The Safe Place

If I curl up smaller and go down under the blankets a bit more,I might not be able to hear the shouting from the kitchen.

Crash! Oh no,there goes his dinner,thrown at the wall again.He's getting louder and angrier.

I can hear Mummy crying.

" Please don't Jack," she begs.

" You'll wake Lily."

But I have been awake since Dad fell up the front steps and said bad words when he tripped over.

Mummy washed my mouth out with soap once when I said a bad word.

But no-one is brave enough to do that to my Dad.

He hurts people.

When he has been to the pub,he talks funny-words sort of smoosh out of his mouth all sloppy. His face goes bright red and his eyes go wild and scary.

Mummy tries to be nice to him,but he gets mad anyway.

Sometimes he hits her.

The next day she wears her cardigan,even if it is a hot day,but I've seen the purple marks on her arms.

One day her face was all black and puffed up and she told me that she had walked into a door in the night.

I pull my fairy story book out from under my pillow. My Auntie Jean gave it to me for my seventh birthday last week. She lives far away,but sent it to me in a special parcel with my name and lots of stamps on it.It was my favourite present.

I'm in Grade two and I can read the stories all by myself.

I turn on my lamp and start to read about Fairyland. The angry voice fades away and instead I start to hear silvery bells tinkling and soft giggling.

I look at the book and see things on the page moving! I watch as a tiny elf slides down a dewy leaf and lands in a flower.

Fairies riding on the backs of butterflies flutter across a paper sky.

Then a fairy wearing a pink tutu that looks like fairy floss,flies out of the book and lands on my pillow.

Oh wow! I can't believe my eyes! Was I dreaming? I pinch my arm and it hurts,so it must be really happening.

" Hello Lily," says the fairy.

" My name is Melody Silverbeam." Her long,wavy golden hair shimmered in the lamplight.

" Would you like to come on an adventure with me to Fairyland?"

" Oh yes please," I say.

She smiles. "Touch my hand and close your eyes."

As my hand touches hers,I feel a funny tingling. When I open my eyes,I am amazed at what I see. I am tiny like her and I am in Fairyland.

It is night-time here too and the trees and bushes are decorated with hundreds of glow worms,blinking on and off like little stars.

The lights are reflected in a pond and I can see some fairies sailing on it,sitting in waterlily boats.

Windchimes play their beautiful music as a soft,warm wind blows.

An elf,wearing an emerald green coat,black trousers and a pointy red hat,sits on a tree stump,smoking a pipe.

Next to him a fairy in a pale blue evening gown,covered in sparkly crystals,is playing a teeny tiny piano.

Beside her,a fairy in a buttercup yellow tutu is playing a golden harp.

Nearby,fairy folk are sitting on toadstools,eating and drinking from dainty gold cups and plates. Fairy children run around playing hide and seek in the bushes. Teensy fairy babies lie snugly in cradles made from walnut shell halves.They are cosy beneath blankets of rose petals.

Colourful birds fly overhead,singing sweetly,sprinkling the notes of their songs upon the fairies below.

Melody took my hand and we walked over to a big tree. With a wave of her magic wand,a fairy door opened in the trunk,to show rows of glittering fairy dresses,fluffy shawls made from thistledown and shoes made from seedpods.

" You may choose whatever you want," she said.

Once I had chosen a lilac coloured tutu,silver fairy wings and purple slippers,she opened another door into the next room. It was filled with tiaras,silver fairy wings and pouches of fairy dust. The tiaras were made from falling stars and shone brightly. It was so hard to choose!

Finally dressed,we flew around for awhile.

" Look," said the fairy,pointing downwards. "There is the Rainbow Garden.We collect all the happy tears people cry and plant them.Then when they grow into full sized rainbows,we put them in the sky."

We landed next to some fairies who were dancing in a fairy ring,as an elf played a flute. I could see the musical notes floating up and into the starry sky.

" Lily,do you like it here?"asked Melody

" Oh yes,I wish I could stay here forever." I answered.

She shook her head sadly.

"Because you are human,our magic fairy dust that makes you small,only lasts for a few hours."

Tears came into my eyes.

The fairy took my chin in her hands and slowly lifted my head up.

" Don't cry.'

She gently wiped my tears away with her soft hanky and gave me a hug.

"Your book is magic,so if you are ever frightened,lonely or sad,all you have to do is open it and start to read."

One of us will come and get you and bring you to safety here with us.

Just remember to always keep the fairy book under your pillow."

Then I thought of my Mummy.

" Can my Mum come too?"I asked.

The fairy looked sad.

" Only children can visit Fairyland,"replied Melody.

" But I can see into the future and I know that very soon,something wonderful is going to happen to your mother. She will never need to be afraid ever again."

Just then,my eyes started to go blurry and I felt really sleepy. I lay down on a patch of velvety moss and closed my eyes.

When I opened them I was back in my own bed at home. It was still night-time and the house was quiet.

I couldn't wait to tell my Mummy in the morning about my adventure and what Melody Silverbeam had said.

I carefully put the book under my pillow and with a smile and a yawn,I fell asleep.

And guess what? My dreams were all about my favourite place-Fairyland.