On Falling In And Out Of Storyside...

Part 2

            Mia couldn't understand why her best friend L.D. complained so much about her father. Having your own daddy was almost as great, if not equal, to the idea of eventually being an adult. And Magbert was the greatest daddy a sprite could have, anyway. He'd been so many places and learned so much that it was impossible to imagine anyone being able to hurt him. He always had interesting stories to tell (mostly about the old days when he, Mommy and all their friends used to go adventuring), he was always in a good mood and he was never too busy to explain something to her. Not only that, he never minded if Mia wanted to go exploring in the forest, something her mother never let her do. In fact, he liked to go with her whenever she went, something Mommy hardly ever did unless it was absolutely necessary.

            "Mommy says it's dangerous for little sprites to go running about in the forest alone," said Mia one day as she and her father were walking about.

            "She's right," agreed Magbert.

            Mia looked surprised. "But you and I go out all the time!" she protested.

            "I'm not a sprite," he replied, smiling.

            "I don't think I get it," Mia murmured.

            "Let me explain," said Magbert. He stopped walking and stretched his hand out. Mia alighted on his hand and made herself comfortable, ready to listen to another story. "A long time ago, your mother thought that it was fun to go around the forest exploring and discovering new things."

            "My mommy?" Mia said in disbelief.

            "Yes, your mother. It was one of her favorite things to do. She would fly ahead of me and your Uncle Ian and your Uncle Lokey and would tell us all about what she'd seen. That was when she had the gift of sprite vision."

            "What's that?"

            "It's the ability to see everything as a new adventure, not something to be afraid of," Magbert explained. "Anyway, as much as I loved her innocence, I didn't want to see her get hurt, so I explained to her how dangerous it could be to go traipsing about the way she did. It took a few bad experiences alone for her to realize I was right; she needed to have one of us with her if she was to stay fully protected. She lost her sprite vision..."

            "Too bad," said Mia.

            "...but she lived long enough to marry me and have you," finished Magbert.

            "Oh, I get it," said Mia, eyes lighting up. "She doesn't let me go out because I've still got sprite vision and that's not very safe."

            "That, and she realizes that even with her help, you still might get hurt. You see, your mother never studied magic the way I did, since she prefers her spell singing to book learned magic."

            "And nobody teaches that, huh?" asked Mia.

            "No, nobody teaches that, dear," Magbert agreed. "So it may have seemed mean of Mommy to make you stay close by, but she didn't want to lose you by letting you go. And it would have been even worse if she'd been with you and not been able to save you because her magic wasn't strong enough, understand?"

            "I think so. With you, it's different because you've got more magic to help us out. But either way, I should work on getting rid of my sprite vision. I understand," Mia nodded.

            "I knew you would," Magbert smiled, gently kissing the top of her little head. "But don't completely get rid of your sprite vision, okay? Mommy and I like watching the world through your eyes."

            That part Mia wasn't sure she understood, but it didn't matter. She could see why Mommy loved Magbert so much. He knew everything.

            A wail from somewhere in the forest startled them. "What was that?" Mia asked, fluttering upward.

            "Sounded like...like a child!" Magbert frowned, peering around.

            "I think it came from over there!" Mia exclaimed, the whole discussion of sprite vision completely out of her memory as she flew off in the direction she'd pointed in. Magbert chased after her, trying to keep up with her well maneuvered flight through the underbrush.

            Mia finally stopped as she found a darkskinned little boy sitting on the ground crying piteously. "Oh-bee!" he sobbed, shaking his little outstretched arms as if he were waiting to be picked up. "Wan' Oh-bee!" He did not see Mia, but he did quiet down some as he heard Magbert crashing through the woods behind her. "Nooooo," he wailed softly, cringing somewhat. "No get meeee."

            Magbert finally emerged from the foliage and stood gasping at the little boy. "It is a child!" he said aloud. "A human child! Alone!"

            "What do we do with him, Daddy?" Mia asked.

            "Well, I...I suppose we try and see what's the matter with him," frowned Magbert. Mia beamed at him, then turned to the toddler.

            "What's wrong, baby? What's the matter?" she inquired sweetly. The child seemed to notice Mia for the first time and stopped crying altogether. Mia flew closer and Magbert stepped forward.

            "Be careful, Mia," he warned her. "Human children can be unintentionally rough on little sprites."

            "I'm being careful," she replied, then landed on the ground in front of the boy. "Where's your mommy, huh?"

            "Oh-bee," said the toddler, reaching for her. Mia jumped up, but the little boy caught her in his hands.

            "Mia!" Magbert exclaimed, almost jumping at the child. "Hold on a moment, I'll get you out of there..."

            "No, it's alright!" Mia called. Gently, she pushed the boy's fingers apart so that she was standing astride his hands. "He's not hurting me. I think he knows I'm fragile."

            Magbert stared in surprise. "This child must have had experience with fairies or sprites before. Most human children are extremely..." He broke off in mid-sentence as the child smiled teary-eyed up at him.

            "Is my Oh-bee," stated the child simply. "Her pitty."

            "He thinks you're pretty like his Oh-bee is all I can gather," Magbert shrugged, sitting next to the boy. He looked around him and saw scuffle marks in the dirt. "Obviously whomever left him here didn't do it willingly."

            "But who did leave him here?" Mia asked, looking up into the boy's tearstained face. "Who left you, honey?"

            "My Oh-bee," said the boy, pouting dangerously. "Her gone."

            "Where did she go?" Magbert asked gently.

            "Her go wif'...um, her go wif' bad way fair-ee," came the reply.

            "Huh?" Mia frowned.

            "A bad lady fairy," Magbert replied.

            "How do you know that?"

            "I've listened to small children talk before," Magbert explained, smiling at his daughter. "If I could just figure out what "Oh-bee" is, or who..."

            "Well, maybe since he thought I was pretty like Oh-bee, it might be a girl," suggested Mia.

            "Perhaps a fairy girl who was taking care of him," agreed Magbert. He turned to the toddler again. "Does Oh-bee take care of you?"

            "Yeah," nodded the boy. "My Oh-bee, 'cause...yeah, her luv me."

            "Oh-bee sounds like something," Mia said thoughtfully. She paused, then asked, "What's your name?"

            "Josh-sha," came the reply.

            "Joshua," said Magbert.

            "Joshua!" exclaimed Mia. "Now I know who he is!"

            "You do?" Magbert frowned.

            "Of course! There's a girl who goes to school with L.D. named Christine who had a little brother named Joshua."

            "My 'Stine," agreed Joshua.

            "L.D. said Christine was going to be a fairy empress someday," said Mia, proud of her slight connection with such a prominent figure.

            "But who is this Oh-bee?" Magbert asked.

            "Oh-bee is his way of saying Naomi! She's the sprite who saved me from that witch in the forest one time and she told me she babysat Christine and Joshua. Mommy hates her, but she still visits me sometimes, anyway. She's funny."

            "My Oh-bee!" Joshua began to wail. "Wan' my Oh-beee!"

            "I guess that must be her," said Magbert, picking the child up to comfort him, "because he sure seems to recognize the name."

            "If something's happened to her, we've gotta help her!" Mia said.

            "Alright, then, but we can't take this child with us." Both of them paused, listening to Joshua's melancholy snuffles.

            "Well...Mommy likes babies," Mia suggested.

            Magbert smiled. Just so, he thought. He picked up Joshua and Mia, then traced his runes in the air to transport them back to Crystal's tree.

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