Heir of Skies by Rachel Higginson

Heir of Skies (Smtarbright, #1) by Rachel Higginson. Self published in 2012. Received for review from the author through Publishing Push. 236 pages. YA, fantasy. 3 out of 5 stars. 

I was contacted by the author, Rachel Higginson, way back in February regarding a review of this particular book. She wrote such an enthusiastic email that I couldn't help but say yes! It's quite a short book with only 236 pages so I flew through it in practically a day - even though it's been sitting on my shelf since early May. 

I'm quite torn to be honest, because while I really enjoyed the book I have a ton of problems with it. I haven't written that much in my review notebook - which I take notes in as I read. I have about half a page and 95% of it are mistakes I noticed throughout the book. That being said, I don't know if I have one of the first paperback editions where the mistakes haven't been corrected yet or it hasn't been properly edited. 

The other notes I've taken are; 

• Tristan Shield, best friend
• Stella, 16, can detect the nature of someone's essence 
• Okay so far, not impressed

And while I flew through it, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd thought I would. I was packed with fantasy elements, so it wasn't because of the lack of that and I laughed every once in a while so it wasn't exactly boring. 

Stella Day is our main character, she's 16 and she's going to be the Protector of Earth once she turns 25 - if everything goes according to plan, which is obviously doesn't. Stella is also a Star, a female angel, but she've grown up on Earth and never really been to Heaven. 

We also have Seth, Stellas counterpart, her Warrior, male angel, who's going to protect the Earth with her. They are destined to be together, that's how it has always been - it's always a Warrior and a Star. 

Tristan Shield is Stella's best friend. They've grown up together and as you can probably guess, they have undiscovered feelings for each other. Tristan knows that Stella is a Star though and therefore destined to be with another guy, he also knows that she's going to be the Protector of Earth someday. 

There's definitely a love triangle in there, and that is the big problem I have with this book. Sometimes I like love triangles, for the most part I dont, but they can actually be quite interesting and intriguing. Other times I find the main character indecisive about his or her choice. Just pick one instead of going back and forth! And Stella is quite indecisive, even in the end she hasn't made her choice and that bugs me. She's stringing both of them along even though she can't be with Tristan.

We were partners. Counterparts. He was the Warrior, and I was the Protector. I protected Earth, and he protected me. We would spend the rest of our lives together, side by side, our good versus their evil, fighting for the lives of the entire human race. And yet we weren't supposed to meet this young.  

Heir of Skies (Starbright, #1) by Rachel Higginson, p. 21

Heir of Skies is the first book in the Starbright series and I'm surprised at how action-packed it is! I didn't really know what to expect of this book, but in that department I was surprised and blown away. However, I won't be continuing the series, that much I know. 

I really don't know what else to say; it's enjoyable but have issues. Like many other books. I understand why so many enjoy her books, but for me it didn't cut it. 

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Published by Hot Key Books on March 3. 2016. Received for review from Hot Key Books. 

I've been seeing The Girl from Everywhere everywhere on the interwebs so when I was contacted by the publisher I knew I had to read it! And I have to admit, it's one of the best books of 2016!

The Girl from Everywhere is about Nix Song, Nix can time travel through maps, or rather, navigate through time using maps. It has to be handmade maps though and you're transported to the maker's version of that time and place! They obviously can't travel to the future then, and they can only use every map once! I love how specific that is!
You don't have to be on a ship to navigate through time using maps, but that way you can take everything you want with you.

The Girl from Everywhere really surprised me. I had high expectations and most were met! I haven't read anything like this, usually time travel is just 'I want to go to ______' and they're suddenly transported there. The best way to explain it is probably that it is more believable - even though we know it can't happen. I love that they have to search for maps and the fact that they can't just use any map! It's detailed and very thought through - so intriguing and interesting!

I haven't read a lot of books featuring pirates, to be honest I can only name Tiger Lily and Peter Pan, so this was quite different - even though they're technically not pirates, I get a pirate-y feel from the book. I wish there were more books like this out there because this is definitely one of the special ones you see once, or maybe less, a year.

Nix is quite the character and her upbringing is nothing to brag about! Her mother died not long after she was born and her father, Slate, sought after her, found her and took her with him. He hasn't been the most loving and caring father but she loves him all the same and while it's not apparent at first - he loves her too. Nix has never had many friends since they don't stay in a place too long, she has the crewmates and Kashmir - a persian guy who jumped on the ship a few years back.
Kashmir is Nix's best friend and well, you know what happens between best friends in YA novels, right? I loved the two of them together and I love their friendship to a degree I can't express! Too many YA novels focus on romance and The Girl from Everywhere doesn't! There's some romance in there but it stays in the background and let the story run it's course. So thank you for that Heidi Heilig!

MAP, OAHU 1884

 I absolutely love the details of the maps in this books, and yes, there's a bunch of different maps! They're all completely different in style and shape and I love that amount of details! There's so much effort that has gone into the making of The Girl from Everywhere and it just deepens my love for the book.

ONE MORE LOOK AT THE GORGEOUS COVER

The Girl from Everywhere is one of the most special, and just plain different, books I've read this year and definitely one of the best. I'd expected a bit more which is why I've given it a 4.5 rating and not the whole 5 stars. I highly recommend it!

Omega by Lizzy Ford

Series: Omega #1

Publication date: October 26, 2015
Publisher: Self published
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Format: ARC
Source: The author in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 436
Rating: ★★★★★/5

Goodreads ⎜Amazon ⎜Book Depository

In a modern world ruled by territorial Greek gods, the human race has been oppressed, exploited and now, nearly destroyed by the constant infighting of gods.

 However, a human girl with the power of a goddess is coming of age. Alessandra is the Oracle of Delphi – the last prophesized – and bears the mark of the double omega. Soon after she turns eighteen, Alessandra is told her destiny: to step between the warring gods and the human race and save her world from certain ruin.

 For the gods, her appearance marks the beginning of the end – their end. They and the Triumvirate – leaders of the human elite – who serve them will stop at nothing to preserve their power.

Alessandra emerges from the forest where she spent her life hidden from gods and men and immediately plummets into a race against time, gods, and herself to discover who and what she is in a world where everyone she meets has a hidden agenda, and those pulling the strings remain in the shadows.

 Before she can determine exactly what kind of savior her world needs, she must first master her power by completing three trials devised by the Triumvirate to enslave her.

 One lone girl stands between warring gods and the people she’s destined to protect, but it’s the battle to understand who she is that she must win first.

If you didn't read that long synopsis (I know I sometimes don't) then here's a very short summary from the author of what Omega is about: Along the lines of Hunger Games / Divergent with a dystopian society led by the human elite and overseen by the Greek gods, who are helping to surprise humanity. And she says it isn't like Percy Jackson and it really isn't because I loved this and I didn't like the Percy Jackson series.

Before we begin I want to say that some things are going to be a bit vague, I want you to be surprised in the book and I want you to discover everything for yourself! I will do my best not to spoil you!

Basically we have humans and gods and then in between we have an elite of humans who help the gods. Instead of watching passively or just staying out of the human's lives the gods have decided that they want to interfere and with the help of The Oracle of Delphi they walk back and forth between Olympus and Earth. Of course people aren't okay with the gods interference so wars happen and they want to go back to the old ways where gods and humans lived separate lives.

Omega is told from multiple perspectives but mostly from Alessandra's point of view. Alessandra never known the truth about her life so when her world falls apart we learn everything with her, it feels so natural and I liked that way of telling the story.

Omega is about Alessandra, she is 18 years old and have been protected from the world her entire life. She's been trained to survive by her guardian; Herakles. So she can survive any situation and she can fight! Alessandra is such a badass character and you can help liking her.
She's never known the truth about her life so when her world falls apart we learn everything with her, it feels so natural and I liked that way of telling the story.
Alessandra is a great main character, I really enjoyed getting to know her and relive her forgotten past, it was so intriguing and if I'd had the time I would probably have read it in a single sitting.
This story is filled to the brim with characters! We have Niko and Theodocia, Herakles, Lantos, Adonis/Mismatch, The Silent Queen, Mrs. Nettles and a bunch of others and every single one of them are an important part of the story. Whether you realize it or not in the beginning every one has their specific role and I feel like Lizzy really took her time with this book. Everything is so thought through and every thing fits together and make sense - which doesn't always happen in epic stories with a bunch of different story lines.

I have to be honest here... Going in to this book I had no idea what it was about other than it had something to do with Greek myths or Greek gods, I thought I'd read the synopsis but I hadn't. I really liked that I didn't really know what it was about, it's an epic tale but I feel like it was more epic for me since I didn't know anything beforehand. So, if you haven't read the synopsis yet, don't! You get so many more surprises!
Omega surprised me the entire way through, there was not a single dull moment and I was not the least irritated by Alessandra.
Opposed to any other book I've read where Greek gods or myths is part of the story it's a big part of the story and there aren't really myths in Omega but I really loved that. I think the Greek part of the story are going to be more prominent in the next two books but in this it's just The Oracle of Delphi and the gods

As in any other book there's a love interest and I loved every part of the romance, even though it's not always that romantic.. I smiled every time the two of them were together and even though it's one of my favorite parts of the entire story it doesn't take over. In some books I've found that the romance take over the entire story - even though it isn't surposed to be about romance and in Omega the romance is just a romance, it's a great romance but it's just an extra thing in the book and I really appreciate that! Alessandra's story is definitely the main story.

A thing that excites me beyond what's normal is the fact that there's grotesques in this one - grotesques are a gargoyle who can transform into a human. I've read the first two books in The Dispossessed series and that's mainly because there's grotesques in them! It's a little detail but it means so much to me!

I ended up giving Omega 5 stars! I really loved it because it's so epic and wonderful. I'm quite sad that I have to wait a year for the next book and then a year more for the last.. But it's worth it!

Lizzy has also written an Omega beginnings series which consists of short stories about some of the characters in Omega so you can get to know them a bit better. I think you can read them both before and after reading Omega if you're wondering. I've only read Alessandra which is the first story in the series and I really liked it! The whole entire Omega beginnings series are free on amazon!

Lorali by Laura Dockrill

Series: N/A, Standalone

Publication date: July 2, 2015
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Format: Uncorrected proof copy 
Source: The publisher  in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 337

Goodreads ⎜Amazon ⎜Book Depository

Colourful, raw, brave, rich and fantastical - this mermaid tale is not for the faint-hearted.

Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn't exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.

Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.

But along with Lorali's arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory's bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway?

So, Lorali is about Lorali, a mermaid who swims up to the surface and is transformed. That's the basic plotline but there's so much more to the book, it does not just center around Lorali and it's unlike any other mermaid book. 

Lorali have been on my radar for a while; I love reading books about mermaids even though I don't read them that often. Unfortunately I'm often disappointed by said books - I wasn't this time though!

This story holds a bunch of different characters and each one is unique! We have Lorali who is this strong and wonderful character! She surprised me throughout the entire book - I had not expected such a strong, willfull and confident character in her, I don't know how I imagined or expected she would be but nonethless she is a kickass character!

Rory is the guy who saves Lorali from drowning when she transfered (ironic, right?).  Even though Rory is the hero in the story he's such a cutiepie; I simply love the fact that he's so shy around Lorali and even though he leaves her a couple of times in the beginning he definitely makes up for it in the end!

There's a bunch of other characters and each of them are important for the story! 

Lorali surprised me more than once. I thought it was going to be like any other mermaid book I'd read: a normal town and then a mermaid arrive and things start happening. Claiming that Lorali is like any other mermaid book is definitely wrong. Lorali doesn't just have mermaids, Lorali has pirates and sirens as well and even though I didn't like it in the beginning I loved it in the end. It's so full of imagination. 

I love the fact that their tails or 'tapestraries' show their stories and the fact that the mermaids or mermen actually used to be human! It's such a cool take on the "usual" mermaid story.

Lorali is told from multiple perspectives; Rory (a sweet human guy), Lorali and the sea! I loved reading the chapters told from the seas point of view, it was so unlike any other story and so fun too!

As any other book there's a certain "dialect" which is a bit weird in the beginning but after a while it's quite easy to comprehend. For example humans or regular people are called 'Walkers' - which I thought was a surname to begin with. Once you're immersed in the story everything makes sense - trust me! 

Another thing I really loved about this book is the fact that it's not just about Lorali! There's so many other stories in the book and I enjoyed everyone of them. We have stories about the pirates on the two ships, we have some stories about the mermaids and how they deal with Lorali's disapperance and we have some stories about ancient mermaid history - which was probably my favourite part of the entire book. 

The ending seriously killed me! Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil it for you but I just want to say that I did not expect that ending, it took me completely by surprise! And yes, I was devestated but it's the perfect ending to the story, even though it's heartbreaking. 

The Beautiful and the Cursed (The Dispossessed #1) by Page Morgan

Series: The Dispossessed #1

Publication date: May 2, 2013
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Genres: YA, Fantasy 
Format: Review copy
Source: The publisher in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 341

Goodreads ⎜Amazon ⎜Book Depository

Ingrid Waverley is a young woman to be reckoned with. Faced with her brother's mysterious disappearance after an abrupt move to Paris, she is determined to discover what has happened to him. Soon she and her sister Gabriella are drawn into a Parisian underworld more terrifying than they could ever have imagined, but watching over them are two impossible (and impossibly handsome) young men. Luc is a 'Dispossessed', an ancient gargoyle whose sworn duty it is to protect the humans who inhabit his abbey. Nolan has secrets of his own too. He is a member of the Alliance - a shadowy group dedicated to keeping Paris safe from the demonic forces that threaten to destroy it.

Secrets, danger and hidden powers stalk the girls in this beautifully imagined paranormal romance that will keep readers gripped from beginning to end - and one thing is for sure - you'll never look at a gargoyle in the same way again...

I mainly requested this book because of the gargoyles, I've never read a book which was about gargoyles and I couldn't pass the chance - and I'm quite glad I didn't.

Weirdly enough The Dispossessed series encompass a bunch of things I dislike in books; angels vs. demons and love triangles -  just to name a few - but I ended up loving it anyway. Page Morgan really did a number on me.

There's a hierarchy in the book that you have to make sense of; first we have God, then us humans, then the angels, the gargoyles and the demons. The gargoyles are humans who have committed a sin - killing another human being - and then turned into gargoyles to protect humans. The gargoyles are practically slaves of the angels and they're not treated well. I love the idea that instead of being above us, the angels are below us - this created a different angle that I seem to love.
There's also a group called the 'Alliance' which is basically this society or group of demon hunters

Characters
We have 3 siblings, Ingrid and Grayson - the twins, and their slightly younger sister Gabriella or Gabby. Grayson is kidnapped and Ingrid and Gabby is set on finding him - which makes for a delightful tale! We also have Luc - the gargoyle who has to protect the Waverly family, Nolan Quinn and Vander Burke - the Waverly sisters' love interests.

Gabby is quite the character, in the beginning I disliked her quite a bit but in the end she turned out to be such a strong and admirable character.
Ingrid I couldn't figure out in the beginning but she's also a lovable character. She's intense in a good way, she stands up for herself and she is definitely not a damsel in distress. Yes, she freaks out at times but you would too if you were Ingrid.
Luc, I love Luc. He's trying so hard not to like Ingrid and I loved reading about that struggle.

Setting
I can't read a book set in Paris and not mention it! When I requested it I had no idea that it would take place in Paris (my favorite city of all time) in 1899 (a time-period which I love). I literally turned the first page and started squealing when I saw that it was set in 'Paris, 1899', if I'd known I'd probably requested it no matter what it was about.
Even though the town or setting doesn't matter that much in this book, there aren't really any descriptions of the town and they're only going to certain places in Paris, you still know that you're in Paris and that's enough for me. - I also enjoy the few French lines in the book, brings a smile every single time.

I was sure that this book was going to disappoint me, but this is just one of those books which seems so darn interesting that you have to read it! And even though this book is about angels and demons - which I didn't know at the time - I still ended up loving it.

Exclusive sneak peak on The WishKeeper and the sequel The WishMaker in honor of International Fairy Day! (Including a deal)

Since June 24 is International Fairy Day, the author Maximilian Timm has chosen to share the first chapter of The WishKeeper (that's on sale for .99 right now) and the unreleased sequel called The WishMaker. I read the WishKeeper back in April I believe and I absolutely loved it, you can read my review here.

Series: The Paragonia Chroniclees #1
Publication date: November 12, 2013
Publisher: Lost King Entertainment Genres: YA Fantasy
Pages: 356
Goodreads | Amazon 

1

Goggles, Goggled

Ten Years Ago

“Wings tucked, Private!” Shea’s mother playfully ordered.

The frozen sap of the evergreen clung to Shea’s bare feet as if the icy tree was trying to keep her in one place. It was Wishing Eve in the Makers’ world - The Other Side, as the WishKeepers called it. A night when all WishKeepers would leave their secret world of Paragonia and cross through the Gates to tend to their WishMakers in celebration of opportunity; the opportunity to collect millions of wishes and sustain the harmony between their world and the Makers’. It was the most important night of the year, but for Shea, it was a night that would define her.

It was the night a True Love Wish was destroyed. It was the night her wings were ripped from her delicate shoulders. It was the night her mother died. And the sap of the evergreen tugged at her toes, begging her not to move. She should have listened.

She played along with her mother’s orders as Elanor stood in front of her little fairy daughter, fists at her hips.

“Check! Yes, ma’am,” Shea replied, standing upright and tucking her wings straight behind her.

“Goggles goggled?” her mother asked, stern.

Shea adjusted oversized aviator goggles around her eyes, “Check!”

“Wishes made?”

“Wishes granted!” she said as she stiffened a salute at her forehead.

Shea eyed an identical smile that rimmed her mother’s lips as the setting sun of The Other Side silhouetted Elanor’s graceful wings.

“I have to go to work,” Elanor said with a deep breath. It was her daughter’s first time on The Other Side, and Shea could sense that her mom regretted not being able to stay with her all night.

Shea loved the feeling of the slow, gentle swipe of her mother’s fingers as they gently tickled her forehead, moving the thick red mane out of her eyes. Despite never wanting to admit it, there was an immeasurable eagerness within Shea’s little body to become her mother. Every ounce was desperately impatient to be just like her. Shea watched her mom buzz her wings and prep for a quick launch.

“Hey…Mom?” Shea stopped her. She felt compelled to say something, but the words dangled from her tongue.

Elanor waited for one last peep from her eager daughter.

“I…I mean. Never mind.” Shea smiled, bashful.

“I won’t be long,” she said, noticing the eagerness of adolescence pouring from her daughter’s eyes. “You are going to be a wonderful WishKeeper someday. But it’s not today, honey. Please…promise me you’ll stay here.”

Little Shea nodded as wishes darted through the park behind Elanor. The impulse to fly after each and every one of them was overwhelming as Shea watched her mother zoom out of the tree and into the sea of colorful wishes. Purple, blue, pink and green - the wishes danced and darted through the park. Their playfulness was intoxicating. The evergreen did its best to keep her little feet stuck to its branch, but as much as she wanted to be a good fairy and follow her mother’s orders, Shea couldn’t deny her innate impulse to explore.

Present Day

It was ten years ago, but the edges of her nightmares had only sharpened. There are signposts to every memory; checkpoints that Shea forced herself to remember so that the in-betweens of that particular night were never forgotten. The little goggles game. The bleeding red of her father’s tunic as he said goodbye to his wife just before she destroyed the True Love Wish. How the wind that swirled around her was black and wet, and the face that stretched out of it…the skull-grey color of their WishingKing’s face. How easily her beloved wings were torn from her back as the bright red explosion of the wish blinded her.

Bouncing between signposts allowed her to fill in the gaps of her memory and strengthen the anger, resentment and frustration as she lay in bed, fighting sleep. And though her thoughtful run from checkpoint to checkpoint always started with the relentless tug from the sap of the evergreen, the fire that fueled it all was not an image but an incessant reminder.

Had Shea known it was to be the last time she would have a conversation with her mom, she might have said it. She might have pushed through the little barrier in her heart that kept her safe - safe from expressing anything remotely vulnerable. She might have fought the urge to hold back the three words that, for years to come, she would grow accustomed to hating. Instead every night she would wonder if saying those three words would have made a difference.

It was impossible for Shea to release such imagery from her mind. It was impossible for her to forgive her parents for destroying a True Love Wish. And it was impossible to forget that she never told her mom she loved her.

Now to the exclusive sneak peak!

Chapter 1 - Family Secrets

To my Little “M” -

There are things in this world that are difficult to explain. Things that can be seen and things that cannot. I have seen plenty that I wish I hadn’t, but I have seen even more that I will always cherish. Your blossoming family is one thing I wish I could see more of, but not all wishes can come true.

Creating a will can be such a depressing process - to whom do I leave my most prized possessions? Do I even have possessions worthy of such a loving family as my own? Your grandmother always wished for you to be a mother. She and I knew that you would one day be a lovely one. Since that wish has already come true, I wonder what greater gift I can leave for you when I pass. There is one thing, and though it does not carry the worth of our little Ada, your young family will, I’m sure, find a good use for it.

Our family has held a one-acre plot of land in the city for three generations. It is needless to say that we have been offered sizable sums for the land, and yet I have not been able to part with it.

M, there is something special about the acre that I cannot share with you here. But since it now belongs to you, I am confident you will realize its importance soon enough.

I will see you on the other side.

With the truest of love,

Grandpa George

P.S. Ada will know

Miranda set the letter on the end table and sat back on the couch. She sighed, hiccupping through the aftermath of a good cry. Her grandfather George was 93 years-old. A World War 2 veteran, he stormed the beaches at Normandy, he survived the Battle of the Bulge, and he fell in love with his high school sweetheart. Grayson had called her earlier in the week to give her the news that Grandpa George had passed away and even though her grandpa’s health had been slowly failing, it was nevertheless a shock.

                      “Oh, God, I’ll miss him,” she sighed as Grayson joined her on the couch.

                      He placed his hand on her knee and joined her in a heavy breath. “I didn’t know your family owned an acre of land. In the city? I can’t believe they held on to it for so long,” he said. “And ‘Ada will know’? What’s that mean?”

                      “Grandpa George loved riddles, even though he was terrible at telling them,” she giggled. “He left an address. It’s actually not that far from our apartment. I can’t believe my mom never told me about it.”

                      “We’ll take a look over the weekend,” Grayson replied.

                      Miranda leaned her head on Grayson’s shoulder. They stared at George’s letter and Miranda’s portion of the will. It was strange that a man who had lived so fully was now just the simple contents of an envelope. It felt too organized and formal for a man who had done so much, but then again, funerals always do.

*************

George Anderson, at 20 years of age, stood up from within his foxhole and aimed a frozen rifle at an incoming storm of bullets and shrapnel. He shivered and not only because of the frozen forest that surrounded him. Fellow soldiers cried out. His superior officers screamed orders. The wounded begged for help over muffled rifle blasts. It all needed to end. The nightmare needed to stop, but despite his weapon, despite his orders, and despite his military training, the only thing he could think of doing was to make a wish. So he did. He wished so deeply he could feel his heart pound in his chest every time he said the word. “I wish,” he repeated out loud. “I wish!”

                      And so George Anderson, on a war torn battlefield, made a True Love Wish. Never had a True Love Wish been made without the support of a second Maker, but as the beacon of red light beamed up from George and through the dying branches of the surrounding forest, his WishKeeper stood along a thick, broken branch watching. His eyes were an intense forest green, matching his long, high collared overcoat. Golden stars rimmed the overcoat’s collar and poured, one-by-one, down his chest as buttons tightly formed the coat to his muscular body. Long, wavy brown hair whipped in the blistering wind as he gripped tighter to a wooden staff wand that was almost as tall as he. Norderon of Greenway was unbending against the frigid wind. His wings, a bright fluorescent green, spread out behind him, massive for such a small creature.

                      The powerful WishKeeper effortlessly wrangled George’s wish, flew the charged red light up to George’s chest, and softly spoke, “Until the end of days, my Maker, you will have me by your side.”

After the war ended and George Anderson returned home to his young wife and a changed world, he never told a soul what he saw in the forest that day. He never told anyone that a fairy spoke to him.

He never shared what he saw…until, a few weeks before his death, at 93 years of age, he watched his great granddaughter hand him a gift. The gift shined in the little girl’s hands. It gleamed a bright blue light and an unmistakable smile radiated from the little ball of blue energy.

He watched his granddaughter hand him a wish.