A short girl with long, light brown hair was crouched over the stream taking a drink. Her name was Malissa, but everybody called her Mandy. Mandy stood up and walked back to where she had been working. She had just finished a basket and it's lid. Sitting down on the rock she had been using as a seat, she picked up the basket.
"Help! Get me out of here!" came a faint cry from inside. Curious, Mandy slowly opened the lid.
"Oh my!" she wispered to herself. "It's me!" There, standing in the basket, clearly trembling, stood a mini mirror image of her.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my basket?" Mandy paused. "What are you?" The tiny figure managed to get up enough courage to speak, but it was very quietly.
"Oh! Is this your basket? I am terribly sorry! I didn't mean to fall in but a crow attacked me and hit me and nearly got me and I fell and landed in the basket and the crow-"
"Woa! Slow down! I can barely hear you!" The figure jumped back and stood against the far side of the basket. It was shaking very hard and was staring up at Mandy with fear.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! It's just that I can't tell what you're saying." Mandy apologized.
"Would you be able to hear me if I shrunk you?" the tiny figure said as loudly as she could. Mandy could hear that.

"Maybe. But how would you do that?" The figure smiled, but Mandy could barely see it. Turning to her side, the figure showed wings, violet wings, that Mandy had not seen before. Then she reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a handful of dust. The tiny figure moved toward Mandy with the dust and threw it over her her head. In a flash, Mandy was standing beside the figure in the basket, exactly the same size. It was then that Mandy realized what the figure was.
"Are you a fairy?"
"No, I'm actually a pixie. Fairies are bigger than pixies." she smiled and continued, "Can you hear me now?"
"Yes, I can! Now tell me again how you got stuck in the basket, and how we get-Oh! What happened to your arm?" Mandy had just noticed that she had a gash down the side of her arm, and that she held it close to her body.
"It's from the crow I tried to tell you about. I was exploring, and I got lost. A crow attacked me, and gave me this cut. I was startled, and fell. I landed in your basket.The crow attacked again, dropping the lid on the basket by accident. I was trapped. That's when you found me." The pixie explained.
"Will you be alright?"
"Yes, I just need a bandage to keep it clean. It will heal." The two of them stood there, staring at each other for a moment. It was Mandy who broke the silence.
"I never did catch your name...."
"Mandy. What's yours?"
"Malissa, but everyone calls me Mandy."
"To keep things simple, can I call you by your full name?"
"Sure."
"You seem lost in thought."
"Well, I was hoping I could write this down, so I remember it when I am old."
"You can write?"
"Yeah, and I was hoping you could shrink my pad and pencil down so I could write it down."
"Sure! Stand back!"

Malissa took a step back so Mandy could work. Mandy jumped up and took flight. She hovered over the pad and pencil for a moment, then sprinkled some of her pixie dust on them. They emmediately shrank to the perfect size. She landed, grabbed them, then flew over and set them down beside the basket. Malissa was trying to climb out of the basket, so Mandy lifted her up and over, then let her down gently.
"Wow! Thanks!" Malissa sat down and crossed her legs, then picked up the pad and pencil and started to write. Mandy stood behind her, looking over her shoulder.
"What are you writing, Malissa?"
"Why? Can't you read?"
"No." Mandy paused. "Can you teach me?"
"I guess so. Do you know anything?"
"I know how to read, but not very well."

"Let's start with that. Make yourself comfortable." Mandy flew up and hovered over Malissa and sprinkled some dust on her.
"Stand up!" Malissa did. "Now jump!" Malissa crouched down and put all her strength in jumping up.
"Wheeeeee! I can flyyy!" Mandy positioned herself so she was lying down on the air, her wings holding her up. Malissa did the same thing beside her.
"Are you good at writing and reading?"
"Yeah. I love dreaming up stories then writing them down."
"Well, where do we start?"
"First we improve your reading skills." Malissa held the pad in her left hand and her pencil in her right. She started to write something, then held it up to Mandy.
"What does this say?"
"My...name...is....Mandy!"
"Good. Now try it faster." Malissa wrote something else down, then held it up again.
"Try the whole thing"
"My name is Mandy, her name is Malissa." The two went on like this for quite a while. It eventually started to get dark. They didn't even notice until Mandy found it hard to read.
"I-I can't tell what it says. It's too dark."
"It looks like we had better stop for the day. You are doing great! Tomorrow we can work on your writing skills."
"Malissa?"
"Yes?"
"Well, I just want to thank you. For teaching me to read, and for getting me out of the basket. And most importantly, for becoming my first real friend."

Love you,
Pixie
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Copyright 2007 PSAI Publications. All rights reserved.