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Posted on

October 26, 2013

Posted under

Holiday, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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Crankypot Halloween

Friendly Fairy Tales is pleased to offer a Halloween story for Adventurous Fairy Tale readers, Crankypot Halloween. Here is an excerpt:

Through the house give glimmering light,
By the dead and drowsy fire;
Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty, after me,
Sing, and dance it, trippingly.
First rehearse your song by rote,
To each word a warbling note:
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.

— William Shakespeare
(A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene II)

The gray-haired man sat tapping his fingers on his knee, without noticing tiny flickering lights under drooping dahlias, but he was aware of the darkening sky. He did not notice three raven nests in the tree across the street. A little girl followed the flickering lights, crying the whole way, closer and closer to where the man sat in the dark.

He heard her weeping by the gate, and shouted “Take your tricks elsewhere! No treats here!” He had been guarding his yard from the pitch-black of his porch for 25 years, not letting any trick-or-treaters through the gate, all lights off.

The crying got louder. “Go away, you can’t trick me!” He shouted again, unable to see anything with the sun sinking fast. He heard hiccups, then even louder wailing. He flipped the floodlights on, against his usual policy entirely. In the wash of yellow light, all the flickering twilight fairies hid, and the ravens called out, restless.

He sighed and approached the gate for the first time in 25 years on Halloween. In the light from his floodlights, he saw a little girl with blonde curls stuck to her wet cheeks. Tears were rolling down from her eyes, and dangling on the strands of her hair like dew. The straps of her pink butterfly wings had slid off her shoulders, and she clutched a pillow case tightly in a fist. She looked just like his daughter, Ella Mae, all those years ago when he caught her sneaking out to trick-or-treat behind his back. He had yelled at Ella Mae, and now she lived on the opposite side of the country.

“What’s the matter, girl?” He asked gruffly.

To find out what happens, whether tricks or treats, please click on Crankpot Halloween.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 24, 2013

Posted under

Holiday, Poetry

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35 Comments

Cobwebbed Skull Haiku

Silly skull laughing;

Nylon spiders hard at work;

Halloween bones ready.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 22, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Boys, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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45 Comments

New Fairy Tale Published!!

Friendly Fairy Tales is pleased to announce the publication of a new, previously-unpublished story, The Day the Dragon Flew up the Chimney, on The Paperbook Collective October 2013 Issue 3. Thanks to Jayde Ashe for publishing this story!!

Excerpt from The Day the Dragon Flew up the Chimney

One day, the sky was so dark that day seemed like night. No work could be done in the village of Miller’s Bend. All the villagers gathered in the great hall to tell stories and visit with each other.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. Everyone looked around in wonder. Everyone in the village was already inside the great hall. Whoever was outside must be a stranger.

After another booming knock came, the mayor went to open the door. He looked left and he looked right, but there was no one there. He did not notice a tiny dragon no bigger than a teacup dart into the hall and hide behind a chair leg. Everyone else was looking up at the mayor’s shoulder, and they didn’t see the tiny dragon either. Everyone, that is, except a little boy named Henry who was no more than three.

Now Henry had been playing marbles near the door, and he was just the right height to see the dragon. He went at once to his mother’s knee, but she was talking to the miller’s wife. He pulled at her skirts, but she said, “Henry, I’m talking to Eliza, go and play.”

Henry tried his father next, but his father was talking to the mayor.

‘There was no one there,” said the mayor.

“Isn’t that odd?” responded Henry’s father. Henry tugged on his pant leg.

“Henry, go and play. You can see I’m busy.” Henry’s father did not listen.

Henry decided he’d better keep an eye on the dragon, so he followed it closely.

To find out what happens to Henry, adult readers can download the Paperbook Collective with work by many fabulous writers here or please check back on Friendly Fairy Tales for the rest of the story in a few days…

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 22, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Girls, Poetry

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23 Comments

Star Fairy Fibonacci Poem

Quick!

Hide!

Deep down,

All alone.

She fled the falcon,

Taking cover in a canyon

Still she could hear it screaming for her to come out now!

Never would a star fairy fear a peregrine falcon, but she was injured and drained.

She sang to her kin, sparkling in twilight air; soon they entangled the bird in a magic web, destroying his concentration, and saving her.

Note: A Fibonacci Poem is one in which each succeeding line is equal in syllable length to the syllable length of the preceding two lines added together, or one, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, twenty-one, thirty-four, etc. Usually they are 5 or 6 lines long, but I wanted to see if I could write one 8 lines long.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 19, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Boys, Holiday, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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9 Comments

Baby Coyote Scares Halloween

Baby Coyote lived in a den with his mom and dad, deep in a wood surrounded by the roads and houses of big folk. Mom and Dad Coyote hunted at night. In the early morning, they woke Baby Coyote. They fed him, played with him and kept him safe. They usually slept away the long hours the big folk were walking the trails, but sometimes they would hide and watch them pass by. The big folk seemed to see nothing at all that was not on the trails. Baby Coyote thought they were funny, especially when they would exclaim over dragonflies or poison ivy.

One morning, his mom and dad had to go visit the faraway woods. On the sunshine oak next door, hidden in the nasturtiums behind a round door, lived a happy gnome. His name was Iron Hair, for his stiff, spiky gray hair. Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 18, 2013

Posted under

Poetry

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30 Comments

Bottomless Treasure Haibun

My memory is a bottomless treasure trove, full of beloved moments. Photographs are the jewels, the pieces of eight, the doubloons. One day in early summer, we visited the Bronx Zoo, and my children were enchanted with the animals. We rode the Wild Asia Monorail, and heard about deer and buffalo species protected from extinction. Some of the animals were extinct in their natural habitat and were reintroduced to the wild from the Zoo’s protected herds, which had thrived in a large enclosure for over a hundred years.

Zebras, giraffes, deer,
Species preserved from the past,
My children held rapt.

Note: This was prepared for this week’s Ligo Haibun prompt, treasure.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 18, 2013

Posted under

Poetry

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23 Comments

Changes Coming Haiku

This newest Haiku is dedicated to all of you, my readers, who have supported and encouraged me over the last miraculous seven months! I am redesigning the appearance of friendlyfairytales. I plan to use a more customizable theme, primarily to celebrate nature more. The new appearance will be more simple and clean, I hope. Please do give me feedback.

Also, I have two Halloween stories coming in the second half of October! Thrills and chills await you, should your path cross here again soon!

Without further delay, Changes Coming Haiku:

Grown no longer new
Something new comes from the old
New growth embraced, held.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 17, 2013

Posted under

Poetry

Comments

54 Comments

Rainbow Haiku

Magic wings lightly
Paint the earth a bright rainbow,
Vivid joy dancing.

Note: This post is dedicated to my friend, E, who walks with me most days, and is endlessly patient and encouraging of my taking pictures, and to my children who love to find things for me to photograph, too. And to my hubby, who stops the car when I just have to take a picture. Photography has become much more important to me that I could have imagined, and I owe that to the people I love, who bear with me. Hugs, Brenda

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 16, 2013

Posted under

Holiday, Poetry

Comments

13 Comments

Grave Haiku

Young Ghost is not grave,

Dancing with a poltergeist;

Gravestone dominoes.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 14, 2013

Posted under

Poetry

Comments

40 Comments

Be Crabgrass Haibun

Picture by Penny

Crabgrass can grow on bowling balls in airless rooms, and there is no known way to kill it that does not involve nuclear weapons. — Dave Barry

Crabgrass can grow without fertilizer, mulch, watering, edging and protection from other plants. It springs up in any crack or crevice in the walkway, in the middle of the lawn or between bushes and the house foundation where light shines for less than five minutes in a day. What if good thoughts were like that? Even if the day was dark and cold, with a stiff wind blowing the rain sideways. What if happy thoughts took root like crabgrass, growing deep roots, sending thick green arms in all directions, blocking all dark thoughts from coming near.

Peter Pan taught Wendy to concentrate on a happy thought, and she could fly with the help of some fairy dust. What could you accomplish if you concentrate on a happy thought? Picture it taking hold like crabgrass and nothing can kill that happy thought. Perhaps you could even smile, all day long.

I’m going to be the crabgrass. I’m concentrating on the ocean. My happy thoughts involve a waterfall, a volcanic valley, snorkeling and the best sushi I ever had in my life. Do you know where I was? I hope you have a happy thought that can take hold like crabgrass.

blue waves curl inside
lapping on the golden shore
of my memory

To find the prompt for the haibun, click on the Ligo Haibun Challenge.