Anastasia and the Fairy Fakeout

Once upon a time, (all good fairy tales start with once upon a time, yes?) there was a little girl named Anastasia. She went by Ana and was very put out if you called her by her full name (Anastasia Mariposa Jamison) . She was tan , with beautiful, soft, curly strawberry blonde hair that was more often than not in total disarray. She was 6 years old, 2 ½ feet tall, give or take a few inches, and cuter than a puffed up chickadee. (That, in my opinion is the epitome of cute)  She was cute, could be the picture of politeness and decorum, but was also brave and tended to be naughty. Very often if sweets went missing before her sister had had a chance at them her Mama knew to look under Ana’s bed first. She was known to stick her hands into holes in the ground and snatch the inhabitant out, be it a snake, mouse, groundhog or crawdad. She didn’t care. She loved them all the same and was not afraid of any of them. Much to her mother’s dismay and amusement she was generally garbed in mismatched leggings, skirt, top, hoodie, and sneakers. Nothing matched. It was all a wild array of colors and shapes. She told her Mama she her favorite color was rainbow so she had to always wear her favorite. Except , also to her Mama’s dismay and greater amusement, she was usually covered from head to toe in dirt or sand. She never started out that way, of course. Her Mama, though a lenient sort made sure her children always started the day in clean clothes. Mama didn’t mind the dirt, as she was an adventurer herself and understood the hazards. She just wished her daughter didn’t wear out so many leggings so quickly. She’d refused flatly the request to wear coveralls because in her words “there aren’t enough pockets and they make it hard to move.” So that was that. Ana had a doting father, an adoring mother, 3 sisters, one a year older and 2 a year younger (The twins, she was known to utter in disgust. She was not a fan of babies. Babies were anyone younger than her of course very mature 6 years) They all lived in a house on the outskirts of town. A little red brick house that she loved, with a fireplace, and lots of room to run and play. They didn’t have loads of money or things but they had enough to eat, clothes to wear, and considered themselves to be doing fairly well for themselves given the state of the kingdom. 

Ana was in charge of making sure the pets were fed and the cow was milked. After that, she would ask her mama if she could go and play. Usually the answer was yes, with the strict admonition to not wander too far, be back at lunch, and to not, under any circumstances, go near the river. There were boats that had been known to come through, full of soldiers who would think nothing of killing a little girl who got in their way, or taking her for ransom if they were defectors hoping to earn a few coins before they slipped off to the neighboring kingdom in disgrace. Plus there was the very real danger of drowning. Ana knew to stay away but couldn’t seem to help herself .

On that particular day, Ana completed her chores and asked for the permission she was sure to be granted. However to her disappointment her Mother had said “No, today you need to stay home and play with your younger sisters.” “But MAMA,” Ana began to protest. “I was going to pick berries for pies! It’s the first day of spring and there are usually loads if I get there before the bears do. Please Mama, please!” “No,” her mother repeated. You absolutely may not . There is danger in the woods today Anastasia Mariposa. I do not want you setting so much as one toe into those woods” Ana thought about pouting and perhaps throwing a tantrum but she knew all that would earn her was time doing extra chores. So she huffed, shoulder slumped, lower lip puffed out, into the next room and shouted for her sisters to come play with her. They obediently came, as their mama had informed them they would all be playing together that day. None of them wanted to be on the wrong side of Mama’s temper.

Ana drew them together and said in her bossiest, only a six year old can manage, condescending voice “Mama said we are to play together. I want to go to the field and catch weasels. You will be coming with me or I will tell Mama you wet your beds last night . “ “We did NOT” the twins squealed in unison. “Quiet!” Ana continued. “Just do what I say and then we will do what you want.” “Even tea party?” the girls asked, hopeful. (Ana hated tea parties with the passion of the sun and never wanted to play) With that the girls trudged out the door behind Ana who had already bolted out should her mother feel the need to ask questions. The twins, Madeline, and Maria tried to keep up but they soon were far behind Ana, churning their little legs for all they were worth. They forgot where they were supposed to be headed. Madeline turned to her twin and grabbed her hand. “Sissy, where do we go?” “Dunno,” Maria replied, and popped her thumb in her mouth. Madeline scowled. Ana was always calling them babies and when Maria did that she looked like a baby.  “She always goes in the woods to play” Said Madeline. “Let’s go find her there” and with that they turned down the dirt road towards the woods.

Ana was not very far ahead. She was in the meadow next to the woods, just a few feet away but was crouched down in the grass and wild flowers, elbow deep in a weasel hole. She had forgotten about her little sisters almost as soon as she had left the house and was focused on finding a weasel to show to the neighbor boy Randy because he didn’t believe that she could. It was for this reason she was altogether frightened out of her wits when a deep voice asked “Where are your sisters?” She yanked her arm out of the hole and saw that just a few feet in front of her was a bull moose that seemed practically the size of a house. Ana, unaccustomed to being spoken to by mooses, (moose, meese? She wondered), she was quite at a loss for words.  However the question had jarred her memory and she realized she had run off without her sisters. She would be in so much trouble with her mama if she found out about this. “Mr. Moose? I don’t … how are you t-, I mean. Um. What about my sisters?” “Do you know where they are?” He said slowly, as if she was a little slow. “Well…they were supposed to come with me here. Do you know where they are?” “As a matter of fact, I do. They fell into the river.” “They what?! No no no, Mama is going to KILL me. Did you get them out? Are they ok? “ “They are with the fairies. To be honest they are thinking about keeping them.” “Keeping them? They can’t do that!” “Have you never heard of the changeling myth? They do it all the time. Furthermore, it appears they weren’t particularly well taken care of if they ended up all the way in the woods and in the river.” “I just. I wanted to catch a weasel to take to Randy so he’d believe me that I could catch one.” “And that was more important than your little sisters?” “No, but … I sorta forgot them.” “Look, here’s the thing. I can make the fairies give them back but it will cost you something.” “What do you want?” “ You need to take them a trade. They have agreed for saving your sisters you owe them three things. 100 wildflowers of different colors, 3 fresh chicken eggs, and a newborn puppy. “Wait. That’s…” she did some quick mental calculations “104 things.” “Look. I didn’t make the list I’m just conveying the message. You have until noon.” And to Ana’s bewilderment the moose disappeared.  She looked up at the sun and could see it was still mid morning. “I have time.” She whispered to herself and began picking flowers all around her. She gathered them by fistfuls, hoping that they were all different colors. She would count them later. She jammed them into her pockets and ran down the road towards her family’s barn. She had already brought in the eggs for the morning but she knew some of the hens liked to lay in strange places. She found 3 eggs in short order. The third thing was the hardest for her to think about. She had just been given a newborn puppy to bottle feed because his mom had rejected him. She was looking forward to keeping him in her bed and watching him grow. Still, she couldn’t let her sisters be kept by the fairies. She ran, hands protecting the puppy and eggs jammed in her pockets on top of the flowers. “I should have grabbed a bag” she thought to herself as she struggled to keep everything with her. As she got to the entrance the woods she remembered her mother’s earlier admonition about not going there today. She figured she would need to face the consequences if mama found out about any of this so she kept moving. After a minute or two of walking on the shade darkened path she began to call out “Mr. Moose! Mr. Moose! I have the things!” “And just in time.” The moose said as he appeared out of the trees behind her. “Come this way” and in seconds Ana found herself in a small cave that she had never seen before. “Ana!” called her sisters in unison. She gently laid down the puppy, eggs, and wildflowers. Then she wrapped her arms around her sisters gratefully. They walked out of the cave and back onto the path. “If we run we can be back in time for lunch!” she urged her sisters. “Let’s go.” She paused and grabbed them each by a hand and yelled behind her “Thank you Mr. Moose” “Not so fast” the moose appeared on the path in front of them. “Do you suppose it was as simple as that? You abandoned your sisters, they almost drowned, and you disobeyed your mother’s orders to not go into the woods. Are you going to explain yourself?” Suddenly Ana felt very small. “I can’t.” She mumbled. “I don’t know how to explain except I was selfish” “You were.” The moose agreed, and smiled. His huge face split into a huge grin and then was suddenly gone. In his place was her mother . “Mama?” the girls exclaimed, surprised.  “Yes. I thought it was time to let you in our family secret. We are magical. We usually get our powers around age 12. “But. Do you know the faeries?” “ No. Well. Not personally. They are born magical, they don’t grow into it , so they think they’re better magical folk than us. But nonetheless they aren’t a part of this. Have you ever wondered how it is you can talk to animals? How they seem drawn to you. This is why they trust you.  But this isn’t about you growing into your magic either. This is about you obeying your mother. We could have lost your sisters today. Lucky for them, I know you better than you think I do. I guessed that you wouldn’t keep track of them and I followed you. Then I told your sisters to wait in the cave over there, and came to find you.” “But. Then, what were the flowers, eggs, and puppy for?” Ana asked, dreading the answer. “Well, I knew the girls would want flowers for flower crowns and some to decorate for their tea party. The eggs are to boil so we can have lunch, I brought some other things so we can have a little picnic.” “And…the puppy?” “Well, you shouldn’t leave a puppy that small alone for so long dear. He needs his mama.” She then produced the tiny puppy and a bottle and handed them both to Ana.  They all settled down on a blanket that had appeared in the meadow, Ana staring confused at the puppy in her hands, the twins skipping merrily, in no way confused by the days startling revelations.  “There weren’t any fairies” she muttered as she looked at her sisters, for the first time grateful to see their matching braids and dresses in front of her. “and we are magical.” She had a lot to think about. But first, lunch. And then, she realized with sudden realization and dread, a tea party with her sisters. And whatever punishment mama was bound to cook up for breaking the rules.