Fiction Fantastic 2026 Winning Story: “Rose and the Fairy” by Edmund Titus

“Rose and the Fairy,” by Edmund Titus, Bridge Charter Academy

Honorable Mention, Middle School Level, 2026

Rose and the Fairy

by Edmund Titus

Bridge Charter Academy

Chapter 1

It was a pretty normal day at the Titus house. Edmund was making cereal. (He was extremely bad at cooking, but even he couldn’t ruin cold cereal.) The two girls, Rose and Flora, were playing hide-and-seek. Next door, Roy was snoring. He was a bad guy. Edmund’s mom and dad were out shopping.

After breakfast, Rose read a fairy tale and wondered about fairies and dragons. She wondered if she might meet one someday. I should note that Rose was somewhat younger than Edmund and Flora. While they were both eleven, Rose was only seven.

Rose asked Edmund and Flora if she could meet a fairy tale creature when she was a grown-up. Edmund burst out laughing, but Flora gave him a look that quite plainly said, “Shut up.” Edmund had been given this look many times in the past, and he knew to obey it. He stopped laughing, but it was too late. Rose burst into tears and ran into her room.

Chapter 2

While Rose was in her room, Edmund and Flora had the Talk About Why We Do Not Make Fun of Younger Kids. Rose was sobbing into her pillow. She was angry at Edmund for laughing at her.

Just as she was beginning to calm down, she heard a voice coming from behind the window.

“For the last time, open the window!”

Rose didn’t know what to do. It might be one of Roy’s tricks. But the voice didn’t sound like Roy. In fact, it sounded a lot like her own. She decided to take a chance and open it. If it was Roy, she could call Edmund for help.

As she opened the window, a small light flashed through. It landed on Rose’s dresser and began to disperse. When it cleared, there stood a little fairy not more than an inch tall.

“We need your help in Fairyland,” she said.

Rose stood there in shock. She had never doubted for a second that fairies were real, but having one right on her dresser was still quite surprising.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked. “And why haven’t I heard of you?”

“Fairies only appear to those who believe in them,” said the fairy. “Now come with me. I will shrink you down so that you may enter Fairyland, and I will tell you what you must do when we get there.”

Now, Rose was not very brave. But the experience filled her with determination. She took a deep breath.

“Okay,” she said.

The fairy sprinkled some dust on Rose, who shrunk down to the size of a fairy. Then the fairy took her hand and flew off with her.

Chapter 3

By now, Roy had woken up. He had overslept because his alarm clock was still broken from yesterday. (He had smashed it against the wall when it rang and hadn’t gotten around to fixing it.)

Just as he had poured the milk into his cereal, he saw a little golden light fly past his window. Out of curiosity, he chased after it. He was led through bushes, over hills, and even through a shallow river. Once he tripped and fell, tumbling into a ditch. He almost lost the light when that happened. But he kept on chasing it.

As you have probably guessed, the light was the fairy carrying Rose.

“We intentionally picked an isolated place for Fairyland so that so that no one finds us unless we want them to,” the fairy explained.

“Who don’t you want to find you?” Rose asked.

“Well, most humans, for one,” replied the fairy. “But also goats. Those things would eat the entire place if they wanted.”

“Why humans?” asked Rose.

“Because they would destroy our entire civilization,” said the fairy.

They came to a deep ravine that fell into a river. Upon closer inspection, Rose realized that the ravine was actually a wide hole that stretched twenty feet around, and at one inch tall, it felt like a thousand. At the center of the hole, a small patch of land stood level with the place Rose and the fairy were standing. On that patch of land was a little bush.

“That bush hides the entrance to Fairyland,” said the fairy. “From there, I will tell you what to do.”

The fairy carried Rose over the gap to the bush. Inside the bush, Rose discovered a little door.

“Is this the entrance?” asked Rose.

“Yes,” said the fairy. “Now listen closely, for I am about to explain what you are to do. There is a dragon threatening our race. It has been trying to destroy us for years. There is a secret tunnel under Fairyland. It leads to the dragon’s nest. When we get there, I am going to enlarge you back to your normal size. After that, I want you to take care of it.”

“You want me to kill it?” asked Rose in dismay.

“Of course not,” said the fairy. “Your kind can’t kill dragons. I just want you to knock it out and take it someplace where it won’t bother us for a while.”

And so they entered Fairyland. However, not ten yards from all this, Roy stood up. He had heard everything.

Chapter 4

Roy suddenly understood. It all made sense to him now. He had figured out what you have known since the start: he was in a fairy tale.

“That little brat!” he said. “That wasn’t any old dot! It was a fairy that I was chasing this whole time! And if those two think they’re gonna carry out their little scheme, they got another thing coming. I’ll tell the dragon. That’ll put a stop to all this!”

He quickly found out that this was easier said than done. He couldn’t jump that far, and if he tried, he’d fall into the river. He tried to use a tree branch to catapult. After his concussion healed, he tried making a bridge out of twigs. The only reason he didn’t fall in was because a deer tried to walk on it. He used some stronger branches. This time he made it across, but the bridge broke as soon as he got off.

He didn’t care, though. He began stomping on the bush as hard as he could. It was hard work. Finally, the bush was reduced to a pile of leaves and a rock.

“You won’t destroy it that way,” said a voice behind him. Roy wheeled around to see the dragon behind him. It was entirely black, but only about two feet long. “You just destroyed the entrance. The rest of it is much harder to break. Believe me, if I could have destroyed it, I would have done it by now. I hate anything cute or pretty or small.”

“You’re not exactly a giant yourself,” muttered Roy. “Though I did hear their plan to beat you up.”

Roy told the dragon everything. He told him about following the dot and how Rose was going to get enlarged to her normal size and knock out the dragon.

“This is interesting,” said the dragon. “I shall take you with me. I cannot fight a human very well, unless I have one to assist me. Like you.”

“Okay,” said Roy, glad to ruin anyone’s day. “One more thing,” he added. “Can you breathe fire?” The dragon opened its mouth, and a tiny purple flame came out. It landed on Roy’s hand, and he jumped up in pain.

“Ouch!” he yelled.

“Yes,” said the dragon, “Now hold on.” And with that, the dragon took Roy’s hand, and they were off.

Chapter 5

Rose and the fairy were now walking down a mossy tunnel. The ground was very wet and slippery. The tunnel was very narrow. Rose had to be very careful not to slip so she wouldn’t hit the fairy, who was in front, but also because she wasn’t entirely sure what was at the bottom and did not want to be there without the fairy.

As they went on, Rose saw a light ahead of them. It got brighter as they drew closer. Suddenly, the light disappeared, and Rose realized this was the end of the tunnel. Fairyland was not what Rose had expected. There was sort of a road dividing two rows of houses. Each one had a round top but was otherwise pretty similar to the houses that Rose was used to seeing. As the fairy led Rose across the road, she noticed every house had a garden, and in each one was an assortment of mushrooms and flowers. She even saw a few roses.

At the end of the road there was another tunnel that was wider than the first so that Rose could walk side by side with the fairy. Rose realized she had many questions that she did not know the answer to. She thought that now would be the best time to ask them, in private and without distractions.

“Why did you appear to me and not someone else my same size?” was Rose’s first question. “Why do you keep saying, ‘the right size?’” asked Rose.

“It’s all math,” said the fairy.

“Oh, my friend loves math,” said Rose.

“That’s nice,” said the fairy. “But the point is, you are exactly the size of the dragon’s lair, so the dragon will be squashed.”

“What’s your name?” asked Rose.

“One day, you will know,” said the fairy.

“Oh,” said Rose.

Roy was having a very unpleasant ride. The dragon was having a hard time carrying Roy, because the dragon was much smaller. Because of this, Roy was very scratched and bruised from blackberry bushes and rocks. “My lair is not much—pant—farther,” said the dragon. “And I am glad of it.”

Soon they came to a small hole, just big enough for Roy to wiggle through. Rats scampered around the walls of the cave. “Those rats are my servants,” explained the dragon. “If you had not been with me, they would have attacked you.”

“What could a bunch of rats do to me?” asked Roy.

“Bite you,” answered the dragon. “I make sure at least one has rabies every day.” Roy asked no more questions after that.

Finally, they came to an opening that was exactly the size of Roy. “This is my lair,” said the dragon. “I want you to destroy it.”

“Why?” asked Roy.

“They won’t be able to squish me,” said the dragon. “And you’ll be able to move around.” So Roy hammered away at the cave with a sharp rock. The rats made an aggressive motion, but the dragon made them stay back.

The fairy led Rose up the tunnel. Rose didn’t want to hurt anything, but she knew the dragon wouldn’t mind harming her. She got over her fear. She had gotten a lot braver since they started. As they came up, the first thing Rose saw was a cave about six feet high and five feet thick. The second thing she saw was Roy looming over her.

“Hey, kid,” he said. “Looks like you’re the ones who are gonna get squished. Gimme that fairy!”

Chapter 6

Rose did not know what to do. At her normal size, she and Roy were about the same height. But now, Roy was more than fifty times her height. And to make matters worse, the dragon had burned the exit, so Rose couldn’t escape. Roy picked up the fairy and threw her to the rats.

“All hope is lost,” said the dragon. “And soon you and your friend will perish. There is nothing you can do.”

Roy lifted up his foot to squish Rose. Slowly, he began to lower it.

“Hurry up,” said the dragon.

“Don’t get huffy,” said Roy, “I want to savor this.” Rose had to admit that the dragon was right. There was nothing she could do.

Just then, three giant rats came down from the tunnel. They tackled Roy, and one bit his arm. The fairy flew out of the tunnel as well.

“I talked to the rats,” said the fairy. “Apparently, they hated working for the dragon, and the only reason they did was because the dragon threatened to cook them. So I promised to give them size to overthrow the dragon as long as they also defeated that boy. And as you can plainly see, they are doing a good job of that.”

She was right. Roy had just fallen out the side of the cave. He fell into the stream and down a waterfall.

“I shall return!” he said as he fell.

The dragon breathed fire on one of the rats, and it bounded away. But the other two overtook the dragon and knocked it out. The dragon fell down the same way Roy had. “Wow!” said Rose. “Thank you so—Huh?” The rats had already left.

“They must be going to help their friend,” said the fairy. “But now, we must take you to your home.”

Chapter 7

The fairy flew off with Rose to her home. On the way, Rose spotted Roy sprawled out on the ground. Next to him lay the dragon. They were both unconscious. Around them were the rats. They looked very pleased with themselves.

As they approached the house, Rose said, “So I guess this is goodbye.”

“Don’t worry,” said the fairy. “The next time those two start making trouble, I’ll come right back to you.”

“Well, in the end, it was really the rats that saved us,” said Rose.

“So they did,” laughed the fairy.

No one ever saw the rats again.

Roy had to be admitted to the hospital for severe rabies. No one knew how he had gotten it, including himself. In fact, he couldn’t remember anything. He had hit his head in the fall, causing amnesia. Because of this, no one knew about any of the events of that day.

Well, except me, of course. How else would I have written this book?

As Rose was put on her dresser, the fairy told her never to tell anybody about this.

“Why?” asked Rose.

“So that that boy doesn’t regain his memory,” said the fairy. “But also, it’s fun to keep secrets.”

So Rose was enlarged back to her normal size. As the fairy left, Rose remembered the fairy had never said her name.

“What’s your name?” asked Rose.

The fairy smiled and said, “My name is Rose.”

But before either of them could say any more, Rose the fairy was gone.