Fairy gardens, like the one Basil’s family and many other pixies called home, were traditionally closed to human visitors. Even the most hardened and bitter human would shed a tear at the majesty of the garden. Little houses and cottages, only a few feet tall, were scattered in between flowers and perpetually flowering trees so vibrant that they had to be magical. Everything grew neatly in place, with long grassy corridors between each section for pixies to walk freely.

Basil, his older brother Indigo, and his younger sister Poppy were sitting on the branch of a large dogwood tree, watching pixies fluttering about below. It was the middle of the day, so there were only a few pixies out and about. While their little garden town had all the shops and businesses one could expect, many pixies had started integrating into human workplaces as well, teleporting off to work every morning and leaving the neighborhood feeling a little empty at times.

Poppy and Indigo actually resembled their namesakes. Indigo was a darker blue than Basil was, with short purple hair, and Poppy had rich red skin with orange hair streaked with white. Basil was just named after an herb. It wasn’t exactly a rare thing, but he felt left out at times.

“Do you two actually like the flowers you’re named after?” he asked suddenly.

“Yeah, of course,” Poppy replied. “They’re my favorite.”

“I think it would be hard not to feel attached to something that you’re named after,” Indigo agreed. “Remember how I used to have indigo flowers painted on the walls of my room?”

“What’s your favorite flower?” Poppy asked.

Basil shrugged.

“I dunno,” he admitted. “I guess… maybe azaleas? They’re really pretty.”

Poppy and Indigo shared a look, then both burst out laughing.

“What?” Basil demanded.

“Sorry, bro,” Indigo said. “It’s just hard not to imagine you being named Azalea and that’s kind of funny.”

“Yeah, Azalea is a girl’s name,” Poppy added.

They continued to giggle, and Basil felt his face grow warm.

“Never mind,” he mumbled, fluttering his wings and floating off the branch.

“Where are you going?” Indigo asked.

“I’m supposed to go to Jeremy’s today,” Basil replied, before flying off toward the house.

Basil could hear his mother talking to someone as he walked through the front door. He made his way to the kitchen, where his mom was standing in front of a small mirror hanging on the wall. On the mirror was a thin horizontal line that erupted into squiggles periodically; Basil recognized it as sound waves generated by someone talking. His mother had her hand on the edge of the mirror, so only she could hear what the other person was saying.

“Yes, that’s right. Thank you, Clementine. Poppy and I look forward to seeing you for tea tomorrow,” his mother said before waving her hand over the surface of the mirror. The horizontal line disappeared and Basil’s mother turned to face him. “Hello, Basil. Do you need something?”

“Um… is it time to go to Jeremy’s yet?” he asked.

“Oh, that’s right. Hold on. Let me call and see if they’re ready.” She placed a hand on the edge of the mirror and told it, “Call Diane.”

Basil’s mother removed her hand so Basil would be able to hear the conversation. There was the sound of a phone ringing, and after a few moments the line started to move.

“Hello, Willow.” Mrs. Archer’s voice came from the mirror. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, Diane. I was just calling to ask if you’re ready for me to drop off Basil.”

“Oh, of course. Jeremy’s been eager to see him. Whenever you’re ready.”

“We’ll see you in a minute, then.”

She ended the call and started looking for her shoes. Basil’s wings were buzzing with excitement. Once she was ready, his mother took Basil’s hand and snapped her fingers, and they were standing outside Jeremy’s house.

Basil could already hear the sound of splashing from the backyard, but he floated up after his mother as she rang the doorbell. He tried not to fidget as they waited for the door to open. Finally, after what felt like forever, Mrs. Archer opened the door.

“Hello, Willow. Hey there, Basil. The kids are out back in the pool.”

“Thank you,” Basil said quickly.

He darted past her and through the house, stopping at the closed back door. Basil summoned up a bit of magic to turn the knob and pull the door open a bit. Slipping out, he was met by the sounds of his friends splashing around in the pool.

“Hey!” he cried, floating over and landing on an inflatable pool toy.

“Basil!” Basil nearly fell off the toy as he spun around. His mother was floating by the open door. “Don’t ruin your clothes this time! And be careful in the pool! It’s too big for you!”

“I will, Mom!” he cried, before muttering, “Jeez.”

His mother disappeared back inside. Basil waited a few moments, then slipped off the inflatable toy and into the water without waiting to even take off his shirt. He had to kick his feet pretty hard to stay afloat, but he’d be fine. It wasn’t like Basil had never been in a pool before, even if it was so deep he’d never be able to reach the bottom.

Basil’s mother didn’t come back outside to yell at him some more, so he assumed that she must have left. He, Jeremy, and Susan continued to splash about for a bit. Every splash that came Basil’s way obscured his vision and left him disoriented. And he wasn’t fast enough in the water to really keep up with either of them. Still, he was trying to have fun.

Eventually, Mrs. Archer came outside with a bunch of towels and announced, “Kids! It’s time to get out of the water.”

Since his wings were wet, Basil needed help getting out of the water and onto a deck chair. Mrs. Archer wrapped a small hand towel around him. Basil shivered a little bit.

“Thank you,” he stammered, wrapping himself tightly.

The other two kids were wearing actual bathing suits, so once they were dry they had more clothes to change into. Basil did the best he could, but his shirt and shorts were still wet even once the rest of him was dry. At least his wings were dry and he could fly again.

Everyone settled on the couch in the living room, Basil sitting on the towel to keep from getting the couch wet. He was shivering a little bit. Susan was on one side of him while Jeremy was putting a movie in.

“We’re watching How to Train your Dragon,” he announced.

“Aww.” Susan began to pout. “I wanna watch Spirited Away.”

“Tough.”

“That’s not fair. Basil, tell him.”

Basil shrugged and looked away.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Maybe later.”

“Traitor,” Susan huffed.

The movie was pretty good, but Basil had already known that. He’d seen it before. But he found himself distracted. Basil wrapped himself up in the towelette, but continued to shiver.

“My clothes are too wet,” he moaned.

“So change out of them,” Susan said.

“He doesn’t have anything else to wear,” Jeremy snapped.

“Yes, he does,” Susan insisted. “He has that dress from last time.”

“He doesn’t want to wear a stupid dress.”

Basil felt his face turn red and he mumbled, “I mean… I don’t have anything else to wear.”

“Alright,” Susan said, standing up. “I’ll go grab it.”

When she left, Jeremy turned his attention and gave Basil a long, hard look. Basil refused to look him in the eye. Susan returned quickly, and Basil grabbed the dress and flew off to the bathroom. He ended up leaving his wet clothes on the bathroom counter. They’d  be safe enough there.

“Alright,” Basil said, plopping back down on the couch and curling his legs up beneath him. “I’m ready.”

Jeremy snorted and continued the movie. Basil was finally able to relax, now that he was dry. It felt like he was wearing a long, flowing tank top. That was nice.

Jeremy shared his soda with Basil, who probably ended up drinking too much. As the climax neared, Basil started to fidget uncomfortably. It was so easy to drink and eat too much when he was around humans. They had no sense of proportion.

“Pause the movie!” he cried, buzzing his wings and floating up. “I really need to go to the bathroom.”

Despite how big the toilet was, it wasn’t actually all that hard for Basil to do his business. The real difficulty was in using the sink to wash his hands without getting all wet again. He had to set it to a bare drizzle and lean his hands in pretty far.

Basil stood on the edge of the sink and watched himself in the mirror. There was a ticking clock in the room, alerting him of every second that passed. But Basil didn’t move at first. Then he fluttered forward and sat down on the knob of the sink so he was right in front of the mirror.

His magic wasn’t very refined; he was only ten, after all. But Basil could still do a few things. He ran his hands over his face, casting a glamor, and pulled them away to reveal a little bit of makeup. Then he pulled his fingers through his hair, making it longer and silky smooth. For a bit, Basil just stared at the mirror, shaking. He looked like one of Susan’s dolls, but with little horn nubs.

“What am I doing?” he asked, covering his nubs with his hands. “I’m a boy.”

But then he cast another glamor, making his horns grow. They grew in a curved pattern, similar to his mother’s. His father’s were more curled. Boys had curled horns, after all. But that was not what he wanted. He liked this more. It looked—

“Silly,” he decided. “It looks silly. Kids don’t have full-grown horns.”

A knock on the door caused Basil to jump.

“What’s taking so long?” Jeremy asked through the door.

“Hold on!” Basil cried, his voice cracking. He quickly dispelled the illusory horns and floated over to the door. “Promise not to laugh, alright?”

“What? Alright.”

Basil took a deep breath and used magic to turn the knob. The door opened and Jeremy got a good look at Basil. For a moment, they were both silent.

“Um… why do you look like a girl?”

“I don’t know,” Basil mumbled, looking away. “I thought… I’m already wearing a dress. Why not?”

“I don’t know, Basil.”

“I’ll just… I’ll get rid of it.”

Then Susan walked up.

“What are you two—oh, wow! Basil, you look like a girl!” Her eyes were sparkling. “That’s so cool!”

Basil blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

Susan continued, “Are we going to finish the movie?”

“Yeah, alright,” Jeremy muttered. “Let’s go.”

Basil plopped back down in between the two of them on the couch. He could feel Jeremy’s eyes on him and it made Basil squirm. But it wasn’t long before he was lost in the climax of the movie. Once the movie was over, the three cheered and started chattering excitedly among themselves.

Then the front door opened and Mr. Archer walked in.

“Hey, kids. What are you doing?”

“We just finished a movie, Dad,” Jeremy replied.

“Ah, cool. And who’s—Basil, is that you?”

“Um… hi, Mr. Archer.” Basil shrunk down, but waved.

“It’s… nice to see you,” Mr. Archer replied.

He gave his two kids a hug before walking off. Once the kids were alone, Basil could finally relax. He needed a moment just to breathe before rejoining the conversation again.

“Come on, Basil,” Jeremy said. “Let’s go find something to play.”

“Hold on!” Susan cried. “I wanna play with Basil too.”

“He’s my friend!”

Basil interrupted, “Can’t we all play together?”

Jeremy and Susan exchanged a bitter glance.

“Fine.”

“I guess.”

The three of them pulled out a board game and played that for a while. Basil picked out the pixie piece for himself, even though it was of a girl in a leafy dress and not a boy. He didn’t really mind.

“Good roll, Basil,” Susan said after one turn.

Basil smiled briefly, then frowned.

A few minutes later, Jeremy reminded him, “It’s your turn, Basil.”

What was wrong? Every time one of his friends said his name, Basil felt a little twinge of discomfort. That had never happened before.

“Hey, kids.” Mrs. Archer had walked into the room. “It’s getting late. Basil, do you want to stay for dinner.”

“Oh, sure!” Basil cried. “I’d love to!”

“Great. I’ll call your mother and let her know.”

The game continued, but Basil was distracted. He turned his name over and over again in his head. Basil. He… he didn’t like it. It was a boy’s name, and Basil looked like a girl. It just didn’t match. That was all.

“Alright! I win!” Jeremy cried, pumping his fist into the air. “Basil, you’re normally better at this.”

“Hm? Yeah, I guess.”

“Is something wrong?” Susan asked.

Basil bit his tongue, then sighed.

“Um… can you guys… I mean… when I look like this… can you call me… um… Azalea, instead of Basil?”

“Azalea?” Jeremy asked.

“Sure, of course!” Susan replied.

Jeremy scowled at her, then gently grabbed Azalea and picked him up.

“Come on,” he said. “We’re going to my room to play.”

“But we were playing together,” Azalea reminded him.

“Not anymore.”

Azalea tried to protest, but Jeremy wasn’t listening. He dropped Azalea down on his desk and locked the door behind them.

“Come on, Basil. What do you want to do?”

“Azalea,” he muttered.

“…whatever. Let’s just play something already.”

“What’s wrong, Jeremy?” Azalea asked, buzzing his wings in irritation.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Jeremy replied snidely. “Are you sure you wouldn’t just rather be playing dolls with Susan right now?”

Azalea felt himself turn red and looked away. That felt like a punch to the gut, probably because it actually sounded kind of fun. He never got to play with his sister’s dolls at home.

“I’m still a boy,” Azalea insisted.

“I don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl, Basil!” Jeremy cried, standing up. “I just don’t want us to stop being friends.”

“Why would we stop being friends?”

“Because you’re acting all different,” Jeremy said. “You never used to want to hang out with Susan so much before this.”

Azalea sat down on the edge of the desk and let his legs hang over.

“I’m not going to leave you,” Azalea insisted. “You’re my best friend, Jeremy, no matter what.”

Jeremy seemed to relax.

“Thank you, Basil,” he said.

“Azalea,” Azalea reminded him. “When I look like this, I want to be called Azalea.”

“Alright, Azalea.”

They didn’t have a lot of time to play before dinner started. Azalea sat down cross-legged on the table in front of the smallest plate that Mrs. Archer could find. He was in full view of everybody, and looked like a girl.

“Here you go, Basil,” Mrs. Archer said, piling a very small amount of food onto the plate.

“Mom,” Susan said, “when he looks like this, he wants to be called Azalea.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Archer and Mr. Archer exchanged a look. “Alright. We’ll try to remember that. It’s a beautiful name, Azalea.”

Azalea beamed.

“Thank you.”

QuillRabbit

Azalea is awfully cute, isn't she? I'm hoping that you really enjoy the story so far. Please leave a comment and rate the story if you haven't done so. If you enjoy my work and want to leave a small tip to help support my writing, you can do so here for only $3.