The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles)

The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) by Maximilian Timm Read Free Book Online

Book: The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) by Maximilian Timm Read Free Book Online
Authors: Maximilian Timm
Tags: adventure, Action, Fairies, Young Adult, love, Fae, faeries, fairy, Wishes, true love, middle grade, wish
disappearing. For Shea, it was just another catalyst for her anger. Acting as if she didn’t care was her only defense against such anger.
    She sat along the grassy shoreline of the lake, staring at the rippling reflection of the full moon as playful wishes swooped along the glass-top water. The shimmering light of the wishes reflected in the waves like water-bound shooting stars.
    Angrily wiping a tear from her cheek, she couldn’t let go of the notion that suddenly she wasn’t even good enough for the Nursery, a place she never wanted to be in the first place.
    She looked to her left at a Purity Wish that was hesitant to join her. It bounced a couple times, getting a bit closer. It wanted to sit with her, but could sense Shea didn’t want visitors. This Purity had a slight yellow tinge to it. Any wish with a hint of yellow marked that it was near the end of its life cycle and either ready to be granted, or about to disappear and go unfulfilled. These days, most wishes in the Nursery had a yellow tinge - a sad reminder of an impending and helpless doom. It was something all too familiar to Shea, and she’d grown numb to the many yellow-stained wishes.
    Its long eyelashes fluttered above its big bulging eyes and looked at Shea as if to ask if she was OK. Even from a Purity, Shea didn’t want any sympathy. Noticing her aviator goggles nearby, it nudged them toward her inch by inch until finally they were close enough for Shea to reach. It snuggled up to Shea’s hip and she couldn’t help but pet the little pink ball of fluff, despite her foul mood.
    Shea looked at the wish, expressionless, as another tear formed in her eyes. Picking up the goggles, the Purity’s smile expanded, thinking it was helping. Shea, for a moment, looked at the goggles and, frustrated, tossed them away. The Purity, thinking it was a game of fetch, happily bounced after it.
    Behind Shea, Thane cautiously approached. She gave him a dirty look, quickly stood and walked toward the Nursery. He picked up the goggles as he followed, snatching them out from under the Purity’s mouth.
    “What?” Shea asked as she opened a stable gate.
    “I’m just doing my job.”
    “Try keeping some other hopeless case.”
    “You’re the only one I know,” Thane returned playfully.
    Shea ignored the banter as she entered the stable. Even if she wasn’t technically a Hand anymore, she couldn’t just sit and stare. Especially since her new babysitter hovering over her. The compound was lined with pens, most empty. A few dimly lit wishes slept nearby as Thane hurried in after her. A couple of the wishes woke and perked up like puppies.
    “And I don’t have anyone to watch the ceremony with,” Thane continued.
    “Yeah, well neither do I and I like it that way. And could you clam up, please? You’ll spook the wishes.”
    “Right, sorry. I made you this,” Thane held up a poorly formed cupcake with an unlit candle on top. It looked like a half-melted mushroom.
    Entering a pen labeled “Money Wishes - West”, the largest by far, Shea followed a dirt path through the middle. A few dozen Monies zoomed about, excited to have visitors. They darted around Shea, bopping her on the head, snickering and hollering. Pranksters, to say the least.
    “Confident little things, aren’t they?” Thane said.
    “Money Wishes. Zero manners,” Shea replied as she pulled a wand from her sheath.
    “It’s customary to make something for a friend before a fulfillment ceremony. So…here,” Thane handed her the cupcake.
    “We’re not friends. And it looks like it’s dying,” Shea said, barely looking at the gift. She stopped at a stone table at the center of the pen and placed her wand into a hole at the center of it. Tapping the end of the wand, yellow sparks showered up like a wishing dust sprinkler. The wishes loved it, whooping and hollering as they swooped through.
    “I’ll just leave it here for you then,” Thane said as he placed the cupcake on the stone

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