Sprite Spite

A new Adventurous Fairy Tale, named Sprite Spite, is now available to read. An excerpt follows:

Sprite Spite

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Wings swiftly beating, Amadou dodged saplings and swung wide around old soul trees, the wind pulling his curly, brown hair straight back. He felt the tree spirits slumbering in the cool midday, their leaves turning golden shades of autumn.

Amadou had been unfurling fiddlehead ferns all morning, and he needed to blow off steam. He was looking for a wide ledge of fungus, just the right height above the ferns. He could see it in his mind’s eye. That day, rain had created the perfect conditions. Diving sprites give a tremendous scream, arch their backs gracefully, wings folded. Then they take a running jump from the fungus ledge, falling through the thick, damp air, eventually bouncing from fern to fern and water slalom skiing in the dew on their tiny feet.

To continue reading, click on Sprite Spite.

Used with permission of acuriousgal

Used with permission of acuriousgal

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Some photographs used with kind permission of acuriousgal, a very talented photographer.

October Haiku

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Halloween’s coming:

Spooky sights, frights and delights,

Spiderweb and fog.

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Late Bloom Haiku

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Hydrangeas bowing,
Blushing with autumn kisses;
Fallen leaf ignored.

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Fae Cousins

Friendly Fairy Tales is proud to offer its newest Adventurous Fairy Tale, Fae Cousins.

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Photograph of Osaka used with permission of Mohamad Reza

Excerpt of
Fae Cousins

From a distance, cities like Osaka seem all concrete and steel, not a place for a fairy’s magic. Jade Lion Fairy knew the opposite was true. Urban Fairies are the busiest fairies, sprinkling their magic over long distances and up high heights. They look after patio flowers, green squares, Castle Gardens, parks, tightly confined trees and small children. If nature pushes through the concrete and flourishes, then a fairy enchants.

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Jade Lion rode the tide of heat from a vent all the way up to a balcony. A fairy in a glamour could appear as a shimmering heat wave or a large insect. She tucked her sparkling wings neatly on her back and sprinkled fairy dust from her bag on the tall purple orchids, which seemed to glow from within. Meanwhile, she also looked around for her necklace.

“Where did I lose it?” she wondered to herself. She thought back over where she had been. The last time she remembered taking it out of her dahlia-petal dress was when she showed it to that Tokyo sprite.

“Ouch! Hey, I’m Spit Spite Sprite – Just call me Spritester,” the small, blue-skinned sprite and she had collided under a Japanese maple tree by Osaka Bay. He danced on a salty breeze, laughing.

Click here to read the rest of Fae Cousins.

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: First photograph published by Folliculostella and was taken by Mohamad Reza.

The Vegetable Fairy

Friendly Fairy Tales is happy to present a new Adventure Fairy Tale, the Vegetable Fairy. In honor of Labor Day, we are celebrating the hard work of gardeners and others who labor to grow the food we all enjoy. Happy Labor Day!!

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The Vegetable Fairy

Squash Blossom was a Vegetable Fairy, but she sprinkled her fairy dust on the vegetables resentfully, looking longingly at the flower beds blooming with petunias, coreopsis and dusty miller. She longed for the color and brightness.

The flower she liked best was the rose bush, it had such amazing flowers. She knew the flower fairies made tea with the rose hips, the green nub left after a rose bloom had faded. Squash Blossom loved tea.

“The flower fairies have the best jobs,” she thought to herself. She thought spending all her time in the flower beds would be the best job ever!

Click here to read the rest of the Vegetable Fairy

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

This story is dedicated to all the gardeners growing food everywhere.

Circus of the Impossible at Friendly Fairy Tales!!

Woo-hoo! I’m Brenda, the Friendly Fairy Tales Ringmaster, here to welcome one and all to my Circus of the Impossible!

Impossible to believe I would win 65 awards in 6 months of blogging!

Impossible to imagine publishing 37 magical stories and even 6 fairy tale poems since February 25.

More impossibilities: over 10,000 hits, visits from nearly 80 countries, over 100 people visiting my site daily, nearly 650 followers, and who knows how many likes, over 3300 at last count. I have to sit down a minute, I’m overheating and my head is swelling. Oh wait, it’s just a bug bite.

Blogging has boggled my mind and made my life into a circus of unanswerable hundreds of emails. As I told another blogger, I’m so far behind, I’m learning to like the view from back here. I love it, but holy flying wombats, is it a circus!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love every minute of it, and I’m eating it up like cotton candy. If I could split myself in two, one of me would happily blog all day long, publishing stories, poems and photographs, and reading, answering comments and loving your blogs, too. Since I’m only one human with the same 24 hours other people get, and more obligations than hair on my head, I’ll just keep plugging away: tumbling, juggling, clowning, training animals (oops, I mean kids), walking the high wire and swinging from the trapeze.

Finally, I’ll be your award juggler! Toss ’em high, watch ’em spin, high they fly, win, win, win! Don’t light the torches, I’m not ready yet! Augh, my hair is on fire!! Thanks hubby, always a good man with a bucket of cold water.

Thanks to Sawa Minori for three new awards: The I Love Your Blog Award, The Liebster Award and Because You’re Fantabulous Award. Sawa makes the most divine angels, and she is such an angel herself, she tells me I have no rules to follow. In her honor, I’m now turning somersaults, rolling like a gymnast in flowered tights. Now there’s an image.

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Thanks to Patty at PetiteMagique, who gave me an array of awards, including handing me right back the awards I’d given her very deserving site. And she gave me two new ones I have not received before: The You are a Miracle Award (my own!!) and the Reader Appreciation Award. Oh, no, here come the kids with cream pies, run! Smack, too late! Whipped cream in my hair. (They don’t have to laugh like hyenas!)

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To show my appreciation to Patty for a bouquet of awards I’ve already received, I will use my new award acceptance token to acknowledge and appreciate them, but not display all the icons again, which feels like bragging:

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Thanks to Belsbror, one of my wonderful friends from the Phillipines, whose writing rings with passion and truth, for the Awesome Blossom and Because You’re Fantabulous Awards!! I’m balancing on the high wire, with an umbrella in one hand and goat in the other. (Don’t ask!)

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Just when I thought it was safe to press publish on this post, Belsbror gave me another award!!

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Holy diving dolphins, is that the knife-thrower? I’d better wrap this up! Here’s today’s short list. Nominees, you can pick any two awards/tokens above you desire, or none if that is your preference. Feel free to take the Symphony of Color Icon, and use it like an award, it saves me time. And time is precious! Consider these nominations a hug from me (you have all made me contemplate your wonderfulness recently (is that a word? It should be)):

gita4elamats                JayNine                           toniandrukaitis

jnaima12                      stockresearch52           Schelley – What Is It?!?

Thanks for joining me, one and all, at my Circus of the Impossible. I hope many wonderful impossibilities come your way, too (except for the knife-thrower)! Here are a few more glimpses of my world and beautiful flowers to show my appreciation for all you wonderful readers, bloggers, friends, and family:

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With warmest appreciation, Brenda

Toe Note: Yes, those are my toes, and I included them as a tribute to Toemail, who rocks!

Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Mushroom Condos

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“Oh no, not Mushroom Condo Village!” Fingle Daggadar Northstar said to his mother, Jin-Jangle Northstar, Fae-Mayor of Rushing Fairy Glen.

“Dear, you’ll have to live somewhere if you go off on your own.” Jin-Jangle said.

“But just look at them. Tiny, some of them are just barely taller than me!”

“Finn, darling, just live at home while you study toxicity eliminicity in Twist Trunk University.”

“Oh, mom, only dorkus fairistinkers live at home while they go to TTU.”

Continue reading

Love Letter to Elm Bank

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You welcome me with sweeping views, Continue reading

Rose Fairy finds a Family

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Each fairy breath of summer,
as it blows with loveliness,
inspires the blushing rose.
— Unknown

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On the day Rose Fairy was born, a young family picnicked in the sunshine. Their chubby firstborn, Barnabus, wore a solemn smile and chewed on his fist. Then his father slipped on the stony ground, and fell smack, bang, boom on the ground with an “Ooof!” that could be heard for miles.

Barnabus’s mom cried out, “Charles, dear, are you okay? Is anything hurt?”

“My pride!” Barnabus’s dad answered with a hand rubbing his bottom, where he landed on the rocks, and straightening his glasses.

Barnabus removed his fist from his mouth, and drew in a deep breath.

Continue reading

The Stallion and the Fortune-Teller

IMG_3036 Marcellino’s Grandfather Gerardo took him to meet his old school friend from his boarding school days. His friend had recently become King Bengal of Tropica Nadia, a small country off the coast of India. King Bengal lived in a splendid palace overlooking the sea.

Marcellino’s smile enchanted the king. The king invited him to a party for his young daughter, Sahara, in three days time. Marcellino was very happy, but his Grandfather Gerardo was worried. What should they bring little Sahara for a present? What do you buy for a ten year old princess?

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The Rain Dance

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Two children surprised a fairy. Mona, the fairy, was of the Swallowtail Fae. In the twinkle of an eye, she shifted to her butterfly form. She fluttered to a butterfly bush, then to a high hosta bloom. She watched the children.

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The little girl pointed at her, “Stephano! I saw a fairy!” Mona wondered if she should flee.

Stefano laughed. “Isabella, that’s a butterfly,” He shook his head. “But we’re here to do a rain dance, remember?” He clapped his hands and stomped rhythmically in the grass. He danced in a circle, widdershins, and Isabella joined him, also clapping.

“We need to ask the Great Spirit for rain,” Stefano said. Mona was surprised the children knew of the Great Spirit.

Together the children chanted: “Great Spirit in the sky, the garden’s way too dry. Begging your pardon, please rescue our garden. Let rain clouds form and bring on the storm!”

Nothing happened. The sky stayed blue, and no clouds came. Stefano was crestfallen, but Isabella giggled about their prayer. “Mommy! We sang to the Great Spirit, and I saw a fairy!”

The air shimmered as Mona shifted back to her fairy form. Blue Iris petals formed her dress. Fairy magic kept them as fresh and soft as the day they unfurled. Mona was as disappointed at Stefano. She had been using her wand to keep flowers alive, but what they really needed was rain and lots of it.

Continue reading

Nana Knows

“Nana, where do the fairies hide?” Jana sprinkled water on the potted flowers with her red watering can.

“Dearest, they could be in the darkest parts of the pine tree. Between rocks in walls, in the curl of an unopened flower or in the wrinkled bark of a tree.”

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Jana looked carefully in all those places, even peering into the furled petals of flowers, but nowhere did she see shimmering wings or shining faces. Then she lifted the leaves of a hosta just opening its white trumpets.

Continue reading