Sally’s Sunflowers

Sally started on her list. 1. Keep Bubbles out of the way.

She put a nice comfy cushion on the sunny windowsill in her bedroom, next she placed Bubbles on top of the cushion.

“Now number two, the birds,” Sally whispered.

It was a tricky thing to do but Sally placed five fat seed balls on the bird table in their garden along with a full net of peanuts.   Crossing her fingers she hoped the table wouldn’t break.

“Number three,” she said and went to collect his post from the postbox.  Sally walked to  Mr. Blunts door.

Bubbles ran up to her as Mr. Blunt opened his front door.

“Shoo cat!” He shouted.

“Bubbles came to say hello. She likes people.”

“Well,  I don’t like her. Why have you got my post?” Mr. Blunt asked in a loud voice.

“I was being nice!” Sally whispered.

Just then, Bubbles ran in to the kitchen.

Mr. Blunt chased after her. Sally followed. Luckily for Bubbles, Sally was smaller and faster than Mr. Blunt. Diving under the table she caught Bubbles in her arms and dashed home.

“My teacher says practice makes perfect, we will make him smile.” Sally said hugging Bubbles to her.

Number four was – mow his lawn. But, Mr. Blunt had already mowed it.

Sally shook her head. “It is very hard to help some people.”

Number five: wash his car.

Sally took out the buckets and sponge for washing the car. She wanted the car to sparkle so she squeezed an extra dollop of liquid into the bucket.

She was washing the windows, when she heard a strange noise. She discovered there were dogs licking the car. Great big dollops of dog slobber were flying about and landing on the nice clean car.

“Shoo go away,” she said. They started barking.

Mr. Blunt came outside. “Who is making all that noise?” He stopped and stared at his car, which was covered in dogs of many shapes and sizes.

He was still shouting as Sally and the dogs ran away.

Mum asked her, ‘Is this what you washed his car with?’

“Yes. It said, it will give the greatest shine all week long.” Sally said scratching number five off her list.

Number six: buy him some sweets.

Sally shook her piggy bank. She counted out loud, ‘four euro and two cents. I could buy an awful lot of chocolate for that.”

Scooping the money into her blue purse Sally walked along beside her mum with a hop and a skip. The money rattled as she moved.

The sweet shop with its rows of rainbow jars of sweets was her favorite shop. “He is a really old man so perhaps I should buy him soft sweets.”

The shopkeeper said,  “that is a kind thought, yes jellies are over here.”

Sally scrunched up her face. Mr. Blunt reminded her of a shark. “What would a shark like?” she asked.

“Something strong and hard, I think, to crunch on.”

‘Well, he is an old shark so perhaps, some bulls eyes, chocolate candy, jelly babies and some soft jellies, just in case.’

“Good idea.”

Sally bought some chocolate mice for Bubbles and herself.

On the way home Sally said, “I don’t know how to give Mr. Blunt these sweets without making him mad.” She sighed. “How can I make him smile if all he does is get madder and madder?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t smile.” Mum said.

Sally grinned. ‘That is silly. Everyone smiles, even Bubbles smiles.’

Back home Sally walked to Mr. Blunts front door. She rang the doorbell. When the door opened Sally shoved the bag of sweets at him saying, ‘these are for you,’ and ran back home.

Mum asked, “did it work?”

“I don’t know.”

Mum bent down and gave Sally one of her extra special hugs.

“Number seven will make him smile, a great big toothy smile!”

Sally spent hours working on her picture. The bird table looked just like the one in her back garden, the birds looked like birds. Sally went to bed saying, “tomorrow I am going to see Mr. Blunt smile.”

That night Sally dreamed that Mr. Blunt smiled so much, he out shone the sun. It hid behind a cloud. The birds didn’t like his smile, they flew away. The dogs were frightened by it and howled like wolves.

On the way to his house, the next morning, the wind pulled the drawing from her hands. It landed in a puddle. She gave it a shake and continued to his door.

The door opened. “What? You’ve come to give me another tooth ache?”

“I drew a picture to make you smile, here it is.”  She held the picture out for him to see.

He took the soggy picture and gave a nod of his head.

Sally was sad but she said, “I’m not giving up. I’ll write down my funny joke.”

Sally’s joke was:

A cheeseburger walked into a bar and said, “hello, can I have a pint of beer please?” The bartender replied “Sorry, we don’ t serve food”

Sally wondered how she could deliver it to him without him seeing her. Dad said, “Let’s send it by airmail.”

He showed Sally how to make and fly paper airplanes. Soon the kitchen was full of paper planes whizzing about.

“I can do this.” Sally said. Walking outside she took the empty bird food bucket and placing it upside down stood on it. She saw Bubble’s sitting in Mr. Blunts garden chair. The back door opened. Sally held her breath, pointed the nose of the plane in the direction of the back door and threw the plane.

It flew straight. Then with a – smack- it hit him on the nose. “Ouch! Who did that?”  He roared.

Sally hid behind the fence. With a sigh Sally sat down on the bucket. Now she had to bake a cake. Sally didn’t like baking but she did like eating cakes.

She baked the cake with mums help. While it was cooling Sally made the icing. “This is the best bit”, she told Bubbles as she drizzled some icing on his paw. He tasted it. Sally went to clean her face and put on a clean tee shirt.

When she returned she discovered Dad had left just one piece of the cake.

“Sorry Sally but it was delicious.” He said.

Sally had one chance left. But she didn’t know what to do. Mum gave her an idea. ” Mr. Blunts wife was a great gardener. ”

“Really?” Sally said. They were watching a tv program about gardening.

“She loved bright flowers.”

The man on TV was talking about Sunflowers. ” They are very smiley flowers, aren’t they?” Sally said. She went to find her dad.

“The trouble is real Sunflowers take months to grow, Sally,” he said.

Sally had a plan. First, she drew a huge sunflower.  Then she and her Dad to his workshop.  Days later they were finished. The flowers had bright yellow and orange faces. They had leaves for arms. The petals made a soft clicking sound that she knew the birds wouldn’t like. Her mum helped her paint the flowers.

“It will keep them away from Mr. Blunts garden and Bubbles too.”  Sally said.

Next morning, Sally and her Dad went to Mr. Blunts house, very early to plant their sunflowers. “Don’t worry Sally, if he shouts, I’ll shout back.” Sally crossed her fingers.

Mr. Blunt was grumbling as he walked to the door. He opened it. “You!” he said to Sally.

“Follow us, Mr. Blunt, you have to see this.”  Dad said.

Mr. Blunt followed them. They stood together and waited. Sally heard a strange sound. She felt sad, Mr. Blunt’s bottom lip was wobbling. She knew what that meant.

“I’m sorry, these were supposed to make you happy,” she whispered.

Mr. Blunt walked over and bending down hugged her lightly, ” Thank you. Can I touch them? My wife loved sunflowers, these are smashing!”

Sally did a cartwheel and laughed aloud. Her miles of smiles worked.

 

 

“Well done! Sally. I’ve made some gingerbread, can I bring it over?” Mum asked Mr. Blunt. He answered with a smile.

After that, Mr. Blunt became the smiliest man in the neighborhood. He even suggested they start a business. From then on every Saturday morning Sally, and Mr. Blunt sold sunflowers in the market. And every Sunday morning Mr. Blunt arrived at Sally’s house to hand her a small bag of chocolate mice for Sally, just to make her smile.

Easter Bunnies.

The wood smelt of cinnamon. Breeze sniffed the air, like a dog would. “Hmm someone is baking, time to go visit.” He stood and stepped further out onto the branch of the tree, then smiled as it bent gracefully towards the ground. Then he stepped off and said “time to investigate such surprisingly delightfully promising smells.”

He placed one large foot on the soft forest floor and went to visit Tulip, the best baker he knew. However when he got to his friend Tulips house it was to discover she was not feeling happy.

“Did you steal my baking?” Tulip, the fairy, flew close to his face.

He shook his head and said, “It is gone? Ahh no who would do such a nasty thing?”

Tulip bit her bottom lip and considered who the thief might be. They decided to set a trap. Breeze helped by taking hold of two of the biggest hot cross buns and blew on them to cool them before eating them.

“Really? Tulip said. That is your idea of helping? Making them disappear?”

“But this time you know when and where they are disappearing. Last time it was some slinky thief who stole them.”

His fingers itched as Tulip placed the other ten cakes on her windowsill to cool.

“Now we hide. “She told him.

“Perhaps I should just sample one more to make sure they really are..” he was drooling as he spoke. “No, hide now.” Tulip stamped her feet and he knew it was a sign that a fairy with a lot of magic was getting madder by the second. And he did not want to make her angry.

Breeze climbed into a tree close to her house and waited. He didn’t see what was happening at first. He simply heard a “swish” “swash” sound and when he peered at the house there was now nine cakes left.

“Bother” Tulip said from her hiding place close to him. “did you see who that was?”

Breeze shook his head.

“Hmm, a little magic is needed.” With that she flew back to her window and threw what Breeze thought was icing sugar on the cakes.

When she arrived back beside Breeze, she put her finger to her lips. He nodded and settled down for a snooze, after all if magic was being used then he had time for a nap.

He woke to see a dancing hopping bright blue light. It made his head ache, the light was too bright. “Turn it off, please ” he asked Tulip.

“In a minute, come with me.”

Breeze looked at her and wondered if now was a good time to point out that she always insisted he said, “please and thank you,” but she often forgot to say it. He decided to be quiet.

They discovered in the middle of the hopping blue light a very angry dancing bunny.

“He looks strange.” Breeze said.

“Herbert is very strange”

But he is the, Easter bunny isn’t he?” Breeze tilted his head sideways to examine the huge basket of easter eggs beside Herbert. “You can’t harm him then.”

“Tulip maybe it would be best to let him go.” Breeze spoke softly.

Tulip thought about this and decided Breeze was right. But only after she made Herbert eat two dozen hot cross buns. When he left he kept saying, “I will never want to see one of them ever again.”

It took Breeze two days and a whole tin of gingerbread men before he forgave her for not letting him eat hot cross buns with the Easter Bunny.

 

Spring and the problems it brings

On the first day of Spring, every being, except for Breeze, spend their time cleaning. His plan was to sit and watch Spring work its magic on the wood.

Lilian walked beneath the tree he sat in and shouted to him, “Mr. Breeze how come you get to sit around all day while I work?”

“I dunno ask your mum.” He said, hoping she would go away.

“I did – she said, either you love dirt or you are just plain lazy.”

“I am not lazy” Breeze said.

“That is what I said, you love dirt.” Lilian said goodbye and went home.

Breeze smiled, “I do love dirt,” he told a passing bird.

However he lost his smile when he returned home. His cave sparkled. He screamed and ran back into the wood. Banging his fist on Hamish’s door he tumbled inside the moment the door opened, yelling, “It is horrible, just horrible you got to help me. I can’t live in a sparkling house. Do I look like a princess,no, I don’t. “

Hamish said, “Good.”

Breeze stopped and stared at Hamish. “What do you mean good?”

“Great,no more dust flying around you, clogging up the air when you walk, I can go visit you, have tea without my allergies kicking off..”

“Then others would want to come visit – I would have to be nice and not eat all the cakes.” Breeze considered the problem. He smiled then said, “ I’d best go and find some dirt for my home.”

Breeze spent the evening spreading dirt about his home. Next morning he went out side for ten minutes to stretch and admire the morning sunshine. Walking back inside he groaned, “How is this possible?” His home was gleaming, sparkling, super clean. “Ahghhhhhhhhh”

He ran to Elegant witches house where he found his favorite baker, Tulip, having breakfast with Elegant. “Did you do it?” he demanded.

“Do what?” Elegant and Tulip asked.

“Put a magic clean spell on my house?”

“No we didn’t but I am sorry I didn’t think of it. And we can’t blame Lovisma she is on spring holiday.””

Breeze marched away, he needed to think about this problem. As he marched through the wood he spotted a pair of purple boots dangling from a branch in a tree ahead of him. “Hello, now that is a funny place to put a pair of purple boots.” He tweaked the boots.

“Hey let go of my boots.” Penelope demanded.

“Sorry I didn’t realise there was a Penelope attached to them.” Breeze chuckled. “What are you doing up there?”

“I was watching for something to happen.”

“Did it?” Breeze looked about him.

“I dunno I slept late today, all of the super cleaning yesterday made me tired.” Penelope jumped to the ground.

Breeze blinked, her dress was brighter than the sun and her gleaming skin made it hard to look at her. “You look colourful.”

“Thanks. Are you going home now?” She smiled at him and waited for his answer.

“Yes. Bye” Breeze was in a hurry to get home for he hadn’t eaten breakfast. His stomach rumbled with each step he took. As he walked he scooped up lumps of earth from the ground and stuffed them in his pockets. When he reached his home he closed his eyes and walking inside he began to drop bits of dirt against the walls, on the floors, furniture and on him. Then he opened his eyes in time to see each bit of dirt roll back outside.

He sniffed the rolling dirt and whispered, “this stinks of Elf magic.”

While he ate his three bowls of cereal he considered the likelihood of meeting Penelope who was watching for something in a tree on a day when an elf spell had been placed on his home.

“Penelope did it.” Now he knew who cleaned his house, it was time for him to persuade her to let him continue as normal. Trouble was Elves are tricky beings to deal with, for they are clever. But Breeze knew they were kind and Hamish’s words gave him an idea.

So he set to work. The next time he met Penelope she got a fright. “Oh my, what happened to you?”

Breeze looked ill, his normally green skin was an unhealthy orange colour and sprinkled with bright blue spots. He sat down and whispered, “I don’t feel well, my house…”

“What about your house?”

Breeze said, “I am allergic to cleanliness. I need dirt to make me feel well, happy and …alive.”

At his words Penelope began to panic, “Oh dear, oh dear. Let me come home with you and see what I can do to help.”

“That would be most kind of you but there is some evil spell working on my house, every time I get it right – poof – it is clean again.”

Penelope looked horrified. “I will do my best, I won’t promise much but I will do my best.”

And she did, of course, though Hamish did scold Breeze for tricking the kindly Elf. “Well she shouldn’t muddle in other people’s lives, we are all different you know.”

Hamish simply shrugged his shoulders.

A mixed up day.

He worked all day long from sunrise to sunset. As Breeze walked about the wood fixing things, he sang, “There was a jolly ogre who lived in the wood and spent his days fixing all he could.”

However at the end of the day there was a long line of his friends standing outside his cave and they were not happy. Breeze had to sit and listen to every single complaint.

Mrs. Green said, “I spent a long time sprinkling the moss on the path around my house and when I came out you had picked it up and put it back in the basket.  It was for the hedgehogs.”

Breeze scowled at her.

Matt said, “I hung my paintings on the washing line to dry and you took them down, put them standing one on top of the other, now they are all smeared and I will have to redo them.”

Lilly said, “Daisy-lyah and I spent the whole day weaving knots into the sheeps wool so they wouldn’t forget it is time to shed their coats every morning during Summer. And you took them all out. Now they won’t remember and they will be too hot and might get sick.”

When they all went home Breeze sighed and said, “They give out when I don’t do stuff and they give out when I do, sometimes I am better off going for a nice long sleep.”

And that is what he did, after two giant bowls of ice-cream topped with banana’s and cherries.

 

Here is a picture of a banana split courtesy of photobucket.com

 

An Artistic Fairy.

Lucy the smallest, bubbliest fairy, darted around a rose bush and bumped straight into Yolanda.
“Morning Lucy”
Yolanda loved Fairies.
“Could I have a different job…. please” Lucy fluttered her wings and smiled sweetly. “I am tired of waking trees up. Its boring! This year I won’t be seen turning the trees green,”Lucy nodded her head up and down sending Lucy fairy dust flying in all directions. Some landed on hedgehogs, they began to walk backwards and their spikes seemed to become curly. Centipedes were mixing their legs up and falling over. Dust flew high in the air making birds spin in circles and they were singing the wrong notes.
“You could scatter wildflower seeds, Lucy” Yolanda said. “They become colourful flowers.”
Lucy shook her head.
“Um  I think that I’ll need to sit for a bit, and find a job to fit.”
Lucy did n’t hang about. “Time to play” she thought and flew away.
A little while later she was sitting on a toadstool flicking morning dew with her bare feet. “Hoi stop that!” a cross looking rabbit stuck his head up from the long grass. “I don’t like getting wet.”
“What do you like then?” the cheeky fairy asked.
“I don’t like rude fairies!” He said.
Lucy stuck her tongue out.  “I don’t like funny bunnies,” she flew away.

Lucy was in a large garden making faces at her reflection in the bird bath.
“Excuse me pleeth,” said a blackbird, “but that ith my bath.
The blackbird looked at her from the tip of her dark curly hair to her bare feet, “Are you a fairy or what?”
“Course I’m a fairy.” Lucy said. “Why?”
“Fairies are usually dainty, pale yellow haired things and very polite.”
The bird jumped into the bowl. He began to take a bath. She left him splashing about in the water and singing loudly.
A field mouse scurried by, Lucy chased it. For a while they dodged in and out of the hedgerow. He turned to face her. “Are you following me?” he demanded in a very squeaky voice. “Spring is late which means the fairy is lazy.” Lucy’s face was getting red. She decided to hide. She looked all around her and spotted a Postbox.She flew in through its tiny opening and sat on the letters. She settled deeper into the letters and fell asleep.
She woke when she heard her name being called. Lucy darted outside and bumped into Yolanda who said “Now I have thought of this long and hard and there is only one thing for you to do.”
Lucy groaned , “I knew it, I am back to being a tree leaf putter on-er again.”
Yolanda said “Can I please finish what I was saying.”
Lucy closed her eyes.
“I have decided to give you a job as a Web cleaner!” Yolanda looked at Lucy, “You don’t seem very happy.”
Everyone knew being a web cleaner was a terrible dirty job.
Yolanda smiled then said, “I was joking. The tooth fairy needs a helper for a few days. So if you are willing..”
“When do I start, where do I go!” Lucy said. “Oh goody, can I start now?”
“Most certainly not! Rose has been working all through the night she is asleep ;you are to  meet her at dusk tonight at the old oak tree.”
Lucy wandered around telling anyone who would listen of her new important job. A large cat called Squeaky was not too pleased to be woken. “SSShhh please, I’m trying to sleep. Buzz off, you ‘re not taking any of my teeth .”
The worm family looked happy when she told them but asked, “Whats a tooth?”

At dusk Lucy met Rose. “We have to hurry,.”.Rose pulled a long list of names from her pocket. “This is a lot of travelling for one fairy and her helper.”
They stopped at last in front of a pretty cottage. Rose consulted her list.“This is the house, we go down the corridor and take the third door on the right.” That said she flew through the keyhole and Lucy followed.
“First we collect the money.” Rose said and flew into the sitting room, straight to a big sofa. Rose seemed to disappear between the cushions.
“Lucy” she puffed,” Help.” Together they pulled out the large shiny coin. “You carry that .Lucy looked at the coin and then looked at Rose. The coin was as big as Lucy. ““How?” she whispered.
Rose threw a handful of fairy dust on the coin and it became small enough for Lucy to pick up. At the side of a narrow bed Rose handed Lucy the tooth and taking the coin placed it beneath the pillow . The tiny figure in the bed stirred in his sleep as they left.

Lucy discovered the childrens rooms were a rainbow of treasures to feel and look at, hundreds of dolls, teddy bears, tiny cars, boots with rollers on the bottom and loads and loads of colourfuls sticks.
Lucy prodded a teddy bear in his middle as she walked by. “GGGGrrrrrrrr,” he growled. “Oh dear I’m so sorry” Lucy whispered. One by one she discovered what the toys did or didn’t do. She drew squiqqly lines with the colourful sticks, when Rose wasn’t looking. But there was one odd thing which puzzled her. It was a large box with a shiny dark screen. Underneath lay a funny looking board with letters on it. When Lucy stood on the letters they sank with a definite click. She was puzzled and fascinated by it. “Its broken” she muttered as she jumped from key to key, waiting to hear music.
Rose laughed and said, “It’s not a piano. I don’t know what it is but now we have to leave.”
“Oh dear we are missing a tooth.”
Lucy searched everywhere. “No its not here.”
Rose said, “But it must be somewhere.”
“Well maybe it didn’t fall out on time so then it wouldn’t be here!” Lucy suggested.
Rose looked grumpy “This has never happened before.We’ll have to hope we have a quiet night tomorrow night and come back here to check.”
However the next night was very busy. Rose sent Lucy back to collect the missing tooth.
Lucy entered the room quietly and stood at the foot of the bed. There was no gentle snoring but a lot of sniffling and then a gentle cough. Suddenly a small voice said “Who are you?”
Lucy being a truthful fairy said. “Lucy”
Sara sneezed then said,“What are you?”
Lucy was at a loss, without her boss. “You should be asleep.”
“I know but I’m all stuffed up with a cold”
“Poor you, what toy is that?” Lucy pointed at the screen.
Sara pushed back the covers and moved closer to Lucy. “I’ll show you if you tell me what you are, I’m Sara.”
Sara switched on the computer. Lucy waited. Her eyes grew big and round as she watched and listened without a sound.
Sara handed Lucy some paper and crayons. “Let’s draw, it will take it a minute to wake up.”

They had fun drawing funny looking houses, animals, smiling suns and moons. Lucy almost forgot why she had been sent. Sara fell asleep and lucy peeped beneath her pillow. She found a tiny tootha dn replaced it with a shiny coing.
Lucy tried to forget the computer but she couldn’t. After work the next night Lucy went back to Sara’s room.

Sara woke when Lucy entered the room. “Hi, ”
“Hi… I I wondered if…” Lucy looked at the computer.
“Okay, but first tell me about you.”
Lucy patted her bag of fairy dust and said “I’m a fairy”
“Really, wow wait till I tell Ava/”
Lucy stared at the computer. “Why couldn’t our pictures move?”
Sara struggled with the answer, “They were just drawings I can’t make them move.”
Lucy said, “I could.”
Sara looked at the screen at her half drawn horse. He looked like he was made of hundreds of wobbling jellies, he had a big funny grin and wore wellies. Sara finished him. She gave him a spikey mane and a fuzzy tail.
Lucy smiled “He looks like fun, we should let him run”
As Sara watched Lucy took some Lucy fairy dust and threw it. The horse turned towards them, very carefully, wellies and all he stepped out onto the desk.
“How do, got anything to eat?” The wobblying horse asked.
“No.” Sara said.
“Huh, I suppose I’ll just have to go and find some for my self.” With that he jumped down from the desk and troted towards the kitchen.
“He seems a bit wobbly perhaps we should follow him.” Sara suggested but Lucy was busy drawing. “What is it?”Sara asked.
Lucy giggled “Its a fairy house.” Sara began to help her.

Much later Lucy said goodbye to Sara. As soon as she arrived home Lucy knew she was in trouble. Yolanda looked angry, Rose was tapping her feet and yawning loudly. Between them stood a familiar looking pink spotted wobbly horse with wellies on his hooves.
“George says you made him.”
“I told you…” George said, but Yolanda scowled at him. He stopped speaking.
“I.I.I.. Sara showed me and then we made our drawing of a dopey horse….”
“I’m no dope!” George said and turned his back on Lucy.
Lucy tried to look sorry but Yolanda said,“I’ll go away for a bit and when I return I want everything here looking lickity spit..”
“Back to normal. “ agreed Rose.
Lucy wondered what would happen. “I’m finished as a tooth fairy, I’ll have to spend my life doing something absolutely terrible, like putting the leaves on the trees. “ She kicked out at a blade of grass.
Rose said, “It was my fault and some of it was just ..”
“Bad luck,” Lucy suggested.

Yolanda agreed with her and told her she had a special job for Lucy because she found the wobbly horse was not only wobbly but interesting and artistic.

“I think the sky could use a little help in becoming less boring.”

Lucy’s eyes were shining and there was colour back in her chubby cheeks. Yolanda  “But Lucy remember I want soft fluffy white people and images made from clouds with nothing to come to life. In other words they are to stay in the sky.”

Lucy absolutely loves her work. Just take a peep at the sky and see how many flying sheep or wobbly horses you can see there along with the odd colourful rainbow.

Bob’s Troops arrive.

When Breeze woke the next morning he was a little surprised to discover Eunice the carrier pigeon sitting on the end of his bed. She had a note tied to her leg.

 

He opened it and frowned. “A dog walked on paper.” Breeze muttered staring at the paw prints.

“Does this mean yes or no?” Breeze wished Tulip were here then she could read it for him.

He decided to have breakfast first.

He was enjoying his berry breakfast with muesili when he heard a lot of barking outside his door. He went to look. The wood was full of dogs, racing about with their noses on the ground and their tails in the air. He smiled and said, “They came.” He thought it was safer to stay out of the way.

As he watched from high in the mountain he discovered it wasn’t many dogs. It was one dog.  A black and white collie with a curly tail. “Ellie came.” Breeze said to Spike who sat in the sunshine beside him.

Ellie stopped running and stood on a fallen tree peering about her. Suddenly with a bark and a wag of her tail she raced away.

Breeze felt sad. “Ellie couldn’t find her.” He said and wondered what to do next.

He decided to have second breakfast and perhaps an idea might land during it.

He was on his third bowl of cereal when he heard a familiar shout and a lot of barking.

“Tulip” He shouted and raced outside.

 

Tulip didn’t look happy.

“Why did that crazy collie drag me here? Are you sick?” Tulip asked.

Breeze looked at her. He decided she looked very angry. He nodded his head. “I was worried, we couldn’t find you, no one knew what happened.”

“Izzy was sick. I went to help her.” She stared at him.” Now I am back and I suppose you and that pair are waiting on Fairy cakes to be baked.”

Breeze began to feel happier. “Yes please.”

Tulip flew away saying, “I think I should bake Ellie an extra big batch and perhaps then I will allow you one or two.”

Breeze was feeling a little grumpy as he walked down the stony path. He stopped when he saw the two dogs sitting looking at  him.

“What?” he said. “What do you want?”

“We would like to share our cakes.” Bob said. They got up and raced away.

“But this time you have to come and find us!” Ellie shouted back to him.

Breeze decided it would be nicer to sit in a tree. He knew Tulip was his friend and though he might have to wait a day or two for the cakes. Fairy cakes always, always found their way to him.

 

 

 

 

The Day the Trees cried.

Daisy-Lyah woke Breeze by tickling his nose with some grass. Minutes later his nose still itched as he trudged along trying not to step on Lisbeth who was saying  “Hurry, Mr. Breeze. Can’t you run?”

Daisy-Lyah was flying ahead of them. The thought of running always gave Breeze a headache so he walked.

He was thinking this had better be good to have woken me from such a delicious nap  when they came to a stop. He stared at the trees before them.

“See the trees are crying please make them stop.” Daisy-Lyah’s bottom lip was wobbling while Lisbeth was jumping up and down on Breeze’s right foot.

Breeze had never seen a tree cry and he was afraid to admit it but Breeze found this fascinating. Why would a tree cry? He wondered, they have everything they need here. Nice rich soil, loads of sunshine and rain and I talk to them. 

They must be hurt” he whispered to the two girls.  They ran away shouting, “We will get bandages”.

Breeze ran his finger along the bark of the first tree. He felt a small hole in the bark. Who would do such a thing? A flurry of movement caught his eye and Breeze saw a bird clinging to the tree a little distance away. He appeared to be tapping the wood with his beak. “Doesn’t that hurt you?” Breeze asked. “Why are you doing it?”

The bird said “I have lost my house. I had a nice home in a hole in a trunk of a tree close to here but the tree fell in the storm last winter. Now I have no home so I am trying to make one. I am searching for soft wood to make a hole to live in.”

Breeze scratched  his head and thought about this strange problem. A home for a bird. The words rattled around  his head for a while. Suddenly he said, ” I know come with me.”

When Lisbeth and Daisy-lyah returned Breeze was putting ointment on the trees. “They are not crying they are hurt, so I am putting a cream on them and you can put on a bandage, please.”

When they were finished they stood back and admired their work.

The trees wore ribbons of different colours. “They do look smart. They will heal quickly.”  He told Lisbeth and Daisy-lyah  who promised to check the bandages.

“What made them cry?” Lisbeth asked.

Breeze told her and said, “I think the problem is solved come and see.” He brought them to Hamish’s house and pointed at a tree close to the house.

There sitting on a branch was a boot sitting on its side on a branch. “It is a smelly old boot.” Daisy-lyah whispered.

“But not any old smelly boot,” Breeze said, “it is the home of a tappin bird called Fred.”

On hearing his name the bird flew out of its new home and sat on a branch singing a happy song.

The trees did stop crying and they all loved their ribbons so much Lisbeth and Daisy-lyah had a new job to do each day.

 

 

A Fairy Princess lands in the wood.

Breeze was woken by a strange noise, he sat up and looked around him.  He checked to make sure the world was okay. The sky was blue, in the distance he saw a lot of sleeping sheep and down below the wood was as he last saw it, green and quiet.

Then he heard it again.  He wondered had an elf come to play a trick on him. He decided to check it out. Elves, like his friend Ainion (which sounded like Eye-nee-on) tended to be a bit nasty with their tricks, they had a love of seeing misfortune happen to others which meant others ended up wet or cold or frozen solid for a while.

He crept through the wood and finally spotted her in a large clearing close to the center of the wood.

It was a fairy. She had light brown hair, twinkling eyes and a huge smile. Her wings were gossamer light and her skirt was colored like a rainbow. She was playing in the sunlight chasing a large butterfly. Breeze watched her for a while and noticed the most extraordinary thing. A sunbeam was following her!

When she moved to the left of the clearing the sunbeam danced after her, and when she walked forward the sunbeam danced after her. He smiled. A pair of blackbirds landed on the branch beside him and came to watch. Soon others joined them. The wood was filling up with birds, rabbits and then the branch groaned as Lisbeth and Matt climbed alongside Breeze.

Lisbeth said, “Is she a nasty witch in disguise? Maybe it is Lovisma.” Lisbeth shuddered.

Breeze said, “You stay here and I will find out.”

He slid down the tree trunk and said, “Hello. I am Breeze. ”

The fairy stopped moving and stared at him. She looked frightened.

Breeze said, “We were wondering who you are? We know the other fairies in the wood.” As he spoke he sat on the ground.

The tiny fairy seemed to relax when Breeze sat down. She said, “I am Daisy-Lyah. My job is to catch sunbeams and deliver them to woods. I do this every day. It is a tiring job. I stopped for a rest and found him.” She pointed at the large butterfly.

Lisbeth came to sit beside Breeze. “I never heard of a Fairy who was allowed to catch sunbeams.” Breeze said. “I thought only Princess’ were allowed to do that.”

“My full name is Princess Daisy-Lyah.” Daisy-Lyah said. “But if I say that people laugh. And I don’t like people laughing at me.”

“I won’t laugh cos it is a beautiful name. I’m Lisbeth. Can I play too?” Lisbeth asked.

Daisy-Lyah said, “Yes please it is always better when more people play.”

And so it was that Lisbeth found a new playmate. Daisy-Lyah came often to the wood after that and Tulip always made sure there was plenty of toffee topped fairy cakes for Daisy-Lyah to eat and take home with her.

 

Story inspired by comment from blog site; little things and me