A Spring Fantasy

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 109, 4 November 1939, Page 17

A Spring Fantasy

PAY was dawning in the wood, and Nature was just awakening from a refreshing sleep. Under the tall, shady trees was spread a veritable carpet—a glowing mass of radiant bluebells and daffodils. Shy little violets peeped from their snug, mossy nests in the sheltering grasses, and a host of golden primroses ran riot beneath the treees. "It is very early for people to be out of bed," mused a cheeky Brown sparrow who was preening himself on a nearby bough, gazing at a little pyjama-clad figure who came dancing through the early morning sunlight. The little girl must have been about five or six years old, and it did seem strange that such a very little child should be abroad at that hour. Then, of course, the sparrow didn't know that Marie Ann had slipped away from the house while Mother and Daddy and Judith were |till sleeping. J Why, hadn't Judith told her only last night that if a little girl bathed her face in the rich dew of the bluebells and daffodil-blooms very early on a bright spring morning, she would see fairies there and then. * j Marie Ann shivered with delight. Fancy seeing real fairies, clothed in shimnivring cobwebs and delicate petal frocks, tripping the light fantastic with gallant little green-clad elves! What a lovely tale she would have to tell Judith and the others when she went back home. Then, to the utter amazement of the little sparrow, who was watching interestedly |rom his perch, the little figure knelt: down amid the sweet tangle of spring flowers and buried her little face, which seemed like a blossom ;itself, so dainty it was, in the dew-drenched blooms. 'When she raised her shining head he saw that her golden curls were clinging damply about her flushed and wet face. Marie Ann's two blue eyes sparkled with delight as she felt the glistening drops of dew with eager fingers. Surely, now, she would see the fairies.

The sparrow twittered anxiously, then fluttered' down beside the kneeling figure. Through the trees came the strains of a soft, lilting melody, and there, dancing among the nodding jonquils, in a ring of dappled toadstools, were at least six fairies and elves. The fairies were dressed in the most exquisite frocks of frilly loveliness, shot with sunjbeams and spangled with crystal dewdrops. v Eyes shining with happiness, little cheeks flushed with joy, Marie !Ann watched the delightful scene—Judith was right, after all. Reallytruly fairies, in broad daylight, too! That must have been magic dew 5a which she bathed her face.

v (Written for the Ring by Pat Poison, 15, Dannevirke.)

Breathlessly she watched the visions perform intricate steps as they dipped and swayed to the fascinating music from those hidden pipers. The intriguing swirl of dainty frocks and the delicious perfume of the flowers enhanced the wonder of the scene, and little Marie Ann was gasping with delight as she witnessed her dream actually coming tru©. Wait! What was that?, Didn't she know that familiar bark, that oft-heard whistle? Surely she was not to be disturbed now—at' the greatest moment of her short young life. ! Then it was that she heard a well-known voice calling her name, and in a moment someone was kneeling beside her, and Judith was saying, "Why, Baby, I was looking everywhere for you. Child, you're absolutely wringing wet! And you've been asleep on the wet grass. What will Mother say?" Marie Ann struggled indignantly and protested in a very sleepy voice that she hadn't been asleep at all. * "I bathed my face in the dew, just as you told me last night, and I saw them, Judith! I saw real, live fairies! They were dancing, too —but you and Scottie came along and disturbed us." A gay laugh rang through the still drowsy woodland as Judith swung her little sister into her arms, remarking merrily, "Kiddie, you must have been deaming. You were fast asleep when Scottie found you. When I woke up and found your bed empty I guessed you might have come down here. We'd better go home, so that you can change those wet pyjamas. Won't they laugh when you tell them that you were asleep in the bluebells?"

And so they moved off and back to the amused and interested woodfolk floated a little voice, still stubbornly persisting, "It wasn't a dream— it just couldn't have been!" The loud chirping of a little brown sparrow 'way up on a high branch confirmed Marie Ann's belief. Faintly from the dark recesses of the forest was heard a breath of music, infinitely sweet and tuneful.

Marie Ann held up a dimpled hand. "Listen!" she breathed in a hushed tone. "The fairy pipers V They're telling me that it wasn't a dream, after all." ■ ; .

The hidden pipers played on, filling the sweet-scented air with strains of their fantastic music long after the little girl had gone, and a little brown sparrow still sat on his branch listening to the sound of revelry somewhere—-where no one will ever know now—in the woodland, where the little folk were still dancing merrily for a little girl who believed.