Callista lives in Virginia and is eleven years old. She loves to read and write. Her favorite books are Time of the Fireflies, Shakespeare's Secret, and A Mango Shaped Space. Her favorite sport is volleyball, but she also enjoys gymnastics.
“Once every month or two, a traveling merchant would come to town with pencils and paper. If she could scrape together enough Helios, Dellya would buy a small package. One day, the man came through in his wagon, and Dellya ran out to the road after finding five Helios on the dining room floor, hoping to be able to write Sono again.”
Dellya Dillon lived in a small, poor village south of where the waters meet the skies. Two years ago, she had been assigned a pen pal from the next land over, but writing materials were scarce, and Dellya hadn’t been able to send more than three letters. Her pen pal, named Sono, had described his village to be prosperous and joyful. Dellya wished for this in her own home.
Once every month or two, a traveling merchant would come to town with pencils and paper. If she could scrape together enough Helios, Dellya would buy a small package. One day, the man came through in his wagon, and Dellya ran out to the road after finding five Helios on the dining room floor, hoping to be able to write Sono again. The seller recommended to her a beautiful pencil that almost seemed to glow a little! She handed him her coins and he gave her the pencil and a slip of paper.
At home, Dellya read the note. It informed her that her new pencil had powers! It would grant her unlimited wishes. Dellya didn’t take long to think about her first request. She wished, of course, to live in Sono’s village.
Dellya was immediately transported to Sono’s house. She explained what had happened, and he offered to let her live with him and his family. Dellya accepted. She ate better than she had in her whole life combined and went to bed content.
Upon awaking in the morning, Dellya felt a knot in her stomach. She took all day to figure out what it was. After supper, she realized that though there was no doubt Sono’s village was richer, safer even, she missed her family. So, she went to her new room in search of the magical, glowing pencil, only to find she had forgotten to bring it with her. She ran out the back door, weeping. She had been sitting on the back steps for a few minutes, crying, when she heard a voice behind her.
“What seems to be the matter?” Dellya whipped around. There was a unicorn, and it was talking to her!
“I want to go home!” Dellya cried.
“No worries, I can take you there. Where is your village?” The unicorn asked. Dellya told him, and next thing she knew, she was sitting on his back as he raced across the land at an unbelievable speed.
In no time at all, Dellya was back in her hut. She used her pencil to ask for the things needed to send a message of explanation to Sono. Then, she put the pencil away. She decided she was very happy with the life she had and wouldn’t be needing it for a while.
