The Song of the Beech Tree

The wind whistled through the great maple tree that stood in the center of the front yard of the Davison Family Farmhouse. A little girl swung lazily and carefree in a tire swing tied to the tree. The house was pearl white with oxford blue shutters, there were hydrangeas planted in the front of the house and decorative flowerpots with pansies on both sides of the door. A long slate rock sidewalk led down to a rocky driveway with lanterns intermittently placed on the sides. The driveway curved in a long roundabout way that created a circle that branched off to the barn in the shape of a “Q.”

The barn was also painted white and had fresh brown trimming along the breezeway, the loft, and the windows. The driveway led away from the house and barn to the southeast and had Victorian lamp posts like those found on the streets of London. The Davison’s were well off and the farm had been in the family for four generations.

The wind rustled through the fresh cut grass and the golden wheat in the distance rippled like waves on the ocean. Ava Davison was eight years old, and she loved her family's farm. There was never a time when she got bored there. The Davison’s also owned two houses in the country and a townhouse in London, but they were hardly ever there. It was a good thing too, because Ava hated the busy streets, and all the commotion got to her after a while.

When everything got quiet at night and she was alone in her bedroom at the farm, it was the most wonderful feeling ever. You could hear the crickets singing outside in the summer and feel the warm breeze blowing in through the windows. Her bedroom was the size of a small apartment and she loved to build forts. But she did get lonely sometimes, and she read to try and keep from feeling sad. She had so many books, wonderful books of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Ava was fascinated with fantasy, she loved to read about princesses the most.

What she loved most about fantasy was that she could imagine that she was anything she wanted to be. When she played on the farm or in her room, she could make up all sorts of fun things. She could be a dragon, a unicorn, a princess, or she could pretend she was on another planet in outer space.

Ava fell asleep on her bed that had a pink and seafoam green comforter with stars on it. It was right beside an extra wide window that took up most of the wall on the upper front side of the house. It reminded her of being in the loft of the barn, sleeping in the hay, and looking out at the stars on the warm summer nights.

“I love you, Ava, sleep good my little princess,” her mother kissed her on the forehead while tucking her in. She flipped the switch on a night lamp that had seahorses and fish on it. It rotated like a carousel as it cast green and blue silhouettes along the floor and wall.

When she woke up in the morning the sunlight filled the room. She was excited because she wanted to go outside and read a book in the field. So that’s exactly what she did, she found a maroon and gold knitted blanket, and she grabbed her favorite book, and ran out of the house.

Ava ran through the yard past the maple tree and jumped over a cross-hatched wooden fence into the golden wheat. She jumped, hopped, and bounced her way through the field until she reached the edge of the woods, her strawberry blonde shoulder length hair bouncing all the way. On clear sky days, like today, she came out here to read, it was her favorite spot because you could see over the countryside. There were green hills and pastures in the far-off distance where other farms were, but it wasn’t too far that she couldn’t see the farmhouse.

The little adventurer laid down the knitted blanket and spread it out evenly. Then she sat down and began reading her favorite book. It wasn’t too long before she saw something in the tall grass that was unusual. Something bobbed up and down and it was floating toward the wood line, but she couldn’t get a good look at it. So, curiosity got the best of her, and she put her book down and followed it. It was a light of sorts, that seemed to be fluttering along the breeze.

She followed it into the woods catching sight of it here and there. It was glistening, leaving a trail of dust that sparkled for a moment, and then dissolved before touching the ground. It was taking her deeper into the forest and the bushes and foliage became denser the farther it went. Until at last they came into a wide-open clearing, a haven with a giant flourishing beech tree. It must have been two hundred years old; it was the tallest, most wild looking tree she ever saw, the branches intertwined in curves and spirals. A sense of elation and gravity struck her when she laid eyes on it.

The orb of light floated towards the tree and seemed to vanish into it. She approached it cautiously and her curiosity urged her forward. Ava never went into these woods before, but her parents had never told her not to.

“Hello,” she said in a soft British accent. “Hello, my name is Ava…Is there someone there?”

A silence surrounded her, even the birds stopped tweeting. A cool fresh breeze flowed in from behind where she had entered. And then the light reappeared, it flew out of the center of the beech tree and hovered above and behind a branch up high. And a second light emerged to join it, it seemed to be communicating with the first.

“I told you not to go out there,” it said.

“I didn’t mean to sis, I got lost,” a high-pitched voice replied.

“Well, here we are, aren’t we? Now you’ve gone and led it back to us.”

“I said I was sorry, Nei’aura. You don’t have to be mean about it,” the first reputed.

Ava approached, bending her head as she tried to see beyond the tree branch. She rounded about the left side and her vision rotated as she delicately walked toward the lights. She saw two pairs of opaque wings fluttering gently.

“Hello, is someone there?” she asked again.

“Oh well, it's only a little girl. Would you look at that?” the high-pitched voice said. “Yes, we are here!”

“Now you’re talking to her, Prim!?”

“Oh, be quiet! Yes, we are here little girl, come, come!”

Ava walked closer to see what was talking to her. She couldn’t believe her eyes, at first, they were too bright to see. But upon closer inspection she saw two gorgeous little women with floral dresses on, they had sparkling wings that were see-through.

The first called, Prim, had on a bright pink dress, a color that could only be found in a sunset, at the right moment. She flew down like a hummingbird to a low hanging branch and laid on her belly with both arms underneath her chin. Her long rose blonde hair flowed down over her left eye, but her right eye revealed a brilliant emerald color. She snickered playfully as she kicked her feet up behind her.

The second, Nei’aura, fluttered her wings with her arms and legs crossed. She was wearing a deep sea, ocean blue dress that had similar coloration to the night lamp in Ava’s bedroom. Her charcoal black hair fell down more feral than her sisters. And her eyes were a hypnotizing shade of sapphire, that looked like the ocean and the sky mixed together.

Ava’s eyes grew twice as wide, “Are you fairies!?” she asked impolitely.

Nei’aura rolled her eyes at her, “Well, duh, what else would we be?” her voice was raspy and less squeaky.

“Nei’aura, knock it off! She’s just a curious little kitten, isn’t she?” said Prim.

“Curiously rude, ha! I’m just teasing you little girl…Yes, we are in fact fairies. The magic kind, the ones in the stories that pretty little girls like you dream about.”

“Magic? Oh, can you do magic?” Ava asked. “Please do some, please, please, pleeeassee.”

“Well, that’s more like it,” Nei’aura’s face lightened up. “Hmm, let’s see. How about this.”

The beautiful fairy swooped in front of her and flew around her in a quick zig-zagging pattern. Up and around and behind Ava’s head, a trail of glittery dust followed her until out of thin air a charming floral dress appeared. It was wonderful, it was so pretty, and Ava loved it, she looked just like the fairies only it was red and gold with royal stitching. The dress dazzled in the sunlight, and she twirled around laughing.

“Oh, oh, I want to try!” Prim said. And she stood up on the branch and waved her hand in a figure eight.

A pair of sunglasses appeared on Ava’s face, but they were no ordinary sunglasses. When she looked through them, she saw the surrounding world in every color imaginable. The wind was blue, and she watched as it blew through the multicolored leaves on the trees above her. There was another thing that looked like the wind, but it was like staring up at a nebula.

“Fairy vision,” Primrose chuckled.

“What’s that?” Ava asked and pointed at the nebula stream.

Nei’aura replied, “Ah yes, that my dear is magic. It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Prim let out an ooh, and an ahh.

“That’s amazing!” Ava shouted. And she giggled while delighting in all the beauty that surrounded her.

“Shh, keep it down. The bad forest kitties are going to hear you,” Prim said.

“Oh relax, Primrose. They’re too busy chasing squirrels or sleeping to care about us today,” Nei’aura assured them. The forest was quiet again, and the beech tree creaked as a big gust blew by. Nei’aura continued, “Well anyway, how about we take you to the fairy world?”

“You can do that?” Ava asked.

“Sure we can, but only for a short while. Prim, you ready?”

“Right, sis.”

And the two fairies flew over to the beech tree and held out their arms. A white oval portal appeared that was see-through like a television screen. Ava walked up to it and looked at the two of them.

“Inside we go sweetie, don’t be scared,” Nei’aura said. And they all three entered the portal. On the other end they reappeared and landed in the soft grass.

In front of them was a big, lush forest with tall trees, and green grass, and flowers all around. Some trees were so high up that you couldn’t even see the tops of them. And everything was a bright color like when she had looked through the fairy glasses. Fairies of all different sizes and colors flew above them. They lived in little homes carved into the trees that had lights coming from them. One fairy stuck her head out of her window while beating the dirt out of a cloth. Another fairy flew outside her home watering her hanging garden as she went. All of the fairies looked happy, more than happy, like they didn’t have a care in the world.

They were all women, no fairy men, a big fit looking fairy flew by on a dragonfly with a sword. She looked like she was a soldier of some kind. There were birds and insects everywhere that were at one with the fairies. They appeared to be their friends, and some of the birds were even helping hang laundry lines or fix bridges. It was like a web of wonder; the fairy world was the prettiest thing Ava had ever seen. And she had seen a lot of pretty things today. A fairy chasing a hummingbird flew by her and she waved at them.

There were bubbles, lots of bubbles that floated past. Blue, green, purple, yellow, turquoise bubbles, and she popped one with her finger. She followed them and it led to a ring of toadstools where a throng of fairies sat. One was playing a tiny violin while three other fairies sang along in harmony.

To all that are free, among the wild trees,

I sing to thee, the song of glee,

When the three did sing

A sweet lullaby,

A fairy princess, said hello and goodbye,

But not for long,

Because life is grand,

And many a wanderer,

May grace our land.

Ava was hypnotized and she wished she could stay there forever. It was enough for her to get to see the fairy world though and she felt content. More so, she had a strong feeling of wonder and excitement. Being around fairies if only for a little while fills the soul with much happiness.

“Well, Ava, I’m sorry to say but we must go now,” Nei’aura instructed her.

“Oh okay, so soon?” Ava asked.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of magic to bring you here. And it’s not easy to bring you back, so the sooner the better, best to play it safe,” Prim suggested.

With that they stepped back into the portal and reappeared out of the beech tree in the woods. As soon as they returned to the real-world Prim gasped. They were surrounded by three feline monsters that were gnarled and made of twigs and branches. Ava got a better look at them. They were the size of bobcats, and they were covered in bark, vines, and thorns. The in-between of their hides was filled with a blackness that looked empty and hollow. They had thorny fangs like a crab apple tree and bright yellow eyes with sharp slits in them.

“Oh no, Panzers!” Prim screeched.

“Oh dear,” Nei’aura gasped. “Alright, Ava, I’m going to need you to do something for me okay? I need you to believe in magic like you’ve never believed before, you got it? We used up a lot of magic taking you to the fairy realm, so we need your help. Ready? On the count of three, one, two, three!”

All of the panzers pounced at them at the same time and Prim and Nei’aura flew swift circles around Ava. A strong upwelling shot all three of them off the ground, they went up, and up, and up through the leaves of the trees. Until they broke through them and curved towards the horizon.

They were flying! Ava looked all around and saw as far as her eyes could see. She looked over at Prim and Nei’aura and they were smiling at her. The two fairies flapped their wings while dust circled all around, leaving a glimmering trail in the air as they flew towards the setting sun.

“This is incredible!” Ava yelled. “We’re actually flying!”

Prim and Nei’aura did tricks, aerials, and barrel rolls. They course corrected back towards the farmhouse while the sun went down. The cool evening air blew through Ava’s hair and her dress flickered in the last rays of the light. They flew in over the cows in the pasture and over the top of the maple tree in her yard. Until they reached her wide-open bedroom window. The two fairies and the little girl landed softly on her bed.

“Well, that was exciting,” Nei’aura said.

“Haha, those stupid bad forest kitties! They’re no match for us fairies.” Prim delighted.

“A little too close for comfort though. We must go now, Ava, it was so very wonderful to meet you. Fairies and little girls have been the best of friends for centuries. And we will be friends forever.” Nei’aura explained.

“Ohh, do you have to?” Ava asked.

“I’m afraid so, but we will leave you with a gift, Prim?”

“Right.” Prim said as they waved their hands one last time.

A shimmering dust sparkled around her neck and a small necklace with a pendant appeared. It was a silver fairy with her legs crossed and her arms in a diamond formation. Within was beset a tiny diamond that shimmered.

“Oh, I love it so much, thank you.” Ava said.

“We love you, Ava, sweet dreams, we’ll see you again someday.”

Ava drifted off into sleep with the two of them by her bedside. There were no dreams or visions that could compare to the day that she spent with Prim and Nei’aura. With all the magic, and the wonder, and the excitement that she had seen. Ava fell asleep the happiest little girl in the world.