The Magic Paw

     It started like a normal day, as any other. She was walking home with some friends and her brother, Kase. They had come back from a long day of shopping and pigging out. As they passed the Tiki Tack on Mystery Island, Frika saw something in the corner of her eye. She stopped and saw that something was glowing behind a bush.

     "Come on, Frika!" yelled Kase.

     "I'll be right there!" she yelled back.

     She kept on staring at the bush. Kase shrugged and continued walking. Frika slowly parted the branches and stared into it. It was a glowing puddle of water. How strange. Suddenly, a strong gale pushed Frika on her side. She fell and scraped her paw. "Ouch!" She stared at her paw. It was completely covered in mud. The small glowing puddle seemed to beckon her. She carefully dipped her paw into the puddle. She felt a strange sensation.

     First, she felt a gentle tickle and then it felt like there were millions of water droplets on her back. Then, nothing. She looked at her paw again. It was completely clean. There wasn't even a scratch. It was like she'd never even scraped her paw.

      She came back to her senses when Kase yelled, "Frika! We're going to be late! What's taking so long? We have to get home."

     Frika jumped up and ran to catch up. She could still feel a gentle tickle in her paw. When she got home, that's when weird things started happening. Kase and Frika decided to water their garden. When they went into it, it had been cut down, and only a small stump was left.

     "Who could have done such a thing?" said Kase angrily.

     Frika and Kase knew that someone must have gotten into their home. Kase went to check if anything was missing. Frika stayed outside. She sighed and sat down on the stump. She placed her right paw on it. Suddenly, Frika began to feel as if she was on an elevator. She looked down and saw that the stump was beginning to grow. She could feel that strong sensation in her paw. She quickly jumped down. She was terrified.

     The stump began to grow and soon turned back into their tall tree. She ran inside. She knew that she couldn't ever let Kase find out. Kase returned to the garden and saw that the tree had been restored.

     "What happened?" he said. He stared at the tree with his mouth hanging open.

     Frika quickly thought of an excuse. "Well, the Island Faerie flew by our house, and um, saw that… that our tree had been cut down. She felt so bad that she used her magic to help it grow back," said Frika triumphantly.

     "Remind me to thank Jhuidah," said Kase as he ran back into the house.

      Frika heaved out a breath of relief. Something wet hit her head. She looked up and realized that it had started raining. She ran back in the house and that's how she ended up at the window. Frika played back everything that had happened again in her head. She decided she shouldn't jump to conclusions.

     "Maybe it was Jhuidah," she thought.

     She placed her paw on the window. Suddenly, flowers started to creep up the window. They started to coil themselves around Frika's paw. Frika gasped and shook her paw. She knew that there could be no other explanation. The puddle she had washed her paw in was magical. But what could it have been? She thought of everything she had learned in school about faeries. But how could a faerie and a puddle of water relate? She thought about it more and then it came to her. It must have been a faerie's tears. She remembered that if you touch a faerie's tears, it would give you special abilities. All of a sudden, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

     "Frika, we're out of Kau Kau Farm Milk. I'm going out to buy some more!" Kase yelled from the kitchen.

     Frika heard the door slam and saw Kase outside the window. He opened his umbrella and stuffed the Neopoints into his pocket. Frika sighed. If only she could tell Kase. If she did, though, she would be known all around the world as a freak. Frika stared out the window again. She felt like the rain had put a spell on her. Frika started to lose track of time.

      The spell seemed to break when she heard the door slam. She heard Kase panting as he stepped in the home. She hurried to the front door. Kase was lying on the ground, panting and groaning.

     "What happened?" asked Frika. "I…I don't know," groaned Kase. "I…I was walking toward the Island Trading Post to trade some Neopoints for the milk. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared above me and I fainted. The next thing I realize is that my leg hurt so much," he groaned again.

     Frika knew what she had to do. She looked at the giant gash on Kase's leg. She closed her eyes. Frika placed her paw on her brother's wound. His leg started tingling as the magic took effect; within seconds there was nothing but a scratch. She opened her eyes and saw Kase staring at her in amazement.

      "How… how did you do tha… I can't believe that…" He was interrupted when Frika started speaking.

      She told him everything. When she finally finished, she closed her eyes. Kase knew what a freak she was now. She waited for his yelling.

      "Frika… this is amazing!" he whispered. Frika opened her eyes. She was very surprised. "Think of everything you can accomplish! Everything you can do with just the touch of your paw!"

      Frika smiled in relief. What she didn't know was that there was a dark shadow gathering behind the siblings. It rose higher and higher. Frika could feel its ice-cold touch when it had became as tall as their roof. She turned around in horror. A tall slender Dark Faerie stood in front of them. Kase gasped.

     "Frika! That was the…"

     "SILENCE!" shouted the Dark Faerie. Where Kase used to be, floated a dark bubble. Frika could see Kase's figure in it. "Hello Frika," said the Dark Faerie.

     She had a very strange grin on her face. Frika stared at her with no expression. She didn't feel terrified, for some strange reason.

     "Frika, I know all about your magic paw. I know how you feel," she said and sat down beside Frika. "I understand you, Frika. You're afraid that everyone will think you are a freak because of your powers," she said. Frika nodded. "You see, if you come with me, I can help you harness those wonderful powers. Nobody can or will call you a freak afterwards. They will respect you. All you have to do is come with me."

     Frika looked up at the face. She seemed to be gentle and loving. Frika looked closer. Her paw was tingling like crazy. Instead of kind face she saw before, she saw an evil one. It was hideous. She backed away.

     "NEVER!" she screeched. She lifted her paw high in the air and with all her might; she scratched the Faerie's face

     "ARGHH… WHY YOU LITTLE…" She froze.

     The gash became deeper and deeper. She screamed a horrible scream. It chilled Frika to the bone. It was like nothing she had ever heard before. The Faerie started to disappear in smoke. A thick smoke covered the entire house. The screaming stopped and the smoke cleared. The dark bubble surrounding Kase also vanished. All that was left was… Frika looked down. She saw a tear. It had taken shape of a crystal and it was rock hard. Frika picked it up and threw it into the blazing flames.

      Kase smiled and hugged her. "Frika, I don't think you're a freak; no one will. If anyone does, though, they'll have to answer to me," said Kase. Frika hugged him tighter. Surprisingly, nothing happened to Kase when she touched him with her paw. She smiled and saw the rain had stopped and the sun began to rise. This was the beginning of a wonderful day. She stared at her magic paw. How magical it was.

The End