Published in fishladder 2021

Our herd of eager seven year-olds
peered through the tiny white windows
gawking at the three
little purple couches, a two
inch tall red kitchen table, four
miniature wooden chairs

We stood there waiting
until finally
a small light licked on
from within
and the kids squealed with a
heavenly euphoria

“There she is!”
“I saw the fairy!”
I would try my hardest
but I never saw her
not even the back of her heel
or fringe of her dress
Then the light would flick off again

Years later
as the girls at church told me how God
had spoken to them in a dream
how he’d visited them through a vision or
sent them a secret message in their alphabet soup
I wondered why I had never heard from him
why I never saw those things
why fairies still refused to show me their faces
and why God never had the decency to,
at the very least,
shoot me a text.