Fairy Forlorn was the saddest fairy in Stream by the Wold. She had gotten lost one winter day, and had hibernated by herself all winter long under a mound of earth deep within the moor. In the spring, when the flowers nudged up through the soil, she searched and searched for her kind, but nowhere near Stream by the Wold could she find them. She searched in the trees.
Jeremiah was not a bullfrog (that was a vicious rumor). The solstice has passed, and Queen Elisabeta ordered all the bee fairies to pollinate until the sun went down. Jeremiah visited the lupine first. You can catch a glimpse here if you look close:
“Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild,
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.” – W.B. Yeats
Conla picked early sage in her garden. Her family traditionally made a lamb stew for their midsummer feast. Her mother, Bronwyn, was inside their house braising the lamb with spring onions and chives. Conla heard her neighbor’s voice, and turned to see him walking under their archway with its pink roses and purple clematis.
“I can’t find a thing! My jackets are missing their buttons. My trousers all have holes. My wallet and keys are missing again! Are you doing this to me?!” Conla’s neighbor in the white cottage next door was Seamus O’Flanagan. Their two houses were the only ones for miles in that wild part of County Wicklow. The American had retired and come to the old country to write and paint, in the county of his ancestors. His wispy white hair was standing up in the wind, and his cheeks were red with anger.
Once upon a time, there was a very angry fairy princess. Her mother was Queen Red Leaf. Her court lived in a Japanese maple beside a small lantern in the Azalea Garden. Her mother was warring with the samurai rats living under the Bridge of Singing Water. She had allied with the Orange Blossom fairies. The fairies of both courts encircled the Wren Palace.
The Scottish village of Arisaig was huddled in close between the church and the harbor. Looking out past the ferry dock, islands appeared in and out of the mists that shrouded the Atlantic coastline.
The fairy queen lived lonely on Hidden Island, with only the seals, fish and seagulls for company. Lying on her bed of seaweed, she dreamed of olden days. She remembered when her people danced in the stone circles on the mainland, but long ago she had been exiled by the fairy king. Her heart yearned to see him again. Her husband and king had sent her away because of a terrible misunderstanding. Sometimes, the seals carried small boys to Hidden Island for her, but they always brought them back. This is the story of one of those boys.
Innis was visiting Scotland for the first time with his mother, whose people had left when the lairds ran sheep across their land.
“Shiny, shiny little flower,” sang a little child named Hannah, whose curly red ringlets shone in the sunshine. Her stomach rumbled. She had not had her porridge for breakfast. Her family was all out of food, as was most of Seaside Village. The villagers did not lock the doors of their houses, and instead all the villagers locked their gold in the village tower. Three nights before, a landslide had rumbled down the foothill, leaving a great mountain of earth blocking the villagers from getting to their gold.
The tower was made of smooth granite with seven foot-thick walls. The only way in now was one long, narrow window forty feet in the air. No one could climb the tower, although many young men and women of the village had tried all day. For three days and nights, all the villagers had worked to shift half the earth away from the door. Even Hannah had carried dirt in her pail. No one had had any time for fishing, and everyone in the village was exhausted and hungry. The tax collector was due the very next day.
The elders were meeting, and Hannah could hear a lot of shouting.
Mrs. Padget lived down the street from Adelle, and always said hello when Adelle and her brother, Farr, rode by on their bicycles. Adelle and Farr were 7 and 8 years old, and Mrs. Padget was older than their grandmother. One day, Mrs. Padget was out planting begonias. She called: “Adelle!” Adelle stopped her bike. “Adelle, never fall asleep in a fairy circle!” Adelle was so surprised that at first she didn’t know what to say.
“What’s a fairy circle?” Adelle asked. Mrs. Padget just shook her head and repeated: “Never fall asleep by the Misty Lake hillside or you might find out.” Adelle’s brother rode by. She told him about the warning, but he said Mrs. Padget was just trying to scare her, and she shouldn’t worry about it. Misty Lake was just up the street from their house, and they often rode their bikes there to picnic or swim. Adelle looked many times that summer, but she never saw any fairies.
Adelle and Farr played with their friends during the long, hot days. One day, a group of them picnicked beside the hill and watched swallows flying over Misty Lake. The lake was mistier as the sun set. Adelle’s eyes felt heavy, and she nodded off on the picnic blanket, which was in the shade of a thick oak tree. She did not notice the red circle in the grass. Soon she was surrounded by fairies, their wings shining. Soft clothing floating as they danced. They were the most beautiful creatures Adelle had ever seen with sparking eyes and long, slender limbs. She got up and danced with them. She did not feel tired, she did not feel hungry, and she did not feel thirsty. She danced on and on.
Friendly Fairy Tales 