Gretchen Fairy

Gretchen Fairy
Hilary Flower


There once was a girl named Gretchen. She really wanted to become a fairy. She thought the pond behind her house would be the right spot for fairies to hang out. So she went down there and looked for fairies. No fairies.

After a while she sat down and closed her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek because she thought maybe she would never get to become a fairy. A fairy came by--but she didn't see it! So the fairy flew right up to her face and called out to her: "Hey girl!" But she didn't hear the fairy. The fairy got right on her nose. When Gretchen opened her eyes she was staring right at a fairy flapping and calling out to her!

"Hey girl, girl! Why are you sad?" said the fairy.

"My name is Gretchen," said the girl. "But I always wanted to be a fairy. Can you grant wishes?"

"My name is Princess Fairy," said the fairy. "But I am sorry to say that I don't have any more wishes left for the day." It was a sad moment. Princess Fairy flapped her wings for a moment while she thought. Then she had a new idea. "Well I could get my 3-yr-old sister fairy Threedia to turn you into a fairy!"

"Okay!" said Gretchen.

So Princess Fairy flew to her house up in the clouds and brought down Threedia. Threedia said "Hi!" in her rowdy three-year-old voice.

"I want to become a fairy," smiled Gretchen eagerly.

"Okay, you're a fairy!" announced Threedia proudly. "Now go to that rock and jump off. You’ll fly!"

Gretchen couldn't believe it--could she really be a fairy? She ran to the rock, stood at the top, and leapt off!

And THUMP, BUMP, fell on her RUMP.

"HEY!" said Gretchen.

“Oh, uh, sorry!” cried Threedia. “This is my first try at granting a wish. I guess my wishes are not very strong yet, huh? We might have to help MAKE it happen.” She flew circles in front of Gretchen for a while. “I know! We fairies drink nectar. Maybe you should go over to a bush and find a flower and drink the nectar.”

So Gretchen ran over to the Hibiscus bush by her house and pulled off a big yellow flower, slipped out the nectar wand, and licked the sweet drop. Then she ran over to the rock. Could she really be a fairy? She couldn’t wait to find out. She leapt off!

And THUMP, BUMP, fell on her RUMP.

"HEY!" said Gretchen.

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” said Threedia. She flew circles in front of Gretchen again. She was getting nervous, but she hadn’t given up yet. “I know, maybe you need to drink all of the nectar from all of the flowers in the whole world!”

Gretchen thought about this. She really wanted to be a fairy. Could she really drink all of the nectar from all of the flowers in the whole world? She decided to do it. She went all around the world and drank all of the nectar from all of the yellow flowers, all of the blue flowers, all of the green flowers, all of the pink flowers, all of the purple flowers, all of the orange flowers, all of the black flowers, and, you get the idea, all of the striped and polka-dotted flowers and all the flowers in the whole world.

Her tummy was really full… and she really had to pee. But she ran over to the rock. Could she really be a fairy? She had worked so hard. She was ready to find out. She leapt off!

And THUMP, BUMP, fell on her RUMP. And peed a huge puddle!

"HEY!" said Gretchen. She ran to her house, got cleaned up, changed her clothes, and ran back outside.

“Hi,” Threedia greeted her enthusiastically. “I had a new idea! Butterflies fly, too, right? So get a butterfly to help you!”

Gretchen ran over to the red and orange lantana bushes alongside her house and hunted until she found a monarch butterfly. “Excuse me, Butterfly? Would you help me? I am trying to fly but I can’t get off the ground. Could you perch on my arm? And then when I jump off the rock—you flap your wings to help me fly! Okay?”

The butterfly flapped her wings in a friendly way, and fluttered onto her arm. It was great to have the help of a strong and beautiful winged creature. Gretchen ran over to the rock. Could she really be a fairy? She gave a little smile to her helper butterfly. “This is it,” she called out. And she leapt off! “Now, Butterfly, flap, flap!” And she flapped and the butterfly flapped and for a second there she thought she was in the air!

Then THUMP, BUMP, she fell on her RUMP.

"HEY!" said Gretchen.

“Oh, OOPS!” said Threedia. She flew determined circles around Gretchen, swooping and thinking and swooping past again. “I have got it! How about if you get ALL of the butterflies in the whole world to help you? That’s gotta make a difference!”

Gretchen thought about this. She was getting tired of all this work. But she had wanted to be a fairy her whole life. So she went all around the world and talked to all of the butterflies. And thankfully, each one of the butterflies said yes: the black and yellow butterflies, the orange and black butterflies, the yellow butterflies, the blue butterflies, the brown butterflies, the green butterflies, the white butterflies, all of them. By the time she was done she was covered in a rainbow of butterflies. She had butterflies on her arms, on her shoulders, on her head, on her ears, on her tush, on the tops of her feet, everywhere they could perch.

She could barely walk because although each butterfly weighed only a little, when you have all the butterflies in the whole world on you, it’s heavy! She lumbered over to the rock. She lifted her heavy arms. Could she really be a fairy? She leapt off! “Now, butterflies, flap, FLAP!” She flapped her heavy arms, and all of the butterflies in the whole world flapped their little wings.

And she was in the air! And she looked around her and all of the butterflies were flying OFF of her in a cloud of color. And she was not falling—she was flying with them! Up and around and around and up she was flying! Threedia flew up to join her! She noticed that she was the same size as Threedia and the butterflies, and when she peeked over her shoulders she saw shimmering lavender wings.

“I’m a fairy, I’m a fairy!” she squealed.

“Let’s call you Gretchen Fairy!” chirped Threedia. And off they flew into the sky.