One day Derek was playing in a creek that ran near his home. He lived with his mother in a small cottage at the edge of the deep woods. It was a hot day and the cool water felt good around his bare feet.

That was when he saw the pretty rock. It was about the size of a ping pong ball and a pretty, clear blue. When he first saw it, it was a kind of brownish gray, then it turned blue. That was how he knew that it was magic. The light shone through it and he thought that he could almost see through it. Of course, Derek had to pick it up. Derek played with the pretty rock for a while. Then he put it in his pocket while his magic stick, you knew that Derek had a magic stick, didn't you? His magic stick could be anything that he could think of. Right now he needed it to be a hero's sword because a bad old troll was coming after him. So his magic stick became a very strong and sharp sword and he beat the bad troll away.

Derek took the pretty rock back out of his pocket and looked at it. Then he said, "Gee, I wish that I had someone to play with." The rock turned a pretty pink and a voice behind him said, "Hello."

Derek turned around and looked, and there stood a little girl with wings! "What's your name?" Derek asked.

"I'm Eldera, the fairy," the little girl answered.

"Do you want to play with me?" Derek asked.

"Of course, Silly. That is why I'm here."

"Really?" Derek asked.

"Yes," Eldera answered, "your magic wishing stone sent me."

"What magic wishing stone?" Derek asked.

"That pretty pink stone right there in your hand, Goofus. That is a magic wishing stone. It can make almost anything that you wish come true," Eldera answered.

"Wow!" said Derek. "OK! Lets play."

Eldera laughed. "OK, lets play tag. You're it!" Still laughing, she turned and ran.

Derek ran after her, and just as he was about to catch her, she flew up and sat on a branch of a tree where Derek couldn't reach her.

"Hey! No fair, I can't fly up there to catch you!" Derek said.

Eldera laughed at him. "Are you forgetting about your wishing stone? Besides, my legs are not as long as yours and I can't run as fast. I have to fly."

Real soft so that Eldera couldn't hear him, Derek said, "I wish that I could fly like Eldera." Then he flew up and said, "Tag! You're it!"

Both Derek and Eldera laughed as they chased each other through the tree tops.

Finally, Derek stopped and said, "I'm hungry."

"So am I," said Eldera. "Why don't you wish for something to eat?"

So Derek took out his magic wishing stone and said, "I wish that I had some root beer and some catsup bread." And just like that his magic wishing stone turned green and there was a glass of foaming root beer and some bread with catsup on it. You knew that Derek liked catsup bread, didn't you?

Derek was just starting to eat when he noticed that Eldera was just looking at him. "Aren't you going to wish for something to eat?" asked Derek.

"I can't, Silly. It is your wishing stone. It won't work for me. You will have to wish for me."

"OK," said Derek. "Do you want catsup bread and root beer, too?"

Eldera laughed and said, "No. Fairies don't eat that. I want a cup of nectar and a nice big mushroom."

So Derek held up his wishing stone and said, "I wish that Eldera had some nectar and a nice big mushroom to eat." And she did.

After they had eaten, they played hide and seek for a while. Eldera was very good at hiding, but Derek was also very good at finding her. He knew that if you are looking for something and it is not in the first place that you look, then you just have to look some place else until you find it.

At last both Derek and Eldera were very tired and they sat down on the ground and leaned back against a large tree to rest.

They both fell asleep.

When Derek woke up, Eldera was gone and it was dark. It was kinda scary being in the woods after dark, then Derek remembered his wishing stone. "I wish that it wasn't so dark," Derek said. And all of a sudden, it wasn't so dark and Derek could see a little bit. But he still didn't know which way to go to get home.

"I wish that I knew which way my house was," Derek wished.

Then he noticed that it was a little lighter in one direction and he could hear people calling his name in that direction. So he started walking that way.

All of a sudden, he came out of the woods and could see that the moon was full and it was very bright outside. Then his mommy saw him and called to him as she came over to him.

"Where have you been, Young Man?" Mommy asked.

Mommy was upset. "I fell asleep," he answered.

"Well, it is time for supper, go get cleaned up," Mommy said.

While they were eating, Derek told Mommy and Granddaddy and Eddie all about his magic wishing stone and Eldera. He even showed them the magic stone. Eddie was Derek's step daddy.

When they finished eating, Mommy told Derek to go get his bath. As he left the room he heard Granddaddy say, "That looked just like a plain old rock to me."

Derek stopped to listen so he heard Mommy say, "Well, you know that rocks are almost as magic as sticks."

Granddaddy laughed and said, "Yeah, but what an imagination. If I had an imagination that good, think of the stories that I could write."

So Derek wished that Granddaddy had a good imagination so that Granddaddy could write him some stories. And he did.

Back