Autumn the Falling Leaves Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  They all started to think of a plan.

  “First, we need the goblin to get off the pumpkin,” Rachel said. “Second, Autumn has to touch the pumpkin. Then it will shrink, and the harvest magic can happen.”

  They all agreed that they couldn’t let the goblin see the fairies. “If he knows we’re nearby, he won’t get off the pumpkin,” Autumn said.

  “He might see us if we fly,” Kirsty added. “We’ll have to find another way.”

  Just then, the groundhog started chirping. He looked at the rabbits and the chipmunks. They squeaked a willing reply. Autumn nodded slowly, and her face broke into a huge grin.

  Together, the fairies and their friends came up with the perfect pumpkin plan!

  A little while later, the rabbits, chipmunks, and groundhog crawled out of a hole.

  “Wow! Are you done?” Autumn asked. “That was a lot of work.”

  The groundhog made a light grunt, and then he nudged Autumn’s shoulder with his wet nose.

  “Stop it,” she said with a giggle. “That tickles!”

  Kirsty and Rachel both gave the rabbits and chipmunks long pats. “Thank you,” they said to their new friends.

  “It’s our turn, girls,” Autumn said. She gave her nose one last blow and then lifted her wand.

  “Are you ready?” Kirsty called to the birds in the trees. “Here’s the pumpkin bread!” Moments before, Autumn had used her magic to make one slice of pumpkin bread. It was wrapped in a red-and-white napkin, and it smelled delicious. The blue jay swooped down and grabbed the bread with its feet. Then it took off over the cornfield with the other birds.

  “Good luck!” Kirsty called.

  “I hope this works,” Rachel said with a sigh.

  The animals had dug a tunnel that was just wide enough for the fairies to fit through. The fairies had to crawl — there wasn’t enough room to flap their wings. Autumn used her wand like a flashlight so they could see.

  “I wonder how far we’ll have to go,” Rachel said.

  “We’ll know when we’re close,” Autumn said. “We’ll hear the birds. Let’s hope they can trick the goblin.”

  They crawled for a few more minutes, and then they suddenly heard a ruckus.

  “Hey! I smell more pumpkin bread. You greedy bird, give it to me!” the goblin yelled.

  Kirsty could picture the goblin yelling at the birds. She guessed that the blue jay was flying just out of his reach. The first part of their plan was working!

  “This is where the tunnel ends,” Autumn said.

  “I can see the bottom of the pumpkin!” Rachel pointed at a patch of orange poking through the tunnel exit. Just above them, the goblin was sitting on the pumpkin.

  “As soon as he gets up, I’ll touch it,” Autumn said.

  “Here’s the peephole!” Rachel pointed to a small gap in the tunnel roof. She and Kirsty climbed up and carefully looked out.

  “You silly birds! Give it to me. I want that treat!” the girls heard the goblin whine. “I’ll get up just for a minute. No one will know.”

  Kirsty and Rachel watched through the peephole. They saw two big green feet. The feet were running away from the pumpkin!

  “He stood up!” Kirsty yelled.

  As soon as Autumn touched the pumpkin, it began to shrink. Soon, it was small enough to fit in Autumn’s hands.

  Rachel stuck her head out of the hole. The birds were flying away, but the goblin was busy gobbling up the pumpkin bread. “He doesn’t know we have the pumpkin,” she said. “Hurry, let’s go!”

  The three fairies flew out of the tunnel and into the air. They rushed back to their meeting place so they could celebrate with the animals and the birds. Their plan had worked!

  The farm began to change at once. The corn ears grew larger, the pumpkins plumped up, and the tomatoes turned a deep, ripe red. Suddenly, the greens all looked fresh and healthy.

  “Nature really is amazing!” Kirsty exclaimed as she scratched one of the rabbits behind his ears.

  “It’s the real magic,” Autumn agreed. “Today, I’m giving nature a little help.” Autumn waved her wand, and picture-perfect apples magically dropped from the trees into baskets, without a bump or bruise! “And I think you two needed to gather some gourds,” said the fairy. After another wand twirl, melons, squash, and pumpkins piled into the wheelbarrows.

  “I can’t wait to show Kyra all these gourds!” Rachel said.

  “We need to get these to her so they can go in the gift baskets,” Kirsty agreed. “Then we can play games and eat some of the fall foods.”

  “Before I head back to Fairyland, I’ll make sure to fill the refreshment table with pumpkin bread, pear pie, zucchini muffins, and apple cider,” Autumn promised.

  Kirsty heard her stomach rumble. “Thank you so much, Autumn,” she said. “You saved the farm’s Fall Festival.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without your help,” the fairy insisted. “We make a great team!” With a whisk of her wand, she changed Kirsty and Rachel into girls again. Then she winked, circled herself with fairy dust, and vanished. Only the smell of cinnamon remained.

  “We have one more magic object to find,” Rachel said, turning to Kirsty with a grin.

  “And one more day together to do it,” added Kirsty. “Until then, we can have fun at the Fall Festival!”

  “I, for one, am hungry for pumpkin bread,” Rachel said. With that, the two friends headed for the food tables, hand in hand.

  The Last Day

  Whispers in the Woods

  Hot on the Trail

  All Wet!

  A Perfect Fall Day

  “I can’t believe all the leaves are still green,” Kirsty Tate said to her best friend, Rachel Walker. “The hills are usually a mix of orange, red, yellow, and even purple by now.”

  Rachel looked at the trees around New Growth Farm. From the rows of apple trees in the orchard to the maple and oak trees in the forest, all the leaves were bright green. Rachel shook her head. She knew what was going on. “It’s all because of Jack Frost. He stole Autumn’s ruby-red leaf. That’s why the forest is not full of color.”

  Rachel and Kirsty had already helped their new friend, Autumn the Falling Leaves Fairy, find two of her missing objects. Thanks to them, the weather had turned cool and crisp, and the fall crops were ripe and ready for harvest. The last missing object was a ruby-red leaf. Once Autumn and the girls found it, the trees would know it was fall. Then the leaves would change color and drop to the ground.

  “I hope we can find the missing leaf before this afternoon,” Kirsty said.

  “I know,” Rachel agreed. “The Leaf Leap is supposed to start at three o’clock, right?”

  Kirsty nodded. It was the last day of the Fall Festival at New Growth Farm. Kirsty and Rachel were at the farm early to help get ready. There were lots of great events planned for the day, but the highlight was the Great Leaf Leap. After the kids and adults raked the leaves into a giant pile, they could take turns jumping into it from a wooden platform!

  Today, Rachel and Kirsty’s job was to start the leaf pile. They had work gloves, rakes, and leaf bags. They even had warm apple cider to drink during their break — but they didn’t have any leaves!

  Rachel looked up at the wooden platform. Then she looked down into the gully where they were supposed to jump. “It would take truckloads of leaves to fill the gully,” Rachel said with concern. “It has to be nice and soft for a safe landing.”

  “What seems to be the problem?” asked a silvery voice. It sounded far away. Both girls searched for the voice’s owner. Finally, they saw a red shimmer, high in the branches of an old maple tree. The shimmer flitted lower and lower. It gracefully dodged each leafy limb and finally landed on the end of Kirsty’s rake handle. As the fairy dust lifted, Rachel and Kirsty could see what they had already figured out: It was Autumn the Fal
ling Leaves Fairy! She was wearing her magical scarf — the one that brought the brisk fall breezes — and a great big smile.

  The girls quickly brought their fairy friend up to date. “Autumn, we need to find your magical leaf,” said Kirsty. “It’s the only way we’ll have enough leaves to fill the gully.”

  “Let’s start looking for it! My leaf is such a bright red that we should be able to spot it right away if it’s here at the farm,” Autumn explained.

  Autumn and the girls took a quick tour of the farm. All the leaves were still a fresh summery green.

  “I see red tomatoes and red apples, but no red leaves,” Rachel said.

  “If you were Jack Frost, where would you hide a leaf?” Autumn asked.

  They all frowned in thought.

  “I’ve got it!” Kirsty cried. “Let’s look in the forest!”

  “Of course!” Autumn exclaimed. “We’ll get there faster if we all can fly. Would you like to be fairies?”

  “Oh, yes,” the girls replied together.

  Autumn twirled her wand. Orange and gold glitter swirled around the girls. Their bodies began to shrink, and sparkly wings began to grow on their backs. Soon, they were fairies, just like Autumn! They flapped their wings and rose into the air.

  “Remember, the goblins might have found my leaf already,” Autumn said.

  “We’ll keep an eye out for them, too,” Kirsty said as they flew over the cornfield.

  As soon as they entered the forest, it grew quiet and the air was still.

  “Why aren’t the birds chirping?” Rachel wondered.

  “Something weird is going on,” Autumn agreed. “We just have to find out what it is.”

  Kirsty shivered. The woods seemed especially spooky. All the lush green leaves blocked out the sun. The fairies flew through the shadows. “Did you hear that?” Kirsty asked.

  Pssssh, psssh, psssh.

  “It sounds like the wind,” Rachel said.

  “But the leaves aren’t moving,” Kirsty pointed out.

  The three fairies landed on a tree branch so they could listen more closely.

  “I think someone is whispering,” Autumn said, her own voice hushed.

  “And I’ll bet I know who it is,” Rachel said quietly.

  Autumn pointed up, and the girls understood at once. They all flitted up through the leaves. Soon, they were above the trees.

  “Let’s see if we can find the goblins from up here,” Autumn said. She continued to fly higher, and the girls followed. “Aha! Over there!” Autumn motioned with her wand.

  At once, the girls could see what Autumn had noticed. There was one tree that had its full fall colors: warm, deep reds and bold, bright oranges in the middle of lots and lots of green.

  “My leaf is working its magic on that one tree!” Autumn exclaimed. The three fairies began to fly toward the one colorful tree. As they grew closer, the whispers grew louder.

  “Those are the loudest whispers I’ve ever heard,” said Rachel. “There must be five or six goblins down there.” The fairies hovered above the tree.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kirsty said, looking down. “But why do you think the goblins are hanging out here?”

  At once, Kirsty’s question was answered. A chilling crackle ripped through the sky as an ice bolt wrapped itself around the tree.

  The fairies heard a horrible cackle that could only belong to one person: Jack Frost. Below, the beautiful tree was lost in a frosty blue fog.

  “What happened?” Rachel asked, stunned.

  When the fog lifted, the fairies understood. Jack Frost had used his icy magic. He had zapped the goblins back to his Ice Castle with him, and they had taken the magic leaf. “We have to follow them,” Rachel insisted. “We can’t let Jack Frost get away with this!”

  “Don’t worry,” Autumn said, “we won’t. But it isn’t easy to beat Jack Frost in his own icy world. We need a plan, and I know who can help us come up with it.”

  Autumn led Kirsty and Rachel to a stream that ran through the forest. Between two fallen trees, there was a spot where the stream was slow.

  “We need to make a seeing pool,” Autumn announced. “I think this water is still enough.” Rachel and Kirsty watched, wondering what would happen.

  Autumn touched her wand to the still water, and a brilliant golden glow filled the pool. At its center, a face began to appear. The face showed kindness and wisdom. The girls soon realized that this was the Fairy Godmother.

  “Hello, Autumn, dear. This must be Kirsty and Rachel. Hello, my friends. How can I help you?” the Fairy Godmother asked, her image shimmering in the magical pool.

  Autumn quickly explained what had happened. “Can you help us think of a plan?”

  The Fairy Godmother nodded. “If Jack Frost takes the leaf into the Ice Castle, it will be hard to get out,” she thought out loud. “His icy magic is very powerful there. It’s good that you are wearing your magical scarf, Autumn. I think it could come in handy.” The Fairy Godmother went on to explain how Autumn, Kirsty, and Rachel could get the leaf back — and give Jack Frost a taste of his own magic.

  “That will be very tricky,” Rachel said.

  “And it could be dangerous,” Autumn said.

  “We’ll help you, Autumn,” Kirsty assured her friend.

  “I know you can you do it,” said the Fairy Godmother. “I wish you lots of luck. We’re depending on you to get the seasons back to how they’re supposed to be.” The Fairy Godmother smiled, and the golden light disappeared from the stream.

  The three fairies looked at one another. “Well, we know what we have to do,” Rachel said. “Let’s go do it!”

  Autumn took a deep breath. “I wish there was another way. I don’t want to use my scarf magic on the Ice Castle, but I’m ready if you are,” she said. A dazzling stream of glitter burst from the wand’s tip. It circled around the three tiny fairies, the wind whipping through their hair. Rachel and Kirsty could feel a tingling in their fingers and toes. Both girls closed their eyes. When they opened them, they were in Fairyland.

  “This is Fairyland Forest. Jack Frost’s Ice Castle is right through these trees,” Autumn explained.

  Rachel and Kirsty looked for the silvery castle, but the trees were still too thick with green leaves.

  “The seasons in Fairyland are still all messed up, too,” Kirsty said.

  “Yes, if the leaves don’t change color and drop, we will always be stuck in summer,” Autumn declared. “The human world will be, too.”

  Kirsty’s eyes turned serious and she put her hands on her hips. She was about to say something, but she stopped. A troop of goblins was headed their way right now!

  “Shhhhh!” A harsh voice came from below.

  The shush was so loud, it echoed through the forest.

  “If you make too much noise, the fairies will hear you,” a goblin scolded.

  “They still have the leaf!” Rachel whispered to her friends. The goblins were marching around with the bright red leaf. The tallest goblin was waving the leaf like a flag in a parade. Wherever they went, the magic leaf brought fall colors to the trees.

  “Maybe we can stop them before they get to the Ice Castle,” Kirsty said. “We can just swoop down and grab your leaf.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Autumn said.

  “Then let’s go,” Kirsty announced, immediately diving toward the goblins. Rachel and Autumn followed right behind. Kirsty reached out for the leaf. Her fingers almost grasped it.

  “Fairies!” the tallest goblin screeched when he saw her. “Run!” He swatted at Kirsty as he darted through the forest. Wherever he went, the leaves changed color and dropped. Now the leaf’s magic was working too quickly. None of the leaves were turning red or orange. They all turned brown. The faster the goblin ran, the faster the leaves flew from the trees.

 
The falling leaves were as big as the fairies, and they filled the air. “I can’t see!” yelled Rachel.

  “It’s like a blizzard of leaves,” Autumn said. She watched as the trees shed all of their leaves at the same time. “This isn’t how fall is supposed to be.” She landed on a bare branch. “It shouldn’t happen all at once.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. Kirsty and Rachel perched next to her.

  Now that all the leaves were on the ground, the fairies had a clear view of the Ice Castle. They could see the goblins running toward Jack Frost’s chilly home. The land around the castle stayed slick and snowy all year. Icicles hung from the trees and the castle roof. It was a cold, scary place.

  “We have no choice now,” Autumn murmured.

  Once the fairies had caught their breath, they took off. As they flew toward the Ice Castle, the air grew cold. The wind was fierce, and it was hard to fly.

  “It’s time for the plan,” Autumn said. “You find a way into the castle. I’ll start the scarf magic. I hope the reverse spell works!” Autumn flew over the castle roof, twirled her wand, and began to chant.

  “Magic scarf, this is the hour.

  You must reverse your cooling power.

  Make the harsh wind a nice, warm breeze,

  So the ice can no longer freeze.”

  Autumn hoped the Fairy Godmother’s plan would work. She had used her magic scarf to turn the wind from cold to warm. The Falling Leaves Fairy watched as the Ice Castle started to shine with a wet glow. Drips fell from the roof and balconies. Soon, streams of water trickled out of the castle windows. “It’s started. I just hope I can stop it in time,” Autumn whispered.