Mysticalora - A fairy story

Kate and her brother Phillip were outside picking strawberries in Grandma Hayden’s garden. As Phillip walked along one of the stone paths he spotted a daisy, which had fallen to the ground. Grinning, he ran up and jumped on the broken daisy, squashing it into tiny pieces. 1

Kate gasped. “Phillip!” she called and ran over to scoop the remaining petals into her fingers, “there could have been a fairy in there! You have got to be careful!” 2

Slowly Kate inspected the squashed flower. “You were lucky,” she said sternly to her younger brother, “there were no fairies in this daisy.” She brushed the crushed flower from her palm and watched it float to the ground.3

“There are no such things as fairies,” Phillip scoffed and turned his back towards his sister.4

“There are too!” Kate replied.5

“Fairies?” An adult voice asked from behind. 6

Both children turned around to face Grandma Hayden. 7

“I do believe that fairies exist,” she said thoughtfully.8

“See!” Kate said to Phillip triumphantly. “Tell us about the fairies Grandma!”9

Grandma Hayden agreed and lead the two children down to the far corner of her garden, where they sat on a garden seat.  10

“I will tell you the story of Mysticalora, the fantasy land where all fairies and other mystical creatures live,” Grandma Hayden said softly, “but be quiet both of you, so that the fairies can listen in too.”11

She winked at Kate and took a deep breath, ready to begin. 12

“Mysticalora is a huge kingdom, full of fairies, mermaids, dragons, unicorns and any other sort of fantasy creature you can think of. Every garden in the whole world has a portal leading to Mysticalora, but humans can never enter because the portals are magically protected. At night or during quiet afternoons, fairies, elves and pixies use these portals to climb into our gardens and play. 13

“So fairies come into our garden at home?” Kate asked excitedly.14

“Yes,” Grandma Hayden replied, “when you and Phillip are asleep, I am sure that fairies dance just outside your bedroom. Sometimes, if you creep silently to the window, you may see the sparkle of a fairy’s wing or the tiny button cap on a pixie. 15

During special Mysticalora occasions, the fairies have parties. They use rose petals as dinner plates and small blue bells as drinking glasses. Everyone has to bring something to eat at the party. Pixies bring acorn caps, filled with pixie pastries and elves bring tiny glass bottles containing sweet homemade lemonade. 16

Together, the fairies, elves and pixies, dance around the garden, inviting the butterflies and ladybugs to join the fun. Next time you are at home, search carefully through the flowerbeds and you may even find a small forgotten pixie pastry or a pile of used blue bells, left behind after a huge magical celebration.”17

“What about dragons and werewolves?” Phillip asked nervously, can’t they travel through the fairy portals too?” He edged closer and gripped Kate’s hand tightly.18

Grandma Hayden chuckled, “don’t worry Phillip,” she said, “only small mystical creatures like fairies and elves can fit through the portals.19

But there are dragons in Mysticalora. Each dragon who is born, gets assigned a special castle which he must protect. Inside the castle lives a beautiful princess and the dragon’s job is to shelter her from evil enchantresses. When the princess gets old enough, she must climb out one of the top storey windows in the castle, onto the dragons back. The dragon will fly her away, high up into the sky and take her to a handsome man, who will become her true love. Together, the princess and her true love will help raise the fairy children and teach them how to use their first wands. The dragon remains the princess’s trusty companion, ready to fly her anywhere in Mysticalora and willing to guard her from all evil harm.”20

Kate’s eyes shone and she looked up at Grandma Hayden with enthusiasm, “what about mermaids?” she asked and clasped her hands together with excitement. “Oh, how I do love mermaids!”21

“Well,” Grandma Hayden replied, “there is no salt water in Mysticalora, instead, oceans of unicorn tears. If any creature is seriously ill, they can take a bath in the warm waves and be instantly healthy. Just below the surface, in between the coral, is a whole underwater city, full of mermaids! Dolphins and seahorses swim together and run errands for the Merqueen, collecting pearls and shells for the merchildren to play with. When a merchild grows to a certain age, she will be given a unique horn shaped shell. As she grows older, the merchild will learn how to blow into her shell and sing traditional mermaid songs. Mermaids believe that if they put an ear to one of their special instruments, they can hear the sound of humans and children laughing. That is why, if you listen carefully to a discarded shell, you will hear the sounds of the waves and maybe, if you are lucky, a mermaid song.” 22

Phillip was bewildered and stared opened mouthed at his sister, exposing a gap where one of his front teeth should have been. 23

“Would you like to know what has happened to your missing tooth, Phillip?” Grandma Hayden asked and pointed to Phillip’s mouth. 24

He nodded.25

“In Mysticalora there are hundreds of fields and meadows. Most of these are filled with strawberries, raspberries and flowers, but a few special fields are left bare. In winter, fairies from all over Mysticalora flock to these fields, so that they can have a chance to plant a tooth. The teeth are planted neatly in rows and watered every day by groups of pixies, who also tend to the soil and weed the fields. If the teeth are looked after with love and care, the field will be full of shining golden stars the next summer. Every baby creature who is born in Mysticalora that year, receives one of these special stars as a birth certificate and to keep as an amulet for safety.26

In return for your donation, the tooth fairy always leaves a small gift in exchange for your teeth. This is her way of thanking you for helping to keep Mysticalora a nice and protected land to live in.” 27

“The meadows on the edge of the tooth fields, are home to a herd of unicorns. Each magical horse, has its own pair of beautiful transparent wings and an enchanted healing horn on its head. Lucky young fairy children, can trade sugary fairy cookies and sweets, for rides on the unicorns’ backs. If successful in their request, the fairy child will be carried higher into the sky than he or she can fly themselves. The unicorn will give the fairy child a tour of Mysticalora, teaching him or her about the dangerous areas of the land.”28

“Have you ever traveled to Mysticalora, Grandma?” Kate asked, secretly hoping that Grandma Hayden would take her there one day. 29

“No,” Grandma Hayden shook her head. Seeing Kate and Phillip’s disappointed faces, she smiled, “but I know a few people who say they have or know someone who has been there. The portals are too small for humans to fit through, so you can never just enter Mysticalora, you have to be invited. One friend I know, stepped into a ring of spotted toadstools one day in the forest. She was transported to the magical kingdom in a snap,” Grandma Hayden clicked her fingers together, “just like that.”30

“What happened to her?” Phillip asked, “How did she get out?”31

“The fairies didn’t keep her long,” Grandma Hayden assured him, “after a day of sightseeing they brought her back to the forest and let her go home.”32

Kate was astonished. She hoped that one day a fairy would invite her to visit Mysticalora and show her the mermaids and unicorns. Out of the corner of her eye, Kate spotted a glint of gold. She turned towards the back wall and watched with amazement as a tiny foot disappeared into the ivy. The last thing she saw was the flicker of a sparkly wing and the fairy had vanished. Kate opened her mouth to tell Patrick, but stopped herself. She grinned and wriggled her toes with pleasure. She knew that was where Grandma Hayden’s portal was, but she wouldn’t tell, it would be her special secret. 33