The Fairy Garden Adventure

Olivia the Bold, Winston the Brave, and Nathan the Fearless were going on an adventure.

“Where should we start?” Olivia asked her brothers.

“How about the Fairy Garden?” Nathan suggested.

“I bet there’s an ogre in there,” Winston said, “holding a fairy princess captive.”

“Oh no!” Olivia exclaimed. “We have to rescue her!”

Inside the Fairy Garden, the fairies were listening.

“You hear that?” Jenna asked Mary. “The children want an adventure. Whose turn is it to be the princess?”

“I think it’s Bridgette’s turn,” said Mae. “And Tristan can be the ogre.”

“Why do I have to be the ogre?” Tristan grumbled. “Why can’t I be the prince?”

“Because you’re the ogre and I’m the prince,” Mae said.

“You can’t be the prince. You’re a girl,” Tristan objected.

“I can too. Olivia said girls can be whatever they want to be, and I want to be the prince.”

“Fine,” Bridgette said. “Be the prince. Now here they come. Everyone, in your places!”

The fairies hurried to hide as the children, now shrunk down to fairy size, made their way into the Fairy Garden.

“Help! Help!” Gale called. “A terrible ogre has taken Princess Bridgette to his cave and is holding her for… for…”

“For a ransom?” Olivia the Bold suggested.

“Yes!” Gale said. “A ransom of… of…”

“Cookies and mints,” Tristan whispered loudly from behind a flower. Then he let out a mighty ogre roar. At least, he hoped it sounded mighty and not like the squeak of a squirrel, as he feared.

“Fee, fi, fo, fum! I want cookies and mints!” he bellowed in his most fearsome voice.

“What do you think?” Winston the Brave asked.

“I want cookies too,” Nate the Fearless said. “Do you think Mom will give us some?”

“Not now,” Winston said. “We have to rescue the princess first.”

The three adventurers entered the garden.

Olivia tread lightly across the colored glass stones, careful not to disturb a single sparkling pebble. Winston drew his sword and used it to part the tall daisies, their white petals brushing against his shoulders. Nathan leapt over the narrow stream and turned back, whispering loudly, “This way!”

The garden seemed deeper than usual. The air shimmered. Somewhere ahead, something growled.

“Do you think that’s the ogre?” Olivia asked, her voice trembling just a little.

“It could be a lion,” Nathan said.

“Lions don’t live in Fairy Gardens,” Winston replied.

“How do you know?” Nathan argued. “They could.”

“It’s an ogre,” Olivia said firmly, pointing ahead. “Because there he is.”

Sure enough, Tristan stood before them, puffing out his cheeks and stretching his arms wide, trying to make himself look twice his size.

Just then, Prince Mae the Mighty leapt from behind a rose bush, wooden sword raised high.

“Stand back!” she cried. “I will handle this beast!”

With a fierce shout, she charged at the ogre, waving her sword wildly.

Tristan shrieked and turned to run.

“You’re not supposed to run!” Mae yelled after him. “You’re a big, scary ogre. You’re supposed to stay and fight!”

“I don’t have a sword!” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Ogres don’t need swords. They have big, meaty hands!” Mae declared.

And then something terrible happened.

She slipped.

Her feet flew out from under her, and she landed squarely in a very squishy mud puddle.

Splat.

“Are you okay?” Olivia asked, hurrying forward to help her up.

“I’m fine,” Mae said, her cheeks turning pink beneath the streaks of mud. “Just embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry,” Winston said confidently. “We’ve got this.”

He and Nathan pointed toward a hollow in a wide old tree.

“I think the princess is in there,” Nathan whispered.

“But where did the ogre go?” Olivia asked, looking around.

From high in the branches above them, two tiny voices whispered.

“This way…”

“No, that way…”

Jenna and Mary peeked down from behind a curtain of leaves, trying very hard to look mysterious.

“The princess is closer than you think,” Jenna called in her most magical voice.

“But beware!” Mary added. “The ogre may return!”

Just then, a very ogre-like growl rumbled from inside the tree.

“Be careful,” Mae said, following the three children. “I mean, the three knights. He’s a hungry one.”

“I bet he’s not hungrier than me,” Nathan said, already wondering when they might get those cookies.

Inside the tree, the world opened up.

Up ahead, a waterfall spilled down the smooth wooden wall.

“A waterfall inside a tree,” Olivia marveled. “It must be magical.”

At the foot of the waterfall stood the ogre, arms crossed, guarding the misty pool below.

“The princess is mine,” he growled.

“No, she’s not,” said Prince Mae, lifting her muddy sword.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” said Princess Bridgette, who was sitting quite comfortably on a toadstool in the middle of a small stream.

The ogre hesitated.

“Well,” he corrected, “I will let her go for a ransom of three mint cookies.”

The three knights exchanged glances.

Then Olivia reached inside her bag and pulled out three mint cookies.

The ogre’s eyes widened.

“For me?” he asked.

“For the princess,” Olivia said wisely.

Princess Bridgette stepped off her toadstool and waded across the little stream.

“I believe,” she said, taking the cookies and handing one to the ogre, “that ransoms are better when they are shared.”

The ogre blinked.

“You mean… I still get one?”

“Of course,” Nathan said quickly. “We all should. Especially me,” he added.

“Hurrah!” Jenna cheered. “The princess has been rescued!”

“And the ogre has been fed!” Mary declared.

Everyone agreed that was even better.

The fairies gathered around the waterfall, and soon they were all eating mint cookies and drinking lemonade. Even Prince Mae the Mighty, still a little muddy, declared the adventure a great success.

“That was a fun adventure,” Olivia said happily. “What should we do tomorrow?”

High in the branches, the fairies began whispering again.