Once upon a time there was a little girl named Alicia -- and she had a problem.

Alicia had lots of friends who lived in many different places, but there was no way to get them all together in one place. It was also difficult for her to visit them, since they all lived so far apart.

One of her friends was a silly old bear with a red t-shirt that lived in a Certain Wood, protected by Copyrights and Trademarks and ringed with Lawyers and Executives and other Important People who specialize in Keeping Things That Should Be Shared, Unshared, Or We'll Sue.

This bear had a fondness for honey and a brain that wasn't very large (not necessarily a good combination), but he was good at thinking. He was terrible at remembering, but he had the thinking part down pat. He would spend hours thinking, but his thoughts were often forgotten before he could even mention them or write them down. Every once in a while, though, a Thought would stick -- and this time, he had a Very Good Thought and he remembered to save it so he could give it to his friend Alicia.

Well, Alicia came by for a visit one afternoon and the silly old bear was very excited to give her his Thought. It was too big a Thought to put in her pocket (where she kept a few lucky pennies and a worm or two). She was just about to tell her friend that she had no place to put the Thought when she remembered something her Mommy had told her -- listen. So she listened to the Thought and found that it fit quite nicely in the space between her ears that's often called a Brain.

The thing was, this Thought was a Very Special Thought and it turned out to be not just Very Special, but Very Important. Alicia didn't know that it was a Very Important Thought, but she knew it was a Special Thought, so she took it to her Daddy's workshop, because she knew her Daddy liked Thoughts and he could usually figure them out.

The Thought she brought him from her silly old bear friend was this: "If we had a door, a magical door, then we could tickle its chin and ask it politely to open up and take us wherever we want to go!"

When she got to the workshop, her Daddy was busy tinkering. He often tinkered and was even known to putter on occasion. On this day, he was busy tinkering with an old radio and just when Alicia came in, sparks flew out the back of the radio and there was an enormous puff of smoke. This didn't bother Alicia, because sparks and puffs of smoke happened all the time out in the workshop. But she did laugh because this time her Daddy's hair was standing straight up and smoking.

“Daddy,” she said. “I have a Thought I wanted to ask you about. It's a Special Thought.”

“And what would that Thought be, Little Bean?”

“I was just over to see Bear and he gave it to me. He was thinking that since me and him and all our friends live so far apart, that a magical door would be able to take us wherever we want to go. With a door like that, we'd be able to visit our friends from all over anytime we want!”

“That just might work,” he said. “But I've never made a magic door before. Let's ask Google about it.”

Google was a Gnome who lived in their garden. He was a little chap, about a foot tall and almost as wide, with a tall red hat and a dirty brown jacket. But he was smart. Google knew just about everything, including the time of day. He and Alicia's Daddy spent many hours talking about all kinds of Important Things like Philosophy and Tomatoes and The Weather.

“Google!” her Daddy called. “Are you free?”

Google popped his head up from behind a pumpkin. He had leaves and twigs in his hair and beard, which is usual, but he didn't realize there was a huge daisy stuck to his hat. Alicia found this funny and tried not to giggle, but it was hard. She new that gnomes take offense easily.

“What yer want?” Google asked.

“Do you know anything about magic doors?” her Daddy asked as he brushed soot from his shoulder and tried to get his hair to lay flat.

“I knows a thing'r two about'em. Why's yer askin'?”

“Alicia just brought me a Thought – a Special Thought – that her friend Bear came up with.”

“That silly ol' Bear in the red t-shirt? I'm amazed he remembered it.”

Google liked Bear and sometimes even brought him honey, but he knew Bear was terrible at remembering things.

So Alicia's Daddy shared the Thought with Google. Google sat down on a pumpkin and started picking twigs from his beard as he pondered.

“Hmmm... Yes... Hmmm... Maybe... Well... Hmmm...” and then he picked his nose.

“Well, can you help me?” Alicia's Daddy asked.

Google stopped picking his nose and cocked his head. “Yah... I can help yer, but we're gonna need to talk to the Fairies.”

“Why the Fairies?”

“They gots the Dust.”

Alicia was doing her best not to giggle at the daisy on Google's hat, but just then it slipped down and covered one of his eyes.

“What the...?!” Google cried as he brushed the flower off.

Alicia couldn't help herself and burst out in giggles, but Google didn't take offense.

The Fairies lived in an old maple tree past the garden and around the fence. They usually kept to themselves but on hot summer nights they would fly around the back yard, playing tag with Alicia. They also liked to dip into Alicia's Daddy's flask of whiskey, sneaking sips and then flying into walls and tree trunks.

When they got to the old maple, Google knocked on the trunk three times and then whistled. The tree trunk quivered and then split open at the bottom, revealing a tiny door about six inches high. There was the sound of a lock clicking and the door opened a crack.

“We don't want any,” said the Fairy inside. “We gave at the office and there's a check in the mail,” she added.

“It's just me, Meggie,” said Google. “I needs to talk to yer about some Dust.”

Meggie was a Sugar Plum Fairy and only trusted children. Being faced with a Gnome and a Big Human, she was leery of opening the door. But then she saw Alicia was with them and decided it was safe.

“What about the Dust?”, she asked.

“Alicia here wants her Daddy to make her a magic door so her and her friends can visit.”

“Hmmm... the Dust would do it, but what's in it for me?” she replied.

“Greedy Fairies,” Google muttered.

“What did you say?” Meggie asked, looking as offended as a Fairy can.

“Feed the Fairies,” Google replied. “Gots to feed the Fairies, I say. And I've got some loverly daisies for ya.”

“Daisies? Mmmmm... I love daisies.”

“So we gots us a deal? Dust for daisies?”

“Let me think about it,” she said and then shut the door. She tapped her foot a few times, straightened her wings, then opened the door again.

“I want the daisies first. Then you get the Dust.”

(If you're liking this story, I'll be posting rewrites and following chapters [currently working on #13] on my website: www.weefolkoutfitters.com. If you don't see them there, just yell at me. Yelling seems to be a good motivator for me.)