Writer's Block: Leaping from the page

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The Flaming Carrot

I don't know who actors are.

A Letter From the Fairy Queen

Now, you might be curious about the Queen of the Fairies and the King of the Fairies was too. So when he saw a Robin hopping in his yard one spring day he got an idea – he wrote a letter to the Queen of the Fairies and then he called out to the Robin.

“Hey birdy, can you take this to the queen of the Fairies?” Said the King. He was waving the letter around outside his window and when the robin looked at him and then flew right away, boy did the King feel foolish.

But just a moment later a grey falcon came swooping down in his yard. The King was reading back over his letter and wondering if it was any good when he looked up and noticed the squawking falcon. “Uh, will you take this letter?” He asked the falcon. The Falcon jumped up on the window sill and squawked again. “Okay.” Said the King of the Fairies – who was much better at dealing with plants than birds. The falcon snatched the letter out of the King of the Fairies hand and swooped back up into the sky.

Now the Falcon, since you're about to find out, is one of the Queen of the Fairies best and most important friends. This falcon in particular was always ridden by one of the Fairy Queens – the Peregrine Queen who has looked after the Queen of the Fairies for a long time. The Queen of all the Bird Fairies, she doesn't get as many letters as she'd like you know – so when she does get one it's important, and the Peregrine Queen, who was important, was the one to handle it. That Falcon brought the letter straight to the Queen of the Fairies house which is up in the sky, on a special cloud. The Queen opened the letter and began to read.

Now the King of the Fairies explained the parts of his story that I've already told you. He explained how he became the King of the Fairies, how he had saved the Fairy Ring in the woods by his house, how he had stopped the long drought and how he had dealt with the Dandelion King's vanity and treachery. Then he asked the Queen of the Fairies to tell him her story. Can you explain how you became the Queen of the Fairies? Is your story like mine? He had written.

The Queen of the Fairies thought and thought. Her story was very different, and she felt a little strange trying to think of it all. She wasn't the best at writing things down in the first place, and she sometimes had trouble explaining herself. But she realized that she should tell the King of the Fairies her story because the more she thought about it, and how to tell her story, the more she wanted people to know about it. So she wrote and wrote and tried several times to get it right, and when she was finally finished she sent the King a letter and it was just like this:

Hello King of the Plant Fairies.

I have to tell you that the Robin that lives in your yard wanted me to apologize. He is very busy in spring and can't carry messages if he wants to find a mate and build a nest. He felt very badly about ignoring you, and so he was sure to ask me to tell you he was sorry.

I have to tell you also that I am very glad that you asked to hear my story. I have never told it beforfe but I always wanted someone to know it. So here is how I became the Queen of the Fairies.

It started many years ago, I was only a little girl. I lived in a big city with my mother in a tall building. We were alone together. Every day I would wake up early to go to school and my mother would wake up early to go to work. Then I would go to school and come home and be alone for a long time until I would go to sleep. While I was sleeping my mother would come home from work – so most of the time I was alone, except when I would go to school, but at school I was especially alone because I did not like the other children there and they did not like me. They would talk about the TV shows that they liked and they would talk about which boys and girls liked each other and they would make up mean names to call each other. They would especially make up mean names to call me, because I never watched shows and I didn't like any of them and never talked about anyone and never made up mean names to call people. I tried to be as quiet as I could.

This was how it was for me for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when I started to care about birds, but I remember that I didn't always. One night, after school I went out on my balcony just to look out over the big gray city and all the people and the lights in it. I hated living in the city and always wanted to think about living somewhere else, where there was green grass and nobody to make noise all the time and no reason to stay stuck at home all the time. Anyway I was out there on the balcony thinking about all of that when I noticed the pigeons flying around. I thought they seemed so good – they were gray like the city but they were prettier too, they had such nice colored necks and I liked it when they made their cooing sounds. I ran back inside and got some bread and then I started feeding it to them.

The pigeons became my friends pretty soon after that. Pretty soon I would feed them every day and it was my favorite thing to do. I would wait all day at school for when I could go home and feed the pigeons. Feeding them and making friends with them helped me to learn to be brave too. My mother had always said I shouldn't go outside or open the door for any reason. But I got more and more curious and after a little while I got curious and brave enough to go up on the roof of our building. There I met so many more pigeons, and some seagulls too. I would tell the Pigeons about my bad times at school and they would be kind and coo to me. I would tell the Seagulls my jokes and they would laugh at them.

Maybe it seems sad to you but the Birds were my friends and my family. At first I would take them bread to eat but soon I had to stop. My mother woke me up one night, long after I'd gone to bed to tell me that I was using too much and that I had to cut down because she couldn't afford it. Well the next day I went up on the roof and had nothing to bring the birds, but they didn't seem to mind. They cooed and laughed just the same as ever. But the day after that, after I'd told them all about what had happened, some sparrows and chickadees came too, and they brought breadcrumbs and bits of food for everyone. I was happy to find and meet them – and soon they were part of my routine as well. They would come and sing to us all on the roof and we would share what we had together. That's when I started tying feathers in my hair. Because that's when I realized that of all the people I knew in the world the Birds were the nicest to me, they were my friends and nobody else was.

This was the way things were for a while. I would go to school with my feathers in my hair and I would stare out the windows all day waiting for a pigeon or a crow to fly by. The other kids were not kind at all and they used to call me Bird Brain – I liked that though. Nobody knew it but I wanted to be a bird. I wanted to fly away with the birds and not be a person anymore. My mother would worry. On the weekends when we were home together she would try to get me to watch shows with her or go to a store – but I hated those things. I couldn't wait for her to go to bed so I could sneak out onto the roof and hang out with the birds.

One day she figured out what I was up to. I think she must have followed me up to the roof but she didn't say anything. Later the door to the roof had a big lock on it and I couldn't get up there anymore. I came back downstairs and she was there making dinner. She seemed pretty happy so I didn't say anything and neither did she. We didn't have anything to talk about anyway, but I was glad she didn't try and gloat about what she'd done to me. I could still go out on the balcony though and that's what I did. I was pretty sad about not being able to go on the roof with all the birds, but the balcony was still pretty good. I was telling the pigeons about how mean my mother was to lock me off the roof and they were cooing to me, and I guess I started to cry. When I looked up all the pigeons were gone though, there was a falcon there.

I spent my time at school looking at library books about birds so I knew that falcons lived in the city. Peregrine Falcons. They live on the high buildings and swoop down to catch pigeons and rats and squirrels. I still had never seen one though. This one was very fierce looking. I was hypnotized by its great big yellow eyes and I couldn't look away. I was as still as I could be. Then the Falcon talked to me.

“Why do you always talk to the birds?” He asked me.

“Because the birds are my friends.”

“Can't you make other friends?”

“I don't want other friends! I wish I could be around the birds all the time!”

“Are you sure?”

I was sure and I told him so. He said I should gather up as much string and thread as I could find and that whenever I found any that I should leave it on the balcony. So after that, whenever I found any string I'd leave it on the balcony. Whenever I had extra money I'd buy string and leave it on the balcony. I tore up my blankets and an old carpet and left the strips and strings on the balcony. I got more and more excited about it because the whole time I was leaving the string I never saw any birds. I was really alone then but I didn't mind too much because I had something to do. Just when I was starting to worry that the birds wouldn't ever come back, and I had gotten desperate enough to tear up my blankets and carpets, the Falcon came back.

“That's enough string I think. Come back here late tonight, after the moon has set. Understand?”

I did understand and I told him so.

“We'll help you.” Was all he said and then he flew away. I don't think I've ever heard anything as encouraging as that.

When I came back onto the balcony it was very late at night. There I saw that there were all the strings I had gathered. They'd been woven together to make a swing but instead of being tied to anything the swing ropes ended in hundreds and hundreds of little strings – and each of those was held by a different bird. These were night-birds that I hadn't met before. Swifts and Nighthawks. The Falcon was there and he told me to sit in the swing.

I was really scared but I trusted the birds. I thought – If they're not my friends who is? I sat in the swing really carefully, but before I could even settle in we were flying up into the sky. I feel like I must have been scared – who wouldn't be? But I don't really think that I was. I think I knew I was supposed to fly. I was always supposed to fly and maybe that's why I was always friends with birds. We flew up and up into the dark sky way up into the clouds and up where the stars are bright. I never saw stars before, because the city is so bright it drowns out the sky, so my heart was so happy to have friends like the birds who would help me and show me something as beautiful as the stars.

I don't know if you'll believe me but it's true. Up above the clouds there are some clouds that are solid as rocks. You can walk around on them and that's where birds go when they want to be alone or to hide. Not all the clouds but some of them are solid enough to hold you up. We landed on one of those clouds right near a house. It was a beautiful little house made of clouds and ice crystals and rainbows where the windows would be. There were perches and roosts all along the walls and roof and inside there was some furniture. A little table and chairs just the right size for me. A little bed made of clouds and goose down just the right size for me. The nightbirds left me there and the falcon perched right over the door.

“This is your house now. You should stay here. The birds will bring you food and take care of you as long as you want. Stay here and I'll come back later.” And then he flew away.

I always wanted to be alone. Away from other people I mean, not away from my friends the birds. I always did, so the house was perfect for me. A pretty little cottage where I lived and where the birds could always come and visit me. When it was cold big swans and geese would come to cuddle with me in bed and keep me warm. When it was hot whole flocks of hummingbirds would appear to fan me. The crows and the grackles would snatch food and clothes from the world below and bring them to me to share, and whenever we were thirsty we would scoop up parts of the cloud to eat – which is just like eating clean snow. I lived there like that for a long time and I was very, very happy. I missed the falcon sometimes because I missed talking to someone who could talk back to me.

One day a parrot came, a pretty little gray one, and she and I became great friends. I would talk to her all the time and soon she was talking back. She would say silly things that would make me and the gulls laugh and I would say wise things to her and she would bend her neck to hear me. We had conversations all day and all night.

Then one day the Falcon came back. My parrot friend could talk but not very well. The yellow-eyed falcon stared at me and talked very clearly just like a person talking to another person. “Little girl, the Birds want a queen. Can you be the queen of the birds?”

I told him I would try. He said that was good.

“Soon you will receive gifts. These will help you to be a queen. When all the gifts have been given I'll come back to tell you a big secret.” And with that he flew away. I was very excited and felt really grateful. I was just happy to get the gifts of food and clothes and a house that the birds had already given me – I didn't know what else they could give me.

After a few days of wandering around the clouds and flying on my swing I came home to find dozens and dozens of sparrows and they were carrying a beautiful gown. It was just the right size for me and they put it on me over my head. It was made of the pretty feathers of all the brightest and most beautiful birds. It had long peacock feathers as a train, and iridescent grackle feathers as a collar. It was made very cleverly and looked as pretty as anything. I felt perfect when I wore and pretty soon I wore it all the time on all my journeys into the sky and I would feel happy when I took it off to go to bed because I could look at it hanging in my closet – I still think it's the prettiest thing of all the things – my feather-dress.

After that some birds I hadn't seen before came to visit me. These were the beautiful birds of paradise – tropical birds and there were some cormorants and other different birds as well – all of them were famous for their dancing. Each one of them came forward, one at a time from out of their circle and they each did a dance. After watching the pretty dances I realized that they were trying to teach me their graceful steps – so I practiced, and pretty soon I knew all of the dances and I could do dances of my own. I learned to walk straight and move my feet gracefully. I still envied the birds, because they're more graceful still, but I was close and I can still do the dances that I learned and still walk and move in the graceful way that the birds taught me.

Next, after I'd learned my dances there came some penguins. I know you must be thinking how could penguins come to the sky? They can't fly! Well it's true that they can't, but down at the south pole where they live there is a rainbow in the sky – the Aurora Australis, and where it touches the sea the penguins can swim up it into the clouds and the sky. They taught me that trick so I could slide down the aurora into the sea whenever I wanted, but at this time they were bringing me something else. It was a long feather, as long as my arm, and hard as ice. The feather was from a kind of bird that once existed but which had gone away long ago. A fossil you see, a long fossil feather. I took it and was glad to have it, it made me feel strong and good to hold. I realized that it was a kind of sword!

A few days later some herons and cranes appeared at my house. They didn't usually visit so I was excited to meet them, but as I came close to speak to them they darted out their long sharp beaks at me and tried to nip me on the face. I was pretty upset by this I tell you! At first I was worried that they were not going to be friends with me like the other birds, or that maybe there was going to be a problem like the one that you had with the Cactus-Fairies. But it wasn't like that at all. I figured out quickly that they were there to teach me. I grabbed the feather-sword that the penguins had brought me and I learned from the herons and the cranes how to defend myself and move around and fight if I ever needed to.

The last gift was my favorite of all. At first I didn't know what to think of it. At first it was the magpies and the crows who would bring bits of jewelry and strands of gold and silver chains. Just pieces of shiny metal that their clever eyes and found and that they had snatched away with their quick beaks. I kept these things in a drawer in my house because they brought more and more than I could count. Then one day they stopped. I didn't mind – it was all so much – so many chains and rings and bracelets and necklaces – all lost jewelry – and I didn't even need one piece. I wasn't sure what I should do with all of it so I kept it in the drawer. Then, a few days after they stopped bringing me those things I came back from a flight down to the tropics and found that there were dozens of weaver birds in my house. These clever little birds were weaving the jewelry together quick as you please and when they were done they'd made a pretty nest of jewels. They picked it up and flew it up onto my head – a crown for me to wear!

Well I was as happy as could be after that. I'd lived with the birds so long I had almost forgotten how sad and alone I had been down on the world. Now I lived in the sky with true friends in my own place. I didn't know it then, but the crown was the last gift I would get, my big surprise was coming.

When the Falcon came back it was while I was sleeping. He screeched at me until I woke up and came outside to meet him. I was standing there in my feather-gown wearing my birds-nest crown and I said “Hello old friend.”

Now, the Falcon began to speak, but while before he'd talked in a man's voice now he sounded like a girl talking to me. “Hello Queen.” She said and bowed. It was a very good bow. “We have come to tell you a great secret. You're the best person we've ever seen so we know we can trust you.”

“Oh, you can certainly trust me.” I said, I wanted them to trust me because I loved them all and didn't want to let them down ever. I knew they could trust me – which is a strange feeling you can have.

And then I noticed for the first time the tiny girl riding on the falcon's neck. I looked around and on each of the birds was a tiny girl who was riding on that bird's neck. “I'm the princess of all the Falcons, the Peregrine Queen. When I saw you that first time I knew you could be the one to be the queen of all of us. We're the fairies of the birds you see, the spirits of birds and we want a queen. Can you be our queen and look after us?”

I was very surprised by this. I thought that my friends were the birds and I felt a little bit tricked. Here the birds were obeying these tiny people! I didn't know if I could trust them at all, but I also really adored the gifts they had given me. “I love the birds Peregrine Queen.” Is what I said and I was proud of myself for having been so brave to talk to a queen.

“And so do we. That is why we love you and want you to be our Queen.” I realized then that the fairies were the spirits of the birds – they weren't different or separate from them – they were the same and I had always loved them and I could always trust them.

And that's how it happened. I said I would be the Queen of the Fairies and I was. The fairies started coming to my little house and talking to me, just like they came and talked to you. I made friends and solved problems and after I had been the queen of the fairies for a while they asked me to come and meet you – the King of the Fairies. And now we are friends. And everything is better than ever.

I'll write you again to tell you another story about being the Queen of the Fairies soon.

The King of the Fairies read and re-read this letter a few times. He liked the story and he was surprised at how different the Queen's life was from his own. He had a good situation and the Fairies were trouble for him, they hadn't helped him at all! Well, not as much as they had needed him to help them. He thought about that and mentioned it to his friend the King of the Pumpkin Fairies when he came by to make tea and eat cookies.

“Well, you never know, maybe us Fairy Kings will help you in the future. Maybe you need help and you just don't know it yet.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Thanks for the cookies Pumpkin.”

“Of course King.”