The Fairy House

463 words

You too would believe in fairies if they lived in your neighborhood
by Dianne Roth

There is a fairy house in my neighborhood.

Really, it is true. I walked by the fairy house for years and did not see it. One day, while pushing my two year old granddaughter in a stroller, I looked where I always looked and saw something new.

It was a tiny door at the base of a birch tree. There was a tiny rock pathway and some small garden ornaments. I knelt down and opened the tiny door. In the small room was a little table with a tiny cup. A very small dog was on the floor.

I know I should have knocked first. I mean, I know you don’t just open someone’s door and peek in. I remembered my manners and quickly closed the door without disturbing anything.

That was five years ago. My grandchildren and I have made many trips to visit the fairy house. It calls to us. Each time there are changes. There are new toys, furniture, beads, little books, and sparkly bits of things fairies might like. Different animals show up in the yard, new plantings nestle near the door, and at Christmas there are tiny Christmas lights framing the tiny house. It is magical.

I tell only special friends, the kind you can trust, about the fairies. They tend to be people who visit with grandchildren.

One friend, whose sister can write very small, asked her to write a letter to the fairies. The very small envelope was delivered to the fairy house and left on the table.

This summer, my granddaughter and I walked over to check on the fairies. We took a small bouquet of yellow yarrow that fit perfectly in a toothpaste cap. It was tippy so we planned to leave it outside by the door.

When we arrived, we found a sign from the city on the birch tree. The tree, infested with borers, would need to be cut down. Worse, there was a tiny sign on the small house, “Notice of Eviction”. We were heart broken.

We looked around the neighborhood to see if the fairies had moved to a new house nearby, but we found nothing.

My granddaughter asked me if I thought anyone had ever actually seen the fairies. We both thought not. Fairies, after all, are so small and can flit so fast. It must be very difficult to actually see them.

After a moment, she said we might have seen them without knowing we were seeing them. I mulled that a moment and agreed that it was certainly possible.

We will miss the fairies. We wish them well in their move and hope someday, in our walks, to come upon their new home. We just have to keep our minds open to the wonderful possibility of fairies.

Dianne Roth is a teacher, mother, grandmother, and freelance writer. She lives in Oregon.