Years pass and Matthew begins to see the fairies that follow Arthur around. He doesn’t say anything since Alfred doesn’t seem to see them and neither does Gilbert, so he keeps it to himself. Though one night after he is put to bed he wakes up to a nightmare. Instead of screaming and running or calling for help he curls into a tight little ball and hides under his covers and pillows, hands over his head and whimpering. One of the fairies, a petite blonde with long wavy hair held in pigtails and violet eyes, drifts down close to him and wriggles her way under the covers to illuminate Matthew’s hiding place. When Matthew takes notice of her he stops whimpering and she smiles at him.
“There now you’re safe.” She reaches out and pats him on the head softly, as a mother would her child. The fairy continues to talk to him, answering questions he asks and telling him her name.
“Madeline is a pretty name.”
She smiles and flits about in the small space. As Matthew begins to fight sleep she encourages him to lay down and relax. Eventually he does and comes out from under the covers. He is still scared though and asks Madeline to tell him a story. Smiling kindly she settles down onto his pillow and begins to tell him of a fairy named TinkerBell and the human boy she taught to fly. at the end of the story, and just before Matthew fell asleep, he drowsily asked if Madeline could ever teach him to fly. She hums and says she could try. By the next morning Matthew has forgotten his request but not his new fairy friend.
Matthew also continues to go to school like any other human child. He stays friends with Christine and they make a few other friends, though he keeps Madeline and the other fairies a secret. With his friends Matthew is able to improve his English and soon he is speaking it fluently. However this does not prevent the bullies from tormenting poor Matthew, but his friends are always there to defend him.
When Matthew reached the summer of his fifth grade year he begged his brother to take him with him to the world meeting. During the school year they had started studying Social Studies and Current Events. Matthew had been fascinated by these subjects and he was even more intrigued knowing his big brother was involved in them. So he wanted to go with his brother to see how much fun he had when he went to them, meeting all sorts of interesting people and all.
“No Mattie, you’re too young to go.”
“But Al.” Matthew’s voice picked up a whiny tone to it. “I really want to go though. You keep telling me I’m like you, so why can’t I go. Arthur goes to these meetings and Gilbert used to go too.”
“Wait how do you know Gilbert used to go...? Oh, nevermind. Listen its too dangerous, you can’t go.”
Matthew pouts and the two stare at each other for a while before Alfred sighs and rubs the back of his head. “Fine, you can come. But there are some rules you need to follow.”
Matthew smiles and nods, waiting for Alfred to continue.
“Rule one: Don’t be alone with anyone but Arthur, Gilbert and myself. Rule two: These meetings are like school, so take notes on what is said and raise your hand if you have a question or comment. Rule three: If I tell you to do something you listen. Understand?”
Nodding Matthew responds, “Yeah.” He gives his brother a tight hug while smiling broadly.
With that decided Alfred takes Matthew out to find him a suit to wear and they easily find a few in his size. Alfred also gets Matthew a small briefcase to hold a notepad, pencil and pen. Those readied Alfred helped Matthew pack to go to the World Conference. He also called Gilbert and Arthur and told them about the change in plans and asked Gilbert to ask his brother if he could sit in on the meeting to help keep and eye on Matthew.
