A Special Day in Fairy Valley

A Special Day in Fairy Valley

A long time ago in Fairy Valley, a nervous little fairy sat on a toadstool trying to settle the butterflies buzzing around her tummy. She had organised
a special meeting, and the closer it got, the more nervous she became.

The little fairy looked around and saw, just a few feet away, a cluster of magical creatures huddled in a circle. There was a unicorn, a gnome, a troll,
a pixie and even a giant. She knew they were waiting for her. She nervously wrung her hands, closed her eyes and thought about what she wanted to say.
Suddenly the fairy heard a small splash in the stream beside her and opened her eyes to see where it had come from.

“Are you the fairy who asked to meet us all?” a small voice asked from the stream. The fairy couldn’t see who it was, so she climbed down from her toadstool
and made her way to the water’s edge. There she saw a tiny little creature which looked like a water drop, with a bright smiley face and a pair of
shimmery arms, folded perfectly underneath.

“Amazing”, whispered the fairy, walking a little closer. “What are you?”

“I’m a nymph” beamed the creature before bursting into tiny droplets with a giggle. The fairy squeaked in delight as the nymph reformed at the water’s
edge once more.

“You’re a wonder”, said the fairy, bending closer.

“Tell me,” said the nymph. “What is it like to fly?” She leaned on her watery hands and gazed dreamily at the fairy.

“I’d love to know what it’s like to swim!” the fairy replied. They chatted for a short while before a rustling in the forest behind caught the nymph’s
attention.

“I think they are all ready for you, my fairy friend”, she smiled. “Good luck!”

With that, the nymph burst once more into droplets and disappeared.

“What’s your name?” the fairy called after her, but she was gone.

The little fairy took a deep breath, filling her little fairy lungs and approached the group. As she grew closer to the creatures she could not help but
smile. Every one of them was so fascinating. The troll, the unicorn, the pixie, the gnome, the giant and even the little nymph were there, waiting
for her. Suddenly, a loud booming troll voice echoed throughout the forest.

“Well hello there, little fairy!” the troll said. It was so loud the fairy had to cover her tiny ears.

“I say”, smiled the gnome at the troll. “Perhaps I should ask the questions, you’re a bit on the loud side!”

“Please little fairy, tell us why you have called this meeting”, the gnome asked.

“Well”, said the fairy. “I wanted to let you know that, if you all agree, fairies are going to begin looking to live with… with… with humans!”

All the creatures gasped and began to murmur in disbelief.

“Friends, please”, the little fairy said, trying to calm everyone, but they just got louder and louder.

“Excuse me”, she tried again, but with no luck. Suddenly, she took a fairy fist full of pink magic dust from her pouch and threw it into the air where it burst into colourful fireworks. This did the trick! All the creatures stopped to look at the amazing display, ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’.

“Allow me to explain…” said the little fairy, and spent the next hour telling all the creatures about how she and her friends had discovered
humans really liked magical creatures and were willing to share their homes with them.

She explained how energised and healthy fairies felt when close to humans who believed in them and how that was like a lifeline to the fairy community.
When she had finished, the little fairy quietly stood and waited for a response.

The unicorn was the first to speak. “Some of us, like you little fairy, cannot be seen by humans. It’s how we are made” he said.

“I know that, but the humans still seem to like us despite this!” said the fairy.

“What do you think Percy?” the unicorn asked the gnome. Percy the gnome rubbed his great big beard and shook his head. The little fairy started to
feel defeated. Fairies really relied on their magical friends, and the community of magical creatures always worked together and supported each
other. She was starting to doubt that that would happen this time.

“My father would not approve”, said Percy, shaking his head, and the little fairy’s wings fell limp.

“But…” he continued, “he also didn’t think gnomes wearing hats was a good idea but after generations of sunburnt heads and ‘ceramic stroke’,
he changed his tune!” All the creatures laughed. “I say, is there any way gnomes could live with humans too?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, but we could try!” she said.

“Well that settles it – I approve this motion!” he laughed and one by one all the creatures all agreed too. The little water nymph splashed with delight.

As the fairy turned to walk away from the meeting that day, the little water nymph called to her. “What’s your name, my fairy friend?”

“It’s Kate”, said the fairy. “What’s yours?”

“I’m Ripple”, the nymph called as she waved goodbye.

One year later, Kate and Ripple met up again to talk about all the fairies who were living with humans – and even some gnomes too, in human gardens
all over the world!

Well, as you might have guessed, that clever little fairy grew up to become Queen Kate, Queen of all the fairies, and to this day, she and her friend
Ripple meet by the Heart-Shaped Lake every year to watch the fireworks to celebrate their first meeting, on a very special day in Fairy Valley.

The End