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“CORALIE!”

Her own name had never sounded so long or faint as Coralie slammed into the ground. Spitting out a mouthful of grass and dirt, Coralie raised her head and groaned.  Crushed grass fanned around her, plastered to the ground in a large circle.  The baby unicorn blinked at her, his tiny silver horn glistening as he took a curious step forward. Coralie reached out, swallowing a squeal as his soft nose sniffed her fingers.

“I’ve dreamed of you,” she whispered as soft velvet brushed her fingertips.  “I’ve always dreamed of you…”  She giggled as his lips tickled her palm, his tounge brushing against the chalk dust staining her fingers. “The chalk!”  She reached behind her with her other hand, cringing as the unicorn started.  “It’s ok, it’s ok.  I’m sorry.”  She let her hand drop against her dress pocket, gingerly squeezing the box as the unicorn resumed examining her other palm.  Amazingly, the chalk was intact.  Exhaling, she smiled tentatively at the unicorn’s mother, a second thrill zipping through her.  Imagine–she, who had always dreamed of fairy tales, was sitting in a dragon footprint with two unicorns!

But like all fairy tales, the magical moment ended seconds later as a screaming Aurora slammed into the ground beside her.

“Aurora!”  Coralie gave a mournful glance towards the unicorns as they scampered away before crawling over and helping her friend sit up.   “Aurora, are you ok?  What made you jump?”

Aurora coughed, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of her.  “Like I was going to let you chase that dragon on your own.”  She glanced around, her eyes widening as she took in the unicorns peering suspiciously from around the tree.  “Oh my God!  They’re real, aren’t they?”

“They’re real!”  Coralie grinned, squeezing her hands.  “They’re really real!  All of this is real!  Just like we always dreamed!”

“Not just like we always dreamed,” Aurora corrected her, coughing slightly.  She beamed.  “It’s even better.”  Her smile faded as her gaze traveled past the circle of flattened grass toward the horizon.  “So um, how do we catch a dragon?”

“Oh crap.”  Coralie ran her fingers through her hair, sighing.  “I’d totally forgotten.  I feel terrible.”

“Don’t feel terrible.”  Aurora glanced toward the unicorns, smiling.  “They’re distracting.  And amazing.”

“Very,” Coralie admitted.  She brushed off her skirt, getting to her feet.  “I’d say we could run after them, but I’m not sure if we would catch them.”

“Can’t dragons fly?”  Aurora brushed off her own dress, letting Coralie pull her up.  “Did you draw wings on the dragon’s back?”

Coralie bit her lip.  “I can’t remember.  I think I did.  I wouldn’t draw a dragon without wings.”

“You drew Puff the Magic Dragon without wings,” Aurora pointed out.

“That was for your niece.”  Coralie shook her head.  “All my dragons have wings.”

“She did have wings. Purple ones.”  A voice piped up behind them.  Whirling around, the two girls stared at the crowd of dwarfs standing in a scorched streak of earth.

“Oh my gosh!”  Aurora clutched onto Coralie’s arm, squealing.  “Coralie!  There are dwarfs!  And they’re just like you drew them–in fact, they’re better!”

“Drew us?  You drew us?”  One of the dwarfs frowned.  “Are you sure?”

“Maybe you just drew a window to our world,” a second suggested.

“Or maybe exist in her head!” a third dwarf gasped, clapping his wrinkled hands over his beard.  “Maybe we’re only a figment of her imagination!”

“I’m really confused.”   Aurora squelched her nose.

“Me too.”  The first dwarf mimicked her expression, his rosebud mouth disappearing in a could of white.

“Couldn’t you have drawn us taller?” The second dwarf grumbled.

“Listen, we need your help,” Coralie interrupted, shaking her head.  “I don’t know if I drew you or just drew a picture like you or what, but that dragon just ran off with our friend.  We need to save him”–

“And the princess,” the third dwarf gasped.  “You must save Princess Zaria!”

“The princess!” the other dwarfs choursed.  “You must save Princess Zaria!”

“Princess Zaria?”  Aurora wrinkled her nose.  “That is not a cute princess name.  What about Isadora or Felicia or Anastasia….”

“Zaria is a cute name!” the first dwarf protested.

“I never liked it,” the second dwarf admitted.

“Save the princess!  Save her!”  The third dwarf’s face turned red, his eyes bulging out.

“I can’t save her until you tell us how to catch the dragon!” Coralie snapped, surprised at her own tone.  If you had told her yesterday she’d be talking to dwarfs, she would have fainted with joy.  Now she was yelling at them.

The dwarfs fell quiet, looking at each other.

“It’s hard to catch a dragon,” the first one sighed.  “You can either run after them…”

“Fly after them….” the second one continued.

“Or send a knight to track them.”  The third dwarf looked at Aurora hopefully.  “Are you a knight?”

“I’m not a knight!” Aurora took a step back, frowning.  “Knights are boys!”

“Not necessarily,” the first dwarf corrected.

“We’ve had girl knights,” the second dwarf informed her.  “Knight Rose of Edonshire, Knight Lilly of Ivy Forrest…”

“We even had a troll for a knight once,” the third dwarf said thoughtfully. “And a elf.  Though the elf got in trouble for flirting with the mermaids.”

“Those mermaids are quite charming,” the second dwarf whispered to Aurora.

“Run, fly or wait for a knight,” Coralie mused, gnawing on her lip.  “It’s too late to run, and I don’t want to wait for a knight…”

Aurora snorted.  “We’ll have to.  There’s no way to fly.”

Coralie grinned and pulled the box of chalk out of her pocket.  “Not necessarily…”

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have a new week of whimsy coming up!  Stay tuned!

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