The blonde-haired girl stuck her thumb in her mouth and stared at me, clutching her blanket. She didn't answer my question about her name. I got the feeling that she didn't understand me, so, going with my gut feeling, I tried something else and used sign language to ask what her name was. She lit up and quickly signed back that she was Sarah.

Like I said, I thought she was a little young to be looking for an imaginary friend, but sometimes, there comes along a special child who needs a little extra, right? No wonder Sarah was quiet, and I'd been right; she needed someone she could talk to in her own special way.

"What do you think of Cecelia? Would you like to have her living in your backyard? You could teach her sign language. She'd like that a lot," I signed.

Sarah's eyes got wide and she shook her head vigorously. I took that as a definite no.

Now, I know I said that I had a lot of the big friends that wouldn't fit in houses, and that's entirely true. But, I also had some of the ones that could fly. In particular, I had Tinkerbell's cousins, the Bells. She had a lot of cousins and they flew around in a big group. They glowed and blinked and looked exactly like fireflies, unless you were paying close attention. And, wouldn't you know it, right at that moment, they came racing around the corner of the house playing tag.

Sarah was instantly mesmerized by the flying, blinking friends. She watched them with rapt attention. I, of course, watched her. It's important to match the child with the right friend. Or, in this case, friends, maybe.

The Bell in front, whose name as Bella, came over to the little girl and booped her on the nose with her wand. The little girl smiled and sneezed at the pixie dust. Soon, the group of them were flitting about Sarah who couldn't decide which Bell to watch so she tried to watch them all, I think.

Now, Bella was very experienced with children; she'd had many before. So, she knew how to sign. She said hello and Sarah returned the greeting. Bella invited her to play tag with them and soon, Sarah was running around the porch, blanket dropped and forgotten beside me.

I smiled. That was easy, I thought to myself. I knew that Bella and the other pixies had found their next child. I was glad; the pixies were so special, I couldn't imagine them retiring just yet.

I heard a peal of laughter from Cecelia. Looking back at her, I saw that she and Thomas were having a grand time. They were chatting up a storm, talking about goodness knows what.

I called out to Thomas, "Hey! Thomas! I think your sister has found her friend, or, rather, friends!"

"Yeah? Really? He said, plopping down and leaning up against Cecelia. Her fur shown in the sunlight; she hadn't been brushed so well in a long time. And, if I wasn't mistaken, she was just a tad smaller now than when she started the day. This was a great development.

I stuck out my thumb and pointed it toward Sarah, who had settled in the corner of the porch to color and chat with Bella. The other pixies had arranged themselves, forming a pool of color, around Sarah and were apparently having a tea party. They, being polite pixies, of course offered Sarah the first pour.

Thomas came to stand beside me and watch. He was amazed that Bella already knew sign language. It seemed like a few of the other pixies did, too.

"Oh, wow! They're perfect!" Thomas said, beaming about his sister. "She gets lonely when I'm not around and we can't be together all the time."

"I think that Bella and her cousins would be quite happy with Sarah, too."

"So, is there any paperwork or whatever that needs to be signed?" he asked.

I laughed. "Oh, no, we don't do that kind of thing here. We expect everyone to hold up their end and do their best. All Sarah has to do is to pay attention to them until they outgrow each other. She's not allowed to be cruel, like trying to pull their wings off or anything. They'll come straight back here if something like that happens," I warned.

"Sarah's not like that. She's a really gentle girl," Thomas said seriously. "So, we can take them home with us?"

"You bet. All of the Bells that want to go."

Bella came flitting over in my direction and I held a hand out for her. She was a pink and yellow Bell dressing in an outfit that had a yellow top and a pink skirt. Today, she'd colored her hair pink to match. "So, Bella, do you like Sarah?"

"I like her a great deal! She's a charming child. I'll go with her and I think that five of the other Bells want to go, too."

"Very good! Now, I'd like for you to meet Thomas, Sarah's brother."

Bella turned to Thomas and curtsied. Bella was very old-fashioned, you see. "It's very nice to meet you. My name is Bella."

Thomas bowed back to her, "My name is Thomas. I'm glad that you like my sister. I thought it might be a little early to bring her, but I wanted to give it a try." I like seeing how comfortable Thomas was with the friends.

"Such a thoughtful brother! Sarah will need that in her life." Bella looked up at Cecelia. "And, will you be taking Cecelia home with you?"

"Oh, no, I'd like to; she's totally cool, But, my parents think I'm too old for an imaginary friend." He seemed a little sad.

"Hmm..." I said, "I think I might have an idea of what to do about that..."