Mischief in the Mushroom Patch. Amanda M. Thrasher

      “Ahhhhhh,” everyone gasped.

      The gasp itself was terrifying, as fear struck each and every fairy in the ward. Another dorm monitor arrived and tried as best she could to appear calm and ease the minds of the little fairies.

      “All right, dears, everyone must calm down,” she instructed. “It’s true, we have a slight situation, but everything is under control.”

      She smiled softly at the fairies sitting in their beds.

      “It’s important,” she said, “that we all think positively.”

      Everyone agreed. Positive thinking brought about positive solutions and right now everyone wanted to find a positive, successful solution.

      The new monitor tried very hard to act as if nothing were out of the ordinary. She did roll call, poured, little glasses of water for the fairies, and tucked them into their cozy little beds. She didn’t really expect them to sleep, though; she hardly believed they’d even rest. She dimmed the lights, sat down at her station, and picked up Madame Louise’s scrolls. It was no use; she couldn’t possibly begin to focus on them. Reading was out of the question. She took a deep breath and looked at the tiny beds; every pair of eyes was on her. She stood up, smiled at the fairies, and spoke very softly.

      “Now, then, little ones, let’s get some rest, shall we? Everything is going to be just fine, just wait and see.”

      With that the dorm monitor sat down at the monitor’s station and tried to settle herself for the evening. She couldn’t help but notice Lilly’s empty bed, and unfortunately, neither could anyone else. Each fairy wished Lilly was safe and sound, giggling in her bed, and getting into trouble for talking after lights out.

      4 • THE PLAN

      Lilly didn’t want to alarm Boris, but she had noticed that the air had started to chill and dusk was falling quickly. Roll call would alert the dorm monitor that they were missing–surely they would send someone to find them. But how would they know where to look? Neither Boris nor Lilly was supposed to be away from the mushroom patch, let alone in the middle of Lafayette forest.

      Lilly had already figured out that Boris had probably been flying too high too fast and probably for way too long. Not to mention he was obviously flying in a no-fly zone. Softly she asked Boris the question she couldn’t resist.

      “Boris, were you supposed to be flying today?”

      Eyes filled with tears and his head in his hands, Boris slowly shook his head. He shouldn’t have been flying, and he certainly shouldn’t have been so far away from the patch. He was hurt, felt very queasy, sad, and disappointed in himself, and, if that wasn’t enough, he was incredibly embarrassed.

      “Oh Boris,” Lilly sighed. “Will you ever learn to listen to Mademoiselle Francesca?”

      She raised her eyebrows and pointed her finger at him as she spoke.

      “Rule number three: Never fly on your assigned no-fly days!”

      Boris lifted his head, wiped his eyes and nose, and tried very hard to answer Lilly without crying. It was no use; the tears started flowing all over again.

      “Well, I can assure you, I wish I had listened,” he said between sniffles. “You’re not completely in the clear yourself, you know.”

      It was true. Lilly had broken the rules as well, the most important one, rule number one at that!

      Never leave the patch without permission and specifically without supervision, unless absolutely necessary!

      She thought that now would be a good time to stop scolding Boris. They had, after all, both broken the rules. Not to mention that Boris had a terrible look on his face and was actually turning a really weird shade of green.

      “Oh Boris,” Lilly gasped. “Are you all right?”

      Boris wasn’t all right. He was about to throw up. He was doing everything he possibly could to avoid it but was having a terrible time trying to hold it down.

      “Head between your knees, Boris, head between your knees!” Lilly instructed with all the calmness she could muster. “Breathe, Boris; big deep breaths. Just breathe!”

      Boris did as he was told and started to feel a tad better.

      “Thanks, Lilly. I think my stomach has settled a little bit,” he said, though one look at his color and Lilly wasn’t completely convinced. She decided that it was time to take charge. It was going to be difficult, but it had to be done. Putting her arm around Boris’s waist, she helped him stand up.

      “Lean on me as best you can,” she said. “We’ll go slowly, as slowly as we need to, but we have to get moving, Boris.”

      Boris held on to her as tightly as he could. He took a deep breath and prepared to move. His injured leg was dangling in front of him, his ankle limp. He tried to hop forward carefully, but the pain was simply more than he could bear. He screamed in agony.

      “Oh, I can’t, Lilly! I can’t hop, it’s just too painful!”

      Boris’s scream was so intense, it frightened Lilly beyond words. She had no idea what to do now. Boris was hurt, it was dark and cold, and they were in more trouble than they could handle.

      Lilly became anxious as her eyes scanned the sky through the tops of the trees. Her mind racing, she started to rethink her plan.