Even Fairies Grieve

In a time long, long ago in a land where humankind was yet to explore the world. There was a forest nestled deep in the heart of a jungle. There was a gorge. Within that gorge, there was a sanctuary where all the animals of the woods lived together. The chasm was perfectly placed, which made it the perfect temperature year-round. The weather was also was excellent, year-round, with just enough water to quench all the thirsty trees and creatures. All the animals came together at times to get a drink.

The animals could speak and often talked to each other. All of the creatures of the chasm also spoke. All the creatures spoke a language specific to each animal and a common language that every beast understood.

Each animal fit into its own niche and way of making a living that helped the other animals of the woods. Some were tall with long necks far larger than Giraffes. Others, like Elephants, only far more massive, have thick grey skin, enormous tusks, and gigantic feet that shake the ground when these animals move. Living among these creatures is a tiny tribe of creatures that will later become Fairies.

These Fairies can do what we know now as magical things, growing taller when needed and shrinking when required. Their role is to pollinate the trees and help the bees help the flowers bloom and keep the chasm safe. Each Fairy has something special about them. As they grow up, their unique quality comes to light. However, there are some dangers; it can be doom for Fairy to lose a wing.

Otherwise, life is pretty exceptional for them, as they live in harmony and grow beautiful flowers and trees never seen before or since. The entire chasm lived in peace.

Two particular Fairies fell in love. Over their lifetime, they had several children, but one, in particular, stood out. She seemed different. She didn't like the same things as the other Fairies. She only wanted to collect stuff she considered valuable. She would buy and sell pollen and profited more than any of the Faires ever before. Her parents were so proud. They often boasted about how great she was and how she had achieved so much.

She gloated and basked in this praise and delighted herself with many things that regular Fairies couldn't afford. When she met other Fairies that didn't have what she had, she would frown on them and look down her nose at them. The entire chasm noticed to noticed how arrogant she had grown and overbearing. And if she wanted it, she would fight to get it, and no price was out of her reach, and she was not above using magic to trick people into getting what she wanted either.

One day she finds this beautiful vase created by this young lady. It was the perfect size for a Fairy, with a Gold handle and Silver base, trimmed with a Diamond top. She said, "I must have it!" The young Fairy said. "It's not for sale." She said. "You must sell it to me!" The young Fairy said, "No, I made this for my mother." She stomps her foot and says, "I don't care! I want it!" She says, "I will give you a cart and a small pony for it." Not knowing where she would get a cart and a pony.

She strolls around in the woods and meets a deer and asks, "Would you like to be a pony?" The deer says, "Oh my no, I am far too tall for that." (While imagining pulling a cart and heavy loads of milk and wood for the farmer Fairies). "But you can ask Camel." She asks, "Where is Camel?" Find the tall one with humps on his back." Discourage by "Tall one," she says, "No thank you." and walks onward. She then crosses a Marmot, "Sir, would you know where I can find a cart and pony?" The tiny creature looks at her and says, "Go away, you annoying child. You have magic make one." She asks, "How would I do that?" He turns to her and says, "A Fairy that doesn't know how to make magic? What is the world coming to?" She looks at him bewildered and says, "I can make some magic but not that kind." He replies, laughing, "Some but not all. How about that." She adds, "what do you mean?"

He gets close to her, and she bends down to him. "Magic is made in all forms in all things in all ways on all days in all ways." She kisses his nose and says, "Thank you! Sir. Um, Sir, how do I make a cart and a pony?" He turns around and says. "Where is your wand?" She says, "I don't have a wand!" almost angry. He gets up close to her again and looks her in the eyes, "Are you a real Fairy?" She opens her mouth. He looks in her mouth then jumps on her shoulder. He jumps up and down, "You seem solid, so you must be real. Why do you not have a wand? All Fairies have wands?" She asks, "Can I make a wand?" He responds, "Yes, yes, you can. but that takes days." She sighs, "Oh!" She then sits down, disgusted. By this time, a dove that has been watching them flies over and says, "Do you need help?"

She says, "I do. I need a cart and a pony by tomorrow." The Dove says, "This is a dilemma. Why not make one?" She looks at the Dove and says, "Not you too!" The Dove looks around, shocked as if he were saying, "What did I do?" He said the same thing as she pointed to the Marmot. "You do need a wand, young lady." Ok, you both have said that, but where do I get this wand? How can I do this by tomorrow? The Dove says I know a unique tree, the "The Silver Tree. I can get you a limb from the top of the tree and bring it to you." The Marmot says, "You will need stones as well the same color as the rainbow." The Dove flies off. Moments later, the Dove reappears with a limb. "Here you go." He drops the limb. She catches the limb. "Oh, that is so light I would have expected it to have weighed so much more!"

The Marmot says, "Now go get your stones and place them in a row on the wand, listen to your inner voice on how to arrange them." She dashes to her tree. "I have stones. I wonder if these will do?" Talking to herself. She carves spots for the stones and places them carefully in each location. She sits for a while, admiring her creation. "Now, how do I get this to work?" she walks outside and begins to wave it around. In an instant, wind and fog appear. She continues to wave the wand and says, "Cart" seconds later, she watches as logs begin to assemble right before her eyes. She then waves it again and says "Pony" and sees something toward her around the corner. Moments later, as the tiny dot grows closer, she sees it's a pony. She sits down on her steps, holding her wand admiring her new power. The sunsets and she grows tired. She walks into her tree. I am so tired tonight.

The next day she returns with the cart and the miniature pony as she promised. The young Fairy asks, "Where did you get such riches?" She smiles and says, "I have my ways." and walks off smiling with her new wand. Prizing the vessel, she placed it on her mantel, where it stayed for years untouched.

Over the years, she amassed treasures galore using her wand and its tricks. Sometimes her magic was funny, sometimes not. Sometimes it was vengeful and full of spite. Other times it was kind and humane. However, she never had children or a family of her own. However, her sisters and brothers had children. Her favorite sister grew ill she had broken a wing, and asked her to take care of her children while she was sick. She was hesitant and didn't want to at first. One night one horrible night, her sister passed away in the dark of the night.

She walked in that morning to find her sister that morning and touched her cold skin. She wilted and wept with deep sighs. The children, not knowing what happened, come rushing to her and see their mother. She grabs them up and swoops them away as fast as she can. At the same time, they call out to their mother with deep sighs and deep pain. She takes them to her tree, which is filled with beautiful things. The children walked around credulously, looking at each ornate item, and explored each room. After all, Fairies are curious even in the most trying of times.

Meanwhile, she arranges for her brothers to take away her sister. Fairies in her time are placed in the sun and turn to dust within two days, so her family only had a very short time to mourn her sister—she grieves for her sister deeply.

The children amble about the house and hear their aunt weeping. They all become sad with her and join in a heartwarming hug. The next day the sun comes out, and as the fables say, her beautiful sister turns to dust before her eyes. Golden flakes of dust, she quickly thinks, "what can I save the dust in?" She dashes to her tree and starts searching franticly, then sees's the vessel. "That will do." She grabs it and dashes out the door. She arrives back at her sister's funeral and gently gathers the dust, carefully gathering every drop she can, placing it in the vessel. "Now, I can save you for the rest of my life." Her family, shocked by this act, stood back appalled by this act. Fairies are supposed to float away into the sunshine, where their spirits can be free. This act has never been done before.

She grasps the vessel and dashes off with it, taking it to the very top of her tree where no one can touch it. She places it where the sun can shine on it every day. "There, it will be safe and out of the children's hands." Over the following few months, things seemed perfectly normal. But Fairies grieve profoundly and hard for a long time. The children all started to suffer their aunt became cold and dark. She was snatching things out of their hands, screaming at them, sending them to bed early, not allowing them to have friends. All too often, they would find her at the top of the tree holding the vessel.

The community started to notice the children going hungry and sometimes begging for food. The family converged on her wanting to know why she wasn't taking better care of her children to find her sitting in tears at the top of the tree. She sees them coming and dashes down to her bedroom and grabs her wand. "You won't make me give up my sister." She dashes back up the steps to the top of the tree. Her oldest brother says, "I think she is delusional." We have all grieved, but she has suffered because of her death. One of her older sisters says, "That's no excuse to starve the children."

They call out, "Let us in!" the door opens, and a tiny face peeks around. Then another and then a third. The children's eyes are sunk in, and their small bodies look gaunt. The family says, "Children get your things. You will be coming with us." They gather their things slowly, not wanting to leave. As they go, their beloved aunt leans over the tree and shouts, "Well, take them, now I can have my life back." The children begin to cry, hurt by the words of their once beloved aunt.

She hears the door slam. She walks around at the top of the tree. Sitting down looking at the vessel, and suddenly, a deep sense of loneliness comes over her. In anger, she says, "They were not mine in the first place. I never liked children in the first place."

That night she lay in the bed tossing and turning, waking up the following day angry and tired. She has an idea, "Maybe I could undo my sister's death with my wand? That would fix everything. What would I have to do, though? Maybe the Marmot would know?" She grabs her wand and dashes out the door.

She goes back to the spot where she first met the Marmot and shouts, "Marmot, where are you!" The Dove overhears her and flys down to where she is. "You are looking for Marmot? He found a bride and moved to the other side of the country." She says, "Oh dear, I have so many questions I need help with right now." The Dove responds, "Oh my, what could be so urgent?"

She sits down on a stump, "My beloved sister passed away." The Dove says, "I know that was so tragic. But thankfully, you were there to take care of her children. That is so heroic of you." She looks at him. "Not really, My brothers and sisters came and took the children." She bowed her head shamefully in tears. The Dove says, "Oh my. Why?" She adds. "I was consumed with grief. I didn't take care of them as I should." The Dove adds. "Is that so?" She ducks her head and says, "Yes, I was just in so much pain?" The Dove asks, "Why, though?" She answers, "I kept my sisters ashes." The Dove inhales in shock then adds. "Fairies are meant to be free under the sun when they expire." She adds. "That's what everyone tells me now. I couldn't let her go. It was too hard." The Dove says, "And this is easier?"

The Fairy raises her head, looks at the Dove, and says, "What do you mean?" He responds, "Look you, and who you are today. Is this easy?" She answers. "No." Wiping tears from her eyes. The Dove says, "You came here wanting to use magic to bring her back, didn't you?" The little Fairy is stunned by this statement. She answers, "Yes." again, lowering her head embarrassed. The Dove says, "No magic brings anyone back once they have passed on. It doesn't work that way. However, magic does help you heal and help you grow." She answers. "I don't want to heal and grow. I want my sister back. This is stupid. The pain is too much!"

The Dove says, "You are inconsolable. You need time to heal before you can heal the right way. I am sorry this pain is this hard." Then in a strange gesture for Doves, he places his wing on the Fairies shoulder. She looks at him and looks up, "no one has touched me in years." The Dove says, "Everyone needs a hug." She smiles slightly. The Dove smiles. The Dove says, "there is some healing. It would be best if you had extra time to heal. I shall talk to your brothers and sisters." She smiles and says, "No one has ever done anything for me before. The Dove answers, "First time for everything."

The Dove goes to each family member and speaks with them one on one. He carefully talks to them, listens to them, and then comes back to talk to her using care not to share what they told him. Over the next few weeks, the entire family grew to love and support each other and learn more than they ever dreamed about each other. None of them had ever thought about helping her, having seen her as independent and not needing help. Her being independent had to learn to accept help when it was offered. The children were thrilled to get their beloved aunt back. Then it came that time when she was ready to release the ashes of her dear sister. She gathered her sister's brothers and lovely sisters' children around placed the vessel in the center of a large circle on a beautiful sunny day. She had each one of them pour out some ashes in the center of the ring. Like magic, as that last drop hit, a puff of beautiful rainbow-colored smoke appeared. They all gasped. One of the children said, "Look, it's Momma!" The others said, "It is!" for a brief moment, the smoke lingered there, and everyone there had a beautiful sense of peace.

Now from time to time, she can hear her sister's voice and a puff of wind. Sometimes things go missing in the house, hijinx not a poltergeist. The family lived on for millennia. It wasn't always happy ever after, sometimes it was bumpy, but they got through it. But that's because they learned to talk and care.