A Fairy's Tale

Long ago in a field of flowers far away, there lived a beautiful butterfly winged fairy. The butterfly-winged fairies are the most beautiful and fairest of all fairies, but they are also the most fragile. They stand barely two inches high and have delicate wings like those of the most beautiful butterflies.
One day, a boy came to the field of flowers to catch butterflies with a net. Unfortunately, this sweet little butterfly-winged fairy found himself captured within the net. The fairy tried to fly away to freedom, but was captured by the boy. Upon noticing what he had captured, the boy severed the beautiful fairy's wings with a single stroke of his fingers. A searing pain shot through the helpless fairy's body as his wings were ripped away.
The fairy let out a loud cry, though there seemed to be no one, save the boy, to hear it. Tears rolled down the sweet fairy's face as he watched the crumpled pieces of his beautiful wings float down to the ground.
The little fairy's cry, however, did not go unheard. A great protectress fairy heard it and immediately came to aid the little helpless butterfly winged fairy. The protectress fairies are powerful female fairies that stand six inches tall, have powerful wings whose attachment points are guarded by armor, and wield magical swords. Their sole mission is to protect other fairies and come to their aid when they are in distress.
Just as the boy was about to lower the helpless butterfly-winged fairy into a glass jar, the protectress came as quick as lightning and swept the helpless butterfly-winged fairy right out of the boy's hand before he could even notice.
The little fairy was still mourning the loss of his beautiful wings and feared he would never fly again, but the protectress bore him away to a hidden healing pool. The mighty protectress gently bathed the wounds upon the back of the sweet little butterfly-winged fairy with the healing waters from the pool.
Immediately, the little fairy felt the water's soothing effects. The fairy felt much better, but still doubted his wings would ever be restored. The mighty protectress swept up the little butterfly-winged fairy and bore him to a large flower on which she set him.
The little fairy felt himself overcome by sleep and when he awoke, he was overjoyed to find his beautiful wings had been fully restored by the healing waters. The protectress was nowhere in sight. The little butterfly-winged fairy flew about and sang for joy and went on to live happily for the rest of his days.

That's a beautiful story, Peter!

Dear Peter,
I like your story. In my hydroponic gardens, this late in the summer, I have grown a mirade of flowers just to please my own self. The Butterflies and the Bees are pleased as well. I see that you can step outside yourself to write a story and make it magical as well as human.

As a child I thought a lot about butterflies and their wings and, in the way that you have thought of them, put my own little body on those wings. I was not a fairy, nor magic, but I wished I were.

Your stories might connect to a lot of children who wish as I did then.

Love,
Betty

I think the story has depth, like your stories, Betty. The symbolism of how beautiful but fragile thoughts (wings that take flight) can be crushed so thoughtlessly comes through stongly. Time and help from an elder/mentor can regenerate those thoughts and allow a young person to "fly" again. Lovely!

In writing, I often find that by using fewer words I can create a more profound work. The story above is very short; it isn't even 500 words, but it has a profound message/moral to it.

Dear Shelagh,

Back in those olden days, children were seen and not heard. No one gave them credit for thought, or dreams, or worth or imagination. I do not know what parents thought children did with their minds.

Mostly, they dreamed those magical dreams that only they could see and never tell.

Love,
Betty

Dear Peter,

You are a beaut! You know that of course, spirit and human wise.

Love,
Betty

A nice story.
I often think of the song with the verse, "when you talk to the animals, they talk back." Animals do express their voice in various ways. As for insects, imagination like Gordon's Fairy Tale is something Walt Disney could use as fantasy for children.