“And the winner of this next award goes to… Jeanie!”

Jeanie danced down the aisle to accept the trophy, her golden wings blending with her golden dress

“Thank you! Thank you everyone!” She gushed. The gauzy wings fluttered behind her. They always did when she was excited. “I’d like to thank my mother for this award, for always supporting me, and my father, for giving me my first taste of fame!”

It was the truth, she reflected on the next day, as she placed the award on the mantle on the mantle beside the others. Her father had been the one to call the papers that morning, when his daughter- She was still called Anna back then- had come down the stairs sporting glowing fairy wings. She’d tried to explain about the genie she’d found, and how he’d granted her one wish after she hugged the teddy bear her mom had found at a garage sale last week, but the papers didn’t want to hear the story. She’d found the headlines years later, all suggesting that she might be some super human, or the next evolutionary branch. She kept them all for a time, but eventually they all went into the recycling bin. Except for one. That reporter had taken the time to listen to a little girl’s story about a genie in a bear wishing for fairy wings, and her big dreams to be a dancer/actress/model. That article she had framed, right beside her first award, a small medal from her school play. She’d played Tinkerbell, and she still remembered the gasps in awe from the audience as she fluttered across the stage.

Her mother had been the one to shoo the reporters out of the house, and the scientists that followed them, tutting the whole while about how she would find clothes that fit now. In the end, she ended up being the one to alter most of her clothes, adding snaps and holes down the back to accommodate the wings. She was also her biggest fan, bringing her to all her auditions, and cheering her up when they just weren’t looking for a girl with fairy wings for the part.

But the parts she had gotten had all struck big. It was a curiosity thing at first, she figured. Come see the girl with wings! But her movie had hit it big, an instant cult classic, and the fans followed their new idol to movie after movie. Lucky break, considering how terribly her silly wish could have turned out.

She stepped out on her balcony and looked out at the house her fame had bought. With a smile on her, she spread her wings and took to the sky. Even 20 years later, her morning fly was still her favourite part of the day.