A fairy tale

Once upon a time, there lived two sisters as alike as night and day. The older sister felt since she was born first, she deserved everything first, from the first fruits of their garden to the first pick of men of the village. There weren’t too many of these, as it was a small village, but the older sister got very upset whenever the younger sister spoke to any of them. The older sister got her first pick of chores too, and one day sent off the younger sister to gather firewood.

The younger sister didn’t mind this task on a fine day like today. She went for a long walk, thinking to avoid her sister and pick up wood on the way home. In one clearing she never noticed before, she found a dry patch of flowers, and a well nearby. So she drew water from the well and watered the flowers, and had a drink herself. One of the flowers bloomed right before her eyes, and out stepped a little fairy.

“Since you have been kind to my flowers,” said the little fairy, “I will be kind to you.” And the fairy touched the younger sister’s hand with her wand, and then vanished.

The younger sister thought that was rather odd, but said thank you anyway, and walked home, gathering firewood as she went. She soon returned to their cottage and stacked the wood where it belonged. She finished the rest of her chores, and went to tell her sister.

Her older sister was trying to flirt with one of the most attractive men of the village, the blacksmith’s son. He was also likely to become one of the richer young men of the village, as a blacksmith is never poor. She was trying to flirt, because he wasn’t really paying much attention to her at all. He was known for his good humor and kind eyes, and knew the older sister wasn’t.

The younger sister clenched her hands in fists, and tried not to want to hit her sister. But she noticed her hand wasn’t empty any more. She opened her hand and found a rather large ruby in it. She put the ruby in a pocket, and made a fist again. This time, she found a large amethyst. The fairy, it would seem, had given her the ability to summon fine gemstones at will.

Unfortunately, she discovered this in front of her sister, who noticed what she was doing when the blacksmith’s son smiled at the younger sister. The older sister demanded to know what was going on immediately. So the younger sister had to tell her about the well and the flowers and the fairy. The older sister ran off to the forest without even saying goodbye to the nice young man.

The older sister found the flowers, which appeared dry again, and the well. She had a drink from the well first, since she was thirsty from her long run, and then dumped bucket after bucket of water all over the clearing, trampling many of the flowers in the process. When the fairy appeared, the older sister demanded a reward better than the one her sister got.

“Such rudeness!” said the little fairy. “But I will reward you with what you deserve.” And the little fairy touched the older sister’s lips with her wand, and then vanished.

The older sister immediately ran back to the place where the blacksmith’s son was now chatting up the younger sister. “I too have seen the fairy!” the older sister said, and then gasped in horror as bugs appeared with her words, coming from her lips. Moths and beetles flew from her lips. “Oh my! What the heck has happened to me! Make it stop!” And more bugs appeared. She screamed, and a cockroach crawled away.

“You had best not say a word,” suggested the younger sister. But the older sister was too freaked out and ran off screaming again, trying to run away from the bugs.

The blacksmith’s son asked the younger sister out on a date, and things went rather well for them.  ¶ 7:24 AM