the mysterious being held out its hand and flew after her, but before it could rescue her…,
“MAKENNA!” a sudden voice yelled in her face, back in reality.
“AHH!” Makenna shouted. She snapped awake and shot up in bed. Directly in front of her, jumping back a few steps was Caleb, who was now eleven years old! “Oh!” Makenna gasped. She brought her hands to her heart, “Caleb! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“I’m sorry, Makenna,” Caleb said, “but it’s almost noon.” He had grown into a handsome tween. His hair had also grown longer, and he was dressed in a light blue, short-sleeved, plaid shirt, long brown pants, and brown shoes.
Makenna gasped, and she asked, “What the?! No! It can’t already be Saturday!”
“It is, Makenna.” Caleb explained, “Mom said you were out like a light yesterday, and we tried waking you up, but you were like in a coma! You probably could’ve slept through a hurricane!”
“A coma?” Makenna asked. She peered at her digital clock, and sure enough, it said Saturday, 11:50 am, “No, wait, I couldn’t have been asleep that long!”
“But you were,” said Caleb with a smirk, “and I think I know why you were. Makenna, I think this is going to be a very big weekend for you.”
“What are you talking about, Caleb?” Makenna asked, “This better not be about that dumb fairy nonsense!” Caleb hesitated and lowered his head. Makenna scoffed, and she said, “Caleb, you’re getting way too old for this stuff! You’re even worse than the dreams I had last night!”
“But it’s the truth!” he debated, “Makenna, for the one billionth time, you’re a fairy!”
“I knew we should have never taken you to Disney World.” Makenna said, “I think you rode Space Mountain too many times. It left you cuckoo.”
“I’m not crazy, Makenna!” Caleb said, “Here, I’ll prove it to you. I’ll prove to you that you are a fairy.”
“Yeah, sure.” Makenna scoffed. She crossed her arms, “Good luck with that.”
Caleb ignored her rude response, and with his hand, he gestured at her door and said, “Here, follow me to my room.” Makenna scoffed and crossed her arms, but she went ahead and followed Caleb into the hallway. The second they exited her room, she noticed that he was brushing perfume off his pants. The entire journey to his room, Makenna had her arms crossed.
Caleb’s room was at the other end of the hallway, and it also had four walls. His walls were colored light orange, since orange was his favorite color, and also, Clemson was his favorite football team. He led Makenna to his own desk, which was also propped up against one of his walls, and on the face of his desk was his own laptop which was orange and had a Clemson paw on it. Caleb sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, logging in.
When he did, he said, “Look at this!” and pulled up a webpage on Google Chrome that had a picture of a fairy in the upper right corner, and under the picture were paragraphs and paragraphs about one particular kind of fairy. Makenna narrowed her eyebrows. People even put up nonsense about fairies on the Internet. Caleb scrolled up and down the page, and as he scrolled, he explained, “Makenna, you're what people call, in legends, a Metamorphic Fairy. A Metamorphic Fairy is half human and half fairy, and they are naturally born from humans.” Makenna sighed and looked over her brother’s shoulder. Caleb added, “It says here that for someone to be a Metamorphic Fairy, then one person, not two, not three, but one person in the family tree had to have been a fairy, and they have to have what people call a ‘strong heart’.”
“This isn’t proving anything,” said Makenna, “No one in our family tree was a fairy. Do you know what this is? Garbage!” She wasn’t offending Caleb.
He just seemed proud of his work, and he said, “You don’t understand, Makenna, I’ve been researching fairies ever since you got that necklace from the Tooth Fairy when you were seven years old.”
He turned to his sister, and Makenna reached for her necklace, asking, “So every time I see you on the computer, you’re researching fairies?”
“Yes!” Caleb said with a smile.
Chuckling sarcastically, Makenna said, “Okay. If somehow there was a fairy in our family tree, then wouldn’t that make you a fairy too, along with me?”
“Well, yeah,” Caleb said, “but you see, Makenna, if there is more than one child in the current family, then only one will be chosen to receive their real wings and possibly go through the different stages and levels a Metamorphic Fairy can go through.”
“And what are these so-called levels?” asked Makenna.
“Ah,” Caleb said, “I’m glad you asked. They, Makenna, include: A Full-Fledged Metamorphic Fairy, a Soon to Be a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy, a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy, a Merfairy Metamorphic Fairy, and a True Metamorphic Fairy. Makenna, do you know why that, since you turned thirteen up to this point, weird things have been happening to you?”
Scoffing, Makenna asked, “Puberty?”
“Sort of.” Caleb said, “It’s more like fairy puberty. Metamorphic Fairy puberty. You see, Makenna,” He turned back to his laptop and read, “it says here that Metamorphic Fairies come of age around thirteen and often go through physical and mental changes, such as pointy ears and magic building up inside of them that they cannot yet control. Depending on the fairy and how fast the metamorphosis happens, they will get their real wings either at age fourteen or sixteen. Ha!” He slammed his fist on his desk’s face, “Isn’t this perfect proof?!”
“Ugh!” Makenna said, “Just shut up, Caleb! You’re getting worse and worse!” She didn’t want to believe that she was turning into a freak, but something inside told her that everything Caleb had just explained was the truth.
Crossing his arms, Caleb turned to her again and asked, “Makenna, what did you dream about last night?”
“Huh?” Makenna asked. Images of the strange dreams reentered her head, and she said, “I um, dreamed that I was hiking the Appalachian Trail.”
“You’re lying.” Caleb said with a shake of his head, “Lying is not a good impression for a Metamorphic Fairy, Makenna. You can’t fool me. You dreamed that you met a mysterious girl in the United Kingdom and a ninja-like fairy on a mysterious island, right?”
“But,” Makenna stuttered, “Ca-Caleb, how did you fi-figure that out?”
“Because,” said Caleb, “I pay attention in history class, Makenna, unlike you, and also, I saw that ninja-like fairy when we were younger. He was the one who saved you when you fell off the observation deck at the crab dock, and admit it, you kinda liked him in the dream, didn’t you?”
“Shush!” Makenna said blushing, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Caleb! When will you accept that fairies are not real?!”
“But they are!” Caleb protested, “I know they are! I saw one!”
“Take your stupid imagination to the Titanic, Caleb,” Makenna shouted, “but stop throwing it out on me! We’re finished!”
With that, she stormed out of Caleb’s room, and he yelled, “I’m not joking, sis!” after her, “You’re a fairy, and you’re going to get your real wings really soon! I’d be pretty excited!”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore!” Makenna shouted, and she slammed Caleb’s bedroom door behind her. Then she stormed over to the staircase and grabbed the railing, starting to jog down the stairs, toward the kitchen.
In his bedroom, Caleb shivered and closed his laptop, saying, “Man, that fairy’s going to have to change her attitude. By the rate she’s going, she’ll never become a True Metamorphic Fairy.”
Fourteen-year-old Makenna Delling soon reached the bottom of the staircase, and she hurried through the kitchen, toward the front door. On her way to the front door, she passed her parents who were together sitting at the kitchen table, and Mr. Delling, Andy, was looking over her report card.
At the sight of Makenna, Mrs. Delling gasped, and she said, “Makenna, you’re finally awake! We were worried sick last night!” Makenna ignored her and continued toward the front door.
Behind, Mr. Delling cleared his throat and said, “Makenna, why don’t you go ahead and fix some breakfast, and then we need to discuss what happened yesterday at school and this report card.”
He shook the report card, and Makenna shouted, “Leave me alone! Give your lecture to the Lusitania!” and throwing open the front door, she stormed outside and slammed the door behind her. Then she peered forward and reached for her head, yelling. It was a beautiful, warm day on Seabrook Island, but Makenna was freaking out too much to think about the nice weather. She just wanted to be a normal teenager. She didn’t want to be a freak. Descending the stairs of her house, she leaped onto the driveway and yelled again, falling to her knees. Makenna closed her eyes and shouted, “Help me! Somebody please!” Clenching her fist, she banged the driveway and ignored the pain. Then she asked, “Huh?” and opened her eyes, turning her head toward the garage. Her eyes landed on her surfboard with the blue flower designs on it that she’s had since she was three years old. At the sight of her five-foot surfboard, Makenna froze. She didn’t even blink. When finally, she did blink, she asked, “Why not?” and got up, approaching her surfboard. Her mother may have taken away her dance lessons, but she never said anything about surfing. Although Makenna knew the surfing at Seabrook Island was rotten, she always felt good when she was out at North Beach, floating in the water.
Makenna nodded. She made up her mind, but she had to be quiet about this. Picking up her surfboard, she tiptoed into the garage and opened the door to her mother’s Suburban, reaching inside. Perfect, her mother had left a beach bag in the car from the family’s last adventure to the beach. Reaching into the bag, Makenna pulled out her short, light blue beach dress, blue bikini top, blue surfing shorts, and brown Rainbow sandals. Once she had everything, she backed away from the car and shut the door, shivering at the sight of her blue nails. Then, as quiet as a mouse, she put the Rainbows on the ground and put them on. Then she tucked her surfing supplies under her arm and her surfboard under the other arm. After that, she approached her blue bicycle and put her beach clothes in its basket.
Then she hopped onto her bike, and with her surfboard still tucked under her armpit, she started to peddle one-handed and said, “Yahoo! So long, Mom, Dad, and Caleb! I’m going to the beach!” as she rode away.
Soon after Makenna left, back inside her house, Caleb jogged down the stairs and approached his parents in the kitchen, asking, “Mom, Dad, do you know where Makenna is?”
Mrs. Delling was cooking dinner, and she glanced at Caleb, saying, “Well, when your father tried talking to her, she stormed out the front door, and she hasn’t come back yet.”
Mr. Delling, who was now reading the newspaper, rubbed his nose and said, “She may have gone to North Beach. You know where Makenna likes to go when she’s stressed out, right, Caleb?”
“Yeah.” Caleb said nodding, “Well, I guess I better go fetch her then.”
“Oh yes,” said Mrs. Delling, “please do, Caleb. Besides, you need to get some exercise. Here.” She reached across the countertop and picked up a picnic basket, handing it to Caleb, “I know how much you and Makenna love having picnics, and besides, she’s probably starving since she didn’t have lunch, dinner, and breakfast; she was in such a deep sleep.”
“Thank you, Mom.” Caleb said. He was smirking, “I’ll be sure to take this to her. Makenna and I will have a nice picnic. We always do.”
“That’s true,” said Mrs. Delling, “Now go, Caleb!” She ruffled Caleb’s hair, “Be sure to reach North Beach before she leaves, okay?”
“Will do, Mom.” Caleb said, “See ya.” With his free hand, he waved goodbye and headed toward the front door.
The second he was out of the house, Mrs. Delling chuckled and turned toward Andy, saying, “Kids. They love going on adventures.”
“Uh huh,” Mr. Delling sternly said, “but Makenna best not be getting too comfortable now because the second she and Caleb return, we’re going to have a big heart-to-heart chat about her report card.”
“Oh, Andy.” Mrs. Delling said, “Lighten up.” She sighed and returned to her cooking.
On the other side of the front door, on the outside portion, Caleb was making his way down the stairs, hauling the picnic basket when suddenly, he felt a sudden blast of air rush by him, and he said, “Whoa! What the?!” and almost lost his footing but caught himself. He checked his surroundings and asked, “What in the world was that?” He continued to descend the stairs, but the second he reached the base of them, it happened again! The same blast of air rushed by him, and this time, he almost dropped the picnic basket. Gulping, Caleb asked, “What in the name of?!” and once again, he checked his surroundings, but there was nothing there. What the heck? This was very strange. Caleb didn’t know what was going on, but he tried telling himself that this was all part of his imagination.
He was just getting ready to head into the garage to get his own bicycle when suddenly, he saw a flash of light in a tree, and out of nowhere, random throwing stars came flying right toward him, and Caleb screamed, dropping the picnic basket. The stars caught him by the shoulder sleeves of his shirt and threw him back, pinning him up against the garage door which was closed. Caleb yelled again, and before he knew it, he was helplessly hanging from the garage door, thrashing all over the place.
As he thrashed, he said, “Somebody help me!” but nobody came for him. Not even his parents heard him.
Caleb thrashed some more.
Then he stopped and gasped when suddenly, a green, shadowy blur landed in front of him, and from the blur came a mysterious, teenage boy’s voice, “I’m looking for Makenna Delling.”
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