A Black Cat Named Alzheimer

Sarah was a girl just like you, Isabella. When I say just like you, I mean she wasn’t younger or older. She wasn’t taller or shorter. And when she laughed … do you know how she laughed? No? She laughed just like you. Loud enough for all the neighbors to hear. Sarah loved her grandfather. He was called René. You have one too—your grandpa Peter. Sarah’s grandpa was amazing. When her parents were busy, grandpa René would always play with her. If they weren’t home in the morning, he would wake her up and take her to kindergarten. He made the best hot chocolate in the world and the best cinnamon waffles. The house always smelled good when he was around. He would tell her all kinds of stories—stories about witches, leprechauns, or fairies. Sarah liked fairies very much. She even once told her mother she wanted to be a fairy when she grew up. Sometimes, Sarah and her grandpa would go out together, without her parents, just the two of them. In the summer, he would buy her ice cream. He liked chocolate, she liked vanilla. But lately something strange was happening to grandpa René. He was visiting less and less. He was always upset and wouldn’t play with Sarah anymore. The weirdest thing happened on her birthday. Her parents ordered a large cake. Sarah specifically asked for the cake to be half vanilla and half chocolate—one half for her, and the other for her grandpa. The cake had Rapunzel on it, her favorite cartoon character. But grandpa wasn’t there. “Maybe he forgot,” said Daddy. “We should go ahead and eat the cake.” Sarah started crying. She wanted to wait for her grandpa. Mom picked up the phone and called René to find out what was going on. He had, in fact, forgotten. Dad had to go get him so everyone could eat the cake together. Everything went nicely, everybody sang Sarah “Happy Birthday,” and grandpa, who was in a very good mood, promised they would go out the next day—maybe to the zoo or the children’s museum. But the next day grandpa forgot to come again. Before bed, Sarah’s mom came to talk to her, saying she had a secret to tell her. “What secret?” asked Sarah. “You know grandpa is acting strange lately. He’s grumpy, forgetful …” “Yeah,” Sarah replied. “He didn’t even bring me a present for my birthday. But I wasn’t mad at him.” “That was nice of you, sweetie. You know, it’s not his fault. He doesn’t want to forget. Here’s what happened. One day, grandpa found a storybook. It was thick, heavy, and dusty. He took it with him and brought it home to clean it up and read you stories from it.” “What happened then?” “After dusting it off, grandpa found a leprechaun inside.” “A leprechaun?” “Yes,” Sarah’s mother said. “He’d been trapped inside by a bad, bad witch named Copertina. The leprechaun knew her secrets, and he knew how to defeat her if she was up to no good. Copertina the witch would always bully the fairies of the fairylands. She would make their hair tangle, cut up their dresses, or hide their shoes so they couldn’t go to the ball. She wanted to be the meanest witch who ever lived. Even the other witches wouldn’t talk to her. As soon as your grandpa opened the book, the leprechaun said: “‘Oh, thank you so much for setting me free! It was about time. I think that nasty Copertina is stirring up some trouble in the fairylands as we speak. I’m going to help the fairies defeat her … but you must be careful! She is very, very mean, and she will know you helped me. She will want revenge.’ “The leprechaun was gone before your grandpa could speak. And he really wanted to ask about fairies, because he knew how much you like them.” “Yes,” said Sarah. “I want to be a fairy when I grow up, and I want—” “I know, I know,” Mom said. “Let me tell you the rest of the story. Copertina the witch found out right away that someone had opened the book she had trapped the leprechaun in. Her face was red with anger and she swore she would get her revenge. “So she got her servant, a big, bad, black cat named Alzheimer, and they looked together into the magic mirror to see who freed the leprechaun. At night, when grandpa was sleeping, Copertina and Alzheimer snuck into his room and started stealing his memories. Alzheimer laughed and your grandpa woke up. The two ran away with a bag full of his memories.” “Oh no,” Sarah cried. “Yes,” her mom said. “Copertina couldn’t take everything away, though. That’s why grandpa couldn’t remember your birthday, but he knew you went to Disney on Ice a year ago. Now grandpa is hoping the leprechaun and fairies can defeat Copertina and Alzheimer and bring his memories back. This is very difficult…I would say almost impossible, at least for now. “But we have to be patient, Isabella. What we know so far is that Copertina is hiding from the fairies in a thick, dark forest. The fairies have asked the Prince of the fireflies for help. He is assembling a large firefly army to go into the dark forest, find Copertina and try to find if she still has any of grandpa memories. “I’m hoping for the best, but we have to be prepared,” Sarah’s mom said. “The memories and the bag may be gone forever.”