A couple of years ago, I took a creative writing class and even though it wasn’t everything I hoped for, the tutor actually gave us some good ideas for coming up with topics. He had this box full of photographs that he just bought somewhere. He didn’t know where they came from or who took them – the pictures were just completely random. We got to take some and then we tried to create a story, inspired by one of them. So this was the one I chose, and I wrote a short story called “Emily and the Secret Garden”.

All winter long, Emily had waited for this day. Finally it was here – spring. Everywhere around, nature started blooming in different colors and occasionally, the sun kissed the skin of everyone who was outside. Emily was six years old and for her, spring was the magical season. She loved to be outside and explore the world around her. Of course she wasn’t allowed far away from the house, but she didn’t mind. She had her own magical place right in her backyard.

Emily was sitting in her classroom, staring outside the window. She didn’t pay attention to what the teacher was saying. All she could think about was going home. When the bell rang, she rushed out the door, ran home and ate her lunch as fast as she could. Gladly, her class didn’t get any homework that day, which gave her a whole afternoon to play outside. One would assume that she would hurry to get into the backyard, but very carefully she stepped outside and looked at the garden.

The grass was very green and high and there were pink flowers everywhere. Pink was her favorite color and when she ducked, she was able to hide in the grass. She didn’t know that her mother could still see her from their kitchen window and she just let her daughter think that nobody could find her between the grass. She inhaled the smell of spring. The grass, the flowers, the trees, everything smelled wonderful. She heard the crickets in the meadows and she felt the sun on her skin. Everything about spring made her smile

After climbing through the fence, Emily carefully made her way toward the hedge. She was looking everywhere, as if she was searching for something she had lost. When you listened closely, you could hear her calling for someone. “Lilly, Lilly where are you? It’s me Emily. Lilly…” The little girl with the blonde pig tails and the lavender dress was looking for her friend. “Oh there you are. It’s so wonderful to see you. Happy spring,” Lilly said. But who was she talking to? There was nobody there. The only thing that you could see was something sparkling and shining next to her head. It was a little fairy that Emily was looking for. She had brown hair, a light blue dress and pink glitter wings and she was her friend.

They hadn’t seen each other all winter and both of them couldn’t wait to experience new adventures together. In the middle of the hedge was a gateway that lead to another world. It was full of magic and not everyone could see it. Emily could. She will never forget that day she snuck away to see what’s behind her garden. Back then, she was only three years old and didn’t even know what a fairy was, but when she met Lilly, they instantly became friends. Once, she steps through the passage, everything changes. The mountains reflect every color possible and everything is bright and shiny. There are singing flowers everywhere and little fairies who love little girls like Emily.

In order to see and enter the magical world, you have to have a good heart and soul and you have to believe in whatever you see. You don’t question the existence, even though nobody else seems to know about it. Emily didn’t even think about the magical world and why only she seemed to know about it. She just enjoyed being there and she loved her friends and all the adventures they all experienced together. This was her safe place, her sanctuary, her fantasy, her world.

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