Half and Half

"Let me in!" Dawn shouted angrily to the Birch Guard.

"No," he said firmly, crossing his wooden arms.

"Please!" Dawn pleaded. The Birch Guard shook his head. The Birch Guard guarded the outside of the Queen's palace. He looked exactly like a birch tree, hence his name. He was tall and lean, and had white bark with black spots on it (as any birch tree does) his hair was wild, made up of small branches with liberate amounts of leaves on them. His bark was rough and flaking, though he was a young guard. Much younger than the Oak Guard, that is. He walked on his roots, and had to stand in a pool of water twice a day to stay hydrated. He had no eyes, but small slits in his bark to see through, and he talked through another slit below his eyes. He always held a shield and a sword and stood in one place. He seldom had to do anything, for nobody dared come inside the palace for fear of being thrown in jail.

Dawn was a very confusing girl--she wasn't even a human girl at all. Some people called her a fairy, and some called her a pixie. But Dawn did not know which one she was. She had glittering wings that looked like they were made of glass, which all fairies had.(Pixies did not have wings, so Dawn thought that she was at least part fairy.) But fairies had perfectly round ears, while Dawn's ears were pointed like a pixie's. Pixies and fairies did not get along well at all. Dawn had orangey-yellow hair, like the colour of a sunrise, her nanny said, and that was why her name was Dawn. She also had red lips and freckles that were sprayed across her nose and cheeks. Dawn had gleaming grey eyes and long lashes. She didn't wear a dress like other fairies. She wore pants and a shirt, with no shoes, although her nanny said that that was very unladylike. Dawn was brought up by fairies. She had a nanny, but no parents, so she couldn't tell whether she was a fairy or a pixie. Nobody could tell her.

Dawn had come to the castle every other day, when she had free time from school. She wanted to speak to the Queen. But she had never gotten past the Birch Guard, who was beginning to find Dawn very annoying. Dawn wanted to speak to the Queen because there were so many bad things happening in Telebone, the country where they lived. There was talk of kidnappings, of trash everywhere, trees dying, people starving and more. She had heard many good stories about the Queen, that she was kind and beautiful, and very open-minded. That was not the only reason. Dawn also wanted to see if the Queen could tell her if she was a fairy or a pixie--or neither. But Dawn would not be let in.

"The Queen does not want to be disturbed," the Birch Guard had told her. But Dawn did not believe him. How could a Queen never want any visitors? She argued with the guard, tried to reason with him, and even tried to sneak past him, but nothing worked.

Now Dawn was very, very angry. She had just come back from a long day of school, learning things that she thought were useless, and still the guard would not let her through. She walked up to him and said, "I still want to see the Queen, so please let me through. You know I won't do any harm to her. See?" Dawn spread out her arms wide, turned around, emptied her school bag, put everything back, shook both of her sleeves and her shirt, to show the guard that she wasn't carrying any weapons.

"I know a snitch like you can't hurt the queen," the Birch Guard said.

"Then why won't you let me through? I have to let the Queen know about the awful things that are happening here. She hardly ever goes outside her castle borders, so how can she know?" Dawn never told the Birch Guard about the second reason why she wanted to talk to the Queen.

"Look," the Birch Guard said not unkindly. "I myself have no trouble with you seeing the Queen. It's you I'm worried about."

Dawn laughed. "Me?" She said, still giggling. "Why on earth would a guard worry about me?"

"Because," the Birch Guard said a little softly. "You still have to get through the Oak, Spruce, and Acacia guards. And they are much more protective of the Queen than me, and are likely to throw you in jail on the first sight of you."

Dawn sighed. "You can go with me," she suggested.

"No," the Birch Guard said. "I must stay here to guard the castle. I'm sorry. Maybe in the future you will be able to go." Dawn sighed heavily and left the door to the palace. She was off to see the Fairy Godmother. Maybe she would be able to help.