A Fairy's Tale

Julia and Mary skipped down the dirt path that led to Julia’s house on a bright, sunny evening after school. Uncle Alan had allowed Mary to go over to the Cretchny house for a while, so that Mary could meet Julia’s mother and three sisters. On their way over, Mary asked, “Julia. As a friend, I’d like you to answer this question with the truth, even if I might not like it.”

Julia nodded her head.

Mary looked down at her shoes, kicking at the clumps of dirt beneath them when she walked, as she asked, “Do you think my Uncle Alan is crazy?”

Julia bit her lip, and answered, “Mary, I’m sorry, but I think I have to agree with my mother on this one. He is a grown man of thirty-two years old, and he’s going around telling people about fairies. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Mary sighed, and replied to Julia as they walked up the Cretchny cabin’s steps.

“I think I feel the same way,” Mary admitted, “But I’m afraid to say so. Perhaps it’s because it sounds so much meaner when you say it aloud.”

Julia’s mother opened the door, but before Julia could introduce Mary properly, Mrs. Cretchny had whisked her inside and offered her some tea. Mary gladly accepted, for she had never been invited to tea before. When the three ladies had finished, Mary asked, “Mrs. Cretchny, may we please be excused to go out to play?”

“Yes, mother. Please, may we?” Julia pleaded.

“Of course, and what do the two of you have planned today?” Mrs. Cretchny asked curiously.

“Well,” Mary began, “Today we’d like to play hopscotch, and pretend we are ladies of the upper class. Hmm, there was one more thing. Oh, I know! Today I’m going to teach Julia how to climb a tree.”

Mrs. Cretchny seemed taken aback. Her hands on her hips, she scolded, “You most certainly will not!”

Mary seemed confused. She frowned, and crossing her arms she asked, “Well, why not?”

Julia saw a frosty look in her mother’s eyes that should have warned Mary to be careful.
“You both, Miss Mary, are two young ladies who belong here, in the household. It is not acceptable for you to be running about the entire forest and roughing it as though you were young boys!” Mrs. Cretchny scolded. “Climbing trees,” she scoffed. “Why, I simply won’t have it!”

The excitement in Julia’s face faded, and Mary could see the difference, too. Frustrated, Mary mumbled a ‘Yes ma’am, and stomped her way down the Cretchny Cabin’s steps. Grabbing the book she had set on the table, the discouraged Julia followed after her friend.