Entertainment and Fun Page: Stories

Author's Biography: DreamDancer posts stories to the internet when the mood strikes him and graciously gave his permission for any of his stories to appear on our pages.

It was a sad, sad day. Probably the saddest day there ever was. It must be the saddest day, for no other day in memory had ever felt this bad.

Jimmy Gerbil had passed away last night in his sleep, and was laid to rest under the big oak tree out in the back yard, after such a pretty farewell ceremony.

While it's true that Jimmy was just a gerbil, he was the coolest, bestest gerbil there ever was. Jimmy was Victoria's first time ever furry little friend.

Victoria was a sensitive girl, and mommy and daddy knew this well. Her heart was as big as the ocean; she had so much love in her. Mommy and daddy knew that she would love and cherish a pet, and take really really good care of one, but they couldn't bare the thought of her great big heart breaking when a pet passed on too soon, as they always seem to do.

When Victoria turned ten, she had shown mommy and daddy that she really really was a big girl now, and she could handle things in a big girl way, and so Jimmy came into her life.

As said before, he was the bestest gerbil there ever was. Victoria would watch him play for hours each day, grinning from ear to ear, happy that Jimmy was having so much fun. Each night, before she went to bed, Jimmy would climb into her hands, then she would lay down with him on her chest, and he would feel her love and warmth and he would curl up and go peacefully to sleep before she put him back amidst his wood chip bed for the night.

But now Jimmy was gone. Victoria had cried that morning when Jimmy wouldn't wake up, and daddy told her he wouldn't be waking up again. And she had cried when she laid him in his little box in the ground under the big oak tree, but mommy said it was okay to cry then, even for a big girl, and it was true she knew, because mommy cried too, and even big strong daddy had some little tears in his eyes.

Now it was evening, and Victoria was still very very sad. She wanted to cry some more, but she thought that, while crying this morning was okay, tonight, this long after things it wouldn't be proper for a big girl to do it. She had to show mommy and daddy how big and strong she really was.

It was a warm late summer evening. Victoria decided to go out in the back yard, lie in the grass, look at the stars and watch the fireflies flit about. It was one of her favorite things to do, and besides, if she couldn't help crying, she wanted to be alone where mommy and daddy couldn't see her and think her a little girl again.

So she lay there in the grass, but she could not really pay much attention to the stars. She was still too sad. Tears formed in her eyes, and little sniffles escaped her, but she fought it and fought it, since she was a big girl now.

She tried instead to watch the fireflies dance, and dance they did. And then she saw a strange thing. One of the fireflies seemed to fly straight to her, and looked to be changing its shape as it approached. The firefly landed on her chest, and Victoria saw it was a glowing little girl, in a flimsy little dress, with gossamer wings on her back.

Victoria wasn't scared. Oh, it had nothing to do with being a big girl and all, it was just that she knew the little creature couldn't be real, it was just her imagination, that sometimes still let her see things that others couldn't see.

The little Faery girl smiled and said "Hello Victoria. I haven't seen you in a long long time. I've missed you". Victoria weakly smiled back at her. "Well, you couldn't have. You're not real. You're just in my imagination".

"Oh, I'm real all right" laughed the Faery girl. "I'm standing right here on your chest, aren't I? We're talking to each other, aren't we? Why would you think I wasn't real?"

"Well, my teachers tell me there's no such thing as faeries, and all my friends say so too. Faeries are just imaginary, and on TV and in books".

"Victoria, my sister and mothers and me are real all right. We're just hard for some people to see. You have to believe, really believe in us to see us most times. When you were little, before people started to tell you other things, you would see me here every night".

The truth then dawned on Victoria, and she knew the little Faery girl was right. And she remembered, remembered those days as a little girl, before she got big, when she would come out in the yard and talk to her Faery girl friend, and watch the faeries dance in the night with the fireflies, before she forgot to believe and saw only he glow bugs.

"Jezzaree?" she asked tentatively. "Is that really you?"

"Yes Victoria, it is me. I've missed you so much, I'm happy to be with you again. Now, it looks to me like you are very sad tonight, sadder than I've ever seen you. What has made you so sad on such a beautiful night?"

And Victoria remembered again why she was so sad, and the tears came into her eyes once again.

"I'm so very sad. My gerbil Jimmy went to sleep last night, and he never woke up. We laid him down to rest, over there, under the big oak tree. I loved him so much, and now I miss him so much that it hurts. I didn't know that you could hurt this bad just from missing someone".

"Oh, I see." said Jezzaree. "You think that Jimmy is gone, and you'll never see him again. Is that right?"

"Yes" sniffed Victoria, "and I don't want him to be gone. I want him to be here with my. I loved him, and I know he loved me back".

Jezzaree understood this. She also knew how to make Victoria smile again.

"Victoria, Jimmy isn't really gone. Just the fuzzy little body that he stayed in while he was here. There are more different kinds of life than just that which you see every day. There is a thing called spirit. That's the part of our lives that never goes away. Now Jimmy's spirit lives on, free as the wind, never tired or hungry or cold, and never feeling alone".

And Victoria felt her little Faery girl friend was right, but she was still sad. She was happy that Jimmy was happy and free, but she still missed him deeply, and she told Jezzaree so.

"Well, Jimmy is never far from you, no matter where you are. The place of spirits is a bit different than the one you mostly know, and time and distance have no meaning there. And, you can always find his spirit if you just know where to look".

"But I don't know where to look" replied Victoria, "I don't know how to find him. Could you show me how?"

"Of course I can. That's what friends are for, and especially Faery friends" Jezzaree grinned.

The little Faery girl lay down upon Victoria's chest, placing her heart next to Victoria's, and hugged her close.

"Now, open your spirit my friend, that special place inside of yourself. Feel the bonds of love you and Jimmy share, and let them draw you close together. Spirits that share a love can always come together".

And Victoria did. Warmth spread from Jewesse's heart into hers, and a warm glow spread out from her heart and filled her whole body.

As Jezzaree stood back up, Victoria felt a furry tickle in her hand. She brought Jimmy up to her chest and stroked him gently as he nestled down peacefully upon her as feelings of love and happiness filled her heart. She smiled at her little Faery girl friend. "Thank you so very much".

And Jezzaree smiled back at her. " No matter if you grow up and forget to believe again, no matter if I stop being real for you, any time that you can look inside yourself and find that special place, your Faery heart that I've shown you how to reach, then the magic will happen and those you love and those that love you will be at hand".

Victoria was so very happy to learn this; so very happy it felt that her heart might burst in joy.

She felt a cold nose upon her cheek and turned to have her face suddenly licked and licked and licked by a big black shaggy dog. His tail was wagging so much that she thought it might come loose.

Victoria giggled and squirmed and asked" and who are you, boy?"

Jezzaree laughed. "Oh, meet Spunky. He used to live with your mother when she was your age, but she hasn't seen him in years. Spunky loves your mother very much, and since your mother loves you, you are very special to him and he loves you too".

Victoria snuggled Spunky close with her free hand, and she was happy to have not one, but two furry friends close to her. Jezzaree was content, and smiled at her little human girl friend.

"Now I'm going to go, and join in with the dance of the night. I hope to see you again my friend. Merry we part, and merry we meet again", and she winked at Victoria, and fly off to become a light dancing with the others in the sky.

Now, mommy and daddy were still worried about their big-hearted little girl. They knew she hurt deeply, and they both hurt as well, thinking of her pain.

They were worried as well that she might feel alone in her pain, outside all by herself, so mommy went to check and see if her little one was okay.

She came upon Victoria in the yard, and asked if it would be okay to join her for a bit, to look at the stars with her, and watch the fireflies dance.

"Of course mommy, don't be a silly old bear".

Mommy lay down next to her little girl, side to side and pressed close together and looked up at the sky.

They lay together for a while, until mommy heard a little sniffle that tore her heart apart. She leaned up on her side and glanced at her babies face in the starlight, but instead of a sad face, she saw a bright smile.

"And how is my big girl doing tonight" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine mommy. I was so sad when I came out here, but now I'm not. I know that Jimmy is happy and free, and it's okay now. There's nothing to be sad about. And Spunky thinks so too. He's such a big cutie, isn't he?"

Mommy paused, she didn't know what to think or say. Spunky?

Victoria hugged her mommy close. "I'm so happy I found my Faery Heart tonight Mommy".

And Mommy suddenly remembered, though it had been so many years, and the warm glow passed between child and mother. She smiled a beautiful smile as she hugged Victoria closer, and Spunky smiled his doggy smile as his person was with him once again.

Subtly heard, as the fireflies danced in the night, was a sound that could just be joyous singing, seemingly from the air about the glow bugs, as love powered the Faery Hearts.