Grandma's Fairies Chapter 1

“Grandma’s Fairies”

By: Rachel Shur

Chapter One

Little Emily was a dreamer, an artist, a singer, a dancer, a movie star, a writer, a teacher… and anything and everything she could dream up. She had hopes, dreams and wishes like any other young girl would. But there was something that made Emily different from the rest. From the outside, you could see that Emily was vibrant, funny and talented and 6 going on 16. On the inside her body was fighting a disease called Leukemia. (Now what is Leukemia? And how did she get it?)

A year earlier, Emily was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, which is a type of blood cancer. Although she couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what the disease was doing to her body or how she got it. She was a trooper with her treatments of chemotherapy, which seemed to be endless. (What was chemotherapy and how did it make her feel? How did she feel when the doctors poked her with needles several times a day?) Was this all she had to look forward to in her future? What would she do in the meantime to keep busy?

Because of the Leukemia, Emily had to stay at the hospital all of the time to get medications and other treatments. Her room was filled with posters full of pictures of family and friends, balloons, fake flowers and an overstuffed teddy bear on her bed. Her family would come to visit her as often as they could, and her grandma visited her the most.

It was a Sunday when Emily’s grandma showed up with a little special something for Emily. Grandma had a box in her hand that was covered with purple wrapping paper and a big white bow. When Emily opened the present, she found a big green book with golden pages in front of her. As she opened the book, she saw what looked like a tree twig in the cover of the book. She didn’t understand why the twig was in the cover, or how it fit in such a small space. Emily turned the pages and noticed that they were blank. She was confused. Why was her grandma giving her a book with empty pages with a twig in it? She looked up at her grandma and asked “What is this book for?”

Grandma looked into Emily’s beautiful blue eyes and answered “It’s the tale of Grandma’s Fairies.” Emily looked confused at her grandma again and replied “But the pages, they’re blank. The words and the pictures are missing!” Grandma smiled and said “It’s a special book that my mom gave to me and told me the story of. As I tell you the story, the pages fill up with words and pictures, and as you imagine and continue the story, the pages continue with your story.” Emily’s eyed widened, she was excited and surprised to hear of a book that writes itself. She had never heard of such a thing and at the same time she didn’t think it was possible. She placed the book on her lap and looked at her grandma and smiled, she was patiently waiting to hear the tale of Grandma’s Fairies.

Grandma started the tale: “My mom used to tell me these stories when I was a young girl, and her mom used to tell them to her as well. It’s a family tradition to add to the adventures of our family fairies. When I lived in that old house with your grandfather, we had this huge yard behind the house. And I used to go explore the yard and I would come across things that I could only have imagined. A dancing ladybug, a walking flower and a cave full of fairies. I would explore the yard and fall asleep in the grass and imagine all sorts of things. I used to look forward to the days, when I would explore the backyard and find all the wonders that I had always dreamed about. But I was so young then, and now I don’t really get the chance to go there like I used to. Perhaps one day, you too will meet the fairies!" Emily's eyes were wide and she had this excited expression on her face. She grabbed her grandma's hand and exclaimed "Let's go now! Let's go now grammie! I can help you, I can push you in your wheelchair. Let's go!" Her grandma looked down at exuberant Emily and smiled and replied to her "Not tonight sweetie. You shouldn't go out, and I am far too weak. But we will continue the tales tomorrow. Go to sleep and dream away my little precious girl." Emily, smiled and nodded, and watched as her grandma left the room. Emily didn't go to sleep right away, instead she laid there in her big hospital bed and dreamed of all the mysterious creatures she would meet one day on her adventures to meet grandma's fairies.