The Night Fairy

 

It was the perfect night ...and the perfect leaf was falling.

Against her father's wishes the tiny fairy hopped onto the sailing leaf and caught the ride of her life...

You probably know this already but, night fairies glow in the dark. So they are forbidden to visit the backyards of children unless the fireflies are out, then they can remain unnoticed.

For though fairies live among us they have their own world and are not to mix with people. That's just the way it is. Unless of course you are to be a rare soul who happens upon a mischievous fairy such as this one.

................

It was on this warm indian summer night under the full moon that David and Michael where out in their backyard collecting night crawlers for their fishing trip the next day.

"I see a firefly!", said Michael.

"Can't be," David corrected his little brother, " Fireflies are out in early summer and its September."

"Look! Look at the daisies!"

"Wow! Lets catch it - you get a jar!" ...And so he did.

 

All-the-while the little night fairy flitted about the garden delighted with all the flowers. She lived up in the mountains where everything is green and brown with only an occasional wild flower. Needless to say, she was quite enchanted with the whole thing. Just as she was about to do the night-fairy-late-summer-pixie-dust-throwing-dance on top of a daisy, two hands clapped around her and stuffed her into a jar. She hid under her wings glowing the whole time.

.....................

"This bugs light is stuck on"

"Yeah. And its greenish."

"Maybe its sick."

"Let's bring it into our room. Don't tell Mom - you know she'll make us let it go."

The fairy was a little bit mad and scared at being caught, but upon hearing the boys conversation she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. She was proud of disguising herself for it is forbidden for fairies to mix with humans, though she wasn't sure why.

"You were squeezing the firefly that's why the light is stuck on David."

"No I wasn't. Its the jar. I smells like three hundred year old pickles-- wouldn't you turn green in a jar smelling like that? What did you do, go sniffing all the jars for the most putrid one you could find? "

"Just make some holes in the lid ."

The night fairy wasn't really paying attention at this point. All she was thinking was that humans were noisy and it was bumpy and how am I going to get out of here ( getting out of jars is hard for a fairy).

BANG! Into the jar plunged a sharp nail almost killing the poor thing -- well not really but it was scary. BANG BANG BANG!!! "There now it can breathe!"

David, who had complained of the smelly jar, decided to hide the glowing jar in the sock he had just taken off. The fairy choked , "I've got to get out of here!"

After a while the lights went out and the boys were in bed quiet. The sock was pulled off .

"Good night little bug."

................

The fairy sat and stewed and then tried to fly around the jar. At last she sat down frustrated thinking this was the end of her life. Michael climbed down from the top bunk to get a drink and knocked over the jar that was perched on the dresser. The jar rolled on the rug, smacked into the wall, the top popped off and out tumbled the fairy.

David opened his mouth to yell some insult at his brother for knocking over the jar when he said, " That's a big firefly!" "That's not a firefly," said his wide eyed little brother.

They looked closer and closer,"Its a..." ZOOM! ZIP! SWISH! The fairy had come to her senses and flew all over the room looking for the window. The screen was down and she had never been in a boys room before so she zipped all around like a bat caught in the attic.

"Hey,we won't hurt you. Slow down! Its OK."

From the other room they hear, "What's going on in there?"

"Its OK Mom - uh, I was just helping Michael get a drink and he dropped it!"

"Thanks a lot, David."

"It was the best I could do."
............

The fairy stopped in mid air to plot her escape ....and rest. Slowly the boys looked at her. She looked at them. I don't know who was more amazed.

"Are you what I think you are?"

"I'm not a what, I'm Soop."

"SOUP?" the boys asked in chorus. "What kind of soup, chicken soup?"

"HUH?" (fairies don't know what soup is. Can you imagine a tiny fairy catching a chicken? In fact fairies don't eat very much at all but that is a different story for a different day.) "I'm a night fairy and Soop is my name. And I must get back .. I'm going to be in big trouble because when fairies get in trouble it is always big especially me and I'm not supposed to be here except when the fireflies come and I'm not supposed to mix with humans and...She started to cry and hiccup and mumble for she was very young and did not yet know all of her powers.

David said ,"We'll let you go out the window, but can we touch you first?"

There was something about his voice, a familiar kindness and her fear gave way to curiosity. She wanted to touch the human children as much as they wanted her. The night fairy rose into the air and hovered there the way that fairies do, floated over to his finger and lighted there. For one brief moment they were no longer strangers. She then lifted off his finger and flew over to Michael's hand. Both children almost glowed themselves at the beauty of her.

" I have to go now, she said " but I am glad to have met you."

The moon smiled through the window as he pushed open the screen. Standing on the sill the fairy looked back before she jumped off into the night.

"Isn't she supposed to give us a wish?" asked Michael.

"Hey, Soop, don't we get a wish?" David yelled a whisper.

Soop looked back again and said ," I don't know how to grant wishes. I'm too young!"

"Come back then when you're older!" the boys said.

She gave a grin that only a glowing night fairy under the full moon can give and winked. Off she went disappearing into the stars.

The boys looked into each others eyes and then gazed at the night sky for some time, I'm not sure how long it was. They did not speak. There was no need. Somehow nothing would ever be the same for they had touched another world.

"David? Did we really catch a fairy tonight?"

David didn't answer. Actually he was also wondering what really happened. They were a little bit sad the nights adventure was over as they climbed into their beds.

"Look, Michael - the jar."

Fairy dust glowing in the jar caught David's eye. So it was true. And had they known they could have had a wish then and there but they kept the jar hidden as well as their secret for quite a while, until one night,..

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