A Fairy Tale

/ Liz H-H
A glass-enclosed carousel on dry ground on a sunny late afternoon. Scene is deserted.
© Ayr/Gray

When the rains passed, and evening was well on its way (though the sun still burned white-hot in the firmament), Little Blue lifted her head from under the scrap of newsprint and sighed.

First there’d been wildfires that’d taken out most of the forestland. Then wicked mudslides had obliterated all the mushroom rings, the white-spotted red mushrooms that always stood bravely sentinel around her peoples’ precious portals. Next, strong winds had hurled her wheeling toward the elves’ dark portal, a hollow-mouthed tree in the middle of a charming urban neighborhood.

She’d thought she was safe, but a bearded howling man followed her through, crushing her under his heavy paws. In the following tussle, elves against wolf, Blue was spit back out of the tree’s mouth, splatting on concrete, just at the heels of a red-cloaked girl that smelled of bakery. Grabbing the edge of the girl’s cape, she rode along to Granny’s.

The older woman was aware, the young girl not so much because she talked non-stop.

After the storms, after the poptarts, after the tea, after the little girl had been sent back home, Granny wrapped Little Blue in the newsprint. She called to her crow and whispered in his ear. He took off, Blue in claws, to this place of decidedly unmagical horses in a glass box, dropping her on the ground.

She’d had a bad day and slept long, but when twilight arrives, the real magic begins. Fluttering her tiny wings, she decided to explore the carousel.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2025)

Many thanks to Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr for their photo prompt, THE UNICORN CHALLENGE.  02/12/2025). No more than 250 words in length.

22 thoughts on “A Fairy Tale”

  4. More dancing, flickering magic, Liz – delightful.
    (I was taken straight to page 2 too, so appreciated the pointer.)
    And sometimes, at the end of a day like that, all that’s needed is that transformational sigh…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Hello!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.