Storytime Blog Hop! April 2022
This is only one of several stories as part of a Storytime Blog Hop. Read more – links are at the bottom!
Dottie flipped her teal wings, just barely avoiding crashing into the moss. She could feel the dawn coming, the sun sapping her strength, stealing her magic, dessicating her delicate wings.
Her wings shed a too-obvious trail of fairy dust.
Flapping harder, she heard the unmistakeable snuffling of a goblin finding that trail. Oh, she had strayed too far away from the mists at the lake! She’d never make it there before dawn and the hateful sun would burn her! Or before that, the goblin would eat her!
She shivered with fear. Then a stray breeze brought the scent of a moonflower to her. A moonflower! “Remember younglings, if you’re ever caught in danger, the moonflower is your key to safety.” The words of her aunt Belle echoed in her ears.
She desperately flapped her sagging wings harder and pushed herself a couple of feet off the ground. If she could just find the moonflower before the goblin or the sun caught her! Where was it?
She caught the sweet, creamy scent again, and it drew her forward. She no longer heard the goblin behind her.
Wheeling around a rough-barked oak tree trunk, she saw the goblin holding the moonflower pulled up by its roots in his gnarled grip.
She pulled up hard, but her wings, having lost too much fairy dust, failed her and she landed in a heap at the goblin’s feet.
He smirked, turned his back to her, and pounded the tree with his gnarled fists. “Let me in! Moonflower! Let me in now!”
Dottie stared at him. Goblins weren’t renowned for their intelligence, but this seemed underwhelming anyway. She could feel the heat of the sun approaching. She and the goblin were both doomed.
“Open! Open!” He screeched at the tree, hopping from one foot to the other.
She looked at the very solid-looking trunk. She squinted. The bark made a pattern, almost like a face. Almost…
Dottie leapt to her feet. She grabbed the moonflower’s stalk above the goblin’s hand and caressed the rough bark with her other hand. “Oh Dryad, the sun is nearly here! Let me in, please!”
Silence met her entreaties, but she was sure she heard a creaking sound. Words whispered through the leaves. “One flower, two night souls. How can I choose?”
Dottie looked at the goblin in despair. His head hung low. The sun’s rays were so close to the horizon.
She gulped, and squeezed the goblin’s hand. He glanced up as she implored, “Oh Dryad, we have brought you a moonflower. Please, let us in.”
Hope dawned in the goblin’s eyes, and he echoed her, squeezing her hand back around the flower’s stem. “We two, two together, one flower for two.”
The trunk creaked, and cracks appeared in the bark. The cracks widened into a small opening. Safety! She fled inside, closely followed by the goblin with the moonflower, and the tree snapped shut behind them.
Within the tree, the fairy, the goblin, and the dryad stared at each other. The moonflower’s scent filled the air, and the dryad placed the flower carefully in an outcropping of the trunk which formed a natural pot for the lovely, fragrant flower.
Copyright © 2022 Melanie J Drake. All rights reserved.
Blog Hop Links – Read them all!
Coming Out by Katharina Gerlach
Rabid Rabbits Revenge by Jemma Weir
What a lovely story. I love it.
What a lovely, delicate story. I hope that the fairy and goblin can get to know each other and understand.
Awww, nice sweet story in the midst of all the chaos going on here. Thanks, I needed that. <3
Ah, that was so cute. Great story.
Sometimes you read a flash fiction and just want more!!! (This is one of those times!)
Thank you all for your kind comments! This was a fun little story to write and felt very spring-appropriate.