Every summer, since her parents separated a few years ago, her mother decided to drag her to Grandma’s house. Even though this year was no different, something felt different.

They’d been here for a few weeks and Charli was already bored. Staying at Grandma’s house, which looked more like a cottage, felt like stepping into another time. Into a world deep inside her mind, where she was both a princess and warrior, saving people who were in danger while waiting for her Prince Charming, Tobi, to take her away.

Tobi was a boy in her class. She had a huge crush on him, but he ignored her; too busy with his skateboard and friends to even say hello. Still, he lived in her imagination.

Sometimes, coming back to reality was too disappointing. Her mother was always angry about something, and her father didn’t have any time for her.

“Charli!” She heard Grandma calling her.

She entered the kitchen to find the old woman. Grandma Ethel was wearing an apron; she was cooking. It seemed like that was all she ever did, cook and clean, unlike her own mother.

“Yeah?”

“There you are. I thought you might like this.” She held something shiny in her wrinkly hand.

“What is it?”

“It’s the key to the attic.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I thought you might like to have a look up there. There are some pretty strange and wonderful things up in the attic. Besides, it’s time you found out some truths about us Draziw’s.” Her eyes were sparkling behind round glasses.

“Wow!” Charli took the key from her Grandma’s extended hand. It was unlike any she’d ever seen before. Silver, with markings all around the looped end. It seemed to glow in the dull light of the kitchen’s fluorescent lights.

“I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for up there.” Grandma turned back to her mixing bowl. “Well, off you go, you don’t want to keep Grandpa waiting any longer.”

“What did you say Grandma?”

“I said, run along, you don’t want to-”

They were interrupted by the wooden back door, as Charli’s mother, Aileen Blake, opened it. The slim woman walked in through the doorway, her hair in a messy ponytail, with strands sticking to her face.

“Phew!” She cried. “I don’t know how you do it Ma, but it feels like the North Pole in here! A welcome from the furnace outside.”

Charli agreed silently. It was always unusually cool in the cottage, and there wasn’t even an air conditioner in here.

“Sit down, dear, I’ll get you some cool lemonade.” Grandma smiled, heading towards the old fridge. “Would you like some, Charli?”

“No thanks, I’m going to check out the attic.” She turned away, heading towards the dark corridor.

“Did she say the attic?” She heard her mother ask.

She kept walking, knew better than to disturb her mother. Aileen burst into the house with several shopping bags, which usually meant she was angry about something. That’s what her mother did to calm down, go shopping, which in this place meant an hour’s drive each way!

Charli clutched the key tightly.

II

It wasn’t until she’d been in the dusty attic for almost an hour that she remembered her Grandmother’s words: you don’t want to keep Grandpa waiting any longer. Grandpa? She thought. Her grandfather died when Charli was a baby, she didn’t even remember meeting him. So how could he be waiting for her?

The attic was a large room, which slanted in the shape of the roof above her. It was dark, except for the light coming through a single window in the room. There were boxes everywhere, several wooden chests and a cupboard.

So far the eleven-year-old found dusty photo albums and scrapbooks, full of old faded photos and clippings from another century. Some of these clippings were dated so far back that she began to wonder just how old her Grandma really was.

She tried the attic key on a small wooden box she found inside one of the chests. To her surprise, it worked. She pulled out a long bent stick, not knowing what it was, and stared at it.

Charli decided to take the stick and the box back down to her room.

The light was getting dimmer by the second; nightfall would be upon the cottage in no time. She preferred not to be in the attic at night.

III

“It should be somewhere around here.” Charli called, pushing her long ponytail behind her shoulders.

She was in the shrub area behind the cottage. In the wooden box she found a photo of her grandfather, which contained a map on the back. She was following the map, with the long stick in her back pocket.

It was still morning; the sun was streaming down in between the tall trees. She was wearing jeans and hiking boots so her legs wouldn’t get scratched. She’d never been so far into the shrub woods. Something was urging her to continue.

The woods were quiet, too quiet. There weren’t any birds up above, or even tiny animals near her feet, just silence and the sound of a stream nearby.

Finally, she reached the stream. It was hidden behind high weeds as she trudged along, clumsily, Charli tripped on a log. She landed on her arms, the photo fell out of her hands.

As she stood up, pulling dead leaves off her clothes, she noticed something that nearly took her breath away. By the edge of the stream was a white creature drinking, the fur had a tinge of blue in it. As it turned to face her, she saw the single horn. It was a unicorn.

“Wow!” She gasped.

The unicorn stared at her.

“Hello.” She walked towards it, Charli wanted to touch this amazing creature. It was the only way to know if this was real.

“I won’t hurt you.” The young girl got close enough to pat the animal’s back. The fur felt like silky hair. She loved unicorns, had a whole collection of miniature figurines at home, in her bedroom. “You’re so beautiful.”

The unicorn seemed to enjoy the patting, closing its dark eyes.

“They are beautiful, aren’t they?”

Charli suddenly turned around to find an orange monkey looking at her.

“What?”

“They’re beautiful. Unicorns are beautiful.” The monkey’s small mouth moved.

She took a step back, just as the unicorn ran away from the edge of the stream. The monkey was actually talking to her!

“Only thing is they won’t let anyone go near them. Well, anyone except pure innocent kinds like yourself.” He smiled, touching his long white beard.

“Who, who are you? And why can you talk?”

“Oh, sorry for being so rude – my name is Elijah.”

“Elijah, you scared the unicorn away.”

“Yes, they’re very picky about the company they keep.” He smiled. “What brings a young person like you out here?”

“Nothing, just looking around.” She lied.

“You don’t have to be shy with me, I won’t bite.”

“I was following a map you nosey-”

“Oh dear lord! After all of these years, you’ve finally come to save me.” He jumped up and down on the spot.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m your grandfather. The map behind my photo led you out here.”

She shook her head. “My grandfather’s dead.”

“No, he’s not dead. He’s been stuck in this body since you were just a tiny baby, but I knew you would come to rescue me, just as the prophecy said.”

“I can’t rescue you. I’m just a kid.”

“Oh dear.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We don’t have much time. He’ll be here soon.”

“Who?”

“Amos, the one who cursed me.” He climbed a tree and looked out towards the stream.

“Why did he curse you?”

“Because he wanted to be the most powerful wizard in the land, he didn’t want any competition. It was never about power and he should have realized that. Instead we both ended up here.”

Charli shielded her eyes from the sun. “Wait a minute, monkey. You’re my grandfather and a wizard? My mum never told me anything about any wizards. “

“Aileen would never mention anything about wizards to anyone, she didn’t believe in magic.”

“Why can’t you just turn yourself back into a man?”

“In this body I don’t have any powers. That’s why I need to become myself again, and I need your help, Charli.” He seemed sad.

“I can’t-”

“I know this must all sound unbelievable to you, but if Amos gets what he wants, then it will be he who becomes the man. There was a struggle between us a long time ago and I managed to turn Amos into an animal as well.” He climbed back down. “He’s coming.”

“What did you turn him into?” Charli’s heart began to beat faster.

Elijah ignored her question. “You need to use the magic wand.”

“What wand?”

Out of the stream, roared a purple alligator, it was huge. Charli couldn’t believe her eyes. First the unicorn, then the orange monkey, and now a purple alligator!

“Ahhhhh! You turned him into an alligator?” She screamed in fear.

“So you were right, old man.” The alligator sneered, droplets of water rolling off his scales. “She finally came.”

“Stay away from her!” The monkey yelled.

“Oh, I don’t want to hurt her, I just want the wand. Hand over the wand and I won’t hurt you, child.” Amos turned to Charli, a smirk playing on his large mouth.

“Don’t do it.”

“Shut up brother.” The alligator moved closer and closer towards her. “… the young innocent female, who is the seed from your own offspring shall give your life back… Except you’ll be helping me! Now give me the wand.”

“Charli!” Elijah the monkey closed his eyes.

Charli! Can you hear me? He was inside her head.

“Yes, I can hear you.” She answered loudly.

No, He began, talk to me in your thoughts not out loud. You’ll need to use the wand in your pocket. Point it towards me; turn me back into a man. Into the man I use to be, Elijah Draziw, your grandfather.

“But...” Charli stopped and thought to herself. But I don’t know anything about magic…

Charli, it’s in your blood, the magic is inside you. All you need to do is dig deep, find it and pull it out. He advised. But hurry, we don’t have much time.

She grabbed the wand from her back pocket. The odd looking stick in her hand was a magic wand - one that Charli didn’t even know how to use.

“I hope you’re not doing what I think you are, brother. Give me the wand!” The alligator yelled, getting too close.

She tried to do as Elijah instructed. Tried to think about magic and the power that might be inside of her, but nothing happened. Her thoughts were all muddled up. Here she was with a monkey who claimed to be her grandfather telling her to use magic!

I can’t do this.

Yes you can, Charli, clear your thoughts. Concentrate.

Concentrating as hard as she could, the young girl seemed to tap into something. It was buried so deep in the bottom of her stomach that it was actually making her body shake as it began to draw out. Charli grabbed the wand tighter, just as a savage wind swept around her.

Even though she wasn’t looking up above her, she could feel the clouds closing in, moving rapidly in the sky. She could feel everything around her like never before. Holding the wand tightly, with both hands, she pointed the end towards the orange monkey.

“Elijah!” She yelled, not knowing what else to say.

The wand changed colour, turning bright white, as it closed in on the monkey. It took all her strength to hold on, as sparks flew out to hit his body. Slowly, Elijah began to rise - taller, higher - he was transforming into a man with a long white beard and orange cloak.

He extended his hands out before him. The magic wand flew out of Charli’s hands and into his own.

“He’s going to eat me!” Charli yelled. She had never been this scared before.

Just as the purple alligator opened his jaws as wide as they would go, approaching Charli, Grandpa Elijah pointed the wand towards the beast. Sparks flew again as the alligator was hit, and began to fade away into nothing, leaving small particles of light falling around them.

Charli ran towards the old man. He was now the same man from the photo she’d been carrying, the one now floating away in the stream.

“It is you!”

“Oh sweet child, thank you so much for helping me lift the curse.”

“No problem.” She said, even though she was quivering inside.

“Now let’s go give those two old ladies a bit of a scare, uh?”

IV

“Elijah!” Grandma Ethel cried tears of joy as she hugged her husband after so many years apart. “I knew she would find you. Thank you, Charli!”

“Find who?” Aileen asked, walking into the kitchen. The cup in her hand fell.

The old man suspended the cup in mid air before it hit the floor, placing it safely on the kitchen table.

“Dad?” Aileen gasped.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“But I thought you were dead… gone.”

“Yes, gone but far from dead.”

“How did you--”

“You can thank your own daughter for that. I suspect you’ve been too busy to notice anything amazing, objects moving around and other things of that kind. It’s magic Aileen, it wouldn’t hurt you to stop being so rigid when it comes to the topic.”

Charli walked further into the cottage, staring at her mother. For the first time, Aileen Blake appeared so young, looked like a girl her own daughter’s age.

“Why didn’t you tell me, mum?” Charli walked up to her mother. “Why didn’t you tell me that Grandpa was a wizard? And that I had wizard blood in me?”

“I--”

“Your mother didn’t want to put you in any danger.” Grandpa Elijah approached them. “She did what she thought was best.”

Aileen threw her arms around her father. “I’m sorry I stopped believing, Dad.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He replied. “There’s plenty of time left for all of us now.”

Everything in the young girl’s life seemed to fall into place. It was almost as if she now understood why her mother was so distant, why her parents were no longer together. Not to mention why her fingers sometimes felt tingly for no obvious reason. It was magic. The magic of fantasy had always been in her.

Charli Blake was part of a wizard family - the secret was no longer hidden.

The answer had always been right in front of her. If only Charli would have read her grandparents’ surname backwards!

The End...
for now

Yolanda Sfetsos lives in Sydney, Australia with her wonderful husband and gorgeous daughter. Asides from being a full-time mother and working part-time in a stationery store, She devotes as much time as she can to writing short stories, novellas and novels. She’s had work published at AlienSkin Magazine, Nocturnal Ooze, 31 eyes, Flashshot, Saucy Tales of the Supernatural, Naked Snake Online, Whispers of Wickedness and Whispering Spirits. She also won the December Chilling Tales Contest at Horror-web, and then won the 2003 Roundup for the same story.

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