The Wonderful Roundabout

by Mandy Olina

magical wand. But I don’t carry it with me much, I can do magic well enough without it.’

  ‘Lucia, my name is Danny.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, Danny! What are two lovely children such as yourselves doing in this old, dark forest? You’re the first ones I’ve met so far and I’ve been here quite a while.’

  ‘We’re going to fairy castle.’

  ‘Pardon me, you are what?!’

  ‘We’re going to fairy castle so I can meet Spring, the forest fairy.’

  ‘Well, that’s… wonderful! I know Spring. Lovely ball of light she is. But we really have to think about how to get you to the castle. Normal people don’t just stumble over it, don’t you know.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s invisible to humans. Only fairies can see it.’

  ‘But Spring told me I could come visit her.’

  ‘Well, you can if you can find it. Let me think. There’s got to be a way. Oh, by the way. Little girl, why are you going to the castle?’

  ‘I just wanted to go with Danny. We’re friends.’

  ‘Sounds like a good enough reason. Ok, so… we could probably get you to fairy castle if we could turn you into fairies.’

  ‘You want to turn me into a fairy?’

  ‘Do you have boy fairies?’

  ‘We sure do. Us girls would get mighty lonely without them.’

  ‘I’d love to be a fairy!’ Rosie said. ‘Can you make that happen?’

  ‘Well... no. We have to visit our fairy godmother and she has to agree. Far as I know, she decides who does or does not enter the realm of fairies. We’re going to go meet her right now. Sit tight, I’m just going to sprinkle this fairy dust all over you and off we’ll go.’

  Danny and Rosie held on to one another as Lucia put some fairy dust in her palm and blew it over the tops of their heads. No sooner had she done so as bright sparks appeared everywhere. They grew bigger and bigger and started to swirl around clockwise, like a whirlwind. They both felt dizzy and didn’t even realize they couldn’t feel their feet on the ground anymore. Then, just as they had appeared, the lights vanished and they woke up next to a little shack, on top of a hill. The sun was getting ready to set and the sky was pink and violet and the fields of wheat they could see in the distance seemed to wave slowly in the light wind. It was a warm summer evening, their clothes felt clean and soft again and they could smell the delicious scent of cherry pie drifting from the window of the shack.

  ‘Go on, knock!’ Lucia said, but her voice was different. It didn’t sound as much like a bell anymore, but rather like a sweet and nonetheless normal girl’s voice. Danny and Rosie both turned around. Instead of a fairy, they now saw a girl their age, with curly hair in two ponytails, large front teeth and big blue eyes.

  ‘Don’t be so surprised. This is my human figure. We have to meet godmother this way so you two can see and talk to her. Now go on, knock.’

  Danny gently tapped the door with his knuckles. The door immediately opened.

  ‘Go on in then!’

  They pushed the door open a little bit further, to reveal the loveliest little cabin they’d ever seen. Everything looked small and cozy as could be. The windows had colorful curtains held up with rows of ribbons. The furniture seemed to be made entirely out of white birch, engraved with flowers, butterflies, trees and stars. Next to a little stove in the corner, pots and pans hanged on the walls. They were hand painted with flowers, ladybugs and clouds. On the table stood a large vase filled with fresh flowers and wheat ears that gave off a beautiful smell. And on each of the four plates on the table there was a big piece of cherry pie.

  ‘This is wonderful!’ Rosie said. ‘And I am so hungry! Do you think the pie is for us?!’

  ‘I’m sure it is. Let’s sit down. Godmother! We’ve arrived! Please come to greet us.’

  ‘Lucia!’ a woman’s voice sounded from outside. ‘Keep the children company, please. I’ll be right with you. I’m getting fresh water from the stream.’ In a moment the door opened again and a beautiful young woman came in. She had a white dress on, painted with small pink roses, and a pink apron over it, with two large pockets. Her hair was held neatly in a bun, her cheeks were red and she had a big smile on her face.

  ‘Here you are! I’ve been waiting for you for three days! Have some pie, you must be starving! Come on, don’t be shy.’

  The children each grabbed their piece of pie and started eating heartily, without taking their eyes off the young woman.

  ‘I know you want to reach fairy castle. I was expecting you. But before we go there, I have to tell you why you got this far. No human has ever seen fairy castle. It is a precious place and we guard it, because inside it we keep the spirit of the forest. Before you, no one has ever even asked us about the castle. Our sisters took lost children home, but as soon as they arrived, the children forgot all about them. That’s why the world never found out that fairies truly exist. Then you met Spring and fell in love and this love preserved the memory in your heart. This, for us, is of great importance. It is the moment your world meets ours for the first time. So you, not just you Danny, but both of you children, have a task ahead. You will see fairy castle but you have to tell the world that fairies exist and that they protect not only children who are lost in the woods but also the spirit of the forest.’

  ‘How can we do that? Who will believe us?’ Rosie asked.

  ‘Other children will believe you, Rosie. And they will believe in magic and the world will be a little bit better of a place.’

  ‘Ok, Miss Godmother. We will tell other children about the castle. Can we please go there now? Spring is about to leave to another forest and I have to see her. I just have to.’

  ‘Very well, Danny. Let’s go outside now.’

  They went outside and the sunset had taken over the entire sky leaving them feeling as though they were standing under an orange dome. Shards of yellow splashed in all directions, like gold was running down in streams to the world’s edges. Danny suddenly remembered Spring’s words. The castle was on top of a hill where the sunset. It was covered in fairy dust. He turned around and looked at the cottage again, but he could only see an eruption of light that shot up from the top of the hill, into the sky. Golden dust started to rain around them and he realized…

  ‘We’re there, Rosie!’

  ‘We’re there, Danny!’ Rosie also yelled and they hugged and started jumping up and down with glee.

  The light slowly dimmed and the castle started to take shape. It had dozens of little towers and balconies that buzzed with the tinkling voices of fairies. Danny looked around hoping to discover Spring when…

  ‘Danny! You found me!’

  ‘Spring! You’re still here! I’m so glad you’re still here! Oh! What’s happening?! Spring!’

  Danny felt like he was being pulled down by an invisible force. Then he turned to Rosie and understood.

  ‘Rosie! We’re shrinking!’

  ‘I know! And look! You have wings on your back!’

  ‘So do you!’

  ‘We’re turning into fairies!’

  ‘Don’t worry, Spring said. You’re almost ready. There! There you are. Now start flapping your wings. Look at me. Great! You can do it! Wonderful! Now… follow me!’

  So off they flew into the castle, and here starts the epilogue of our story. They lived happily in the castle until they learned everything there was to know about the world of the fairies. Then the day came to keep their promise so, hand in hand, the three of them, Danny, Rosie and Spring, started their journey home.

  The hawk flew them from the castle all the way back to the old road where they’d started. When they got home is was as if no time had passed at all. They went back to living the life of regular kids and the years slowly passed them by. But they never forgot their promise, and when they grew up, Danny became a writer of fairy tales. Rosie illustrated his books with drawings, and Spring opened a bookstore where children could come after school to hear stories of the
fairy castle. All in all, the world was a little bit better and they all lived happily ever after.

  THE UNUSUAL ADVENTURE OF THE WILD CHICKEN

  PPart I

  One day, Christy the wild chicken decided to build a bridge on top of the only hill in Breezy Plains: the one at the eastern border, where the fox held his acclaimed speeches on freedom and democracy.

  She started gathering twigs, branches, leaves of grass and wheat and piled them up neatly, at the side of the hill. Then she carried them to the top one by one. Hundreds of times she went up and down the hill, until almost every little thing had been moved.

  As she struggled with the last of the pumpkin leaves, the forest rustled in the distance. Christy looked up and saw the wave traveling above the fields of wheat. A cold forest wind was coming her way. She sat down to rest as the wind threw her entire day’s work into the air, spun it around and scattered it all across the field below.

  Most spotted chickens would have given up then. But not Christy. She whizzed across the field again and piled everything back up in no time. Then, she fell asleep with her head tucked safely under a rose branch, right next to the assortment of half-dried things she had worked so dearly to collect.

  The next morning she was on her feet before sunrise. Filled with liveliness and momentum, she ran each and every twig, leaf or piece of bark right up the hill again. About four hours later, just as the sun was getting almost impolitely hot, she was carrying one of the last birch twigs when she heard the