Best In Show - Chapter One

Patrick was digging through his closet trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. He always struggled to pick a costume, which usually led to his Mom making him be part of a group costume with his sisters.

Evie, the oldest sibling at eleven years old, always knew what she wanted to be for Halloween. This year she had a crazy idea, she wanted to do a “Dog Show”. She had all her stuffed dogs with ribbons on them and she was supposed to be a “Judge”. She had already dropped a hint more than once that Patrick should dress as a dog. Which he refused every time. What would he tell his classmates on Halloween?

That meant the pressure was on. He needed to find something, anything, so he didn’t have to dress as some prissy mutt for his sister’s ridiculous idea.

His younger sister Zoe, who was only seven, would do whatever Evie wanted. Although she apparently didn’t have to dress like a dog, she was going to be a dog owner. Which seemed like a lame costume according to Patrick. He honestly thought this was an elaborate way to get him to dress up like a dog.

“What are you doing?” Evie asked from his ‘doorway’. Which wasn’t much of a doorway. His ‘room’ was actually just a small walk-in closet at the end of the hall. Originally the three of them had shared the master bedroom with three beds. But Patrick had made the plea to his parents that he would be fine on his own in the tiny space. They agreed as long as he was happy with it. That meant a lot of his stuff was donated, moved to other rooms or in the boxes on the shelves. He discovered that ‘old’ Halloween costumes were nowhere to be found.

“Just looking for a costume… For Halloween.” Patrick told his nosy sister, she was technically in charge while his parents were out.

“We got rid of them. Besides, I thought you were going to be a puppy!” Evie exclaimed.

“I am not!” Patrick whined back, he had told her like a million times already.

“Well… Zoe wants to go play in the woods. So you have to come.” Evie told him, almost demanding him to jump to attention. Just like a dog who loves to go for walks.

Patrick moaned. It’s not like he hated the woods behind his house, in fact the opposite was true. But Zoe would make them play some pretend game the whole time and it would take forever.

“Come on.” Evie said and yanked him out of his tiny ‘room’.

Patrick was exactly right and Zoe was pretty insistent about playing princesses in the woods. She was running from tree to tree grabbing it with her hand and spinning around dramatically. “You’ll never catch me!” She screamed while Patrick and Evie walked calmly behind her.

“You could be like a Dalmatian or a Husky or a Poodle!” Evie suggested to him for the umpteenth time.

“I’m not going to be a poodle!” Patrick hissed at her.

“You're pretty poodley already.” Evie said and ruffled his blonde curly hair.

“Stop it!” Patrick demanded.

“OH MY GOD LOOK!” Zoe screeched and pointed up in a tree.

Evie, Patrick and Zoe were all stunned. It looked like there was a cat in a match against a small human shaped bug on a branch. It was bright blue and sparkled in the sunlight.

“It’s a fairy!” Zoe gasped and picked up a stick and hurled it uselessly towards the cat who hissed.

“It can’t be.” Patrick said but all the same picked up a stick and threw it much closer to the cat who then took notice of the three of them. It wasn’t until Evie shouted at the cat that it scampered off.

The three of them stared at the fairy-like creature until it looked down at them. “Oh! Children!” He spoke.

“It is a fairy!” Patrick exclaimed in disbelief. “It talked.”

“Well crumbs.” The fairy said and fluttered gracefully and sat on a tree limb that was closer to the kids eye sight. He was wearing all blue and had pointed feet. “Thanks for the help.. I guess… But I had it under control.”

“You were about to be eaten.” Patrick told him but observed the little creature. “Can you like… Do magic?”

“Magic!” The fairy said rather harshly. “I am a blue fairy, I perform feats!”

“He does magic!” Zoe squealed.

“Can we have a wish, for like… Saving you?” Patrick bargained.

“A wish!” The fairy gasped but then considered it for a moment. “I suppose some type of reward is in order. Fine. One wish each, we’ll start with the boy since he asked.”

“Oh umm. Can I have like a hundred more wishes?” Patrick asked, he knew that's what you were supposed to ask for.

“No.” The fairy told him firmly. “One wish and it has to be reasonable and fun.”

“Uhhh” Patrick hummed trying to think of something. “Can I have like a million dollars?”

“What is a dollar?” The Blue Fairy asked, confused.

“Like money.”

“I can’t make money.” The fairy told him, waving his hand dismissively.

“What can you do?” Patrick asked, the wish granting fairy didn’t seem all that powerful.

“Hmph.” The fairy huffed at him. “Something reasonable. Like I could make a girl in class fall in love with you?”

“No, gross.”

“I could make everything think you’re rich. That’s close.” He offered.

“But I won’t be able to buy anything.” Patrick said. “Oh! I got an idea.”

“Alright but it needs to be fun and reasonable.” The fairy reminded him.

“Well, you see. In my house we only have one bedroom and I sleep in a storage closet and my sisters share a room.” Patrick explained.

“Uh huh.” The blue Fairy said. “So you want your own room in your house?”

“Exactley.” Patrick said. “That’s pretty reasonable.”

“It is!” The fairy said and fluttered up to look at him face to face. Show me your room.

Patrick, Evie and Zoe lead the blue fairy back through the woods to their house. Zoe couldn’t stop asking questions to the fairy. She asked if she could have a puppy, the answer was no. She asked if she could be the smartest girl in class, yes but it would just make everyone else dumber. By the time they got to their backyard they were pretty certain of the little fairy’s powers.

Patrick was all too happy to lead the blue fairy to his little ‘room’. “See.” He told him and the fairy flew around the room. “Can I have the biggest room in the house!” He exclaimed.

“Sure!” The fairy told him. “I can do that!” The fairy flew around in a circle and wispy blue magic filled up his room. The only thing that changed was rather than a single mattress on the floor it looked like the room consisted of just a bunk bed.

“What happened?” Patrick asked, he was both amazed at the display of magic but also confused since this was not what he had asked for.

The blue fairy smirked a little grin. “Well. I swapped the rooms! I’m no carpenter. I can’t make a new room.” He told them.

The three kids looked at the next door and what once had a sign reading ‘Evie and Zoe’ now read ‘Patrick’.

“Wow!” Patrick shouted and burst into his new room. It was like a collection of everything Patrick had blown up to fill the master bedroom. The pink walls had been replaced with racing stripes of green and blue. Pokemon, Video Games and movie posters decorated the walls and he even had his own TV with his video game consoles already hooked up. In the middle of the room there was a huge king bed for him to sleep on, a massive upgrade from his old setup.

His sisters followed him into the room. Evie had a scowl on her face and Zoe was a little amused. “Where is all of our stuff!” Evie complained.

The blue fairy was busy going through how he had found all kinds of toys in the house to fill the room. “The basement.” He told her.

“This is so unfair!” She complained. “This is our room!”

“Not anymore.” The fairy told her. “Now. I think I’ll be heading off.”

Patrick just started giggling which turned into laughter. “That is fun!” He told the fairy who grinned back at him.

“What about my wish! I want my room back.” Evie growled at the magical being.

“Yeah, I want a wish too!” Zoe agreed.

“Well… The thing is… I can only do one at a time.” The fairy told her. “But as a fairy I promise to come back and make your second wish. Maybe in a couple days.”

The fairy then flew out the window with a short wave.

“You can’t have this room!” Evie told him.

“Uh it looks like it’s mine now.” Patrick shrugged. “Enjoy the closet.”

“I’m going to get it changed back!” Evie growled at him. “Come on Zoe.”

“Where are my Barbies?” Zoe asked as the two of them slammed ‘Patrick’s’ bedroom door.

When their parents got home Evie and Zoe tried to convince them to swap rooms back but they were happy to let Patrick keep his new wish granted space. There things had been dispersed throughout the house. Some of them were even stored in boxes in Patrick’s room which he was happy to let them try and find lost outfits, toys and school supplies.

Patrick found the whole predicament endlessly entertaining. Laughing and poking fun at the fact that their shared room was nothing more than a bunk bed in a closet.

Zoe didn’t really seem to mind and they spent most of their time in Patrick’s room anyway. It actually made Patrick feel like he had less privacy then before in some ways since Evie refused to spend any time in her ‘room’ then she had to.

The dog show outfit was now laid out in Patrick’s room with all the stuffed animals and accessories, there was no room in the closet and with Halloween just a couple a day away. Evie hadn’t given up on him dressing like a dog for Halloween and even said it’s only fair.

Patrick was playing video games with Zoe while Evie babysat again, she was sitting on his bed. His room is the now defacto hang out spot of the house. But Patrick hit pause when he heard knocking on his window.

He got up and gasped. “It’s the fairy!” He announced and opened the door to let him fly in.

“I see you are enjoying your room.” He said with a grin.

“We are stuck in a closet!” Evie complained.

“Well I suppose that's true.” He told her. “But I came back to give you your wish.” He said to Evie.

“Well I wish Zoe and I had our room back, with all our stuff returned.” She told him.

“No can do, I just gave it to him.” The fairy declined.

“That’s so unfair!” Evie shouted.

“You can’t just undo his wish, make a new one.” The fairy told her.

Evie looked at Patrick. He was smiling like he had actually gotten the million dollars he asked for. “I wish Patrick was stuck in a Poodle costume.”

Patrick’s eyes went wide and his smile disappeared. “You can’t do that!” He told her.

With another wave of his hand blue magic flew into the air. This time they could see the effects of the blue fairy’s magic on Patrick's outfit. He lifted off the ground while the magic reworked the fabric of his outfit. The fabric unwove into threads and his hoodie extended past his hands and the fabric crawled up his neck. “Make it stop!” He squealed.

“He’s flying!” Zoe said unhelpfully.

His hoodie and jeans wove together in the air and slowly everything turned a creamy white. Paw-like mittens appeared on his hand, attached to the sleeves. His shoes turned into paw-like slippers attached to the legs of the pants. The back of the one piece outfit sprouted a tail and large floppy ears shot out of the hood. Everything tightened up around him leaving an opening for his face, he couldn’t even pull the hood down. There were no seams, zippers or buttons. It was as if it had always been a single piece of fabric. The last thing that happened was curly cream coloured soft fur erupted all over the outfit, leaving him extra fluffy. The magic stopped and he landed on the ground in a heap.

Both sisters burst into laughter as Patrick tried to find a zipper or tug at the face opening with his mittened hands. Nothing would budge. “Get this off me.” He demanded. “This isn’t reasonable!”

“Well it’s within my power.” The fairy told the group. “And it is a good look for you.”

“This is humiliating!”

“Now you can be part of my group costume!” Evie squealed in delight.

“Halloween is in two days!” Patrick argued. “How do I go to the bathroom!”

“Like a doggy!” The fairy told him with a chuckle. “If you lift your leg high enough it’ll open up enough for you to go.” Now the fairy was smirking. Just like with the room there was a bit of a trick.

“This is ridiculous!” Patrick growled in frustration. “I can’t live like this!”

“You look adorable.” Evie told him.

“What! I look totally stupid. I have school! Is this like permanent?” Patrick was starting to sound panicked.

“Stuck is stuck.” The fairy said.

Even Evie was starting to look a little concerned. But she pushed those thoughts away. “You’re going to be the Best In Show!” She enthused.

The blue fairy giggled at the group of kids. “Okay! This was an easy one so I’ll be back on Halloween for the last wish.” He told them and zipped out the still open window.

Patrick tried to pull off the fur covered paws or even the slippers but everything was attached. The costume itself was all one piece, it didn’t even have seams, having been magically rewoven around him. The tail bounced against his leg like it was on an elastic and the floppy ears on either side of his head kept hitting him in the face when he spun his head around too fast.

Evie watched as his brother struggled with the impossibly adorable puppy costume. She smiled a little at how cute it made him look. “Is it uncomfortable?” She asked.

“Umm, no.” Patrick admitted. If anything, the costume was very comfortable. “But like… I’m not wearing any like… Underwear.” He told her.

Evie snorted. “Well poodles don’t wear undies.” She told him.

Patrick just grunted at her which made her giggle. After a few hours Patrick had taken more extreme measures. He had tried to work scissors into the opening around his face but the fabric wouldn’t cut. He had almost tried poking it with a knife but chickened out. “I can't get it off!” He shouted at Evie.

“Well Mom and Dad get home soon, maybe they’ll help.” She suggested.

“You’ll get in trouble.” He told her.

“What for?” She said with a shrug.

“For wishing me to be… be… A poodle!” He cried.

“They didn’t care about my room. I doubt they’ll care about this.” Evie dismissed.

“I… What?” Patrick stumbled but came to the realization that she might be right. Would they even notice he was wearing a costume? It was almost a comforting feeling when he thought about it, if no one noticed then it wouldn’t be that humiliating.

The problem was when his Mom got home that wasn’t what happened. When she saw Patrick she started asking questions. “Why are you wearing that?” She asked him when she went into his room.

“It’s his Halloween costume.” Evie answered for him. “He’s a poodle.”

“Isn’t it a bit… Cute?” His Mom asked which made Patrick scrunch his face at her. If anything his Mom was now too interested in the outfit.

“Mom, it’s stuck with like magic or something.” Patrick complained.

“Well take it off before you go to bed.” Mom said, ignoring her son’s comment and left.

Evie just giggled and snorted. “Good luck with that.”