By Kayla Keppler

Entry 1
Age: 4
Time: ???
Date: ???

I looked at the street. A small, white car just passed by. Mama called my name. My fairy held my hand, pointing to the front door I had just gone out of. She smiled. I followed her back inside, and mama was standing in the kitchen.

“I told you to stop going out by the street,” she yelled. She looked scary. “Don’t do that again.”
She hit me. I ran outside again and hid in the bush.

Mama made me sad. My fairy took my hand and kissed it. I cried a little. When my fairy let go, I felt sleepy. I wanted to sleep.

Mama found me and dragged me by my shirt.

——————

Entry 2
Age: 5
Time: ????
Date: ????

Mama gave me my pink lunch box in front of my classroom. She pushed me a little and smiled at
a lady, then walked away. All the other kids stared at me. The lady told me to sit down on the rug
with red, blue, yellow, and green circles.

The lady told us about a, b, and c. I put my hand in the air. She looked at me and pointed. “Yes,
Carina?”

I said, “Did you know that y can be a vowel sometimes?”

“Well, we’re not talking about that right now.” Everyone stared at me.

I never asked her a question after that.

I couldn’t find mama after all of the others went with their parents. I sat by the slide. My fairy kissed my head. I think I fell asleep.

——————

Entry 3
Age: 6
Time: ????
Date: ????

I sat at the double bleachers near the basketball court. The rest of the girls played gaga ball with
the boys, or talked on the handball wall. My fairy held onto my head as I watched them. I heard her tummy grumble loudly.

I got up to walk towards the ball cart to dribble a volleyball. William Fabino threw a basketball at my head. He apologized, but walked back to his friends, and he was laughing.
My fairy placed her palm on my forehead, and my pain went away for a bit. But I was tired. I
went to my teacher’s room, and she took out a cot for me.

——————

Entry 4
Age: 7
Time: ????
Date: 9/5/XX

Mom wasn’t home today. It was a Saturday, but when I woke up, she was gone.

I had at least hoped to see something on the kitchen table, or maybe on the floor when I opened my door. I didn’t see anything.

I waited for her to come home. I played with the Barbie doll she gave me from the garage sale
down the street when she bought some plates for the kitchen.
I laid down on my bedroom floor, and my fairy tapped my cheek. I looked at her, and her wrinkly skin seemed to soften when she touched me. She was normal-sized, compared to how
skinny she used to be.

Mom came back later that night, but she had no presents for me

——————

Entry 5
Age: 10
Time: 8:30 AM
Date: 10/8/XX

The teacher asked me to sit beside the new student in our class. I told her that I was happy to do that, so she put a chair next to my desk, and Audrey sat down. Her head was down and her legs
shook up and down.

“Hi,” I told her. “My name’s Carina.”

She waved hello, then sneezed. She asked me to show her around the school, and I told her
where the bathroom and playground was during lunchtime. She sat with me to eat her corn dog, and she left ketchup all over the table.

I didn’t mind. She was my first friend.

——————

Entry 6
Age 12
Time: ????
Date: 3/17/XX

Audrey isn’t talking to me anymore. I wonder if it’s because she found new friends. I don’t know whether or not to be upset, because she always said that quilting is for nerds. Not to my face, but she told another friend.

I sat on my bed to finish up my quilt so I had a bigger blanket, and I fought back tears. My fairy
fluttered by with her rounded face, hugging my arm gently. I put down my quilting stuff and laid down on the bed, asking if I had done something wrong in life. My aunt came in and told me
goodnight, and I drifted off to sleep.

——————

Entry 7
Age: 16
Time: 9:46 PM
Date: 12/23

The lights from the cars in front of me were swirling in spirals, as if it was a kaleidoscope. I was
doing my best to get back home from the hospital that my aunt was staying in. My breathing felt
lighter, and my eyelids felt incredibly heavy. I gripped the steering wheel, and my heart began to beat faster. My aunt could recover or be found dead within the next few days, and the doctor didn’t know the more likely outcome; I felt a sharp pain in my chest at the thought. She was all I had. My eyes watered.

My fairy, who was bulging out of her delicate leaf skirt—and was typically glowing—suddenly fluttered over to my ear. She has never once spoken in my entire life.

“Carina, it’s time for you to go.”

In one motion, as I looked over at her, still in shock at the sound of her voice, the golden aura
that once surrounded her young, fattened body dissipated. Cars paused, sounds silenced, energy
halted in its flow. My fairy’s face dropped into a face that can only be described as the devil,
with melting skin and hollowed-out eyes.

She pressed her lips onto my cold face once more. “Thank you for your life.” Time rushed back
into motion, and my car rolled fast. I don’t think I could even stop the car if I tried.

Photo Credits StockCake