Long ago, deep down a rustic valley, lived a fib of fairies. They were named Rose, Marly, Puck, Sisty and Rupel. All of the fairies were looked after by the fairy god-mother, Dis-dis. The fairies loved to slide on the petals of the flowers and wing up to take the warmth of the sun. They were good at heart and desired to win a handsome man’s heart. Close to the woods lived a farm boy who played flute in a charming way. He enticed all the maidens of the village.
One day, Rose expressed her wish to dance with the boy. She sat in the rose bud and started crying. This was unbearable to Dis-dis who was thinking of a way to unite the pair. Suddenly, she saw all the villagers including the boy running in a haphazard way towards the nearby village of Marlott. She shook Rose who wiped her eyes to see the boy in a helter-skelter motion. While she and other fairies could see the villagers, none of them could see them. As they flew near, they found the monster Lazarus preying upon the villagers. The mothers were running keeping the babies close to their breasts. Sisty threw a spell to deter the monster from hurting the mothers. Lazarus was a trickster he jumped from his place to avoid the magic spell. Sisty threw her spell a second time, but Lazarus took out a mirror from his insidious bag and put it in the way of the spell so that the spell returned to Sisty and she got into a delirium. Rupel tried to save Sisty from falling and while she was doing so she took no notice of Lazarus’ trick to hurt her. Rupel also went into a slumber. Both of them were saved by the fairy god-mother who safely led them to the ground with her magic.
Now there were Dis-dis, Rose, Marly and Puck to avenge the monster. The farm boy slipped his leg while running and was grabbed by the monster. Rose could not tolerate to see the farm boy in hardship and flew in the direction to help him. But she was deterred by Dis-dis as the step was harmful. Dis-dis threw a spell on the trees to involve them into their fight against Lazarus. The trees expanded their branches and held Lazarus’s arms who let go of the farm boy. Rose quickly flew in the direction of the boy and carried him on her wings. She took him to the longest tree and placed him to safety. The boy was mesmerized by Rose and was also thankful to her for saving him. As she was still there with him, he held her hand and kissed it. Rose blushed and flew away to rescue her friends from the evil monster.
The trees encircled Lazarus from all the sides and started dropping apples on him to punish him for disturbing the villagers’ peace. Meanwhile, the farm boy saw that both Sisty and Rupel were lying motionless on the ground and jumped down from the tree to raise them. He was well-versed in making medicines from herbs. He plucked a daisy and started grinding it. Then he plucked grass and mixed it with honey. He took Sisty in his arms and put the mixture in her mouth. As soon as the mixture went into her mouth Sisty regained consciousness. He did likewise with Rupel who thanked him for his efforts. After bidding him thank you, both Sisty and Rupel joined the fib of fairies. Dis-dis realized that she must get trees to their original places otherwise the villagers would be frightened to see them alive and walking. She broke the spell and as soon as she did it Rupel stroke Lazarus with her wand. However, as she had just awakened from the spell, she got tired by expending all her energies to strike the monster. After receiving the blow Lazarus regained his original shape of a strong and handsome man and caught Rupel as she came sliding through the air. Both Rupel and Lazarus looked into each other’s eyes and fell in love.
Meanwhile Dis-dis suggested that all of them must leave for a secluded place as it was time for the villagers to return. She agreed to take both the farm boy and Lazarus with her as they knew of their magic. Frighteningly, the village folk returned to their village wondering if they were in a dream. The village head asked the villagers to go back to their homes and thanked God for saving them from sinister powers. In the valley deep down, the Farm Boy disclosed his love for Rose and proposed to marry her. Rose accepted and asked him for his name to which he said he was called Teddy. But Dis-dis asked him how could he live with Rose as she was a fairy. Teddy said that he was deeply in love with Rose for her beauty and other qualities and would never leave her side. He said that he lived with his brother in the village and as he was also of marriageable age so he would be fortunate to marry one of them. Dis-dis sent her maid with a note from Teddy to call his brother Ferry. When Ferry arrived, he looked at Marly and proposed to her instantly. Being of a cheerful nature, Ferry put his arms around Marly and rushed out to dance with her. Marly was afraid as it was getting dark but he hugged her to his chest and gave her a long kiss on her lips. Both of them left singing.
Dis-dis expressed that as all the fairies were close to her heart, she would organize their wedding luxuriously. Everyone agreed. The bridegrooms left with instructions to appear next day with pretty dresses and flower jewelry for their brides. Puck and Sisty were very quiet. Dis-dis understood that this was because they had not found their bridegrooms. Both of them were passing comments such as now Rose and others would live happy lives as they had chosen mates of their liking.
Suddenly, someone banged on the door. Sisty went to open it and recognized it to be the village head. He greeted Dis-dis and told her that he learnt of them from Teddy and Ferry whom he saw escorted by fantastical creatures. Dis-dis and other fairies served him tea and invited him for the marriage next day. As he was about to leave, he told Dis-dis that although he was able to reach their home, he did not know the way back home. Dis-dis asked Sisty to show him the way. As both of them were walking through the vines and long grass, Sisty saw sadness reflected on the village head’s face from the lights of the moon. She asked him what had happened. He gathered the courage to tell her that he felt forlorn as the woman he loved married someone else and the marriage tomorrow reminded him of his own broken marriage. Sisty shared his grief.
When the village head was at home, Teddy visited him to show his wedding clothes. He disclosed to him that both Sisty and Puck were also eager to marry and the village head was joyous. The next day he visited the fairy household quickly and took Sisty aside. He proposed to her and she smiled. Dis-dis knew from their smiles that this was another pair that she had to marry. The village head was called Staser and he had brought the wedding gown for Sisty with him. When the time to get married arrived, the brides and bridegrooms faced each other. They kissed and exchanged rings. The couples retired. Puck and Dis-dis bid them farewell. After closing the door, Dis-dis found Puck in a room sitting with her legs crossed and in a despondent light. She realizes that Puck was sad because she had no mate and walked forth to hug her. Puck was surprised. Dis-dis told her that she loved her and proposed to her. She told her that she was in love with her from the time she first joined their fib as a young woman but never disclosed it to her. Puck reciprocated the affection and they exchanged rings and kisses the way the previous married couple had done. Rose and the other fairies were delighted when the message of Dis-dis’ marriage with Puck reached them.
Written by. Dolly Sharma
Painting by. Claude Monet (Women in the garden, 1866)
Dolly is an avid poet, essayist and prose writer. She has done both her BA and MA in English Literature from University of Delhi, India. At the moment, she is vigorously engaged in bringing her first novel into the world, hopefully by next year. Her work has previously appeared in @thawramag and is forthcoming in @/catatonicdaughters. She can be found on her twitter handle @/DollySh68568019.