Sally's Story

Sally was not happy at all. She looked up at her parents, with tears starting to form in her eyes.

“But I don’t want a little brother or sister!” she said, and ran out of the living room, up the stairs and into her bright pink bedroom. She slammed the door, remembering at the last minute about her promise to her Mum that she would try not to do that anymore. She instantly felt a bit guilty about that and made a plan to apologise to her Mum later. But she wouldn’t apologise for what she said, no matter what, because she didn’t want a baby brother or sister and she never would!

Sally jumped onto her bed and grabbed her knees, burying her head in her lap. Tears started to flow as Sally thought about what she had just been told. Only a few minutes beforehand, her life had been perfect. She just loved spending time with her Mum and Dad, without anyone else to distract them. She liked to help her Dad bake cookies, and she loved sitting in the trolley when she and her Mum went grocery shopping.

Sally’s Dad read her a story every single night and her Mum woke her up first thing in the morning with a smile. Sally would often look at other families who had a few children and think ‘I’m so happy I have my Mum and Dad to myself!’ But after what her parents just told her, that was all about to change. A new brother or sister?! Sally was sure that they would take her parents’ attention away from her. This was the worst news ever – her family was perfect as it was!

Of course, there already was one other part of their family: Sally’s fairy Jingles. Jingles had been living behind a purple fairy door in Sally’s bedroom for two years and Sally absolutely loved her. They would write notes back and forth once a week, and Sally always slept soundly knowing Jingles was watching her dream on the ceiling as if it was a movie.

Sitting on her bed, Sally decided to talk about how she was feeling to her little magical friend. She grabbed her notepad and pencil and started to write. She explained what had happened and how she was feeling, and how she didn’t want to share Jingles with another little brother or sister.

The next morning, Sally was pleased to see Jingles had replied.

“Oh Sally, I really think this is wonderful news! I know it’s a big surprise but I hope when you get used to the idea you’ll be happier about it!”

Sally wrote back, saying she definitely wouldn’t. “No way!”

A few days later, Sally woke up one morning to another surprise: on the carpet, there was a tower of wooden blocks, some paper with a game of ‘noughts and crosses’ on it and a frisbee. Sally thought this was quite unusual, but it must be Jingles trying to play some games with her.

There was already an ‘X’ in the noughts and crosses game so she placed an ‘O’. ‘Hmm’, she thought. ‘I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to make my next move…’ Next, Sally took one of the wooden blocks out of the tower. Again, she thought about how long it would be until she could continue playing as she had to wait for Jingles’ turn overnight.

And then there was the frisbee! What was she supposed to do with that?!

Sally wrote a note to Jingles. It said:

“Jingles,

Thank you so much for the fun games you left for me! You are the best fairy ever! I made my move in two of them, but now I have to wait until you make yours, which could be tomorrow or even the next day or the day after that! I don’t mind though, I love your games. I don’t know what to do with the frisbee, maybe I could throw it in the air and catch it. Lol. Thanks again. Lots of love, Sally”

The very next day, Sally saw that Jingles had written back.

“Sally, I’m so happy you liked the games. I know it will take me a while to play them with you, and I wanted to show you how much fun you could have with a little brother or sister! They could play with you all day!! Imagine all the great fun you could have together. Think about it… J Love, Jingles”

Sally couldn’t believe it – of course Jingles was right! Just then, she had a vision of her running around her back garden with her little brother (she was sure it was going to be a boy), and playing games all day. How silly she had been!

Sally ran downstairs to her Mum and Dad and said sorry. They all hugged and chatted about the new arrival. “I know it’s going to be a baby boy!” Sally said, and her parents laughed. “You might just be right”, said her Mum, rubbing her tummy.

And she was. A few short months later, Sally’s baby brother Jack was born. Sally helped her Mum and Dad look after the new baby, and felt so happy about being a big sister. She kissed Jack’s head and hugged him lots of times every day. Her family was even better than it had been before!

One morning, Sally woke to find a new note from Jingles. It was outside her fairy door, beside a fairy swing set and see-saw that Sally had left for Jingles the night before. The note said “Thank you for these amazing surprises, Sally! The swing is so much fun and I’m sure the see-saw will be too, if another fairy comes to visit one day.”

Sally smiled as she wrote back. “Guess what, Jingles? We’re getting a new fairy for Jack! I gave you the see-saw so you will be able to play together every night, just like Jack and I do every day.”

And from that day to this, Sally, Jack, Jingles and their new fairy Buster have all had so much fun. So remember, even though changes can be unexpected, they can sometimes be the best thing that could possibly happen! Especially if your fairy is involved… 😉