Worthy Of Sugar

She was a sugar plum fairy. Sweet as sugar, plump like a plum, and like fairies, very few souls truly believed in her. She had trouble learning how to fly. Hurtful words sat on her shoulders, weighing her down. She gave and gave, sprinkling pixie dust on any and all creatures that needed it, but no one thought to return the favor. She was left powerless. 

After being beaten down, time and time again, she learned to have little needs. She became a plant. She fed herself with sugar she made from water and light. She sheltered herself by extending her own branches, shading herself with her leaves. She had no family. Her only roots were the ones that grounded her into the earth. 

And yet her hopes and dreams were as infinite as the skyline of the sea. 

She hoped for harmony in every forest. She dreamed of love and she dreamed of peace. She wished to exchange every empty belly for a full one and turn every hardship into a friendship. 

And most of all, she dreamed she could find a place to call home. 

There was a sun nation filled with creatures that were warm and bright. A happy place of sunny folks where light bulb moments were as common as blades of grass. Then there was the water nation, where folks lived in the deep blue sea and listened to deep blue tunes. The water creatures were always successful, always glistening in the light, but sometimes they had to crash down on others to get there. 

The sugar plum fairy was neither all that bright nor all that deep. She was neither sun nor sea, yet she could take water and light and make sugar. She was sugar, sweet, and plump. She dreamed she could make a sugar nation, somewhere where kindness spread like wildfires. Somewhere where the size of your dress didn’t matter, but what mattered was the size of your heart. Only she couldn’t make sugar without the help of sun and water and, like fairies, few souls truly believed in her. 

She set out to convince them otherwise. 

The sun nation began to overheat. Some of the creatures’ skin began to blister. Other creatures’ fur began to sizzle and fry off. The water nation suffered similarly; the sea began to boil, cooking shellfish in its wake. 

The sugar plum fairy had an idea. 

She shook her branches vigorously, her leaves pulsing up and down sending currents of energy through the air. This energy flowed through the fur of the sun creatures, blowing back their hair into intricate styles. The air pushed against the sea, circulating the water in waves, cooling off the fish, and creating a gnarly surf for riding. 

The sun and water nations thanked the sugar plum fairy graciously for the gift. 

“I call it ‘wind’,” Said the sugar plum fairy. 

Soon enough, a wind nation emerged, filled with creatures of flight. Creatures of freedom but creatures who tended to fly away at the slightest fright. 

Now that the sugar plum fairy had created such a successful third nation (by accident, she may add), surely the sun and water nations would support her in the creation of the sugar nation. 

And yet, once again, few souls truly believed in her. 

Another problem arose. Swimming or crawling or flying all day were all laborious feats. Surely, the creatures deserved time for rest. The sugar plum fairy reached her plumpest leaf to the heavens and blocked out the light of the sun. She harnessed the wind and mixed it with tiny droplets of water to chill the air. She let the creatures rest while she worked; keeping one leaf extended to block the sun and another mixing and mixing water with the wind to chill the air. 

The sun and water nations thanked the sugar plum fairy graciously for the gift. 

“I call it ‘night’,” Said the sugar plum fairy. 

Soon enough, a night nation emerged, filled with creatures of mystery. The masked raccoon, the wide-eyed owl, the sly fox; all looking and listening and learning.

Now that the sugar plum fairy had created a fourth successful nation, surely the sun and water nations would support her in the creation of the sugar nation. 

“We believe in you,” The nations said. The fairy cried tears of joy, thick droplets of sugary sap rolled down her plump cheeks until she had no more sap left to cry. She could finally create her sugar nation, finally have a place to call home. 

But the sun and the sea had conditions. In exchange for the light and water required for the sugar plum fairy to create the sugar nation, she must sacrifice herself. 

The sugar plum fairy thought about this long and hard. Should she save herself and live a life of misery, forever longing for a dream that could never come true? Should she sacrifice herself and make her dream a reality, even if she isn't allowed to live it? In the end, the sugar plum fairy decided to accept the offer of the sun and water nations. She would sacrifice herself for the sake of all the sugar creatures to follow her. Selflessness was the very foundation of the sugar nation. Well, kindness was the foundation, but wasn’t selflessness the same thing? Wasn’t it kind to put others before yourself? 

Before she could change her mind, the sun nation beat down on her, shriveling her leaves to a crisp, turning this beautiful plum into a raisin. With the help of the wind nation, the water nation sent a tsunami wave to wash the rest of her away. The night nation chilled the wet sugar plum fairy into a snowball and left her to freeze to death. 

As promised, the sun nation provided light and the sea nation provided water, but no sugar was ever made. The sun and sea creatures couldn’t figure out why. The sun and sea tried every day to make sugar, adding the right amount of light and water, but no sugar was ever made. The sun and sea creatures began to weary. Without the sugar plum fairy’s leaves to block out the sun, the night never fell and the creatures never had time to rest. The night nation creatures never had their time to explore so they began to move on from the forest in search of serenity. Without the sugar plum fairy’s leaves to pulse against the air, the temperature was left unregulated. The water nation began to boil and evaporate, leaving the sea creatures bone-dry on the sand. The wind nation creatures had to leave the forest by foot because of the lack of wind currents to fly on. 

The sun and sea tried and tried to honor the sugar plum dying wish to create the sugar nation, but they failed, forever trapped in the heat of a never-ending day. 

With each rising degree, the sugar plum fairy’s icy trap began to loosen. The melting snow watered her, and the remaining ice reflected the sunlight onto her leaves, converting the water to sugar. The water and sun nations longed for her to return. 

“She always knew what to do,” They thought, hopefully. 

Sure enough, the sugar plum fairy did know what to do. She shook herself free from the melted snow and, now that someone had finally believed in her, she pulsed her leaves, lifted off the ground, and was able to fly. But it wasn't the sun and sea nations that had to believe in her; she had to learn to believe in herself. 

She flew back into the forest. 

“Could you bring back the wind?” Asked the sea creatures. 

“Could you bring back the night?” Asked the sun creatures. 

“Sure-” The sugar plum fairy caught herself. Should she really give and give to help these creatures who have done nothing but harmed her? Must she really sacrifice herself endlessly in hopes of proving her worthiness? 

“Yes, I will help you,” She decided. “But you must help me, too. I have more than proved myself to be worthy of creating a sugar nation. Now you must provide the requested light and water. With no conditions.” 

And with that, the deal was made and harmony returned to the forest. Sun, sea, wind, night, and dash of sugar; she finally had a place to call home.