The Little Girl and the Fairy Princess

Once upon a time there lived kings, queens, dragons and fairies. There also lived a little girl who was none of these, but so desperately longed to be. Of course every little girl wants to be a princess, but this little girl wanted to be a fairy princess. She would have had a much easier time becoming a normal princess as she just needed a prince, but no this young child knew that her destiny was to be a real fairy princess. It did not matter that she was not of fairy decent or that she was quite tall in stature, these were just minor set backs for our determined dreamer.

"I want to be a fairy princess and I'M GOING TO BE A FAIRY PRINCESS!" she frequently ranted in her mother's home (which was really more of a hubble).

"Calm down dear one," her mother would say ever so calmly,"if your meant to be a fairy princess then you will be a fairy princess, but the way you rant and rave is not very becoming of a fairy princess or any princess for that matter. I do love you child, but I wish you could be happy with being you."

"but I am not a fairy princess and I want to be a FAIRY PRINCESS!!!" the little girl stomped out of the hubble and into the wood where she was sure she would find a way to make her dream come true.

As soon as she was far enough from her home that her mother could no longer hear her the little girl let out a great sob of what she felt to be despair.

"Won't any of you fairies help me? I know you're there. I see you dancing at night among your fairy rings and through the gardens. All night I see you flittering about with out a care in the world and with flowers and trees to live in instead of a stupid hubble that drips cold rain drops on your head when you sleep. Oh, please fairies help me to be one of you; please?"

"I well help you," said a shy sweet voice with no appearance from the owner.

"Where are you fairy? Show yourself if you will help me." she demanded with a touch of fear in her voice.

"Look above and not below and you shall see what I shall show,"

So, the little girl looked above herself and saw the most beautiful tree sprite she could have imagined fluttering on a large evergreen branch almost blending in completely. She was a deep dark green with shimmering black hair and her wings were such a gossamer they seemed to mimic the branches around her.

"You will help me become a fairy princess?" asked the girl eagerly.

"Oh yes, you see I myself am a fairy princess and I despise my place so. I would give anything to be human like you. There is just so much responsibility as a fairy princess and everyone's doting on you all the time saying how fair a princess you are, and all the others serving you never letting you do a thing for yourself. I can't take it any longer! So what do you say, would you like to trade places with me and become a REAL fairy princess?"

"More than anything, but how?"

"What I see let me be and let it's light become me!"

With that and a swirl of sparkling light the little girl became the fairy princess and the fairy princess became the little girl.

"OH LOOK AT ME! I'm really a real fairy princess; wait until mother sees!" The girl tried to run from the forest to show her mom how her dream came true, but as she approached the tree line she was stopped by an invisible force.

"Hey what's going on here; I want to go home!" she said in a panic.

"You are home," called the real fairy as she headed for the little girls house, "you must always remain with the trees, you are a wood sprite after all. Your mother must never see you again she will think that I am you from now on."

"but I thought fairy princess' got to do whatever they want, so why can't I see my mother?" the girl desperately yelled to her. The fairy stopped in her tracks turned on her heels and shouted back to the frightened young girl,

"You mean MY mother, and fairy princess' do not get to do what ever they want they must obey the queen, she is the one who gets to do what she wants. Why else would I give up my position for the part of a peasant girl?! NAIVE FOOL!!!" and with that the fairy let out a hardy laugh and ran to take the girls place.

The new fairy princess sat on a branch of the large evergreen she was standing in front of just moments ago and helplessly sobbed into her hands.

"That fairy tricked me," she cried; " I never would have wanted this had I known it meant losing mother. Now she's going to take my place and mommy will never know it's not me. What am I going to do?"

*tinkle, tinkle* *tinkle,tinkle*

"What was that?" the sad fairy imposter looked all around, but could not place the delightful sound, "show yourself creature! or I ...or I...I'll call the king's men to hunt you down I am the princess of the woods after all!" at this point the new princess did not trust any of the fantastical creatures she used to dream about no matter how sweet they did sound.

"Over here," a kind voice whispered. The princess looked to her right and saw what seemed to be a light flashing back and forth so quickly you could not tell it's origin.

"What are you?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm a tinkle fairy,heehee, I move so quickly that my wings make a tinkling sound when I fly and I never stop flying so I always tinkle, heehee!"

"You seem to be quite a joyous fairy for being so small,"

"What is small?"

"well....I guess it's sort of hard to explain some things are big and some things are small,"

"I don't know big or small. I am me and that makes me happy, heehee."

"I wish I had felt that way this morning then maybe I never would have gotten into this mess." said the regretful fairy princess as her eyes filled with tears once again.

"Mess? I don't see a mess, are you a mess?"

"No, I mean.......yes, yes I am a mess. You see I'm not really a fairy princess, I'm a little girl. I wanted so badly to be a real fairy princess that I ran into the woods yelling it and the real princess of the woods heard and tricked me into trading places with her and now she's living as me with MY mother and I can't ever leave the forest."

"Oh don't cry fake fairy, the woods are a wonderful place, heehee"

"Please don't call me fake it sounds so harsh and I'm already sad,"

"but that is what you are. If you are not you then you are not real correct?"

"well, I guess; but it's still not nice. It's quite mean actually,"

"I do not know nice and mean I only know what is and if you are not real then you are fake. heehee,"

"Why don't you go tinkle somewhere else if you're just going to be mean?" the fake fairy scalded.

"I do not know mean, but I did not intend on angering you so. I know someone that may help you be real again, heehee. He lives on the other side of the great river in the middle of the forest. You must be quick, quick, quick to cross it, so I shall go for you,heehee. You wait here and I'll be back....................oh and fak....I mean little girl, don't sit so close to the tree trunk, it might eat you!" Before the girl/fairy could say a thing the tinkle fairy vanished with out a trace.

"I hope she isn't gone long it's beginning to get dark and I don't wish to be dinner for a tree, I'll just sit on the end of the branch and wait."

The girl had been sitting for what she felt to be hours waiting for the tinkle fairy to return when she heard a low rumble coming from below her and she fluttered off the branch to see what it was. As she peer below herself she saw an oversized bullfrog rubbing his belly amongst many discarded flower stems and covered in pollen and nectar.

"What a curious thing to see!" the princess exclaimed to herself;

"perhaps I should see if I can help." and so she flew down to greet the over indulgent frog.

"Hello,"she said upon reaching him;"are you okay mister, I heard an awful growl coming from down here, are you hurt?"

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH make it stop make it stop!" the bullfrog cried oblivious to the question asked of him. The bullfrog moaned and rubbed his aching belly one more time before noticing the princess.

"I'm sorry, you say somethin' lil' miss?"

"Why yes I asked if you were alright; I could hear your agony all the way at the top of that great tree,"

"So sorry to have annoyed you lil' miss it's just my belly hurts so bad I can't control my hollerin,'"

"oh I'm not annoyed I just thought that I might be of help some how,"

"there ain't no thang you can do for me lil' miss I have to help myself. You see I fell in love with a hummin' bird, but I thought I smelled too much like swamp water seein' as she's always surrounded by such purdy smelling flowers, so my second thought was maybe I'd eat up all the suckle nectar I could and then maybe I'd smell purdy too and she'd be obliged to sit with me awhile, well after I ate up all the suckle in sight I worked up all the gumption I had in me and went to croak at her only to find that she much preferred my swampy odor to that of the flowers she's constantly surrounded by. She said it was dull always smelling the same thing and that flowers actually stink to her now. So here I am left with nothin', but a belly ache and bruised ego. Funny thing is if I had just been my smelly swampy self I coulda' had her all along and I would have never gotten this blasted tummy turner in the first place. I best hop off now 'fore I cause any bubblin' un pleasantries (if you know what I mean)" and at that the bullfrog plopped his aching belly back into the swamp where it and he belonged.

"I guess everyone must doubt themselves sometimes, but at least he can go home to his mother." said the fairy princess to herself in a whispered sigh.