Fairy Stories & Other Tales

 There is much speculation as to where the snow comes from. Some surmise that it is simply weather, and it is best to leave it at that. But there are those of childlike heart and mind who know that snow is more than weather, and the bringer of it no mere small thing like wind and atmospheric things.      It is the old woman who brings the snow.     It is the moment she waits for, as the year begins to wane. The moment of winter that bring her from her sheltered cottage at the north of everything.     She comes on her feet, for her legs span many leagues, and where it is needed, she shakes her bell.     And down comes the snow.     As simple as that.

  There was once a young woman who was not especially kind, nor especially brave. In fact, there was nothing particularly special about her at all, save that she was human, and that kind was of a sort that was never entirely similar to one another. Perhaps it was because her life had nothing of challenge or consternation to develop her character. Or perhaps it was because only little was expected of her. Or even that she had never witnessed need. And perhaps it was all of that which had made her heart a bit small, a bit cold, a bit distant, and little inclined to care.        One winter’s day she wandered about the forest to be free of village prattle and intrusions on her thoughts, when she came upon a pack of mice, seven in all, who looked frozen with cold. They appeared dead, but for the faintest beating of their hearts. A spark of compassion lit within her, and it seemed a fate of gross cruelty that snow and ice should cause the animals such pain. A sudden desire to nurse t

 There was once a giant who was feared by all the children that lived in his forest. Seeking to put their fears at bay, the giant reached into his vast stores of silver and gold to make them each a perfect toy. Into these toys he placed small magics that would make one whir, another twirl, still another dance about, and so on, each imbued with an enchantment to make little eyes sparkle. So unfearful were the children as they received their toys, that the giant began to make and give his gifts every Midwinter's Eve, as though his toys were a charm that could keep fear far way.     But as the Midwinters passed, the giant found himself making smaller and smaller toys. The enchantments he could conjure grew more feeble. Until all that was left was a single songbird made of silver. For he had used up what had once seemed an endless treasure, and his magic, tied to silver and gold, was nothing more than a shred.    Forlorn and weary, he sent out his only Midwinter's Eve gift through

 Once upon a time there was a princess who was treated so poorly she was forced into a tower to keep from ever being seen. The reason behind this villainy was so simple, it might make you laugh: it was because she had 'ideas.'     Prior to her imprisonment, she had, in fact, ideas about everything , from the chore rota at the castle, to the stories behind the tapestries that covered the stone walls, to the layout in the dining room (that didn't seem to provide maximum warmth of dishes to human consumption... in her opinion). She had ideas about the castle garden, ideas about the castle herbs, and ideas about the castle cutlery. But, worst of all, she had ideas about how to run the kingdom.     At first her thoughts were considered quaint among the castle nobles. Some even thought them particularly 'princessy.' But when they found that she was in earnest, the complaints rolled in waves before the king, and suddenly she was considered a 'problem.' At first the

 Once upon a time there was a kingdom with three funny things. Also, it had a woman, and she was better off on her own. The first funny thing was that for this woman, being on her own was a battle, as all through out the kingdom in which she lived were many lords and priests who were opposed to the idea. They thought a woman should bear a family, even if it wasn't something the woman wanted, nor a life she would be very good at living.     The lords and priests of her kingdom were silly creatures, for as vicious and tenacious as they could be when something was sitting right under their nose, out of sight was out of mind. And so the woman hid herself away at the edge of a dark wood so that she could forgo their demands that she bear a family. It was there, away from such impossible demands, that she lived her life as best she could.     One by one, rumors of her status made their way among the peasants, and it wasn't long before women showed up on the doorstep of her hidden hom