Hyacinth had just about finished packing the picnic basket for the tea party, when a deep voice rumbled “Good afternoon.”

She jumped and whirled around to see a face protruding through her kitchen window. It had immense dark eyes, a considerable snout, and row upon row of jagged razor-sharp teeth.

“Oh!” she gasped. “It’s you, Arthur. You startled me.” She still looked a little shaken as she smiled at her visitor. “I think you’d best come around to the door before you break something. You’re a little large for the window.”

In fact Arthur was more than a little large. He was an enormous. He obediently withdrew his head and bowed politely. Unfortunately when he bent forward, his massive tail popped up behind and knocked every single one of the Hyacinth’s beautiful ripe apples off a nearby tree. As she listened to his thunderous footsteps walk away she stared with deep regret at her whole crop that now lay scattered on the ground.

Hyacinth sighed and returned to packing the basket for her tea party. It was time to place the final and most important item in the basket – her great grandmother’s teapot. She wrapped it in her softest tea towel and placed it with great care on the very top. Then she gathered up the basket and a strong rope, walked across the room and opened the door.

“You’ll have to kneel down, Arthur, so I can reach your back. I have a harness for you to put on, then I’m going to wrap this rope all around the basket and fasten it to the harness.”

“A harness?  I don’t think so.”

“But Arthur, it’s very soft. My friend Camellia knitted it just for you.”

“My dear fairy, I’m not a horse. I’m a dragon. And dragons do not wear harnesses.”

“But Arthur, how else can I fasten the basket to your back? It has all our food, you know, including the wild watermelons, and more than that, it has my great grandmother’s tea pot.”

“I beg your pardon, but you never mentioned harnesses when you asked me to carry the basket to the picnic.”

“But Arthur…”

“It is really quite a small basket and I am a very large dragon. I’m quite certain I can carry it safely. I promise you I will hold it most tenderly in my arms.”

“But what if you drop it, Arthur? It would truly be a disaster if my great grandmother’s teapot was broken.”

“Never fear, dear fairy, your teapot will be safe with me.”

The dragon reached out and took the basket from Hyacinth.

“I will meet you at the Lone Cypress tree,” he said and with that he flapped his mighty wings and rose up into the air. In the blink of an eye he had vanished from sight.

“Oh dear,” said Hyacinth.

(To be continued) 

At dawn one summer morning, the birds sang so loudly outside Hyacinth’s window they woke her up. As she lay in her comfy bed, she pondered what she could do to celebrate such a beautiful day.

All at once she had a brilliant idea.

I’ll give a tea party…and it won’t be just an ordinary tea party…it will be a tea party by the sea.

Hyacinth jumped up and dashed to her desk in the corner of her room. She chose four pieces of her elegant blue stationary with the purple flowers. Then she wrote her invitations and whistled for a sparrow that was perched in a nearby tree.

“Could you please deliver these to Lily, Poppy, Camellia and Heather?” she asked the bird. “I would be frightfully grateful.”

“Of course,” the bird replied. He picked up the letters in his beak and set off to deliver them to the homes of Hyacinth’s friends.

Next Hyacinth wrote a note to the dragon that lived in the cave behind her house.

Dear Dragon,

If you are don’t have any other engagements today,

could you possibly help me transport a picnic basket to the cypress tree on the bluff overlooking the sea?

I will be ready to leave at precisely 4:00 p.m.

I promise you, a wild watermelon will be included among the delicious delicacies I will bring for the picnic.

The watermelon will be just for you.

Sincerely,

Hyacinth

She hurried over to the dragon’s cave and dropped the note in his mailbox.

Then she settled down in her tidy kitchen with her morning cup of tea and toast with brambleberry jam.

It wasn’t long before the swallow returned with the replies to her invitations. Everyone would be pleased to attend.  And the dragon sent a paper airplane sailing through her open window. He would be happy to help.

As soon as she finished her breakfast, she took her picnic basket from the cupboard and began to fill it with scrumptious delicacies. First she prepared an array of cucumber sandwiches (no crusts), then she added fresh blueberries, hazelnut tarts, lemon tizziewinkles, nasturtium blossoms, and light-as-air fairy cakes.  Next she put in a kettle, her favorite lavender tea, five delicate cups and saucers and a wild watermelon for the dragon.

(to be continued)

First Edward looked one way, and then he looked the other. He stretched his long, skinny neck as far as it would go, and then he looked both ways again. After that he spun around in a circle.

Mama, where are you? Sally, Susie, Joey, Tom, Alex, Horatia – where have you gone?

Edward didn’t know what to do. His whole family had disappeared and he had no idea where to find them.

He looked around one more time, and then he scuttled across the clearing. He paused when he reached the tall grass and called again.

Mama! Sisters! Bros! Where are you?

No one appeared. No one answered. Edward plunged into the high grass and vanished from sight.  Now only his scratchy little voice could still be heard.

Mama, where are you?

The turkey family had vanished.

Fortunately someone else heard Edward’s cry. Lily, the fairy who rescues squirrels and birds every winter, had caught the wail of the tiny turkey chick.     She flew to the meadow and circled above it. In the distance the fairy saw the mother turkey with six of her babies gathered at the foot of a giant oak tree. The mother turkey was frantically scurrying back and forth, searching for chick number seven.

Lily looked in the opposite direction and spotted little Edward far across the meadow. He was near the clearing where his family had foraged ever since the chicks were hatched. He was holding perfectly still except for the tears that slipped down his face and dripped off his tiny wattle.

The fairy flew over to join him.

“Edward,” she said as she landed beside him and gave him a hug. “Don’t cry. I’ll help you find your mother. But first tell me, how did you get so lost?”

It was the grub,” Edward replied, wiping his eyes with the tip of a tiny wing. “He was plump and juicy and looked delicious, so I tried and tried to catch him, but he kept getting away.”

“I see,” the fairy replied. “Well, my hungry little friend, I think perhaps you should leave the grubs to the grown up turkeys. I’m pretty sure you’d be better off with grass seeds. They won’t lead you astray.”

This snug little house with its bright blue shutters belongs to a sociable fairy named Hyacinth.

This stylish fairy loves to wear brightly colored dresses and fancy hats. She is also passionate about giving tea parties

where she serves apple tea, honey sandwiches, and apricot scones

to her friends.

A bashful dragon lives in a cave behind Hyacinth’s house.

He sleeps all day and only comes out at night

when he swoops over the checkerboard farmlands and

bountiful orchards of Golden Wood

in an eager search for his favorite food – wild watermelons.