The room, big as a football field, had model trains, miniature villages, towns, and cities, mountains, forests, lakes worthy of the name great, and people to scale that appeared to move like real nineteenth-century people. The boys had soldiers that would really fight on the battlefield, and all magically protected, so Warthead the ogre could not accidentally knock things over, or crush things. Grubby, could not cheat by moving things when the others were not looking. All the same, the dwarf twins, Picker and Poker, complained that Grubby was cheating. They could not prove it, but they said he would hardly be worthy of being an imp if he did not at least try to cheat.

“So what if he does?” James said. He watched his green uniformed troops load up on the freight train. The girls and baby dolls waved and cried. James would have to think about that. “This is still the best game I ever played,” he said. He felt sure of that.

“Picker and I are thinking of making an alliance,” Poker said.

“Grubby has Warthead assisting,” Picker added, to suggest Grubby had two on his team working together, as if Warthead might be a help rather than a hindrance.

“I don’t know,” James shook his head. “Blue and Gray usually don’t go together, especially with Civil War soldiers.”

“But we have to do something to beat Grubby’s redcoats,” Picker complained.

“I said James would not be interested,” Poker said. “His green coats are not losing.”

“James…” The elderly dwarf, Mrs. Copperpot called from the door.

“Supper?” James wondered out loud. Ever since he gained a dwarf constitution and endurance, he found he could always eat something. In truth, he gained more or less everything from what some called the middle ones: dwarfs, imps, gnomes, and even some ogre strength. He could find Warthead easily because he stunk so bad, but he could find Grubby, Picker, Poker, or even Mrs. Copperpot, just by taking a great whiff of air and thinking about them, even if they hid in a labyrinth. The train room seemed like a labyrinth, but James could sniff and find what he needed, wherever it might be. It felt like a sixth sense.

“James…”

“Coming,” he hollered. He glanced at Picker and Poker and started off, knowing right where the door was in that great room. Right now, Mrs. Copperpot was calling, and he thought it best to go to her rather than her come out and maybe disturb or mess up the playing field.

James saw Lady Biggles and Lord Noen standing by Mrs. Copperpot and the door. James only saw the dwarf king and queen a couple of times, and briefly over the last few days. He wondered what was up, but he naturally turned to Mrs. Copperpot to explain.

“Lady Alice wants all of us in the Annex room by the banquet hall,” she said.

“Will there be food?” James asked.

Mrs. Copperpot let out her old grin. “You are my good eater, James.”

~~~*~~~

David ran up the slide at super elf speed and hid behind the pirate wheel. Oren and Alden might not find him right away.  Just to be safe, David got small, to stand about six inches tall, so he could squeeze between the wooden boards. He let his elf ears and elf senses focus, to listen for the boys. He heard the animals in the petting area scuffling about, and the birds up in the tree house area.

David never got to go on the playground in the sixth grade, or in the fifth grade. He hardly got to go in the fourth grade, and now that he would be going into the seventh grade in the fall, playgrounds were supposed to be for the little kids and beneath him. But honestly, he enjoyed all the climbing, swinging, and running around. And now that he had been granted every gift an elf might have, included the sure footedness of a mountain goat, and he could run around at super speed, he honestly wanted to run around all day. Besides, this playground was the equivalent of a dozen of the best city playgrounds, a dozen school playgrounds, a dozen of the best back-yard playgrounds, and a good dozen fast food playgrounds, and without ever repeating.

“The best theme park ever,” he said to himself, and squeezed back into the space between the wood as a tram moved along the wires overhead. He looked further up to the treetops, where Galadriel might live, or maybe it looked more like an Ewok village. David felt uncertain about the roller coaster, but he did not mind the treetops.

“David…”

David heard Floren, Oren’s big sister and daughter of King Strongheart and Queen Lisel.

“What?” David said, softly without vacating his hiding place. He knew her good elf ears would pick it up, even if he risked Alden and Oren hearing him, and maybe zeroing in on his position.

Floren answered. “Your mother and Lady Alice want you in the annex beside the banquet hall.”

“Come on boy. Don’t dawdle.” David heard the words of old Inaros, one who David since discovered, at fifteen-hundred-years-old, was the eldest elder elf in recorded history.

“Coming,” David said, and he wiggled out from between the wooden boards and returned to his regular size. He spied Oren and Alden sneaking up past the gangplank, and they showed unhappiness at being found out by the look on their faces. Whatever they planned, it was probably a good surprise. “Hold that thought,” David said, and raced off at super speed. Oren and Alden followed, matching his speed.

David saw Strongheart and Lady Lisel with Floren, by the door to the game room where all the old videogames and pinball machines were kept. Inaros was there, too; but he sat in a wheelchair that Floren pushed. David paused, and felt bad about seeing Inaros in a wheelchair, but it prompted another thought in his mind.

“My dad?”

“Resting comfortably,” Strongheart said.

“Fine, as far as we know,” Lady Lisel added. “This is not about that, as far as I know.”

David nodded. He accepted that. He put a hand on the back of Inaros’ wheelchair and walked beside the elf, while Floren pushed.

~~~*~~~

Beth got small as a fairy. She folded her wings in tight to her back and slid down the best water slide, ever. She came behind Holly, and Mistletoe followed her, Mistletoe’s betrayal long since forgotten. It took a long time to get half-way down a mountain, but they ended in a large pool of fresh water that connected to the sea. Mermaids frolicked in the pool.

Zinnia, Daffodil, and Hyacinth came behind. Daffodil said the trip was too scary for her and she had to have one in front and one behind. Needless to say, they were all screaming by the time they reached the pool, and the mermaids paused to laugh.

Beth had to come down the mountain in her fairy size, because sometimes the chute was only a few inches wide. She only got big again, her wings disappearing, when she came to the pool. She had her fairy weave clothing shaped into a nice bikini, and it automatically grew when she grew, so no worries there. She flew gently to a small beach where they had towels. She could fly in her big size, and she smiled at the thought. Flying, generally was a heady feeling. All fairies could fly big, though that was not a well-known fact, but they flew much slower than in their regular, small size with wings. For Beth, though, being big felt most natural, so she stayed big most of the time.

Holly, who had yet to get big in front of Beth, rushed to her shoulder, even though Beth’s hair was soaking wet. “Let’s do it again,” Holly shrieked in Beth’s ear. Beth instinctively put a hand to her ear against the volume of the shriek but smiled. Fairies tended to be very one-tracked, and especially the younger ones. She knew at fairy speed they could get back half-way up a real mountain and at the start of the slide in less than a minute. Even in her small size, it would take Beth a little longer, because she was still so new at this flying business, and she was not an actual fairy. But for her, three times down the slide was enough. She wanted to join the mermaids and get some late afternoon sun.

“Come on-y.” Holly tugged on her hair.

“Now, wait a minute,” Beth said. “Before we go anywhere, I think you should get big so I can see you in your big size.”

Holly backed off and flitted back and forth a few times. She thought about it, as Mistletoe stepped out of the water in her big size and said, “No chance of that happening.” Holly flew in a gentle backflip, as Daffodil gladly got big and stepped up on Beth’s other side.

“Now, Holly. I’ve been little, so I’ve seen you like you really are. Besides, now that I have fairy eyes, I can see both distance and small things really well.”

“Better than eagle eyes,” Daffodil said.

“You have everything a fairy has,” Mistletoe suggested.

“Not magic,” Beth said.

“Maybe you do,” Hyacinth said as she and Zinnia fluttered up.

“We don’t know about that,” Zinnia added, and in a way that suggested the girls talked about it.

“Okay,” Holly said suddenly. Her little mind made up. She got big and stood there, her wings gone, looking for all the world like an eleven-year-old girl. She almost looked like a stick figure in her little bikini, but Beth got a great big smile and stood, reached out and hugged her.

“You look beautiful,” Beth said.

“Too skinny,” Holly said, with a shake of her head as she backed up. She glanced at her sister, Mistletoe. “But maybe one day,” she said, without spelling out her hope.

“Beth.” Mrs. Aster flew up and interrupted. “You are needed at the castle.” Mistletoe stood as her mother and father Lord Oak and Lady Ivy, the fairy king and queen flew up.

“Nothing bad, I hope,” Daffodil said as she also stood.

“Not that I know of,” Mrs. Aster said. “Your mother and Lady Alice want to see all the children together.” Beth rolled her eyes for Mistletoe, but Lady Ivy caught it.

“Now Beth,” she said. “You will never stop being your mother’s child.”

Beth knew that was true, but she still wished her mother would let her grow up and be an adult, eventually. She turned to the girls. “You will have to do the slide without me.”

Daffodil shook her head. “I think I’ll stay here.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Mistletoe said.

“I’ll watch them,” Hyacinth said, and flew off.

A small Holly already shouted “Yipee!” and she and Zinnia were already zooming up the mountain.

Beth looked at Oak, Ivy, and Mrs. Aster. She looked at herself, got small again so she could fly with some speed, and followed them toward the castle.