| THE LAST FAIRY OF BROKEN MOON FOREST Luna could shout, “Hello! It’s me Luna is anyone there?” but no one would answer. Luna could whisper, “Hello, it’s me Luna does anyone care?” but there was no one left to care. Not even the forest animals noticed this tiny creature with golden hair and luminous wings flitting about in their dark forest. Luna was the last fairy of Broken Moon Forest. All the other fairies had long ago moved to brighter larger forests. Luna never thought of leaving her beloved safe home. The young fairy found comfort among the shadowy protective trees and the cool damp forest floor. She couldn’t remember when she first noticed that she was the last of her kind, maybe when no one gathered to hear her sing her gentle melodies. “This is my song of the forest green, Tra la la Fa la la la la.” Maybe when there was no one left to pass along the stories of the forest, such as the legend of how the forest got its name, Broken Moon. No one would hear her say, “Just as each full moon rises above the forest and emerges large and round, it appears broken into hundreds of pieces behind the tangle of branches formed by our tallest trees.” This small industrious fairy couldn’t even share her favorite thing of all, her extraordinary collection. Luna felt it was her calling to be a collector. She spent her days collecting special treasures left behind in the forest. She found acorn caps, pinecones, pods, shiny perfect leaves, smooth colored stones, bright feathers, and anything that caught her fancy. Her strong wings helped her carry it all back to her home created in an ancient hollow tree. There on shelves lined with soft green moss she sorted, polished, arranged and admired her wonderful collection. If only she had some friends to share all of this with! Since the last full moon Luna had grown so sad and lonely that it was almost more than she could bear. She quit singing and even the animals noticed the silence as they walked by her tree. She was starting to forget the old stories. “I can barely remember the story of how I got my name. I vaguely think it had something to do with a mother lunar moth mistaking me for her baby but the rest of the story has faded away.” Then the worst thing of all happened, Luna stopped collecting. Her latest treasures were piled carelessly on the forest floor and scattered amongst the branches of her tree. They would soon blow away or be carried off by animals if unattended. With a lonely sad heart she cried out, “With no one to care maybe I’ll just fade away!” One evening as the new full moon was just peaking through the branches she looked up to see the gigantic crackled sphere. In a tearful voice she cried, “Old moon, you may look broken but my heart is truly broken.” Her bright green eyes flooded with tears and she cried for the longest time until something caught her attention. It seemed to be the shadow of another forest fairy! She turned quickly with hope to see a friend but instead only saw an acorn cap, a pinecone and some leaves stacked in the shape of a possible friend. Luna was dreadfully disappointed at first but then a spark of an idea led her to gather together her scattered collection and set to work on a special project. She’d make her own friends from all these wondrous treasures! She arranged pinecones of all sizes for the bodies of her crew. The creative fairy flew down by the forest stream to find some smooth squishy clay. She loaded mounds of it on a makeshift hickory leaf sled. The wee creature tugged the heavy load back to her tree where she used it to sculpt chubby happy faces for her friends. Acorn tops, leaves, pods and feathers were perfect for the final touch of hats and wings. Soon Luna had a procession of friends lined up to share her forest. She began to sing, “This is my song of the forest green, Tra la la Fa la la la la.” But none of them applauded, or joined in. They just stared with their tiny frozen smiles. All this work and still she was alone. The hope faded from Luna’s eyes and was replaced by sad heavy tears that began to spill out dropping like spring rain on the heads of her motionless friends. Then amazingly because of fairy magic and fairy love each tear that splashed on contact made a new forest fairy come to life. Glowing sparks and swirls of light spun all around them and lit up her once dark home. Before her eyes trails of new friends were floating up and circling about her begging for a song, “Please, sing us a song!” At first she was in too much shock to even whisper but then her heart filled with joy and burst open with a melody almost forgotten, “This is my song of the forest green, Tra la la Fa la la la la.” Her new friends gathered close to her pleading for a special story, “Please, tell us a story!” Her twinkling emerald eyes were not sad anymore. Her home and her forest were now busy and full of happy forest fairies. She stood lovingly among her new family and said, “Welcome my friends! I am Luna and I will tell you the legend of Broken Moon.” The Last Fairy of Broken Moon Forest (c) 2004 |
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