A long time ago, in a place far away
A child in a meadow was busy at play
Her mother was hanging out washing nearby
When suddenly came a small voice from the sky

‘Hello little girl.’ The tiny voice called
‘What are you playing here all alone for?
Sat in a field so far from your home –
You should be playing with friends of your own.’

The girl looked around for the voice in surprise
And couldn’t believe her emerald eyes
When, sitting on top of a flower by her side
She spotted a fairy, its wings open wide

‘Isn’t it lonely playing on your own?’
The fairy inquired. ‘Come with me to my home
There's lots of my sisters with whom you can play –
We’ll have you back here by the end of the day’

The girl looked astonished, but quickly replied
‘I must ask my mummy, to see if she’d mind’
But looking around to where her mother stood
She saw she was busy, now chopping up wood

‘No need for that!’ The fairy said swiftly
‘Follow me now – come quickly, come quickly!’
And so, growing bored of playing all alone
The little girl followed the fairy back home

Not far away was a forest of trees
The fairy was leading the girl towards these
But just as the girl was almost out of sight
Her mother looked up, and noticed her flight

She saw the little girl fade into the woods
And hurried after her as fast as she could
For she knew of strange things concealed in the trees
And so her mind filled with a dreadful unease

Meanwhile the girl and the fairy went on
Until they approached a clearing in the sun
But the girl didn’t see the stones on the ground
That lined the forest glade, round and around

So into the ring went fairy and child
The fairy, well-mannered, then spoke as she smiled
‘Perhaps you like dancing? Or something to eat?
Or maybe you’d like my fair sisters to meet?’

‘Oh yes!’ Said the child, her eyes full of awe
‘For I’ve never seen fairies dancing before.’
So suddenly out from the boughs of the trees
Flew dozens of fairies, pretty as could be

The child stood enrapt as she watched them all dance
Their fluttering lights keeping her in a trance
But not for much longer, for out from the wood
The girl’s mother ran, and in front of her stood

But being an adult, and all fully grown
She saw not the fairies, just her child alone
She carried her out of the magical ring
The girl looking sadly back to the clearing

But she could see nothing of the fairies now
They’d hidden at her mothers approaching sound
And so she sobbed quietly ’til she got home
Knowing her mother would certainly scold

Her mother stood shaking, her face white and pale
She did not believe the child’s fanciful tale
‘My dear little child, you had me worried sick
That wood is perilous – keep away from it!’

‘But the fairy’s my friend – and she was so kind!
Why can’t I play with her?’ The child replied
‘The fairies aren’t real.’ Her mother said, kindly
‘And even so, you should not follow them blindly.’

But still the girl argued against these cruel words
Prompting her mother to say, with concern:
‘Promise me, sweetheart, you’ll never again
Go back to the woods with your strange fairy friends.’

‘Mummy, I promise.’ The little girl cried
Scared of the fear in her mother’s wide eyes
‘I won’t play with fairies, I’ll be very good
And I won’t go on my own to the wood.’

‘Good girl.’ Said her mother, and sighed in relief
Hoping she’d tamed the child’s wasted belief
‘Go play with your dollies and your teddy bears.’
So the little girl did, and without a care

And yet, some months later, while playing outside
The girl heard a whisper from down by her side
At first she saw nothing, but then she caught sight
Of tiny wings fluttering, pale in the light

She picked up the fairy, and peered at its face
Wondering how it had come to this place
‘Come back, little sister.’ The fairy said. ‘Please -
Won’t you come back now and play in the trees?’

‘I promised I wouldn’t!’ The little girl cried
Brushing away tears as they welled in her eyes
‘I promised my mummy that I would be good
And that I would stop going to play in the wood.’

‘Hush, hush!’ Said the fairy. ‘There’s no need for tears
And as for your mummy, she’s nothing to fear
We’ll take good care of you, my friends and I
We’ll dance and we’ll sing, but we won’t make you cry.’

The little girl watched as the fairy took flight
It danced round her head, a pinprick of light
It held her down, spellbound, and suddenly she
Knew that the forest was where she should be

‘I promise I won’t tell.’ The sly fairy smiled
‘You know that you’ll only be gone for a while.’
And so the poor child then gladly agreed
And followed the fairy, who’d taken the lead

Into the forest, and lost in the trees
The little girl followed the fairy, at ease
And soon she stood once more in the fairy ring
And little knew she’d never leave it again

She danced with the fairies, and drank their sweet wine
And never did once but consider the time
And so sunset came, and with it the moon
And then the fairies sang a different tune

For those who are caught by the fairies at night
Shall never return from their dangerous plight
And all who are bound inside a fairy ring
Shall fairies become – children of their king

And so as the moonlight crept through the trees
The innocent girl fell down on her knees
And clutched at her arms, which she saw, to her fright
Were shrinking, and shrinking down into the night

And as she bent over, enveloped in pain
The sight of the wings on her back became plain
Her round ears now pointed beneath her gold hair
As through her blue almond-shaped eyes she did stare

She gazed at the body on her tiny feet
The sight of herself, transformation complete
The image of beauty, a fairy-king’s daughter
And soon she joined in with her sisters’ bright laughter

Forgotten were promises, broken by guile
A fairy-child now, all sparkles and smiles
Her memories gone of her old life before
No thought for her mother, left stood at the door

Long time she would hunt for her child in the woods
Now shouting, now crying – but it does no good
For once a fairy king captures a child
Forever he keeps her; enslaved by his smile