Free The Fairy

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky.

I would crawl out of my bedroom window and dance with them. I could never sleep at night and the call of the wind and sky pulled on my heart like the strongest magnet there ever was. I tiptoed across the soft, dewy grass into the field of wildflowers surrounding my house. We lived in the Southern Colorado plains. Mountains circled around us like a protective shield. 

The wolves howled, letting me know they knew I was there. The animal kingdom has always felt like my true kin. Barefoot I would dance under those purple clouds, pretending I was a fairy spirit, twirling and giggling with pure delight. I would twirl and twirl until I fell down on the Earth and as I laid on my back I’d make endless wishes on shooting stars. I’d wish I was a bird, or sometimes a giraffe, or a river or the moon. I’d imagine what it would feel like to fly high in the sky like an eagle or run as fast as a cheetah on the African savanna or swim like a dolphin in the wide open sea. Sometimes I’d stay out so late it’d be early, the sunlight would trickle over the mountains and I’d know it was time to go. I’d run back home as fast as I could before ma could realize I was gone. I’d eat pancakes for breakfast and spend the entire day drawing pictures of what I’d seen in my visions under those purple clouds.

One night I met a real fairy. She was frolicking about from flower to flower and I noticed her when I saw what I thought was a firefly out of the corner of my eye. I knew she was a fairy because she had fairy wings! What else could she be? No one else in the animal kingdom has wings like a fairy- they are one of a kind. One of my wishes was to see a fairy and now my wish was coming true. She was surprised and curious I could see her. I stood in silent awe as I watched her watch me, her tiny form glowing. We could understand each other without using words… I don’t know how it all works, it must be fairy magic! I let her know my name was Daisy and she tried to tell me what her name was but I couldn’t pronounce it, so I called her Free. Free the Fairy. 

Free and I became friends. She taught me about flowers; which ones I could eat, which ones were good for medicine and which ones smelled the best. She showed me to a secret creek where we’d sit on rocks and listen to the frogs sing. Sometimes we’d pick flowers and bring them to the creek, laying them gently on the flowing water, singing our song to the spirit of the land. Free and I loved to sing together. She sounded like tiny bells. 

I taught Free how to wish on a star. She didn’t know about wishing on stars! I told her all she had to do was close her eyes and be completely in her heart, imagining whatever it is she wanted to happen. I don’t think fairies need wishes because they are already fairies, what else could you want? She seemed to enjoy it, though. I brought her strawberries and she really enjoyed the strawberries. Her absolute favorite was strawberries with honey which was my absolute favorite, too. 

I’d draw pictures of Free during the day. When ma asked me what I was drawing, I told her I was drawing a fairy but I never told her about Free. I didn’t think she’d believe me. 

When the air got cold and the days became short, Free moved away. We had one last strawberry picnic under the purple clouds to say our goodbyes. We sang to the flowers, thanking them for introducing us. It was the field of wildflowers that brought us together. Free gave me a goodbye kiss right on my nose! I didn’t want to wash my nose for a whole week.