One day, a father and his daughter were out eating at their favorite restaurant, The Noodle Shop. The father savored his meal as well as getting the night off from cooking. Meanwhile, his daughter enjoyed the establishment’s macaroni and cheese. As was their custom once they got their meal, they wandered through the restaurant until they reached their regular booth. While they ate their meal, the bell hanging from the entrance announced a change to their ritual.
A small man, walking stiffly, trying not to spill his food, approached their booth. Without asking, he sat down next to the father saying, “I hate to interrupt, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation and unfortunately for you sir, she is correct.“ Unicorns exist.”
The father looked down his shoulder, speaking firmly, “You shouldn’t barge into someone’s table like that.”
“Many creatures exist.” The stranger ignored the rebuke as he leaned closer to the child. “In fact, there’s more than you can imagine.”
The father looked at his daughter and discovered that she was becoming mesmerized by this stranger’s words. So he elbowed the stranger as his voice grew harsher. “Leave us alone. We’re trying to enjoy our meal.”
The stranger grunted, standing up from the booth. After retrieving his meal, he spun around and left, muttering something under his breath.
The father watched the interloper leave, then turned to look at his daughter, saying, “I’m sorry about that, darling.”
“No worries, dad.” The daughter watched the stranger casually walked around a corner before vanishing into the restaurant.
The father smiled at his daughter and then felt the surrounding air thicken, prompting him to look up from her. He saw the interior of The Noodle Shop begin to grow and expand and shook his head with shock as the windows faded from view. As the proportions expanded, he glanced at his daughter and noticed fear appearing on her face.
As his daughter’s fear rose, she looked at her father and shadowed beings grabbed him, whisking him away. Without thinking, she leaped from the booth, trying to grab hold of her father, but her fingers just missed him, and she fell upon the floor that had sprouted grass.
She lay there crying when something began nuzzling at her head. She pulled her head off the soft grass, hoping to find her father, but discovered a majestic unicorn. In different circumstances, the child would have squealed with joy at the sight. However, she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. “What happened to my father?”
“He was kidnapped, little one,” the unicorn said, with an angelic voice.
Sniffling, the little girl looked up. “Do you know where he is?”
“Indeed, child,” the unicorn said, brushing the girl’s shoulder, “and the wizard who took him will not easily relinquish what he has taken.”
“Can you help me?” The little girl pleaded as she slowly stood.
The unicorn shook her head, answering, “I cannot help you by myself, child.” With those words, tears welled up around the girl’s eyes. Before they could flow, the unicorn nuzzled her cheek. “Though I have friends that might help us rescue him. Come, climb on my back and wrap your arms around my neck as tightly as you can, child.”
The little girl followed her directions. Once settled, the unicorn sped through the partially transformed restaurant. They passed by numerous tables and booths as they sought the unicorn’s friends. They collected a wise and fierce wolf, a silent and noble stag, and a bold and stoic bear.
Each consented to help the child rescue her father and the party quickly made its way to the wizard’s sacred grove, in the heart of the endlessly forested noodle shop, once its kitchen. In the supposed center, amidst the stoves and burners, the tile floor had been partially transformed into a sandy surface. She saw her father tied to a steel beam inside of a circle of stones and small pots.
Those shadowed figures who’d taken him and the stranger who had interrupted their meal were circling her father. The man no longer wore baggy clothes, letting her see who he really was. From her simplistic understanding of mythology, he was a satyr. She lowered her voice and said, “What are they doing?”
“They are preparing the ritual to transfer your father’s essence to the wizard.” The wolf answered.
“How can we save him?” the frightened child asked, tears tumbling down her cheeks.
“We can fight off the satyrs outside of the circle, but the wizard will stay to complete his ritual. You need to disrupt it. If you break the circle, he will be dispersed,” the bear said with his lyrical voice.
“Climb down, child,” the unicorn said, “and I’ll endeavor to keep the wizard’s magic from finding you. We will follow your lead in this, child.”
The child climbed down from the unicorn’s back and, without thinking, she ran towards the circle. Her newfound friends, true to their word, forced the shadowed satyrs away while the unicorn did what she could to shield the child. Her fingers found an exposed handle of a pot. Wrapping her fingers around it, she pulled with all her might, yet somehow it wouldn’t budge. She reached deep down and found strength she didn’t know she had and pulled.
And as the wizard was leaping for her, the pot gave way, and she flew back, falling onto the sandy tiles. A massive thunderclap erupted, flinging the girl into something hard a moment before a brilliant light washed over her as she fell unconscious.
When she woke up, she found she was sitting in the booth with her father, as if nothing had happened except for the pair of pale blue mittens resting on her lap. The moment she touched them, she realized how angelically soft they were. After picking them up, she found images of the creatures who’d helped her. With a smile, she looked up at her father, knowing everything was fine.