In the car I asked Mommy why it was dark already. The clock in our van is green and made Mommy and Daddy green. Even with the green light, I could barely see Jim sitting next to me on the bench, but everything, even Jim, was at least a little green in the dark. Mommy said it was dark because it was getting colder, and when it got cold the sun set faster. Daddy said Mommy was stupid. He said “Damn Daylight Savings Time.” He said the poor kid is always going to be depressed on his birthday. I think he was talking about me because my birthday is next week. I don’t know exactly what Daddy means, but he doesn’t seem happy, but my birthday always makes me happy, so I don’t think he’s right. I don’t know why Daddy doesn’t say things to me very much. Especially when he’s saying things about me. But I believe Mommy. She likes explaining things to me, and I understand them when she explains. She knows I’ll be happy on my birthday. And she knows that the sun is already gone because it’s cold. The sun is gone and I had to wear my jacket because it’s cold.
Jim’s club is doing a play tonight. I get to watch him act in a story like on TV, but Jim and his friends are going to be in it instead of cartoons. Mommy says it is good to watch shows with real people doing the acting. I like that I get to see Jim be an actor. I think he likes it too. He’s been practicing for a long time. Jim’s name is Bottom in the play. I laughed at his name, but Jim punched me in the arm, so I didn’t laugh anymore, even though his name is Bottom. When Jim was laying in the living room yesterday, I sat on my Bottom, but didn’t tell him the joke because he pushed me off and I thought he might punch me again. I think Jim might be the person in the play with the most jokes. Why else would his name be Bottom?
When we got to Jim’s school, we had to park far away because there were already a lot of cars close to the doors. Jim jumped out of the car and ran in and said something I couldn’t hear. Daddy yelled a bad word at Jim, but he was already almost inside the school. Daddy carried me on his back into the school. From far away, the doors were the only thing I could see because they were bright. When we got closer, I could see some more of the school, but it was too big for me to see all of it. I think Jim must get lost in school a lot because it is so big. This is my first year at my school, but it is very small, so I never get lost.
I’ve been to Jim’s school two times before, I think. Last year. I like it, but it makes me nervous because it is so big. I got lost at the zoo once because it is big. And Jim’s school is big too. I don’t want to get lost. But Mommy and Daddy let me play with my friends in the big room in the middle. They showed me all the doors that go into the room where the play is going to be, and they said they would be standing beside those doors talking to the other mommies and daddies. They said I should run around so that I can sit still during the show. I barely even heard them because I was already tagged “it,” and I had to tag someone else. I wasn’t scared anymore because all my friends were around, and we were playing. I don’t think I could have got lost because there were a lot of people around. And most of these people know Mommy and Daddy. Not like at the zoo.
I run quicker than most of my friends. I even run quicker than some of the first and second graders. I’m fast and Daddy says I’m going to be good at sports. I played soccer this fall, and I scored more goals than anyone else on my team. Daddy gives me a high five and a big hug after games. And because I’m fast, now that I know I’m playing tag, I never get tagged “it” again.
The big room in the middle of the school has windows in the middle of it instead of on the outside of it like other rooms. There are bushes and flowers and benches outside of the glass. The glass makes a big circle, and the big room is around the glass and is a bigger circle.
I’ve run around the big circle so many times, and I start to get bored because I know no one is going to tag me because no one can tag the big kids that are fast enough to get me, and I’m quicker than the rest. When I get bored I remember things that I forget when I’m having fun, and I remember that I had to pee when we were in the van, and I never peed because I was tagged “it” as soon as I got into the school. So I look for a bathroom. Daddy doesn’t like when I make him come with me, and he said I’m big enough to go by myself. So I look for a little straight man on a sign so I can go pee.
I find a little lady with a skirt first, but I know that girl and boy bathrooms are normally beside each other, so I walk down the hall toward the girl bathroom. The girl bathroom door is at the end of a wall, and I don’t see the boy bathroom yet, so I look around the corner. I am happy that the boy bathroom is there. I have to pee really bad, and I don’t have to bother Daddy by making him come with me to find the bathroom.
There is one small toilet in the bathroom, and the others are too tall for me, so I go to that one to pee. There is one small sink too, so I wash my hands there. There is no one else in the bathroom that I can see, and the toilets in the back of the room don’t have doors. The light is flickering back there. I don’t like that. I know I don’t have to be scared because Daddy says I’m a big boy and I can do things by myself, but I don’t like this bathroom. So I don’t even get a paper towel before going back into the hall. I just wipe my hands on my jacket.
I must have turned the wrong way when I came out of the bathroom because when I turn the corner, it is not the big room that is a circle. It is just another hallway on this side of the corner too. I know I have to turn around, but I’m nervous again because Jim’s school is too big. And that’s when I see her.
I’ve seen fairies before. They are in some of my books. Mommy likes to read books to me before I go to sleep in my bed. I keep my books right beside my bed because that is where Mommy reads me books. And there are fairies in some of them. They are like very tiny girls with little dresses and wings so they can fly. Mommy says they fly like the humming birds that drink outside of the window above the sink in the kitchen. Mommy also says that they are magic. I don’t know what kind of magic they do, but they are different than magic witches. Most fairies are nice and like kids like me, I think.
But this fairy isn’t tiny like a bird, and she is not flying, and I can’t tell if she is magic at all. She is big. Smaller than mommy, but bigger than me. I didn’t think fairies grew that big, but I am looking at a fairy that is that big. She is sitting on her feet reading a book. I didn’t think that fairies read books, but I am looking at a fairy that is reading a book. And that’s when she looks at me. And she smiles and waves. I now know that fairies like kids like me. I wave back, but I am still nervous. Jim’s school is very different than my school.
The fairy hears some humans who are about to walk around the corner, so she closes her book and looks back at me. She sticks her finger up to her mouth, and I can barely hear her shush me. I don’t think she wants the adults to know she was here, and she wants to make sure I won’t tell. I won’t tell. She must only like kids like me, not adults, and I think I like her better than adults too, so I won’t tell them that I saw her.
The fairy doesn’t even stand up straight when she runs away into a room down the hall. I wanted to see her stand up and fly away, but fairies must not fly everywhere they go. I think I did not know much about fairies before tonight. I’m glad that I turned the wrong way out of the bathroom.
After the fairy leaves and the adults come around the corner, I see that one is dressed in a silly fake lion costume. I turn around and find my way back to the big circle room. I keep looking back to make sure the adults aren’t following me. The circle room is almost empty except for Mommy and Daddy who were starting to walk down the hallway beside the one I am in. I yell for them to stop. They run over and pick me up and hurry into the big room where the play is going to be. I think Daddy was going to yell at me because he couldn’t find me, but Mommy wants to get to our seats too fast for Daddy to be mad.
Inside the big room the floor is slanted, and it is dark, and there are big red curtains that are lit up like the door was outside. All the seats are facing the curtain and they are red like the curtain too. The curtain is higher above everything else so everyone can see it, even when they are sitting down. I can’t see the bottom of it because the seat in front of me is too tall like most of the toilets and sinks. I think where the curtain is is where Jim’s play is going to be.
I know Jim was talking about fairies in his play at dinner last night, but I didn’t know that there were going to be actual fairies at his school. Fairies must like acting in shows, I guess. I hope to see the fairy I saw in the hall again in the play. She was nice, and I think she will be the best actor if she is in the play. I hope the play is not too boring because playing tag made me sleepy, and this room is warm and dark. I’m afraid if it is too boring I might fall asleep and not get to see the fairy again. I would like to see the fairy one last time before I fall asleep tonight.
When the curtain goes up I don’t see any fairies, and I lean my head against Mommy’s arm.