They were watching Coraline and now the credits were starting and the movie was done. "Time for bed."
"Can't we stay up to watch Shrek too?"
"No, it's going to be past your bedtime and you have one more day of school. Let's motor," said Mamma.
Both girls got up and followed Mamma up the stairs. "Do you think my hair looks pretty, Mamma?"
asked Betsy.
"It looks lovely, sweetie."
Both girls started to brush their teeth and then went and put on their pajamas. Betsy had a cute nightgown with Dora the Explorer on it and Sally was wearing a purple one with fairies on hers. Sally didn't really like Dora anymore. She finally decided a few years ago that she was too grown up to bother with her childish favorites.
Mamma tucked in Betsy first and then came in to kiss Sally goodnight. But before doing so, she read a chapter of one of those Rainbow Fairy books that Sally really loved. And with Betsy, she read once again one of the Knuffle Bunny stories.
"Mamma, do you think Flavia will come visit me again tonight?"
"I hope so. You miss her, don't you?"
"Yes. I really want to talk to her."
"Well, I guess you will have to wait and see. And don't get upset if she doesn't show up tonight as she could be helping someone else."
"Do you think she could be helping Mrs. Severance?" Sally asked with a little bit of worry in her voice.
"She could be. It might be a nice thought to pray for Mrs. Severance to get well soon, dear. We should always pray for people to get well."
"Do you think the angels pray?"
"Of course they do. There are angels around us all the time. I bet Grampa could be near us at this very moment. He knows we miss him."
"Do you think Grampa knows Flavia?"
"He probably has met her. They're friends with the angels you know." Mamma smiled down at Sally. "You have his beautiful smile."
"But I'm a girl!"
"That doesn't matter."
"I'm not supposed to look like a man."
"You're not a man, but you're born looking like different parts of the family. You look a little like me and Pappa and you've got some of your Gramma and Grampa in you too. It's the way all babies are born to look like your family in some way, shape or form. Now go to sleep or else Flavia won't come at all."
"Okay. But, I'm not tired. I really wanted to watch Shrek."
"Maybe on Saturday we can pick a special movie and you can stay up later and I'll pop some homemade popcorn with the cheese sprinkles on top."
"Yum. I can hardly wait."
"Now, shut those pretty eyes so you can get them looking beautiful in the morning."
Sally turned her body to the side and curled up her legs underneath the sheets as Mamma turned off the lights and disappeared for the duration.
Then, she eventually drifted off to slumber and twilight visions. Her sleep pattern was beginning.
As Sally dreamed of Flavia, she hadn't noticed that the room was feeling a little cooler and she could feel a gentle wind blow through her hair. At first it just tickled her skin and then she could feel the swirling of it as it danced around her and she felt like she wanted to pull up her sheets to stay warm. Why was it suddenly colder?
Then, she opened her eyelids and saw Flavia and she wasn't alone. There was another fairy with her and when Sally sat up, she realized that her bed was resting in the middle of the garden. This other fairy had black hair and it was in the most equisite spirals that she had ever set eyes on. And she was talking.
But as Sally listened, she realized that she was singing and it wasn't just words. It was this really strange and different type of music. It kind of sounded like some type of classical music yet it sounded different. It seemed to have it's own kind of rhythm and was like nothing she had ever heard before.
Sally felt as if she was in a trance. And then she turned to Flavia and asked, "How did you get my bed out into the garden?"
"You didn't hear Gilly Gilly Goblin come into your room?"
Sally gasped. "How did he get into my room?"
"He's very crafty and he found a crack and found a way in. He has magic you know and he was able to get your bed out. We caught him though as he was trying to drag your bed into the woods. It's dark out there and you don't want him to get you into his lair at night. That's why we make sure we keep a close eye on him."
"Thank-you for saving me. How did you pull my bed back into the garden? You are so small."
"We have this magic string to tie to your bed and we talk to it to make it help us pull your heavy bed."
"Who is the fairy with you? I love her voice and her song is really pretty."
"This is Judabelle, the song fairy. She was singing a song to scare away Gilly Gilly Goblin. He hates her music and goes and hides. He won't bother you for the rest of tonight."
"Oh. How come he hates it?"
"It's kind of a long story, but long, long ago when he was really little he saw his Goblin Grandfather, Gobbly Gobbly go out and start to pick the sweet peas, Judabelle woke up and started to curse him for picking at her home and Gobbly Gobbly died later that night. But little Gilly Gilly was nearby and when he heard Judabelle say the curse, he ran far into the woods and knew that she had killed his grandfather. So to this day, he thinks that she could put a curse on him too."
"Wow. I didn't know he had a grandfather. How old is Judabelle?"
"I'm 150 years old."
"No way. You don't even look like you are sixteen years old. How do you look so young?"
"We drink from the Fountain of Youth every day. That's how we can live so long." said Judabelle.
"And you, Flavia? How old are you?"
"206."
"I wish I could live that long. So, Flavia what happened with the little girl in China? Is she alright?"
"She was crying because she lost her little Foo Foo Bunny down the laundry shute and she had to wait all night for her mother to dig her out. She went to bed and forgot to tell her that she had thrown her down to see if she would fly back up and she didn't. So I had to go and make her feel better."
"Oh, how sad. Did she get her back?"
"Of course she did. I told her when she woke up she needed to tell her Mommy what happened so that she could help."
"You couldn't get it for her?"
"No. She tossed it into the dirty laundry and the smell of dirty laundry makes us start to melt. And we need to protect everyone."
"So if I was to have smelly socks you wouldn't come visit me?"
"That's right, so make sure you don't wear them to bed or I can't come visit."
"What about Judabelle? Could she come visit?"
"No. It's the way with most of us fairies. So you have to promise me you will never wear them to bed, ever."
"Okay. Is there another reason I shouldn't wear them to bed?"
"Yes," said Judabelle. "It would mean that none of us could save you from Gilly Gilly Goblin because for me when you wear them, I not only melt, but I can't sing my songs either. We can sense when you have your socks on for miles away and when I attempt to sing I can't hear myself. And another thing that you need to know is that Gilly Gilly Goblin loves to eat stinky socks and if he keeps on eating them he could end up eating you too."
"Oh my Gosh. I'll never ever wear them to bed. But what if I do by accident? Sometimes it gets really cold at night and Mamma makes me wear them to bed."
"Oh, I was afraid you were going to say that," said Flavia. "If you should ever have to wear them, then you have to come out to the garden with a little jar with your note in it that you have to wear your socks and we will call an angel to come watch over you for that night. And you need to place the jar near the Hollyhocks, okay?"
"Why the Hollyhocks?"
"Because this particular angel likes to talk to the hollyhocks at night. There's the tiniest little fairy, Bettina that lives there and this angel thinks that she looks like her little baby and wants to be with her. So if you place the jar right there with your note, Bettina will know that it's there, read it and then send the message to the fairy to watch over you."
"Oh, thank-you for letting me know. What is this angel's name?"
"Lila Doone."
"Wow. She sounds so pretty. What happened to her to make her be an angel?"
"She was carrying her baby girl out of a fire and then she went back in to save the family dog and she burned to death. She really misses her baby so much and being near Bettina makes her feel better."
"Oh, okay."
"We have to get you back into your bedroom as there's been a cry for our help. Judabelle will stay and make sure that Gilly Gilly Goblin doesn't try to come back, but I have to go. I hear the dolphins calling me."
"Dolphins?"
"I'll tell you later, close your eyes and don't open them for five minutes. And when you open them you'll be back in your room."
"Why do I have to close my eyes?"
"Because if you peek, the magic string won't listen to us talk to it."
Sally did as she was told and when she opened her eyes again, sure enough she was back in her room.
And as she looked up at one of her pretty pictures, she wondered why Flavia could hear the dolphins. Who was crying out for help?
Jennifer Jo Fay
Copyrighted August 24, 2012
