Oak Willowglimmer, Mistress of The Gardens and Queen Mary Gossamer Beamfly

Sun Song kept moving toward Sam and the tension grew amongst everyone. Sam’s eyes were darting everywhere as he tried to not look at Sun Sung in the face; which, by the way, seemed to be changing, and changing rather quickly! Oak noticed the changing also and was wringing her hands, as Sherwood and Henry were passing looks back and forth. The two of them, if anyone was watching and thank goodness no one was, were communicating without words. As Sun Song was slowly approaching Sam, Sherwood and Henry were edging closer to her – from the back. One was moving to the left and the other to the right.  Sun Song’s focus was so fiercely on Sam, she was unaware of anything. Sam was scared…all of his legs were shaking uncontrollably. Then, he was Sherwood behind the furious fairy.  Sherwood was forming a word and Sam recognized it right away.  W E A V E  weave weave.  Yes! He thought!  Weave strands of silk – strong silk, so that when she approaches, he can trip her and they can tie her up with the strands. Before they knew it, Sun Song put her arm out and opened her hand to grab Sam.  Just then, Henry bellowed like a bull and got everyone off guard.  As Sun Song whipped around to see where the bellowing came from, Sam flung the silken strands around her ankles and her arms and then he yanked on the strands, causing her to fall on her side.  She was livid and her face was quickly changing colors – BLUE – RED – YELLOW – ORANGE – BLACK – WHITE – PURPLE and on and on – every color you could possibly imagine! Everyone came running to help Sam.  “Sam, make more cords so we can be sure she’s tied up securely,” said Henry. As quick as a dime twirling on cement, Sam went into action, whirling out cords and cords.  Oak and Sherwood grabbed them and wrapped them wherever they could, tying up this mean, wicked being!

Suddenly, light came into the cave…light so bright and luminous that everyone was temporarily blinded by it.  As they blinked and blinked, trying to get their vision back, it became clear to all where the light came from!  It was Oak’s mother! “Mother, mother,” Oak ran so hard and fast to her mother that she didn’t even notice that her feet were no longer touching the ground.  She was actually flying just a few inches off the ground! Mary held her arms open and tears slid down her cheeks as her daughter flew into her arms. “My darling, my darling little girl.  I love you so dearly.” Oak just fell upon her mother’s lap, laughing and sobbing at the same time.  She was so happy!  “Mother, you cannot possibly imagine what has happened to me!  You just can’t!  It’s so weird, so scary and so wonderful!” Mary took her daughter’s chin in her hand and said gently, “Yes, my dear, I can.  You stumbled into a part of fairy land so absolutely everything has been different for you! I’m just so grateful you are OK. You are the treasure of my life.” Mary leaned down and gently kissed Oak on the forehead.

“Now, everyone! Please step forward and let me see you!” Mary stood and as she did, the most beautiful wings ever seen unfurled from behind her back.  Why, they were pink, with hints of turquoise and green and yellow.  They sparkled as if diamonds lined the edges of the wings. Oak’s eyes grew so bid and she whispered, “It’s true, it’s true!”  “Yes, my dear,” Mary said, “It is true.  I am the Queen of the Fairies and it is time for me to take my rightful place.  It is also time for you, Oak Willowglimmer, to stand and take yours’ – as Mistress of the Gardens”.  Oak rose slowly to her feet, as Sherwood, Henry and Sam stepped forward and bowed to the Queen and to the Princess.  Mary held her hand out and the three moved forward.  Each knelt and kissed the Queen’s hand. The Queen curtsied back to each one and gave them special names.  Sherwood was renamed as “Cat Sherwood, Feline of the Colony”.  Henry became “Henry, Hunter of the Forest” and Sam…well, Sam became “Sam, Special Spider of the Kingdom”.  “Now, my lovies,” the Queen said to all of them as she took Oak’s hand tightly in hers’, “when we get to our destination, I shall tell you everything!”

So Mary…oh! Her name is “Queen Mary Gossamer Beamfly”.  So, Queen Mary Gossamer Beamfly sprinkled fairy dust on all of them and off they flew! Off they flew to the Forest of Fairies.

As for Sun Song?  She disappeared!  No one saw her leave or heard her leave.  Just gone…

 

Oak Willowglimmer, Mistress of The Gardens Makes a Startling Discovery – Chapter Six

They certainly made an interesting sight: Oak, Sam, Sherwood and Henry, as they made their way out of the cave. It seemed they had walked forever, yet when Oak looked over her shoulder, it had been only eleven stones’ throw in distance.  She found this to be a little disheartening, but said nothing, for her friends were bravely moving forward and she didn’t want to say or do anything to make them feel sad.  Henry said, “We’re almost at the entrance, or one of the entrances.  I can always tell because the fairies of the light start whispering in my ear.”  Oak stopped and asked, “What?  I don’t see any fairies anywhere.  Henry, you’re fooling us, right?”  He smiled and shook his head and laughed, causing the walls to shake a bit.  “Oops, sorry!”  Stones were falling from the ledges of the cave that were up above. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be more careful,” Henry said, looking down at his feet.  Oak knew that Henry did that when he felt badly or embarrassed.  “Oh, it’s OK,” said Sam, as he jumped onto Oak’s shoulder.  “We know you didn’t mean to do it, but you really do need to be mindful of how big you are and how loud your voice and laughter is.”  “Well”, Oak said,” grabbing Henry’s little finger with her arm, “No harm done. Now, Henry, please tell me about these light fairies.” Henry’s face lit up and he smiled so big and cute!

Sitting down very gently, Henry began.  “When I was a baby, my mother would sing lullabies to me and my favorite was about the light fairies.” He softly hummed a little of the lullaby and everyone sat to listen. He said the words were, Little babies, do not fear; the sweet light fairies are always near.  So shut your eyes and know you’re safe, for the fairies of the light are in this place.  They love and protect you during the day and at night; you never have to fear the dark for nearby is their light. “Oh Henry!  I just love it!  It’s such a nice little song.”  “Well, there’s more, but we need to keep moving until we’re out of the cave,” said Henry.  Inside his heart, Henry was so happy he made Oak smile.  Not many people smiled because of Henry. He noticed that even Sam was tapping his many legs to the tune and Sherwood was puffing little clouds of smoke in tune with the rhythm of the song.

They all stood up and continued following Henry to the light.  As they walked, Oak was wondering about the light fairies, but decided to put off asking anything else until they were out of the cave.  Finally, they all saw a light; a tiny little light ahead.  Henry pointed to it and said, “There’s an entrance…or is it the exit?  Hmmmmm.”  Sam and Sherwood looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  They hurried their pace and moved toward the light as quickly as they could.  But it seemed that the more quickly they moved, the light never got closer.  It was like the light was moving ahead at the same speed they were moving ahead.  Oak was worried and Henry saw that.  “Oak, don’t worry.  I know we are close.  It just doesn’t seem that way.”

All of a sudden, the light so far away, came rushing at them!  There was no sound, just the light coming and coming until it stopped…it stopped right in front of Henry’s nose!  He was grinning from ear to ear!  Sherwood gasped and Sam just hung from the emergency web he had just spun to save himself from the light.  Oak stood there, staring at the light.  The light was a fairy; a beautiful yellow fairy with a pretty pink dress.  Oh, she was amazing.  The little fairy flew closer to Henry, until she was actually sitting on Henry’s nose.  This presented a funny sight for Henry’s eyes crossed as he looked at the fairy. He obviously knew her and she knew him.  “Henry”, she said (in a sing-song voice), “I’ve missed you so much” and she bent over and kissed him on the nose.  “Aw, I’ve missed you too. I’m so glad to see you!  We need your help.” “Why, of course, Henry.  I knew that and that’s why I’m here.  I’m always here for you, just as the lullaby your mother sang to you says.”  Right then, the fairy looked at Oak, and smiled. “Hello, Oak.  I’m Sun Song, of the Light Fairy Clan.  I’ve know you a very long time.”  “You have?  I don’t think I know you,” replied Oak, with a puzzled look on her face.  “Oh yes, Dear. You are my sister’s daughter; I’m your aunt.”  Well, Oak almost fainted at that remark.  She stared at Sun Song and couldn’t say a word.  Her mind was racing, trying to figure all of this strangeness going on.  Sun Song stepped closer and took Oak’s little hand.  “You know what this means, don’t you?”  Sun Song looked long and hard into Oak’s face.  Slowly, Oak shook her head, but couldn’t say anything.  Smiling, Sun Song leaned forward and gently kissed Oak on her forehead. “You, my dear, are a fairy…an honest to goodness fairy.  Not only that, you are a very special one because you’re the daughter of Mary.  Mary is our Queen and that makes you a princess…Princess Oak Willowglimmer.”  Oak just still stood there; she could not believe her ears.  The floor vibrated a little as Sherwood sat down.  Sam spun a little web to hang out in and also to position himself so his 23 eyes could see everywhere.

Sam had a good “sense” of things…after all with all those legs and eyes, how could he not? While Sun Song was talking with Oak, Sam glanced up and down and all around.  Right now, he had a sense that something just wasn’t right…he hung in the web, swinging back and forth slowly and noticed some movement under the long dress that Sun Song had on.  That was strange because she was sitting down and he could see her feet, so it sure wasn’t her feet making the movement.  Sam worked up the momentum of his swinging so that he could get closer to her.  On his sixth swing toward her, he saw a tail; a tail that looked like a scorpion tail.  The more he looked, the more he was sure.  Sam knew scorpion tails well, for scorpions were his enemies.  Henry was sitting and listening to Sun Song and didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. Sherwood didn’t either. All of a sudden, Sun Song looked sharply at Sam and asked (in a rather sharp tone), “Just what are you doing spider?”  Startled by her tone, Sherwood, Henry and Oak looked at her and then at Sam, as he jumped back into the middle of his little web.  “I’m just hanging out, like spiders do.”  “Well,” she said, “You’re hanging a little too close to me and I don’t like spiders much anyway.”  She rose to her feet and Oak jumped up and said, “Please don’t do anything to him.  That’s Sam, my friend.  He would never do anything to hurt you.”  The fairy, who by the way, seemed to be changing colors, slowly walked toward Sam.  (to be continued…)

Oak Willowglimmer – Mistress of The Gardens (Chapter Four)

She was so relaxed, as she leaned back and went back and forth and back and forth and back and…wait!  There was no forth!  Oak went back on the swing and stayed there! Since she was in a “laid back” position anyway on the swing, she looked up and there was Sam…all 23 eyes of him…looking back at her!  “Hi, Oak! Good to see ya again! Don’t be afraid, but you’re stuck in my web.”  Sam kinda hung there, sheepishly looking back and forth, as Oak tried to get her bearings, as she wriggled around on the swing (which wasn’t easy, being hung up in the air like that).  “Sam!  What?”  “Shhhhh,” Sam suddenly grabbed her hands and pulled her off the swing, onto a giant strand of web, which went from one end of the area (she still wasn’t sure what it was) to the other.  Somehow, he literally put her on his back and wrapped a quick silk rope around her so she wouldn’t fall. and off they went, scurrying across the strand and then Sam threw (really) webs out of his hands so they could catch hold of each one and swing from one to the other, until they were up and over the gate.  Oak could barely catch her breath because Sam flew so quickly.  It really was like flying…from silken strand to the next.

Oak must have fallen asleep, because she suddenly found herself in a cave; a cave filled with webs of all colors…gold, silver, red, orange, white, black and on and on.  Rather than spiders, there were fairies!  Real fairies who were spinning the webs and placing them throughout the cave. Putting her little fists to her eyes to wipe the sleep away, Oak’s eyes opened as big as she could make them.  Yes, the webs and the fairies were still there.  “Oak!”  “Thank goodness, Sam. You’re still with me,” she said as she went to hug him.  His hugs were pretty snug because he had so many legs/arms with which to hug.  “Of course, Oak, of course I’m with you!”  With that, Sam swept her up again and they glided up on a golden strand of silk; the most beautiful golden she had ever seen.  Up up up they went until they reached what appeared to be the upper floor of the cave, which really looked like a castle.  Sam helped her down off the silken strand, and they walked toward a bright light that was shining from in front of them.  The light was glowing and bright, yet not so bright one couldn’t look into it.  It was amazing.  As they approached the light, Oak could make out the form of a woman.  There was something about this woman that seemed sweetly familiar.  But, she had a silk veil of butterflies over most of her face and Oak could only see her eyes.

The woman stepped out from the light and just stood still and gazed about her surroundings. Oak noticed that everything was quiet and that the lady was looking over Oak’s head, so Oak turned around and almost gasped with awe, for the cave was now a soft gold and white.  The little ledges up and down the walls of the cave had lovely fairies kneeling and facing this woman.  Candles and torches were lit and lined the walls and pathways; stars that looked like they came down from the heavens were hanging from above and inside the frame of each star was a fairy playing a harp.  The music from these harps was mesmerizing and dreamy.  Oak could not stop looking around for in every direction she looked was a new surprise, a new delight.  Tree frogs and lizards were dressed in light cotton robes and each had a special hat on that had tiny fireflies circling the brims of the hats.  The frogs and lizards were bringing goblets of freshly mined golden grape juice.  She knew this because she heard a baby girl fairy telling her friends.

Turning back to the woman, there was now a nest on the ground; or should I say on the “cloud”?  First, it was a nest, but a big nest – big enough for a grown up fairy.  The nest was made of beautiful twigs of cedar, birch, oak, and pine.  Blended into the twigs were stems and leaves from herbs and flowers: lavender, roses petals, sage, rosemary and some marigold.  The nest was lined with gardenia and plumeria blossoms. Now, although she thought it was on the floor, it was actually sitting upon a lavender colored cloud that had drifted down from the opening at the top of the cave.  When the woman turned to walk toward the nest, that is when Oak saw the woman had wings!  She had fairy wings! Not only did she have beautiful fairy wings, she also had hair just like Oak’s mother!  It was long and wavy and reddish yellow…such a beautiful color. The woman still had her face veil on, as she went to step into the nest. But then butterflies flew from her veil to lift her long skirt so she would not trip.  After she stepped into the nest and sat down, the butterflies then flew into the woman’s hair and became still, like beautiful hair pins.

Everyone in the cave knelt and then slowly rose.  As they rose to their feet, the woman began speaking in a soft melodic voice (Oak was thinking it sounded like her mother).  Now that she was facing everyone, it could be seen that her eyes were emerald green and soft, as soft as her voice.  “My loved ones,” she began.  Without warning, a fiery red smoke descended from the opening in the cave (at the top) and began circling the room, almost in the shape of pointing fingers; each poking at a fairy, or a lizard or a frog.  The stench was horrific!  The smoke seemed to take on the odor of a dead ogre. (Of course, Oak had never seen an ogre, much less smelled a live or dead one, but the smoke smelled like what she thought one would smell like).  The ground began to shake and the little ledges that fairies were sitting on began breaking and falling to the earth like shards of glass, trying to stab and cut as they hit the ground.  Thunder filled the chamber and was so loud that the fairies had to put their hands over their ears.  But the thunder could not disguise or extinguish what Oak heard.  It was her mother again, calling, “Oak, Oak, come home.  You’re in danger.  Come home.”

Turning to ask the fairy lady for help to get to her mother, Oak discovered she was gone!  In her place, where the nest was, sat a giant dragon, who was looking straight at Oak, as smoked poured out of his nose.  (to be continued)

Oak Williowglimmer – Mistress of The Gardens (Chapter Three)

“Oak, Oak, come home; please come home!” Oak heard her mother’s frantic cry for her, but she was falling so quickly it was all she could do to breathe. For that matter, it was all she could do to really hear her mother’s words, for the chimes, mixed with the thunder were sounding like a giant was stomping and with every stomp, the Earth shook and at the same time it sounded like massive windows of heavy glass were being blown out into a million pieces by an iron ball being directed by a madman driving a crane. Rather than trying to listen to everything, Oak open her eyes in an effort to see if there was something she could grab onto as she was falling. She kept trying to concentrate on not being afraid and to try to figure out what was going on and where she was falling.  She thought it was a good thing that she had her pajamas on, rather than a nightgown; but then…maybe not.  Perhaps the nightgown would actually have been like a parachute and slow the fall down a little; just a little. Oak started looking at her whereabouts, to try to identify landmarks, like you learn in Brownies.  She remembered her leader saying, “When you’re on a trail, always look for things that will stick in your mind so if you get lost, you can maybe backtrack and find your way out”.  She was doing that.  A birdhouse was on the right.  It was painted purple, pink, yellow and white.  “I have to remember this birdhouse,” Oak said to herself.  “I can do this.”  But before she knew it, she passed the same birdhouse again.  Or was it?  All of a sudden, there were so many birdhouses of all different colors that she became confused.  Shutting her eyes tightly, then reopening them did not help.

Then, Oak seemed to feel like she was no longer falling, but was jumping!  This was so strange. She could not stop jumping, but as she was, Oak realized something.  All this time, she had not been falling down; she was falling up!  Up?  Can you fall up? “Oh my,” was all Oak could say as she was jumping.  Every jump seemed higher than the other or the one before it.  Oak was really good at jumping rope; she never ever missed a beat.  But now, Oak felt sick to her stomach…really sick.  That’s when it happened.

A breeze seemed to be lifting her gingerly up and out of whatever it was that she had been in. It wasn’t a hole; it wasn’t a cup and it sure wasn’t a river, for she wasn’t wet!  This breeze made her feel better.  Oak was able to get her wits gathered.  I mean, for a ten year old girl, the gathering of wits was a feat, but then Oak never backed down from achieving a goal or completing a task.  Now I know this all sounds a bit odd.  Well, of course it does.   Here this little girl encountered a fairy, tons of wild wind chimes, thunder out of nowhere, falling down or falling up and now riding on a breeze. There are more odd things in this world than that.

Oops!  Oak fell!  Not far, but enough to shake her up a little.  Looking up, she saw the breeze had been distracted by a pretty little blue cloud and it decided to head over that way.  “This is so strange,” Oak muttered to herself, as she stood up and brushed off her pajamas and set them straight.  “What’s strange?” Oak stopped and looked around for the person who said that. There was no one.  “Yikes, I must be so tired.  I’m hungry too and now I’m hearing things” Oak thought.  “Hello?  What’s wrong with you?  Why don’t you answer?” Oak quickly scanned where she was.  It was only now that she realized the breeze had brought her to a sweet little garden; not too big and not too little.  It had a cedar tree in the back, pretty purple flowers, and all sorts of plants and such.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is looking at you?  Well, as Oak was looking around this garden, she suddenly felt someone’s eyes on her.  Oh, it was strange.  She slowly turned around, but no one was there!  There was only a little spider hanging from a branch of the cedar tree.  Oak generally didn’t care for spiders, but this one was different.  It had clothes on or at least it looked like that.  She got a little closer and then the spider yelled, “Are you deaf?” Startled, Oak jumped back.  She said nothing, just stared and stared.  The spider was a creature of action.  It sort of pulled itself up by its belt – yes, that’s right, its belt.  It then jumped on a silver strand of its web and the strand began swinging.  It went back and forth and on one of its forths, the spider leapt onto a leaf very close to Oak.  It was pretty obvious the spider was a boy because of his belt, his jeans and his boots.  He also had a shirt on with the buttons on the side of the shirt, you know, like boys.  I have to add that jeans for spiders are, well, multi-legged.  Oak just stared at him and he stared right back at her with 23 eyes!  In the background, Oak heard her mother calling for her again.  This time it sounded like her mother was crying.  Oak felt so sad and the spider could see this.

“Who is that calling” Is it your mother?”  By this time, reality set in and Oak realized that she was far far away from home and her mother; she was so lonely and scared.  Nodding, Oak began to cry.  This made the spider feel badly and he sat down on the leaf.  “I’m Sam Spider, Jr.” Sam put out two of his arms to shake her hand, but then decided against it, knowing she was already distraught.  She looked up and Sam winked at her.  Although Sam had 23 eyes, he was very coordinated and winked with 17 of them.  “Oh”, said Oak.  “That’s really neat!”  “Aw.” Sam said as he bashfully looked down – well, 12 of his eyes looked down, the others crossed. “Sam, I miss my mother.  I miss her so much.  I worry about her too.  She must think something horrible happened to me.”  Sam cocked his head and said, “No, Oak.  Believe me, she has a good idea where you are.  That’s not to say she’s not worried, for she knows what a strange land this place is.”  Just as he finished is, a giant mushroom suddenly appeared right next to Oak.  It was giant, as I said, and was brown and purple.  It smiled too!  Actually it grinned at both Sam and Oak.  This was all so odd; so very odd for Oak.  She began to feel lightheaded and woozy again.  Oak thought she might fall against the Mushroom because the garden began moving – not spinning, just moving.  The flowers were walking, the trees were swaying and the grass began moving, much like a river.

Within a moment of a dream, it was dark!  Oak found herself in a swing in the garden and Sam and the Mushroom were nowhere to be found.  She began to feel sad and scared and went to slow the swing down, but it kept lazily swinging – back and forth and back and forth.  Actually the swinging made her feel better.  The moon was so big!  It was huge and the clouds were almost dancing in the sky.  Lightning bugs were darting here and there and she could hear tree frogs chirping.  Oh, she loved tree frogs.  So did her mother.  From the time Oak was a little girl, her mother taught her that frogs, especially tree frogs, could be her best friends.  She would say, “Oak, if it storms really badly and you’re frightened by the thunder, just listen for the tree frogs to start singing; for they sing a lullaby to the thunder, which helps to calm and quiet it down.  Also, if there should be a flood, tree frogs are famous for helping little girls and boys climb trees to get away from the flood waters.”  Oak would listen to her mother for hours and hours talk about nature and all the wonderful things that most people don’t even know about or see.

Just thinking about her mother’s stories made her feel so much better.  Oak leaned back on the swing to look straight up at that full moon.  It’s here that Oak’s story begins to reveal a secret. (to be continued)

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Oak Willowglimmer – Mistress of The Gardens (Chapter Two)

If you remember, Oak was sitting in her little garden at the back of her yard; drawn there by a faint flickering light that could have been a fairy! So she slipped into the garden and sat and was silent; as silent could be!  Oak’s head didn’t even move when her eyes would look to the right, then to the left, above and down.  Why, if you were a fly in the garden, you would not be able to hear her breathe.  Then almost, as if it was always there, just barely, Oak heard “tinkling”…the tinkling of crystal or sea glass or…well, she wasn’t sure.  Listening, Oak decided it was crystal AND sea glass tinkling – together, as if on a wind chime that maybe fluttered down from Heaven or fluttered up from the sea.  Now Oak was well-versed in grammar and English and everything that goes with it; she knew fluttered up from the sea maybe wouldn’t make sense to everyone, but to those who mattered – it did!  Anyway, the tinkling kept up and began to sound closer and a wee bit stronger – not loud (for fairies or wind chimes would never be loud), just stronger.

She went to brush a wisp of hair from her right cheek and as she did, Oak felt something and winced, thinking it might be a bug.  Whatever it was, it wouldn’t really go away; it just darted from her fingers and found a different place on her cheek to make its presence known. As Oak went to swat at the bug, she suddenly thought that maybe it wasn’t a bug; it could be a fairy. “Oh my gosh”, she thought.  “A fairy!  A fairy,” she screamed in her head.  Ah, so excited, Oak could barely sit still.  But still…she sat.  Listening intently, she thought she heard some faint rustling…like the rustle you hear when you open a present and it’s wrapped lightly in tissue paper.  sshshhhshshew Say it quietly…shshhshshew….and as you come to the end, the shew ends almost silently.  Her eyes were slowing swiveling in her head as she scanned the room.  Light brush on her cheek, shshhshshew…and flickers of light, or perhaps the thought of lights; whatever, she felt, she heard and she saw everything she needed to know in her young smart mind that there was a fairy in the room.  “Tap tap tappity tap tap tap,” at her shoe; she felt that on her shoe.  Looking down, Oak saw the most beautiful little fairy that one could ever possibly imagine in this world or in any other world, for that matter. Taken by the magic and, oh just the magic of it all, Oak just stared at the fairy.

The fairy picked up a beautiful wind chime that looked exactly like what Oak imagined.  The little thing just shook and shook that wind chime, causing the delicate crystals and sea glass to literally come alive and each crystal and each sea glass rose up, off the bark (handle) and then, as if a wizard had flipped his wand, each piece then created its own wind chime.  Before Oak knew it, the garden was filled with little itsy bitsy wind chimes; not so many that you couldn’t move, but let’s say that if you were there, you would have to watch, very carefully, where you were walking, sitting, stooping or being or even standing!  But what was amazing was the sound.  It was the sound of crystal chandeliers and sea glass harps, all playing in tune with one another; being directed by an unseen maestro of mystical magical music.  The melody seemed as if it was straight from Heaven or Fairyland and seemed so familiar, Oak was sure she knew the song, but couldn’t, for the life of her, remember it.  “That’s right,” she thought, “it’s a memory, I know it is.  I just can’t remember this song.”

Having traveled in her mind to the room of memories, Oak almost forgot about the wind chimes…until the room grew silent…again.  She looked around and saw that the chimes had floated down to the floor of the garden…gently, like a very light snow; landing quietly and sitting still.  The little fairy then flew slowly up to Oak and beat her little wings while she hovered in the air in front of Oak’s face.  “Greetings, Oak Willowglimmer.”  “You know my name?” Oak’s heart really began to flutter.  “Of course I do.  I’ve known you all your life,” the fairy said.  “My name is Gossamer Beamfly and you are Oak Willowglimmer.“  At this point, let me describe the fairy.  She was only four inches high and had beautiful pink hair; so pink that you would think you were looking at cotton candy. Gossamer had beautiful blue eyes with green little sparkly glitter spots in them.  Her skin was a pale pale green…really just a hint of green…very light.  She was indeed lovely.

Gossamer said, “I know your mother too.  I know her really well.”  “How do you know us?” Oak asked.  “I can’t really say; just know that I do. Please don’t ask questions for my answers would only confuse you.  Plus, I’m your elder.”  “My elder?”  Oak tilted her head and looked at Gossamer.  “You can’t be older than me.  You’re so tiny and young.”  “Well, my dear, we fairies are like that.  We appear to be young or old or whatever, but we’re really the opposite!  I’m 125 years old.  Just had my birthday last week.”  “Oh my gosh,” exclaimed Oak.  “I can hardly believe this, but wait!  I do believe you, it’s just…well.  It’s like I’m in the middle of a fairy tale!  Really! My friends would never ever believe me.”  Gossamer fluttered closer to Oak’s face and looked right in her eyes and said, “There is no reason to even tell them.  The more people that know about us, the less…uh, how do I explain this.  For every human that hears about a fairy, but doesn’t believe, two fairies are frozen in time, way down deep in the Honeycrooked Tree right in the middle of Greenwood Forest.”  Gossamer looked sad now.  Oak thought she saw a tear slip down her cheek, but it was a tiny diamond or a tear that turned into a tiny diamond that fell upon the toe of Oak’s shoe.  “Oh my”, said Oak.  “I’m so sorry to hear this.  It just seems like everyone would believe in you and other fairies!”  Right at that moment, a clap of thunder sounded and shook the canopy over the garden.  Oak jumped and Gossamer began flying a circle as fast as she could – over and over and round and round, until Oak became dizzy. “Stop”, Oak whispered.  She tried to yell, but her words only came out as a whisper. “It’s only thunder.  Thunder cannot hurt you.”  Gossamer kept flying in a circle and the tiny wind chimes were rising in the air; their crystals and sea glass clattering and chattering…nothing like earlier when they sounded like angelic harp music.  The pieces of glass and crystal were flying and swinging and Gossamer was flying like a dragonfly that had lost its way and the thunder kept pounding the ground and Oak got more and more dizzy.  In the background of all the clamoring, Oak could hear her mother, Mary, calling for her.  Only this time, rather than the usual mother call, it sounded a little frantic.  Oak called back, “Mommy, I’m here, I’m here.” “Oak, Oak, please answer Mommy!  Please!  Oak, Oak, come home, come home.”

Oak was feeling faint.  The tinkling, the banging,  the fluttering, the manic wings, circles round and round, Mommy calling…all these things were rushing through Oak’s head and then she fell – and fell and fell.

(to be continued)

A Story About a Fairy Who Loved Daisies

Once upon a time, not so long ago; maybe yesterday?  There was a wee little fairy, who was only 103 years old.  Now for those of you who think that’s old, let me assure you it is not.  In fact, this wee little fairy was only 10 years old in human years.  Ah, but don’t ask me how to figure those years!  That is an age old secret!  Back to the wee little fairy…her name was Daisy Delight.  Her elders told her that she was named after a flower…the daisy. Unfortunately, it was the last daisy in their land, for all the daisies had been picked by a mean, mean old lady.  Not only did she pick them, she then dug up their roots so that they could not grow and make more beautiful flowers!  Oh, the elders were really in a stir about this.  These fairies loved not only flowers and the soil and animals, but they cared for humans, as well.  However, their caring for this old lady seemed to be weakening.

One day, the head of the elders, Elderberry Blue, rang the bluebells of the village, as a new fairy was just born…a wee little girl.  The fairies flew and danced and sang with pure joy, for this was to be the last fairy girl born for 500 years.  (No, I don’t know why)  So she was very special indeed.  Her mother, Lavender Lace, declared that the wee one would be named Daisy Delight, after the last daisy that had just been picked.  Delight, because she knew that her baby would grow into a lovely fairy who would delight fairies all over the realm, with her kindness and smile.  And, so it was.

As Daisy Delight grew, she always wondered and would ask everyone she met what a daisy looked like.  The older fairies would draw pictures for her, but they just could not capture the beauty of the flower.  Daisy Delight would sigh with disappointment.  At night, she would have the same dream:  she was playing in a field filled with amazing white and yellow flowers. She would run and run, for miles it seemed, and the daisies never stopped.  All of a sudden, the daisies began dancing with her.  She would twirl and twirl with the flowers for hours.  Then she awoke and knew that when she went outside, there would be no daisies.

Daisy Delight loved to wander through the little forest near her village.  The fairies never worried about their little ones wandering there because the creatures of the forest were their friends and would watch over all the little ones.  So, as she was flitting about, she spied an old woman sitting on a rock, crying.  Daisy Delight was so tender of heart that she began weeping herself for the old woman.  Gently, Daisy Delight landed on the woman’s shoulder. The old lady wasn’t even startled by the sight of a fairy!  This surprised Daisy Delight.  “Oh, little one, I’m so sad.”  “Why”, asked the fairy. “I have a dream that I have a granddaughter who I have never seen.  Her mother left home one day and I haven’t seen her since.  But word came to me that she had a little girl.”  “My, that’s so sad.  What was your daughter’s name?”  “Lavender. Lavender Lace.”  My goodness, Daisy Delight almost fell off the woman’s shoulder.  “I’ve been so upset that I tore up all the flowers that she had planted when she was little,” the old lady said.  “Were they daisies,” Daisy Delight asked.  The woman looked at her and just kept looking at her as Daisy Delight flew slowly in front of her face.  Daisy Delight asked her if she was a fairy.  “Yes, I am. But my sadness has caused my wings to fall off.”  In Daisy Delight’s heart, she knew; she just KNEW this was her grandmother.  She also knew she was not a mean old lady like the elders had said.  There had just been a terrible misunderstanding and Daisy Delight was going to fix it!  She told the old woman that she would come back the next day at the same time.  They agreed to meet.

The next morning, Daisy Delight, who barely slept all night because she was so excited, woke up and cleaned up the whole seed pod (their house) before her mother awoke.  Lavender Lace was so pleased upon waking that she asked Daisy Delight what she would like to do.  “Oh Mother!  Let’s wander through the forest!  I saw some berries I would love to pick.”  Lavender Lace looked lovingly at her daughter and smiled.  “Yes, let’s do!  I used to do that with my own mother when I was little.”  Then Lavender Lace looked so sad.  “What’s wrong, Mother?”  “Oh honey, sometimes I just miss my mother so much.  I wish she was still alive.”  Daisy Delight tilted her head and looked at her mother, but decided not to say anything.

So, they packed a picnic lunch and flew out the door!  They had a great time in the forest and found the berries.  Her mother wanted to have lunch in a special place, but Daisy Delight said, “No Mother!  I found a wonderful place in a clearing yesterday.  Let’s go there!”  Lavender Lace laughed and on they flew.

They flew for just a small distance when Lavender Lace spotted the old woman sitting on the log.  She stopped and slowly lowered to the ground.  As she did, the old woman looked at her and stood.  “Lavender?”  “Mother?” Lavender Lace flew to the old woman, who was now weeping with joy, for now she knew her daughter was alive.  Lavender Lace flew and kissed her mother all over her face.  In the meantime, Daisy Delight was flying up and down with pure happiness and giggling the whole time!

Well, to make a long story short.  Years before, the young Lavender Lace fell in love with a young male fairy, who wooed her away one night. They were going to return, but a wind grew up so fierce that it blew them off course and they lost their way.  For all they knew, they were countries away from Lavender Lace’s home.  In the meantime, the old woman (who was not so old at the time) heard about the fierce wind and how many fairies never returned home because of how it blew them so far away.  She just assumed that something dreadful had happened to her Lavender Lace.  “Mother, here is your granddaughter, Daisy Delight.”  Daisy Delight flew into the arms of her grandmother and both were so happy!!

Thereafter and even to tomorrow, Daisy Delight tells people to never give up and never lose hope; for the world is good and delightful!  Oh!  The grandmother’s wings grew back.

Believe…a fairy story

Once upon a time, there lived a fairly young couple who had no children.  The wife, especially, was so sad about this.  Her name was Lisbeth.  The husband, Ethan, was sad as well, but more so for Lisbeth – for she was the love of his life and made every moment worth living.  Lisbeth and Ethan had been married for 15 years.  They lived in the countryside of Vermont, in a small little town that was so quaint and sweet.  There weren’t more than four country blocks in the middle of town, yet it was the grand meeting place for those who lived there.  Oh, they shopped, ate in lovely little cafes, visited all of the craft shops (there were only two) and often ran into neighbors in the book shop.  Lisbeth and Ethan grew up in this little quaint town and so knew everyone, which is wonderful, but often Lisbeth would wonder if the neighbors were looking at her with pity because she could not have a baby.

One morning, Lisbeth stepped out her front door to check on her flower garden and almost stepped on something.  She looked down and it was a teensy tiny little turtle.  It appeared to be silver with a light green shell on its back, which had flowers and the word believe written in script.  Lisbeth bent down and picked it up.  Holding this little turtle in her hand, she realized that it was not real, or at least that’s what she thought, for the turtle looked up at her and smiled.  “Oh my goodness,” she whispered as she stared at the little guy.  The turtle continued looking at Lisbeth, with a smile.  Suddenly, she found herself smiling because, well, he was so cute AND because she had always believed in magical happenings, but had forgotten as she had grown older.  Still smiling, she held her palm closer to her face so that she could see the turtle more closely.  As she did, the turtle moved just a tad, to reveal glasses which somehow he put on so he could see Lisbeth more closely.  Both looked at each other and started laughing.  Why, they laughed so hard and so long!

Lisbeth sat on the white wicker chair on the porch and placed the little turtle on her lap.  She was happy for the first time in a long time.  We don’t know about the turtle, but he sure seemed happy too.  He began humming a sweet little song and before she knew it, Lisbeth fell fast asleep in the chair.  She had such nice dreams and they all seemed to be about believing in goodness, kindness and miracles.  When she awoke, Lisbeth just sat and didn’t move; she felt so much at peace.  Suddenly, she remembered the turtle and looked down; but there was no turtle!  Alarmed that something had happened to him, (such as: did she sit on him?  did he fall?).  She looked everywhere and couldn’t find him.  Sitting back down, Lisbeth wondered if it had been a dream.

Well, soon Ethan came home and they fixed dinner and ate.  Lisbeth told Ethan about the turtle and her dreams, and he said, “Sweetheart, I’m sure it happened.  Be happy.”  That’s all Ethan would ever say.  “Be happy”.

A few months went by, and Lisbeth began to feel horribly ill.  Her sickness seemed to last for weeks and Ethan was dreadfully worried about his beautiful wife, so he took her to the doctor. Of course…sure enough and I’m sure you’ve guessed it – Lisbeth and Ethan were going to have a baby.  A baby! Lisbeth and Ethan were dancing on clouds and just so deliriously happy!  As her body began to change and people could tell she was having a baby, Lisbeth would proudly walk about the town square, just glowing and beaming from ear to ear.

Soon enough, the little baby was born and it was a boy!  A beautiful little boy with green eyes and blond hair.  He was precious!  Ethan and Lisbeth named him Harry, after Lisbeth’s father. Ah!  The world was a grand place indeed and sheer joy enveloped the town and the home of Lisbeth and Ethan.

On a beautiful Spring day, Lisbeth was tending to her flower garden, when she spied something silver in the grass which edged the garden.  Her heart beat quickly as she pushed aside the grass and lo and behold, there was the turtle and next to the turtle was a tiny little fairy.  Both looked at Lisbeth with kind smiles.  Lisbeth put her hand to her throat and said, “I thought it was a dream!”  The turtle slowly shook his head and said, “No, my dear.  You were not dreaming.”  The little fairy, who was dressed in a lovely light green gown, looked at Lisbeth and said, “You were so kind to my friend those many months ago.  When I found him and we left, he told me of your sadness.  So, we really worked on helping you believe; believe that anything is possible, with kindness and goodness in one’s heart. “Lisbeth felt a tear slip down her cheek, as she looked over at Harry, peacefully sleeping in his little basket next to her.  Her heart was full.  Looking down, the turtle and fairy were gone!  But this time, Lisbeth just sat on the grass and pulled sleeping Harry to her and held him.

The next day, while pushing Harry in his stroller in the town, she noticed that a new shop had opened.  It was so new; the sign had not gone up.  Stepping through the doorway, she felt she had been transported into another world; a world of fairies, for this shop was ALL about fairies.  Why, there were fairies, fairy dust, fairy furniture, books, fairy gardens and anything and everything you could possibly imagine about fairies.  A beautiful woman, with long flowing auburn hair, stepped out of the back room and asked Lisbeth if she could help her. Lisbeth replied, “Oh, I just love this shop!  I didn’t even know we were getting a new one!  It’s lovely!”  “Thank you,” the woman replied.  “This has always been my dream.  I’ve always wanted to have a shop where I could share the fairy world with others.  I have loved them since childhood.”  “Oh, me too”, said Lisbeth.  “What is the name of your shop?”  The lady smiled and replied, “Believe”. Lisbeth looked at her and then Harry and back at the woman and just smiled.