Timmy knew this day was coming. He had prepared for it. Well, as much as he could have, anyway. Today was the day that all 13 year old fairies in the town got the chance to earn their wings. Every spring, the town gathers and the elders give out the criteria for earning wings. The kids have 30 days to complete the task. The kicker is, the rules change every year.

Last year, Timmy’s sister got her wings by doing something that scared her. The elders said “overcoming fear”. She was very afraid of beetles, so she committed to hold one for one minute. A whole minute! He thought his sister was very brave for doing that, but he’d never tell her so.

At noon, the town gathered and the elders assembled in front of the town square. There was a ceremony, and then the moment Timmy had been waiting for - this years theme was “climbing new heights”, which meant each kid had to summit the mountain on the edge of the town. Sounds simple right? Except they had to go alone, and put their flag with their name on it. on the correct side of the mountain for it to count.

Even though this theme wasn’t about fear, Timmy was afraid of heights. And, quiet as it was kept, he was afraid of being alone. Now, the kids wouldn’t be totally isolated. There would be elders and others dispersed along the mountain in case of first aid needs and things like that. But the trek up he’d have to do alone, with his own pack, cooking his own food, making his own shelter, etc. He was scared, but he wanted those wings more than he wanted to stay home. Whats a fairy without wings?