Fairy Stories & Other Tales

 Once upon a time, a woman was useless. I should say, I suppose, that she felt useless. That would be the appropriate way to put it. But it would be pointless to tell this particular woman that she simply felt useless. She knew it. And, as you might have come across once or twice, it is difficult to tell someone who believes something so entirely that it is not true... that it is only a feeling . You could say, maybe, that (once upon a time) there was a woman who believed so entirely that she was useless. But you would be wrong.     Fairy godmothers, on the other hand, are allowed to say anything . They are never wrong. And, when it comes to them , there is always a point .     When a fairy godmother took an interest in the woman, the response was not what you might expect. Or maybe it is exactly what you would expect.     She said, 'Oh, shit.'     And then she said, 'Go away.'     Because that is the ...

 Once upon a time there was a little girl who trespassed on the lawn of an evil sorceress. To punish the little girl, the sorceress cursed her with a piercing gaze, that she might always know the inside truth of each person she met.     Well, inside truths are not always pretty. And the little girl ran afoul of cruel people first. Thus, her curse bore witness to the nasty bits that can be found so easily inside. In fact, so easily do those nasty bits rise to the front of a piercing gaze, that the little girl did not think that goodness could be found in anyone.     The little girl was both ashamed and proud of her gift. Her foresight to the worst of a person's character kept her from many an ill intent. Her judgments gave her the thickest skin. But her knowledge kept her from kindness and carved her sharp as nails.     Until she met a little bear whose inside truth held no drops of malice. He had been cursed to see only goodness in other...

 Once there was a little beast who had been betrayed. Cruel friends had said crueler things and made him an outcast.     Poor beast thought he had lost all the fun. All the games. All the light and good things.     And so, he turned to embrace dark things. In a literal kind of way.     No longer did he play in the daytime.     No longer did he wake and eat and chat with those he once called friends by the light of the sun.      He shuffled along in the night, alone and bare and wanting.     Except, one cannot go along into the dark of night forever, because not all nights are dark. And one night, the little beast met the moon. The moon was wild and crazy and fun, and set out little tasks for the beast to do in her sweet light. Gathering water touched by moonlight. Plucking apples from the trees, so much sweeter for having ripened away from sight. Dancing on a hill top in a very silly way,...

 Once upon a time there were three old women who sat together and worried about the fate of the world.     'But what can we do about it?' pondered one.     'Little at our age,' said another.     'Are we so sure?' asked the third. 'There are things, perhaps...'     'Like what?' asked the first.     'Smiling?' put forward the third.     'Oh, that is very good,' said the other. 'And maybe serving tea?' she added carefully.     'Yes, and perhaps crafting a book filled with all the things we have learned in three lifetimes...' mused the first, with her fingers round her jaw.     They smiled at one another. They had tea. And in the next moment, when they started the plan to tell the stories of their lives, the world began to change.