by Julie Sandpiper –
Tinky, a fairy princess with soft brown eyes and dark black curls that tumbled down her back, woke up in her big bed full of pillows to see snow on the little round window of her room. She ran to the window and looked out at all the soft white snow covering the trees and hills outside her castle. Her white wings flapped gently, and she wore the loveliest blue silk nightdress. Today was a special day. Tinky was turning six. Every fairy princess gets three wishes on her birthday. Tinky had tossed and turned most of the night, wondering what to wish for. Once she decided, she got a few hours’ sleep on her pink soft pillow in her warm bed.
Putting on her most special silver sparkling dress, and fastening diamond clips in her hair, she went downstairs to her parents.
“Happy Birthday, Tinky! Are you ready for your wishes?” her parents, the king and queen fairy, chorused.
“I’ll make my wishes when I blow out the candles on my birthday cake!” Tinky replied. Her parents nodded because it seemed like a good time for wishes.
Tinky’s party was so much fun. Lots of little boy and girl fairies attended and lots of animals too! There was an ice-skating cat, a dancing bear, and a great big elephant who let Tinky slide down his trunk just for fun. When the cake came out, it was so big and covered with so much pink icing it looked like a cloud from the sky! Six candles stood on the top of the cake.
It was time. All the little fairies, the ice-skating cat, big bear, and great big elephant were quiet, wondering what Tinky would wish for. Tinky blew out the candles.
“I wish I had a new teddy bear!” Immediately, a big, fuzzy, soft blue teddy bear appeared. She hugged it. It was just the right size to keep her company at night and would fit in her bed nicely.
“For my second wish, I would like my parents to have good health all year long!” Tinky really was a kind-hearted and thoughtful fairy. Her mother, a beautiful queen fairy with soft golden curls smiled, and her headache cleared up on the spot.
“And my third wish…” Tinky paused. The fairies listened. The cat, bear, and great big elephant all wondered what she would say. This was her biggest wish. It was something she wanted for a very long time.
“I wish for…a dragon!”
Her parents gasped. Dragons were big, dangerous, noisy, and breathed fire, after all.
“Tinky, no!” her mother cried, but it was too late. On the table next to the lovely pink cake sat a golden, gleaming, giant egg. It was hot to touch.
“Hurrah! My very own dragon.” Tinky clapped her hands with joy.
She kept the egg on a satin pillow next to her bed. Every night she stared at the golden egg, waiting for it to hatch. She talked to it, whispered it secrets, and sang it songs.
Every night her parents hoped it wouldn’t hatch soon and worked on building a great big pen for the dragon.
One summer day when the sun was strong and all the birds sang songs, a crack appeared on the shell of the golden egg. Crick! Crack! The shell broke open and what did Tinky see?
A tiny blue snout appeared. And then two small yellow eyes. Soon, a whole baby dragon climbed out of the golden egg! He was beautiful with blue wings and a long tail. When he hiccupped, fire shot out of his mouth with a whoosh!
Tinky gently took the dragon in her hands.
“Welcome, dragon! I’m Tinky and you’re…Blue. I’m yours and you’re mine forever!” she promised, putting him on the satin pillow, which she moved onto her bed. He curled up to sleep, because egg-cracking is difficult work. Tinky ran to the castle library to find her parents studying the monthly report from the fairy kingdom. Her mother wore a beautiful golden dress that matched the color of her curly hair. Her father, whose hair was dark like Tinky’s, was in a blue regal robe. They followed Tinky to her bedroom as soon as she told them the news.
“Isn’t he adorable?” her mother said, petting the sleeping dragon’s back with one finger.
“He is cute, isn’t he?” her father agreed. “But look at those sharp teeth.” Two fangs poked out of Blue’s mouth even though his jaw was closed.
“And he can breathe fire!” Tinky proudly remembered the hiccup.
“What?” her parents chorused.
“He should sleep outside then,” her mother said nervously.
“Too dangerous to keep in the house,” her father agreed, nodding his head.
“But it was only a little fire that came out. He’s so small, he can’t do any harm,” Tinky pleaded.
Her parents agreed he could sleep on her bed until he got bigger. But they warned her he would soon have to sleep outside in the pen.
Blue was only a little dragon, but even when he was a month old he was able to do the most delightful things. Jumping into the air, he would flap his wings until he was the same height as Tinky, looking into her brown eyes with his yellow ones. He could do a somersault in mid-air. And he liked to light the candles in the castle by breathing on them with his fire. Though this made Tinky clap her hands, her mother would press her hand to her heart and gasp, and her father would shake his head, frowning.
After just two months, Blue was taller and came up to Tinky’s knee. Her parents told her it would be the last night Blue could sleep on her bed. This made Tinky sad because she liked to curl up next to the dragon and see him sleeping on the pillow beside her. She tried not to cry because it would make Blue sad, so they counted one hundred stars through the bedroom window and settled down to sleep.
Before long, a noise boomed through the house. Crash!
Tinky sat up with her eyes wide, clutching her blue teddy bear tightly. Blue sniffed the air and hopped down from his puffy pillow, pattering out of the room on his little dragon feet. Tinky hesitated. She wanted to hide in her room under the covers. The thing that made the noise could be a monster. Or a burglar. Or something else very bad.
But could she let Blue face the Bad Thing all alone? She decided she couldn’t. Jumping out of her bed, she ran to the hallway and followed Blue down the stairs. They hid in the shadows by the kitchen door.
Thump! The noise came from the kitchen. Bump! Carefully, Tinky opened the door just partway with a creak. Peering through the crack, they saw a little brown bear.
Tinky covered her mouth and gasped. Though it was just the size of Tinky, the bear had big claws and powerful teeth. It turned over the cookie jar and smashed the bread box on the floor. Tinky’s favorite chocolate cookies spread everywhere.
“Tinky! What are you doing out of bed at this time?” whispered her mother, who had come to see what the noise was about
“Shh! A bear is in the kitchen,” Tinky whispered back.
“A bear? How did a bear get in the castle?” her father said. Her parents were both wearing silk pajamas and had bed head.
“I don’t know, but it’s there!” Tinky cracked open the door again, and all of them looked through. Three pairs of fairy eyes and one pair of dragon eyes stared into the kitchen through the crack in the door.
“It’s a cute little baby bear,” her mother exclaimed as they watched the brown bear dip its paw into the honey jar.
“Still,” her father whispered, “it’s big enough and strong enough to give us nasty cuts with those sharp claws on its paws and bite us with its teeth.”
Tinky agreed. As the baby bear licked the honey off its paw, she could see that its claws were long and sharp.
“True,” her mother nodded her head, her curls bouncing. “It’s as big as any of us.”
Blue just blinked.
They watched the bear eat all the honey, all of Tinky’s favorite chocolate cookies, and the bread. The little bear gave a loud burp and curled up on the tiled floor to sleep.
Once the bear started to snore, Blue flapped his wings and flew silently into the kitchen.
“No, Blue!” Tinky reached out her hands to catch him, but it was too late.
“Blue, come back!” her parents pleaded. The little dragon was only the size of the bear’s head. He could get hurt.
But dragons have a lot of magic. Most of it is secret and only revealed in very dire situations like this one. Blue began to sing a pretty song.
It had no words, and sounded like, “Ra ra ra ra ra.” As he sang, an amazing thing happened.
The baby bear, eyes closed, got to his feet. Blue kept singing as he flew to the door. The bear followed. Tinky opened the door wide with both hands, and the dragon and bear came into the hallway. Her father ran to the great castle entrance, undid all the locks, and pushed the big oak door open so that Blue could lead the bear out into the forest.
They watched as Blue stopped singing, and the little bear curled up under a tree, its eyes still closed. When Blue came back to the house, they were full of praise.
“You were so brave!” Her mother clapped her hands.
“Well done!” Her father beamed.
“I knew you could do it!” Tinky hugged Blue.
After that, her parents bought Blue an even bigger satin pillow to sleep on and often said how it made them feel safe to have a dragon in the house and that Tinky’s wish was the best one she ever made.
the end.
Question Time:
1. What were Tinky’s wishes?
2. Why didn’t Tinky’s parents want Blue in the house?
3. What was the bear doing in the kitchen?
4. How did Blue get the bear out of the house?
