Notebook for Fantastical Observations (5 page)

Promises I’ve made:

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Promises I’ve broken:

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My drawing of the most magical place to live:

Sketches of exquisite metal jewelry handcrafted by dwarves:

A picture of my left hand drawn with my right:

A picture of my right hand drawn with my left:

“We make our homes in the sparse forests left to us. Soon even those will be gone.”

FROM
B
OOK
3: L
UCINDA
’S S
ECRET

ELVES

One night when Mandy and I were having a sleepover at her house, we got bored with watching videos on the little television on her dresser and with looking through fashion magazines.

“I’m hungry,” I said.

She looked up. “There’s nothing to eat here. You want to walk down to Quick Stop?”

It was very, very late and we knew that we weren’t supposed to go out. Her parents were zonked out, though, her mom snoring gently, and we figured that no one would notice. We pulled on jackets and sweaters over our pajamas and tiptoed to the door.

Outside it was warm and a little damp from dew. I took a deep breath of summer air and fresh-mown lawns. Mandy did a little dance in the middle of the empty road. It was weird to be out there in the middle of the night—as if, while everyone else was sleeping, the world was ours and ours alone.

At the store we bought a package of doughnuts and two cans of soda and laughed at the way the clerk stared at our pajamas while we paid. Feasting as we walked back, we didn’t notice the music at first.

It was almost discordant, almost noise, but there was something about the sounds that made them compelling. The notes were so pure, the melodies so beautiful, even as they crashed against one another.

Mandy grinned and wiped off the powder that dusted her lapel. “Maybe it’s a band practicing.”

“It’s probably just someone with a CD.” I pulled on her sleeve. “Let’s go home.” I didn’t know what or who it was, but I didn’t want to find out. I liked the feeling of being a little bad and sneaking out, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to hang out with some weird people I didn’t know. I just wanted to be with Mandy, drink soda, eat crappy food, and gossip.

Mandy barely noticed me. She was already walking toward the wooded area that the music came from. I had no choice but to follow her.

We walked for a while, the tall weeds soaking the hems of my pajama pants. The music swelled, but we still saw nothing.

The summer breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and with it, I thought I heard a voice. “Come dance,” it called. “Come dance.”

“I’m going back,” I said, but all I did was go no further. Mandy walked on. After a while, the music faded and I figured she’d come back, but she didn’t. I stood there and stood there. Finally I tried to follow the way she’d gone. I called her name, but she didn’t answer. Despite all my looking that night, the search parties that came later, the newspaper articles, and the backs of milk cartons, no one ever saw Mandy again.

—Linda L.

ANALYSIS: Elves sometimes dance in faerie rings. It is said that if a human joins their dance, he or she can be spirited away for years and sometimes forever. Often, a loose circle of toadstools will be the only evidence of the faerie dancing.

—H. B. & T. D.

A creature perfectly camouflaged to blend in with its environment: