Not Another Fairytale

“Ok class, it’s storytime! Close your laptops and put your listening ears on.” Mrs. Brockington walks to the front of her third-grade classroom. Her left hand was occupied with a book and the other put her dress in place.

“Do we have to?” Kelsey loudly voices her opinion matching her outspoken personality. Her hand hits her face before falling to her desk.

“Yes! It’s time to give your eyes a break and your imagination a try.” Mrs. Brockington speaks with authority. The tip of her finger pushes her glasses in place watching the class move in disappointment. The rubbing of eyes and sucking of teeth is no match for the book she is so excited to read. She clears her throat preparing to bring the story to life.

“Once upon a time in the deepest forest, in the land where all fairy tales take place, A magical fairy lived.”

“Excuse me!” Desmon interrupts, processing the beginning of all fairytales ever written. “Why does every fairytale start with Once upon a time? Can we try something different? Maybe, something like, in a world of extraordinary people lived a magical fairy.”

“I like the way you’re thinking.” Mrs. Brockington smiles, glad to have some type of interaction. “I think that is a great idea,” she quickly complements him.

“Okay, okay let’s try this again. In a world of extraordinary people, where all fairytales take place lived a very magical fairy.”

“All fairytales don’t take place there.” I know a pig named, Puffy Huffington. He had a fairytale with his brothers. They built houses in the Enchanted Forest. That’s outside the world of extraordinary people. But I think the wind blew all the houses down.” Paul, the shortest one in the class chimes in. He always has a point to get across to his classmates.

"Yep! I have a cousin named Sleepy Snow. She brought a coffee machine from the fast fairy store in Spaceville. On sale too! She's been up for fifty years. That’s also outside the world of extraordinary people. That’s all the way in outer space” Kelsey speaks quickly after. Once she hears something that makes sense to her, she must speak on it.

“Can we please get back to the story?” Mrs. Brockington crosses her legs ready to continue.

“Okay, okay!” Kelsey speaks feeling the authority in her teachers’ words.

“Say what you mean and always mean what you say.” Desmon reminds Mrs. Brockington of the lesson she taught them.

“Words can change everything,” Paul adds.

“Let's try this again. In a world of extraordinary people lives a magical fairy,” Mrs. Brockington is now more careful of her wording.

“There you go! Much better! Way to bounce back with your words. Now you can tell your story.” Kelsey directs, thinking the class belongs to her.

Mrs. Brockington lifts her eyes up in Kelsey's direction allowing her glasses to rest on her nose. Everyone gets quiet, the class is ready to finish listening to the story.

“Meet Ashleigh, the fairy of all things magical. She is the nicest fairy in all the land.”

“All the land? Does that mean all the other fairies are not nice? Because I have met some pretty nice fairies. It was this one fairy who always cooked for her grandmother. She would fight the biggest wolves to get to her. You can't tell me she was not nice.” Kelsey states quickly forgetting about listening.

"What about that one fairy that had two mean sisters? Even though they were mean to her, she still cooked and cleaned for them. I think she's really nice.” Paul yells out wanting some of the action.

“Can we please get back to the story?” Mrs. Brockington puts her hand on her forehead, trying to sound as nice as she can.

“Okay, okay we were just saying. It’s a lot of nice people in the land,” Desmon trying to get the class back on track.

“Ashleigh had the power of fire and ice. Her only problem, she didn't know how to control her powers. So, she practiced all day and all night."

“Her mommy let her stay up all night?” Paul asks.

“Not my mommy, she said I cannot stay in fairytale land past 8 o'clock,” Desmon adds making the entire class laugh.

“Boys and girls! Pay attention! Mrs. Brockington finally yells, pushing her glasses in place.

“She practiced as much as she could. But every time she called forth fire, she burned her house down. Every time she called forth ice, she covered all the land with ice.” Mrs. Brockington continues, reading a little faster.

“The other magical creatures grew tired of putting out fires and waiting for the snow to melt. You must leave! They ordered her to go to the land of the trolls. There she could practice as much as she wanted without causing any damage."

“They did not have to kick her out. They could have helped her,” Kelsey speaks before apologizing for her interruption.

“She traveled long and far to find Trollville, hoping she could find a safe place to practice her magic. Finally, she made it. She walked into the troll cave completely ignoring the ‘Mean Trolls Only’ sign.

“Wait, she didn't read the sign!” Desmon speaks starting to understand the story more.

“Who dares come into Trollville without permission? The mean troll yells. My name is Ashleigh. I am one of the nicest fairies you will ever meet. Can I please use your land to practice my magic?

"The Trollville mean meter shows you are not mean enough. GET OUT!”

“She should have read the sign!” Paul mumbles, understanding the importance of always being aware of your surroundings.

“Ashleigh found herself kicked out again. But she refused to give up. She walked back inside the cave with a plan."

"In the meanest voice she had, Ashleigh yells the nicest words she could think of! I have a benevolent attitude and I demand your consideration!"

"Benevolent Sounds like a mean word to me. You may enter but you must get permission from the head troll to stay. The troll directs Ashleigh in the direction of the head troll."

“Benevolent” is not a mean word. It means well-meaning and kind,” Desmon speaks, thinking on a past vocabulary test. He quickly turns his listening ears back on wondering where this story is leading.

“Who dares come to the cave of the almighty troll?” Mrs. Brockington continues to read the book.

In the meanest voice, she could speak. Ashleigh yells. I am the cunctipotent Ashleigh. I am filled with pulchritude. Your land is quintessential to me. May I enter?”

“Cunctipotent, pulchritude, quintessential, the head troll speaks. I don’t know what those words mean but they sound mean enough. You may enter”

“I don’t know what those words mean either,” Desmon yells out.

“Cunctipotent means all-powerful. Pulchritude means beautiful or exemplary. Sort of like representing the best of its kind. Quintessential means representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class." Kelsey speaks proudly. She may be a little sassy, but she knows what words mean.

“Absolutely correct Kelsey,” Mrs. Brockington smiles flipping the last page of the book.

“Ashleigh finally learned how to control her powers and returned home to the land of extraordinary people. So always remember, it's not what you say but how you say it.”

The End.