Fairies
Lily drew a border of twisting branches, leaves and flowers. She added a ladybird and two butterflies. Then she drew two fairies, a boy with a bugle and a girl with a crown of forget-me-nots. The girl sat on a branch at top left, while the boy serenaded her from bottom right.
In the white space, Lily wrote a fairy poem.
‘Look, Mummy,’ she said.
‘Lovely,’ said her mother.
In the white space, Lily wrote a fairy poem.
‘Look, Mummy,’ she said.
‘Lovely,’ said her mother.
The wedding took place on a lily pad. She went to him there, flying to a choir of grasshoppers and tuneful frogs, escorted by a proud water boatman. The ceremony was conducted by a heron, who stood on one leg throughout. The fish kept their distance, but heard it all, rejoicing as he placed the forget-me-not-ring on her finger. To finish, he played a love song on his bugle.
‘Darling, we’ve done it! Proof!’
‘But…’ She bent down, level with the jar, and stared. ‘I created them! Years ago!’
‘Don’t all these things look much alike?’
‘No. I know them.’
‘Then surely,’ he said, his voice hardening, ‘it is they who have some power over you. You could not have brought them into existence.’
They stared back, their palms pressed against the glass, their eyes asking her, Why?
© A.R. Collins, 2013
‘But…’ She bent down, level with the jar, and stared. ‘I created them! Years ago!’
‘Don’t all these things look much alike?’
‘No. I know them.’
‘Then surely,’ he said, his voice hardening, ‘it is they who have some power over you. You could not have brought them into existence.’
They stared back, their palms pressed against the glass, their eyes asking her, Why?
© A.R. Collins, 2013
