The fairy Queen and a boy

It was a small village having a population of around five hundred people. Most of the people were farmers and lived in the houses built in their fields. Some people were farm workers and lived in small huts. There was a shop in the center of the village where groceries and other things were sold.

There was an old house having a big home garden at the last corner of the village. The house was empty. The owner of the house lived in a big city and came rarely to see the house. There were several beautiful flowering trees and plants in the garden. The garden had many flower beds in the garden always filled with flowers in all seasons. Who looked after and watered this home garden was a mystery to the villagers because the house was empty, nobody lived in it and nobody ever saw anybody in the garden.

Once a family came to live here. The family was a far relative of the owner of the house. There were five members in the family. The husband's name is Ramlal, the wife's name is Rita, their son's name is Pappu, and the daughter's name is Pinki. Pappu was ten years old and Pinki was six years old. Pappu was a mischievous boy who used to poke fun and annoy Pinki. Sometimes he did not obey her mother.

Here in the village, seeing the home garden, Pappu was happy for now he had a big ground to play, unlike the city where he had to play in the narrow streets. His mother Rita was happy because she had a garden to grow vegetables and her favorite flowers. Pinki was happy to see hundreds of beautiful flowers. So all of them had their plan to enjoy. Soon Pappu began to make mischief in the home and the garden. He began to catch the butterflies and pin them to books, throw stones at squirrels and birds, uproot the flowering plants, kill spiders, and so on. But the home garden was the playground for tiny fairies who lived somewhere in the deep forest very far away from the village and the old house. The tiny fairies used to visit the home garden once or twice a month in the early morning and used to play and look after the plants. These tiny fairies have some magical powers such as the power to be invisible, the power to make things bigger or smaller, the power to make flowers more vibrant, and many others. It was the magic of fairies that made the home garden evergreen. All the birds, insects, squirrels, and butterflies who used to live in the home garden liked and loved these fairies because fairies always helped them whenever they need. That day when these tiny fairies along with the fairy Queen reached the home garden, they found many plants badly damaged and uprooted. Just then all the birds, squirrels, butterflies, and spiders gathered there and began to complain about Pappu. Hearing so many complaints about Pappu, the fairy queen decided to teach him a lesson.

Pappu had a good habit of reading books. One morning, Pappu was reading a storybook under the shade of a tree in the home garden. He did not know how and when he fell asleep.

When Pappu awoke, he found himself among the long grasses and very high plants. Everything around him was so big. The trees around him were so big that he could only see the trunks of the trees despite all his efforts. When he saw the book he had been reading, he understood that he had become so small. He became about four inches in height.

He got afraid seeing all this. He was unable to understand how he became so small.

All of a sudden Pappu saw a spider which was so big and scary that Pappy got petrified for a moment or two. The spider was coming toward him. He ran away and hid himself within a clump of grass. When the spider passed him at a safe distance, he came out and tried to figure out in which direction his home was but he lost the sense of direction. He was hidden among big things.

He began to call for help but it was of no use. Nobody was there to help him. Now he was tiny and helpless and any bird or insect could attack him.

Just then he heard the quick footfall and he began to quiver with fear, he looked around and found an ant at some distance going somewhere. A thought came to him what if an ant or insect or spider caught him and ate him? At this thought his body got drenched with sweat and he began to search for a safe place to hide but no one was safe there. And he was the most vulnerable here unable to run fast, unable to give a fight to hunters. He hid himself in a clump of grass. He was feeling hungry and thirsty but no food or water was available near him. He was missing his mother and little sister. All of a sudden, he heard the flutter of wings above him and within a moment he was picked up by a powerful claw. It was a parrot. The next moment, the parrot was flying above the ground. He got unconscious.

When Pappu came around, he found the fairy Queen in front of him, the parrot who brought him was beside the fairy queen. Pappu was so amazed to see a real fairy. He said in amazement, "Fairy! You are a fairy, aren't you?" Fairy nodded and said, "I am the queen of time fairies." He was seeing a ray of hope in the fairy. Pappu entreated her, "Please help me, I am in trouble. I want to go home. I don't know what is happening to me. I got so small all of a sudden. This parrot picked me up and brought me here."

Fairy Queen smiled and replied, "I made you so smaller using my magic." Hearing this Pappu was surprised and afraid and asked, "Why?" Fairy Queen said to him, "Because you were making troubles in the garden. Everyone in the garden was complaining about you. Why do you do so?"

Pappu replied, "No, I didn't make any trouble in the garden. They are telling a lie." At this, the parrot squawks something to the fairy queen. The fairy could understand the parrot's language. Hearing it, the fairy said to Pappu, "The parrot is saying that you also vex your little sister."

Pappu got angry at this and said, "This parrot is telling a lie. I have never vexed my sister. This parrot is so bad that it picked me up in its beak. He wanted to eat me." saying so Pappu began to weep.

Fairy queen said, "It's no use in telling a lie. Don't forget I have magical powers. I know you are telling a lie." hearing this, Pappu got silent. He knew that now no way to escape.

Fairy Queen said to Pappu, "Look if you realize your mistake and promise me to never do it again in the future, I will forgive you. Otherwise, you will have to remain in this smaller size forever."

Pappu had no other way to escape. He said meekly, "Sorry, I confessed that I made trouble in the garden and I promise I will never do it again."

Fairy Queen said, "That's good. And always remember never to try to break the promise."

Saying so, The fairy queen turned him into his original size. Pappu was sorry for what he did and he never made any trouble in the home garden. What is more, he never vexed his little sister.