The Fairy's Thumb
'Hello! Hello, I say! Are you awake?’
A small, ringing voice that Anna could have sworn came from somewhere around the tip of her nose sounded in her ears. But that couldn’t be right. She hadn’t even opened her eyes yet. She was simply, she thought with blurry thoughts, on the edge of a vivid dream, almost, but not quite, awake.
But that did not explain the tickling
feeling on the end of her nose.
‘Hello!’ the voice tinkled.
Anna's eyes flew open to a sight that made
her blink twice and stare narrowly. For
perched just in front of where her eyes crossed sat a small creature. A small creature with wings.
Every muscle in Anna's body froze. She didn’t even blink.
‘Are you up? Of course you’re up! You have to be up. Your eyes are open.’ As quickly and as fast as the tiny creature
with the small tinkling voice spoke, it stopped. The creature bent forward toward one of Anna’s
eyes.
Suddenly Anna heard the sound of a tiny
hand against skin, and felt its sting.
‘Ouch!’ she exclaimed.
‘Aha!
I knew it.’
The small creature fell backward with a laugh,
and before Anna could grow alarmed enough to stretch out a hand, the creature righted
itself all the way around and until its tiny wings beat fervently in midair.
‘Come on,’ the fairy said suddenly, as
though it had just remembered why it wanted Anna, and tugged on her hand. ‘Please!
‘Are you a real fairy?’ Anna asked after she opened her bedroom door,
bending down to look at the tiny creature who beckoned her.
‘Yes.
And if you’re a real human, there’s a matter of life and death happening
in your kitchen!’ the fairy said, and flew out the door and down the hall.
‘Oh!’ Anna exclaimed with great concern,
and raced after the fairy.
When they arrived in the kitchen, the
fairy stopped and looked quickly about. Anna, looking around too, saw nothing amiss.
‘“Life and Death” you say?’ asked Anna with a raised brow.
‘Well…’ said the fairy as she flew about
the room, ‘She was here a minute ago…’
The fairy was knocking things here and there in a frantic search.
‘Who was here a minute ago?’ asked Anna,
running behind the fairy and trying to put everything to rights.
‘Thumb,’ said the fairy.
‘Thumb?’ asked Anna, her nose screwing up
as though she had just experienced a bad smell.
‘You’ve lost your thumb?’
‘Yes!’ the fairy said, and then threw up
her hands in exasperation. ‘She’s here somewhere.’
‘Why do you keep calling your thumb a
“she”?’ she asked. This was, according to Anna, really at the
heart of the issue.
‘Because
“she” is a she! My sister is around her
somewhere, and we’ve just got to find her!’
Anna’s
eyes flew wide. ‘Your sister is your
thumb?’
‘Thumbelina,
yes,’ said the fairy with great distraction.
‘But we call her Thumb,’ the fairy added. Then, ‘Hurry!’
the fairy cried in a whisper. ‘THEY’RE up!'
All
at once Anna knew exactly who THEY were.
And
Thumb needed help. Anna stood and moved
quickly about the room, searching.
The
fairy nodded in brief satisfaction, and then proceeded to tear apart the
kitchen. The sounds were moving more
thumpingly upstairs, and Anna knew there was very little time left before the
great decent, when suddenly she said, ‘Hush!’
‘Why?’
the fairy said, but in a whisper.
But Anna was concentrating, for she had noticed that a small sound of tinkling
bells followed the fairy wherever she went.
And where one fairy sounded of bells, well…
A
moments silence was all she needed, for coming from the shiny copper kettle
atop the stove came the ever so slight sound of the tinkling of very tiny
bells.
Anna
rushed as the fairy flew to the stove.
Lifting
the lid off the kettle, Anna saw a very tiny fairy bathing, and looking at her reflection that beamed in her
own glow off the kettle walls.
‘Oh,
Thumb,’ said the fairy sister, peering into the kettle with great exasperation.
The
tiny face looked up. ‘Oh, Evie. There you are,’ came a very tiny voice. ‘I gots trapped.’
‘Of
course you did, you silly,’ said Evie rolling her eyes.
‘I
flew in the spout, and couldn’t get back out,’ continued a wide-eyed, though
thoroughly delighted, Thumb.
‘Naturally,’
said Evie, tiny hands on small hips.
‘Come on, we’ll get you out,’ and she put out a small hand to help her
sister.
‘Can’t. Alls wet,’ Thumb said, floating around to
reveal two very sodden wings. ‘I’s made
lemonade and took a bath. Looks at how
pretty I’s am, Evie,’ she said preening to the kettle’s gleaming inner walls.
Evie
had to think quickly; the thumps were becoming quite constant. ‘Give us a hand,’ she whispered to Anna.
Anna
had to give herself a little shake, for during this exchange between fairy
sisters, the awe of seeing two fairies struck her like a great big hammer and lifted the tiny body out of the
kettle.
‘Thanks,’
whispered Thumb.
‘Don’t
mention it,’ said Anna, holding the wet fairy in the palm of her hand as the
three raced back to her room and closed the door behind them. Breathing heavily, Anna gave Thumb her
handkerchief, and the tiny fairy proceeded to dry her wings with Evie’s help just as footsteps were moving closer to the door.
Evie
looked at Anna, then gave Thumb a final pat.
‘We’ll
be going now,’ she whispered. ‘You’ve rendered the fairies a service, and we
don’t forget. Call on us if you need
us,’ Evie said as she and Thumb moved toward the window.
‘Thanks,’
whispered Anna, who couldn’t believe her luck.
The
fairies flew away with a wave, just as the door handle turned.
It
had really been the most interesting morning.