my own Flower Fairies.
The first little fairy, in the story, came from a yellow flower.
But I found a variety of coloured flowers at a thrift store so made six
flower fairies.
They were waiting at school for the children to come and play.
The First Little Fairy
There was a time, long ago, when there were no fairies in the world. Mother Nature had no little helpers and had to do all her work by herself. As you know, fairies now help that grand old lady in many, many ways. They sprinkle dew drops on the grass in the early morning. They sweep the autumn leaves into piles that we can rustle with our feet. They mend broken spiders’ webs and coax shy little flowers to open every morning.
In fact, all fairies are especially fond of flowers, and that is because the very first fairy in the world was born from a little woodland flower herself. Ever since then, fairies have almost always been given flower names.
When the world was young, Mother Nature made sure that all living things knew the part they had to play on our wonderful earth. Flowers understood that they must grow and send out buds to open beautifully in the sunshine. Trees knew that they must grow straight and tall, stretching their branches out to shelter the little creatures living beneath them. Mother Nature taught the first birds to fly, so that they in turn could teach their own children. She showed them where to build their nests and how to hatch their eggs. She showed rabbits how to dig burrows and caterpillars how to turn into butterflies. There was no part of nature, from the tiniest ant to the largest elephant that was not guided and helped by her loving hands. And everything flourished.
When living things were in harmony, all was well, but soon life on earth began to change. Human beings ploughed up the earth and planted crops. They rooted out lovely wildflowers, calling them weeds. Instead they grew food for themselves and their animals, not thinking about the rest of nature at all.
Later on, humans built villages and towns. The smoke from their fires drifted up and sometimes hid the sun itself, which helps Mother Nature to give life to all the plants and animals on our planet. Buildings crushed the land beneath them, driving out the creatures that had lived where now streets and houses covered the earth.
As time went on, humans began to through garbage into the rivers, making it hard to fish to live. They chopped down trees and rooted up grasslands. Everywhere they went, they seemed to want to change Mother Nature’s careful work. The poor old lady wept to see what had become of her beautiful world.
One day, Mother Nature sat in a woodland glade and buried her head in her hands in despair. There was just too much for her to do. She could not put all the ills of the world right by herself. While she was rescuing the fish from a dirty river, little animals were losing their homes as trees were destroyed. Mother Nature knew that she could not hold back the damage caused by man for ever. She felt powerless and very much alone.
On the other side of the glade, a little flower was growing. She remembered how Mother Nature had saved her only the year before. Winds had caused a huge bough to fall from the mighty tree above, crushing her beneath its weight. Mother Nature gently lifted the branch and freed the bruised leaves of the plant. She had sprinkled her buds with sunlight and moonshine, until a few weeks later, the plant had flowered in the most beautiful way. The flower could not forget Mother Nature’s kindness.
Now the old lady sat miserably in the woodland. The little flower could not bear to see her friend so very upset.
“If only I could do something to help her,” said the flower to herself. “But I am only a little flower. I cannot move from this spot even to comfort Mother Nature. What a poor thing I am?”
Now it so happened that just at that moment, a tiny amount of stardust fell to earth. And when stardust falls on any living thing that is making a wish, the wish always comes true. As the little flower wished she could be free to help her friend, the stardust shimmered over her leaves and petals. Almost at once, the flower felt something wonderful happen.
One of her blooms began to take on a life of its own. Its yellow petals became a little dress, as delicate as gossamer. Its fragile green leaves became a tiny cloak, as light as a feather. From the centre of the flower, a beautiful face peeped out. And most wonderful of all, the stardust itself formed two glittering wings that shimmered in the sunlight.
Without a sound, the first little fairy fluttered up into the air, flew swiftly across the clearing, and settled on Mother Nature’s shoulder. She lay her little face against the old lady’s worn cheek to comfort her and let her know that help was at hand. Mother Nature was no longer alone.
“I will help you all I can” said the first little fairy. Her voice was so gentle and small that the old lady could hardly hear it.
Mother Nature looked up and thought that she had seen many lovely things, but this little creature was fairer than any of them. That is why she decided to call her tiny helper a fairy.
“I am sure that other flowers will do what they can to help you, when they see me” said the little fairy kindly. And she was right. Soon bluebells, foxgloves, cowslips, poppies and all the other lovely flowers of the world were growing little fairies of their own, each prettier and more graceful than the last. They fluttered around Mother Nature, waiting for her to tell them what to do to help make the world a more beautiful place.
And the wise old lady taught each fairy to help in the places she knew best, so that woodland bluebells became Bluebell Fairies, flying up to take food to mother birds who could not leave the eggs they were keeping warm. Poppy Fairies flutter into cornfields to warn the little mice who live there that the farmer is coming to cut the corn. You may have seen their little red dresses flitting through a field of golden yellow grain in summer.
As for the first little fairy, she always stays by Mother Nature’s side, helping her to talk to the fairies she meets—for sometimes their voices are so tiny that the old lady cannot hear them at all—and explaining to new fairies how the wide and wonderful world of nature works.
So, if you almost think you see a flicker of green and yellow among the leaves, remember Mother Nature and the very first fairy.
from "Best Loved Magical Tales for Bedtime"
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