The Unfolding Drama of Jeremy

Jeremy wasn’t the kind of kid who tried to get in trouble. Trouble just had a way of finding him—like mud to sneakers after a rainstorm.

He lived in Graypine, a town that looked pretty normal at first glance: tree-lined streets, a pizza place that smelled like melted cheese from a mile away, and a middle school with squeaky gym floors. If you stared long enough, though, you might notice a glimmer in the air, a shimmer at the corner of your eye. People said it was the fairies—if you believed in that sort of thing. Jeremy didn’t spend much time worrying about it. He had other things on his mind.

Sports, for one. Jeremy played anything that involved running, catching, or getting knocked around a little. Flag football on Saturdays, street hockey in the cul-de-sac, pickup basketball at the park—he loved it all. When he wasn’t playing, he was riding his scratched-up mountain bike over every trail and jump he could find. His knees were a permanent collection of bruises, like a map of all his best stunts.

But Jeremy wasn’t just about action. His brain worked overtime, too. Teachers called him “clever,” which sometimes meant “figures things out faster than we can explain them.” He built his own comic book worlds, sketched new designs for ramps and gadgets, and once turned a cardboard box into a working periscope. The problem? His ideas didn’t always match school rules—or gravity.

Like the time he and his best friend Mason tried to launch a paper-airplane glider off the roof of the gym. It almost worked until the janitor found them and called the principal. Jeremy’s parents had gotten the “He means well, but…” talk more than once.

Despite the close calls, Jeremy’s heart was in the right place. He’d defend a friend getting teased, help a neighbor carry groceries, or stay late to clean up the field after practice. He just had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And sometimes, late at night, when he was pedaling home under the streetlights, he’d catch a faint sparkle drifting between the trees—a flash too quick to be a firefly. Most kids would have stopped to stare. Jeremy just tightened his grip on the handlebars, a grin sneaking across his face. Whatever those flickers were, they weren’t going to slow him down.

Because Jeremy had plans. Big ones. And if the fairies of Graypine wanted to tag along for the ride, well… they’d better keep up.