Lily in Full Bloom

• All About Fairies
  
• 1
  
• 2
  
• 3
  
• 4
  
• 5
  
• 6
  
• 7
  
• 8
  
• 9
  
• 10
  

I
F YOU HEAD
toward the second star on your right and fly straight on till morning, you’ll come to Never Land, a magical island where mermaids play and children never grow up.

When you arrive, you might hear something like the tinkling of little bells. Follow that sound and you’ll find Pixie Hollow, the secret heart of Never Land.

A great old maple tree grows in Pixie Hollow, and in it live hundreds of fairies and sparrow men. Some of them can do water magic, others can fly like the wind, and still others can speak to animals. You see, Pixie Hollow is the Never fairies’ kingdom, and each fairy who lives there has a special, extraordinary talent.

Not far from the Home Tree, nestled in the branches of a hawthorn, is Mother Dove, the most magical creature of all. She sits on her egg, watching over the fairies, who in turn watch over her. For as long as Mother Dove’s egg stays well and whole, no one in Never Land will ever grow old.

Once, Mother Dove’s egg
was
broken. But we are not telling the story of the egg here. Now it is time for Lily’s tale.…

A
LIGHT BREEZE
whispered through the long grasses by the pond. It rustled the leaves of the Home Tree. It bent the stems of the primroses by the courtyard. It tickled the wings of fairies and sparrow men throughout Pixie Hollow. Everyone was busy and happy and hard at work.

Everyone, that is, except Lily, a garden-talent fairy. She as busy, but not so happy.

Lily was in her garden, which was one of the most beautiful spots in Pixie Hollow. Fairies came there to relax on soft clover beds. Others came to smell the flowers—jasmine and lilacs and roses. Lily liked to sit and watch the grass grow.

But today, she was crouched next to a bare patch of sandy soil. She was carefully digging out a drooping plant. Its leaves were brown and wilted.

Lily frowned. She knew some plants needed extra love and attention to grow strong. But this was the fourth time she had tried to plant in this patch of her garden. And the fourth time she had failed.

By her side, Lily had a pot ready with fresh soil. She placed the droopy roots deep into the dirt and patted down around the stalk. More than anything, she hated to see a plant that didn’t know where to bloom.

Lily stared down at the bare patch. She was completely stumped. “If only I could get something to grow here,” she muttered.

The soil was sandy—not the best type for most plants. Lily had tried fruits and herbs and two different kinds of flowers. But none of them had taken root. Still, she didn’t want to give up yet.

She stepped out of her corn-husk slippers and dug her toes into the sandy soil. Maybe if she could feel what the soil felt, she could figure out which plant might have a chance of growing in this patch. Something that liked dry soil, such as sage or rosemary? Maybe a hardy flower, like a black-eyed Susan?

Lily’s bee friend Bumble buzzed over while Lily worked. She was concentrating very hard and barely noticed him. It wasn’t until he’d buzzed around her head twice that she finally looked up.

“Bumble!” she said. “When did you get here?” Bumble dove into a flower and Lily’s thoughts returned to her problem.

“What am I going to do about this spot?” she asked.

Bumble popped out of one poppy and dove into another. As Lily watched her friend, her stomach rumbled. Her garden had kept her so busy that she’d forgotten about teatime!

Lily wasn’t normally one to trade time in her garden for chitchat over tea. But that afternoon, a short break was just what she needed. Maybe Iris or Rosetta or one of the other garden talents would know what to do with her problem patch.

She hopped out of the sandy soil and put her slippers back on. Then she left her tools in her garden shed, rinsed her hands, and fluttered off toward the Home Tree.

When Lily got to the tearoom, most of the fairies and sparrow men already were seated. She felt an unusual energy in the room. She grabbed a slice of cake and slid into a seat next to Rosetta.

“What’s going on?” Lily whispered.

“Lily!” Rosetta exclaimed. “Have you heard the news?”

“What news?” Lily asked. “I just got here. There’s a problem patch in my garden that—”

“Did you hear?” Iris interrupted. She flew between her two friends. “Tinker Bell has a new invention.”

“An invention?” Lily looked at the pots-and-pans table across the room. All the tinkers were out of their seats and crowded around Tinker Bell. Fairies from other talent groups also hovered nearby.

Pots-and-pans fairies were known for creating new and useful things out of the scraps in their workshops.

“It sure must be fascinating!” said Iris. She flew over to the tinkers’ table to get a better view. Lily, Rosetta, and the other garden talents followed.

Peeking between fairies’ wings, Lily saw an odd-looking hat on Tink’s head. It looked like it had been hammered out from an old teapot. Clipped to the front was a small, round mirror.

The crowd pressed in closer as more and more fairies came to see Tink’s invention. “What’s the hat for?” Lily heard the fairy next to her ask.

“Fawn,” Tink called out. When Tink spotted the animal-talent fairy, she waved her closer. “Can you ask a firefly to help me?”

“I’ll get Glowyn,” Fawn said. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out an earsplitting whistle.

Before Lily could blink, a firefly zipped through a window to Fawn’s side. A quick word from Fawn, and Glowyn perched on the hat’s brim. Tink made sure the hat was settled correctly on her head and then nodded to Fawn.

Fawn whispered to Glowyn, and suddenly, his tail flared brightly. His glow reflected off the hat’s mirror. A strong beam of light shot out from Tink’s hat and lit up the room.

The crowd gasped. The fairies at the front of the group shaded their eyes with their hands. The light was so bright!

“It’s a firefly-headlamp hat!” Tink said proudly. “It’s for moonless nights. Or anytime when your glow is not quite strong enough to fly by. All you need is this hat and a friendly firefly.”

Applause filled the room. The pots-and-pans fairies cheered the loudest. The other talents offered their congratulations to Tink as well.

“Great idea, Tink!” exclaimed Rani, a water-talent fairy.

“Amazing!” agreed Lympia, a laundry fairy.

“That’s so practical!” cried Fira. As a light talent, she worked extra hard on moonless nights. A hat like this might make her job easier.

Tink turned to smile at her friends. As she did, the light hit several fairies right in the eyes. Each blinked and looked away.

“Oops,” said Tink. She took off the hat and set it on the table. Fawn said something to Glowyn in Firefly language, and he flew off through the window.

The fairies and sparrow men crowded in even closer to get a good look at the hat. Tink was peppered with questions about her new invention.

“How did you think of it?” Fawn wanted to know.

“How soon can we get one?” Rani and Silvermist asked at the same time.

“Is the beam brighter than a light talent’s glow?” Fira wondered aloud.

“Will there be one for everyone?” Terence, a fairy-dust sparrow man, asked.

Tink held up a hand. “Hold on,” she said. “This is just a sample. It’ll be a while before I have more hats. The tinkers are pretty busy these days.”

Aster chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we’re all pretty busy. I spend so much time in my garden I sometimes forget to eat!”

Many of the fairies and sparrow men, including Lily, nodded in agreement. Aster had said just what Lily was thinking. They started to talk about their work piling up on their tables.

Lily leaned over to Rosetta and whispered, “I’ve got a problem patch in my garden. I could use your advice about it if you have time.”

But before Rosetta could respond, Tink’s voice rang out. “I’m sure you’re all busy, too,” Tink said. “But it’s the pots-and-pans talents’ job to think up great ideas to help everyone!”

All the other fairies grew quiet. They looked at each other uncertainly.

Lily felt she had to speak up. “But Tink, every talent has great ideas.”

“Of course,” Tink said slowly. She tugged at her bangs. “It’s just that…well, tinkers
tinker.
We invent. We make things from nothing. That’s what we do.…”

Everyone stayed quiet. They stared at Tink and the other pots-and-pans fairies, who stood awkwardly behind her.

“That’s true,” Fira said. She crossed her arms. “But I’m sure we could
all
use our talents to invent things, too. You know, if we put our minds to it.”

“I want to try!” Beck said. Her face was full of determination.

“Me too,” Lympia chimed in.

“I bet we can all come up with something really great!” Fira said. “The light talents will have a dazzling idea, I’m sure!”

The energy from moments before had returned to the tearoom. All the fairies and sparrow men buzzed about what they could invent with their talents.

Lily’s glow flared with excitement. She loved a challenge. She had never tried to invent anything before!

The crowd quickly broke apart. Rosetta and Iris fluttered back to the garden-talent table. They were already talking about their ideas. Lily trailed behind, deep in thought. Bits of ideas were swirling in her head.

And then one idea started to take shape. An idea that might help her garden, the other garden talents, and all of Pixie Hollow at the same time.

Lily knew it was a big idea and that it would take a lot of work. But if she could figure out all the small details…well, she might be on to something huge. She just needed a little time somewhere quiet to work it out. And she knew just where she could get that.