Melody and the Fairy

Melody and the Fairy

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In a forest far away and a long time ago lived a squirrel named Melody. She lived in a hollow tree with her parents but she was not happy. All squirrels have two large teeth in the front for breaking open nuts but Melody's teeth were bigger than normal and all the kids at school made fun of her.

         One rainy day, her class decided to play in a large puddle after school. Melody wanted to play too. So she waited until the other kids were busy playing and, being careful not to get noticed, she went to the muddy end of the pool, where no one was playing, and jumped in.

         Melody played by herself for a while, making a town out of the mud. She got so busy that she didn't notice some of the boys coming over toward her. Suddenly, Forte came up behind her and pushed her in the mud.

         "Hey big teeth," Forte called out, "how do you like the mud?"

         Everyone laughed as Melody pulled herself out of the mud. "That's not funny," Melody said as she cleaned off the mud. Everyone continued to laugh.

         The laughter soon stopped when something large came crashing through the trees. It was black and furry and came right up to the pool where the children were playing. Everyone stopped what they were doing and ran into the forest as quickly as they could.

         Melody tried to follow but she was still covered in mud and she found it very hard to move. It grew dark as the huge beast's shadow covered the spot Melody was standing in. Frightened, She stood still and hoped that the creature wouldn't notice her.

         As Melody waited, her body was pulled out of the mud and dropped onto the dry ground. She looked up to see a badger looking down on her. The badger's belly was covered in mud and had sticks and moss stuck in its fur. "Are you all right?" ask the badger in a deep voice.

         "Yes, I think so," said Melody quietly. "Who are you?"

         "My name is Allegro," said the Badger as it moved toward the water and began to clean itself off. "I saw you get pushed in the mud. My brothers push me around a lot too just because my nose is flatter then theirs. Why were they pushing you around?"

         "They treat me differently just because my teeth are bigger than normal." Melody was feeling better now. At last she found someone who understood her. "Sometimes I wish I could just run away and hide."

         "Why don't you come with me?" said Allegro as he pulled a stick out from behind his ear. "I ran away from my family."

         "Maybe I should," Melody said, "Okay, let's go."

         "Maybe you should clean yourself off first," said Allegro as he finished cleaning the mud out of his own fur.

         "Oh, right," said Melody as she looked at her mud-covered fur.

         Once Melody was finished cleaning herself off, the two of them went hiking into the forest.

         Melody found some acorns along the path, which she ate for supper, while Allegro found some beetles under a rock. They walked until it became too dark to see and then Allegro dug under a tree root so that they would have a place to sleep.

         Melody had a hard time getting to sleep. It was the first time that she hadn't slept in her own bed. She was cold and damp and missed the smells and sounds she was used to. She moved closer to Allegro and felt safe and warm. In time she fell asleep.

         Melody awoke while it was still dark and shivered. Allegro had moved around during the night and his fur no longer covered her. She started to move back under allegro when she heard singing in the distance. Curious, she moved out of the hole and walked down the path.

         She soon found herself in a clearing filled with blue flowers. As she moved closer to the sound, she spotted a small woman with brightly colored butterfly wings sitting on a mushroom. She was singing toward the rising sun and had her back turned away from Melody.

         Melody sat on a rock and listened until the woman finished her song. She couldn't make out the words but it was wonderful to listen to. The woman flapped her wings and began to fly into the sky. She turned in the air and stopped when she saw Melody.

         "You have a beautiful voice," Melody said.

         The woman didn't say anything for a minute and then a wide grin came over her face. "Hello, little one," she said. Melody didn't like being called little one, especially by someone half her size. "What might your name be?"

         "Melody," she said. She took a good look at the woman who had landed on the ground and was now standing before her. She was very thin with long legs and arms. She was wearing a dress that seamed to be made from the blue flowers and she had yellow specks of pollen in her long black hair. She was carrying a black wand with a gold handle in the shape of a flower on the end. "What . . . er . . . who are you?" Melody took a step backward as the woman moved closer.

         "Why, I am Subito the Flower Fairy," she said smiling sweetly. "Are you alone?"

         Melody thought for a second. Should she mention Allegro? "Yes, I'm alone." Allegro wasn't here so she was sort of alone.

         "Interesting," Subito took to the air again and circled around Melody. "Why are you here?"

         "My classmates were making fun of my large teeth and so I ran away." She felt a little silly saying it out loud. Maybe she should go back home.

         "Well I can fix that," said the fairy and she moved the wand in the air while speaking in a strange language. Suddenly sparks flew out of the gold flower and hit Melody on the face. Melody's face began to twist and turn and she almost fainted from the pain. Thankfully, the effect didn't last long and the pain soon went away.

         "What did you do that for?" Melody said as she rubbed her cheeks.

         "Now you don't have to worry about anyone making fun of you any more." Subito said. She then waved the wand again and caused a mirror to appear in the air. "Take a look for yourself."

         Melody looked in the mirror and almost didn't recognize her own face. Her light brown fur had flecks of silver in it and was puffy and clean. Her teeth were now a normal size, maybe even smaller than normal. She had never seen a more beautiful squirrel in her life. "What . . . how?" Melody couldn't think straight. "Thank you," she said after a while.

         "You're welcome," Subito said. "Maybe you can do me a favor in return some day."

         "Sure, if there's anything I can do." Melody couldn't think what she could do for someone so powerful but she did owe her thanks at least. "Thank you again."

         Subito laughed. "Now go home and show off your new face to everyone." The fairy flapped her wings and flew out of sight.

         I can't wait to get home and show off my new look, Melody thought. No one would make fun of her now. She hurried off to find Allegro, but when she got back to the place they had spent the night he wasn't there. Where could he have gone? Melody called out his name but she didn't get an answer in return. I really want to go home, she thought, but I don't want to leave without saying goodbye.

         As she was standing there, wondering what to do, she heard a cry of pain coming from the direction of the field of flowers. It didn't sound like Subito's voice. It was deeper and more manly. Could it be Allegro? What could have hurt him like that?

         Melody hurried toward the clearing as quickly as she could. When she got there, she saw a strange sight. Subito was flying around and shooting bolts of lightning at a poor misshaped badger that might once have been Allegro. "Stop! Stop!" She cried as she ran toward the group. "What are you doing?"

         "This badger was digging up my flowers!" yelled Subito over the sound of her lightning blasts.

         "I just wanted one to give to my friend," Allegro said (and Melody was now sure it was Allegro). Allegro hid behind a rock a few feet away and showed no sign of recognizing Melody.

         "Grab a stone and throw it at him," yelled Subito as her blasts pounded against the rock.

         Melody didn't know what to do. Wasn't Allegro her friend? Still Subito had helped her. She didn't think it was right to throw stones at someone even if they did do something wrong but she did owe Subito a favor. What should she do?

         The rock started to break under the strain of the blasts and Melody finally made up her mind. She picked up a large stone off the ground and tossed it into the air with all her might. The stone flew into the sky and came down with a thud . . . on Subito's head.

         Subito yelled in pain and dropped her wand. She rubbed her head for a second before she realized she was no longer holding her wand. "I'll get you for that!" She yelled as she looked for her wand. She spotted it on the ground and flew down to pick it up.

         Melody was faster, however. Using Subito's moment of confusion, she ran for the wand as quick as she could. She grabbed it with her front paws and turned toward the cracked rock.

         "Wait!" Subito cried out, "if you break the wand it will lose its power and you will return to the way you were."

         "I don't care," said Melody. "I would rather have friends who care about me and not about what I look like." She swung the wand at the rock and it exploded in her paws. She was thrown backwards and hit the ground hard. The pain was so great that she passed out.

         She awoke sometime later to see Allegro standing over her. "How long was I out?"

         "Not long," said Allegro, "I'm glad that you're back to normal. I didn't recognize you before. What did that fairy do to you?"

         "I don't know for sure. I guess it doesn't matter now." Melody looked around. "What happened to the fairy?"

         "She's over there, unconscious." Allegro pointed his short snout toward a crumpled pile of butterfly wings. "It looks like breaking the wand broke a spell she used on herself."

         Melody looked closer at the crumpled body. Instead of a beautiful woman, a green creature with six legs and two long antennae could be seen under the wings. She still wore the flower dress and looked pretty in her own way. "I wonder why she changed her appearance?" she said. "She is still attractive with those butterfly wings."

         "No, I'm not," said the fairy as she began to stand up. "I'm hideous!" She covered her face with her hands (or were they her front feet, Melody couldn't tell for sure) and turned away from the two onlookers. "Leave me alone." With that she jumped into the air and flew away, never to return.

         Melody turned to Allegro and laughed. "I guess my big teeth are not so bad and you shouldn't let your brothers tease you about your nose either. Let's go home."

         Allegro walked Melody home and then said goodbye. Allegro went back to his family and Melody went back to hers. It was a long time before anyone called her names again, but when they did, she just laughed along with them. She made many friends and was happy for the rest of her days.