Once upon a time, there was a man who found a pair of ruby slippers and a wand in the mail. With the slippers on, he could fly, and when he waved the wand, the people around him felt a surge of happiness. So, almost against his will, he became ... the Fairy Godfather. And it was not always easy. This is the story of one of those times.

The godfather landed on the gravel path that led to his front door, bending his knees from long practice, to avoid the heels pitching him forward on his face. That was always embarrassing, even here in a deserted clearing in the Enchanted Forest. Squirrels like to make fun of humans, and in the Enchanted Forest, they could do it out loud. He would hear wisecracks from the ones brave enough to think they could outrun a wand. Of course, he would never curse them, but they didn't know that. And they always had friends with them, to appreciate their wit. The number of times he had opened his cabin door with his ears burning from the laughter of squirrels ...

But today, the clearing was quiet as he slipped off the ruby pumps and stepped lightly across the gravel to his porch. He never remembered to leave himself a pair of bedroom slippers at the end of the walk. Reaching the shelter of the porch, he sighed, and turned back for a look at the sunset behind the trees. Another long day ...

Turning away at last, he opened his creaking oak door and stepped into his little cottage. Dropping the slippers and wand, he flopped down on his collapsing armchair and tilted his head back against the cool leather of the high, winged back. He stared at the spider weaving in the dimly-lit corner of the ceiling without seeing it, and thought back over his day.

They never seemed to stop coming, the people who needed his services. Lost people, hurt people, people trying to live, people trying to die. People hurting themselves, people hurting others. Helpful people who were tired, helpless people who'd never tried.

For each of them, he did his best. He felt for the force of the Universe, he waved his wand, he brightened their lives a little. Most were grateful, but there were always a few who misunderstood, who felt they hadn't been treated fairly, who wanted more. It was people like that who had introduced him to his competition.

He called himself the Marvelous Wizard, and he wore beautiful clothes, a velvet cape and comfortable shoes. None of the colors even clashed. He was handsome, with a smile that lit up a room, even if it did seem to have a bit of a life of its own.

... to be continued ...