Fairy Flu

         Birds chirped outside waking seven year old Sarah.  She loved the melody of birds because it indicated another beautiful spring day.  Sarah climbed down the stairs for breakfast.  She rounded the corner to the kitchen and heard angry voices.  Her mother was running around with the phone to her ear trying to assure someone it wasn’t her fault.  Her father was at the door arguing with an upset neighbour. 



         Sarah was unsure what was going on.  She sat at the table waiting for breakfast, and that’s when she saw it.  Standing tall in the backyard was their apple tree. But, there was something wrong with it.  The buds on the branches had finally opened, but to her shock, the leaves were bright pink.



         “Mommy, Daddy, the leaves are pink,” cried Sarah.



         “We know,” her mother answered.



         “How could we possibly paint that many leaves in one night,” Sarah heard her mother saying.



         Knowing she was not getting breakfast right away, Sarah opened the screen door.  She stepped outside to get a closer look at the apple tree.  A few pink leaves were scattered on the ground.  She picked one up to examine it.  It definitely did not look painted.  Sarah stared up at the tree, wondering why the leaves had bloomed pink.



         As Sarah turned to go back inside she heard a quiet sneeze.  Was she imagining it?  A moment passed and Sarah began walking towards the door when she heard it again.  Sarah was quite confused.  She was pretty sure that trees did not sneeze.  Suddenly something tiny fell out of the tree.  At first, Sarah thought it was a small butterfly.  It caught itself in midair and floated the rest of the way to the ground.  It landed next to Sarah’s foot.  She looked down.  Beside her was a miniature person, only this tiny person had wings.  She was sure it was a girl, because she had long hair and a tiny pink dress.  Sarah suddenly realized she was looking at a fairy.



         “I thought fairies weren't real,” said Sarah.



         The little fairy flew a tiny way off the ground and closer to Sarah.



         “I’m Tish,” she said.  “Fairies are not supposed to be seen, but I sneezed and fell out of your tree.”



         Sarah stared in awe.  She always wondered what it would be like to meet a fairy, even though she did not think they were real.



         “Do you know what happened to our tree,” Sarah asked.  "I don't think our neighbours like it."



         Tish sneezed a few more times.  She took out a very tiny handkerchief and wiped her nose.  “I can’t stop sneezing,” said Tish.  “Every time I sneeze, leaves turn pink.”



         Tish explained how she had caught the fairy flu from another fairy on the next block. 

         “When fairies sneeze we can’t control our magic,” Tish told Sarah.  Tish tried turning the leaves back green, but she would just sneeze again and even more turned pink.



         “How long does the fairy flu last?” asked Sarah.



         “It could last months,” explained Tish.  “Some fairies even get the flu for years.” 



         “Is there anything we can do so you get better quicker?”



         “I don't know.  This is the first time I've had the flu,” said Tish.  She flew back to the tree.  “I have to go before anyone else sees me.”



         Just then, Sarah’s dad came into the backyard with their very upset neighbour Joe trailing behind him.



         “That thing is an abomination,” cried Joe.  “It must be chopped down.”



         “You can’t chop down this tree,” yelled Sarah.  Her dad assured her the tree was perfectly safe and asked her to go back inside.



         The next morning Sarah dressed quickly and ran to the backyard to check on the tree.  The tree was still there.  Her dad was standing at the back fence talking with their neighbour Joe.



         “That tree is ruining the neighbourhood,” yelled Joe.  “When are you going to admit it’s not normal and chop it down?”



         “It’s our tree and it’s not going anywhere,” responded Sarah’s dad.



         Sarah glanced up at the tree trying to catch sight of Tish, but she couldn’t see her.  She went back in the house to avoid the arguments between her dad and Joe.  Later that day Sarah snuck out to the backyard.  Joe was inside but she was pretty sure she saw him peeking out at the trees through the blinds.



         “How are you feeling,” Sarah called up to the tree.  Sarah received a sneeze in response.  When Sarah turned to go back inside she saw Joe walking across his backyard waving his hands in the air and complaining about the tree again.  Sarah hurried inside to avoid him.



         Two days later Sarah woke up to find the tree was still pink leafed.  Sarah hoped Tish felt better soon.  She disliked it when everyone fought, and she feared Joe would chop down the tree.  It was while having chicken soup for lunch that day she had a brilliant idea.  She snuck a small measuring cup out of the drawer and scooped some of her soup into it.  Sarah then brought it to Tish after lunch.



         "I brought you some soup, it makes me feel better when I'm sick," Sarah yelled up at the tree.  She received no answer.  "I'll leave it on the ground for you." 



         She turned to go back inside when Joe popped his head over the fence.



         “I’m going to cut that thing down,” he yelled.



         Sarah ran back in the house crying.  Her dad went out to talk to Joe about the tree for what seemed like the hundredth time that week.



         Five days had passed since Sarah had woken to the pink-leafed apple tree.  She got and made her usual trip down to the breakfast.  To her amazement, her mom was not on the phone and her dad was not at the door.  Instead, all of the neighbours were sitting at the table with candied apples. 



         “See, I told you that tree was a good thing,” She heard Joe telling Mrs Smith. 



         Sarah ran to the backdoor.  There in the backyard, the apple tree had sprouted candied apples.  Sarah’s mom handed her one and she gobbled it down.  After she was done, Sarah made her way to the tree.  She looked up and saw Tish standing on a branch.



         “Thanks for the soup.  I'm all better now,” said Tish.  “I can fix the tree.”



         “Can we leave it this way for the rest of the year,” asked Sarah. 



         She glanced inside and watched as the neighbours continued to talk about the candied apple tree.  It was the first time in a five days that none of them argued.