One spring day, a girl and her best friend were lying in the grass, looking up at the clouds in the sky. “I wish I were a fairy,” said the girl.
”Maybe you are a fairy but you just don’t know it yet,” said her best friend.
”There’s only one way to find out,” said the girl.
So she got a tall ladder out of the garage and put it in the middle of the yard. “If I jump off the top and flap my arms really hard, I’ll probably fly away, just like a fairy!”
“Wait a minute,” said her friend, “what if you fly so fast, you get bugs in your eyes?”
So the girl climbed down, got her goggles, put them on, and climbed back up to the top of the tall ladder, ready to jump.
”Wait a minute,” said her friend, “what if your clothes catch on the trees when you fly by?”
So the girl climbed down, changed into her swimsuit (it was the tightest thing she had), and climbed back up to the top of the tall ladder, ready to jump.
”Wait one more minute,” said her friend, “how will you ever know that you’re flying, if you can’t see yourself?”
So the girl climbed down one last time, dragged the pool over to bottom of the ladder, filled it with a hose, so she could see her reflection in the water, and climbed back up to the top of the tall ladder.
She took a deep breath, counted to three, jumped off the ladder, and flapped her arms as hard as she could.
And for a moment, she thought she could fly, just like a fairy.
Then, she realized that she’s definitely not a fairy, and she fell down down down and splash, landed in the pool.
But since her arms were still flapping, she started to swim. She did three laps around the pool, then did a backflip and twirled around twice, grinning.
”Oh well, I guess you’re not a fairy,” said her best friend.
”That’s OK,” said the girl, “because I’m pretty sure I’m a mermaid!”