THE LOST FAIRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21819, 23 November 1940, Page 11

THE LOST FAIRY

The fairies and elves were all very excited for Bluebell was giving a party under an old oak tree in a beautiful old garden. The great night came at last and very soon all the guests were tripping merrily around the beautiful fairy queen who sat on a mushroom throne surrounded by her elves. Tire ladles were clad in lovely gowns of cobweb silk, while the men wore suits of gossammer and airy-fairy hose. What a happy throng they were, and what a lovely sight they made dancing together, and making not the slightest sound. They were just about to sir down to a very tempting supper of dewdrop cakes and other tasty fair) goods, when some dark ugly cloud came over the sky and hid the moon, and the air became quite chilly. Poor little fairies! What a sad ending to their lovely party. They were just contemplating whether to go straight home or not when the first few drops of rain fell heavily to the ground and almost immediately a heavy' downpour followed. There was a hustle and a bustle, and a moment later all the fairies were gone; all except Snowdrop who was smaller than her companions and becoming tired she had sat on a rose and had fallen asleep. When she did wake up the poor little thing was soaked and she crept under a toadstool under the oak tree to get what little shelter she could. As the night grew dark she grew more and more terrified, yet there was nothing she could do, for her wings were drenched and she could not fly. Early next morning the storm had passed over and everything was peaceful and still again, but she was still too weak to fly so she returned to the rose and, hoping that something would happen next day she was soon asleep again. The next morning she was awakened by a lovely butterfly, which landed on her bed, and when he heard her sad story he said that he would be only too pleased to take her back again. Snowdrop could not thank him enough, but the friendly visitor assured her that it was a pleasure. Next day in Fairyland, however, there was great consternation and everyone was asking. “Where is Snowdrop?” or “What has happened to Snowdrop?" and the

queen was especially anxious as Snowdrop was one of her great favourites. All the elves banded together and set out to look fer her but they searched and searched in vain. At last they gave up and the queen gathered together some of her own elves and sent them off to the scene of the party of the night before to see if there was any sign of her there. By this time, however, Snowdrop was well on her way on the back of the kindly butterfly and you can imagine the surprise and the joy of the elves when shortly after leaving Fairyland they saw her entering home as safe as could be. The fairy queen was overjoyed at her return and the worthy butterfly was well rewarded. All the fairies were very pleased to see her and Bluebell gave another party in Fairyland for Snowdrop, the next week and the moon shone and the stars twinkled all the time until they departed to rest. (5 Marks to Daphne Hopkinson, age 10.)