Tommy has a secret

"Ladybird, ladybird, sing to me once more

I don't want the birds to sing, 

You're the one that I adore"

Ignoring his request, she slowly flew away

Letting him hope that she will sing someday

His mother heard what he had said

She smiled at him, nodding her head:

"Tommy, the ladybirds can't sing

They’re even smaller than my ring

They just fly and have no use

But for the children to amuse”

He can’t believe what he is hearing,

For he knows well, they have a meaning

And what his mother doesn’t know,

At night, they put on a show

They sing and dance, they even act

And he’s not kidding, that’s a fact!

One simply can’t convince his mother

And so, he doesn’t even bother

The secret’s only his to keep

At night, after he hears them cheep,

When lights are out, and he’s in bed

Holding his teddy bear named Ned,

They take him to another place

Where all together sing and dance

The other children, they come too,

Dancing together, two by two,

They do this every night since May

That’s how he even learned to sway.

The Perfect Flower

     While he was pouring me coffee this morning, Lord Foster, my uncle, has asked me out of the blue: "Which is your favorite flower? Which one makes your heart melt and lets you dream of, princess?"

As I knew that my birthday is coming soon, I gave him the most convenient answer one could hope for:

"I don't know, milord, I love them all equally!" I said, while taking another sip from my coffee cup. 

        The air of the morning was crisp and fresh. One could hear the blackbirds’ song coming from the big oak my great grandfather has planted in front of the palace. The sky was crystal clear and no cloud whatsoever was in sight. It looked like we were about to have another beautiful day ahead of us. A mild breeze coming from our garden has brought an almost intoxicating smell of lilac and magnolia.

          “What if there were to be a perfect flower?” I asked myself, delighted with the smells surrounding me. Where else to seek perfection for if not in a flower? What would this flower look like? How about its smell? Should it be sweet, exotic? Should it be a majestic rose with velvety petals of crimson red? Maybe a tall magenta iris? And then I realized that in order for it to be perfect I have to build it by myself, taking the parts I love the most in all the beautiful flowers I can think of.

          In my head pictures of different flowers started to appear. They’ve emerged, out of nowhere, presenting themselves to me while spinning and spreading their most delicate perfume, as if they all wanted to be part of my experiment. They were all bloomed; some still had their part of buds on, which I found even more thrilling, for when I see a bud, I start imagining how it will look like when bloomed.

           The rows of tulips in my garden almost make me cry each year. They’re colorful, alive and wiggling their heads whenever I pass them by. They seem happy to see me and they all salute, like young children on a Sunday afternoon. The smell of freshly cut hyacinths  and mayflowers mixed with wild yellow peonies caresses my soul every spring, making me forget about the long winter which finally has passed.

       In summer I love the frailty of the red poppy flowers scattered around the cereal fields and all the other colorful wild ones, blooming on the green meadows. The water lilies on our pond seem magical. They follow the sun on the sky and as soon as the he goes to bed, they close their petals and fall asleep enchanted by the rays of our lady, the moon. They’re somehow pinkish, yet not white, but delicate and soft, floating away like gondolas in sunset on the narrow channels of Venice. My chrysanthemums when they’re bloomed; they are so brave and tall! Both white and purple colored; they are the pillars of the gate, defending the entrance to my garden from all the mean intentions. Deep anchored in my thoughts, I raise my eyes and see the endless fields of lavender, stretching all the way to the end of the horizon. “Oh my, there’s even more than this! How can I ever tell? It is so hard to chose, one cannot simply do it!” I said to myself both worried and relieved.

        Because all those who love the flowers know that once you love a flower, you slowly love them all. Your garden grows and grows; there is no end to it. As long as your heart is open and your soul is blessed with love, you’ll find perfection in every flower you encounter.

        “The perfect flower is not one, but all of them!” I thought to myself on this peaceful morning on the terrace. I felt happy and my soul was at ease knowing that I see perfection all around me. I have so many flowers in my garden!

  

No easy prey can be a trophy

“I am the mighty Leo, I'm sure you've heard of me. 

I am more fierce and agile than one could ever be.

With teeth so sharp, and claws so long

My roar's so strong and though it's wrong

I stand and roar, I cannot hold it back! 

No matter what my fellow lions say 

I want to wake and chase my prey

For not alone, we work in pack

Some like to sneak and to attack

Behind the other lion's back”

"This is no hunt, this is some sports event!"

Says he, the lion, having his soul bent

“They like to kill, they hate the game

And all they want is wealth and fame

When I'll be gone, please promise me

You'll find another to replace me
Someone who's fair and loves the game

Who cares much less of wealth and fame

For to be king in this old kingdom

                                                              One must bring trophies and have wisdom"

You sneaky devil, you sure like my roses!

                 On a beautiful summer afternoon I saw a badger in my rose garden. He appeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of an alley. He seemed to be in a hurry, because he was walking really fast, keeping his head down at all times. When he had sensed that I was right behind him, he stopped and gave me a most intriguing look.  I smiled at him because I didn’t want to scare him off. Apparently I didn’t succeed in not scaring the gentleman for he started running really fast so I began following him. These badgers sure are quick! He seemed quicker than the rabbit I used to have as a childhood pet.

             While I was chasing him, the badger has stopped and smiled back at me. His very serious badger face was suddenly illuminated by that huge grin smeared all over his little face. The big smile on his face looked so funny that both of us burst into laughter. I never knew that the badgers have such a great sense of humor. It was for the first time in my life that I had seen a badger smile. He was hilarious! We were both exhausted and could barely catch our breath after all that running, but there we were laughing our hearts out. The sound of his laughter was really goofy and funny and instantly reminded me of Billy the Chipmunk, my colleague from the 6^th grade who laughed more like a donkey than a chipmunk always showing his way too big two front teeth.

          Suddenly enchanted by the surroundings, he stopped his funny laughter and started sniffing my garden and all the rose bushes around him. He seemed to like the smell of bloomed roses because on his little badger face you could read happiness. He started mumbling some music dancing the waltz through the rose bushes, sniffing each and every single rose he could encounter. His little badger eyes were smiling at me and I was standing there, in the middle of my beautiful rose garden, watching him singing and dancing for my roses. I smiled at him and whispered softly:

"We have so much in common, Mr. Badger! I love them too!"

The little fellow turned his head and smiled again, while waving his little badger head:

 “Yes, young lady, we love them. I come here every summer to smell the roses at least twice a week. This is the first time you see me. I must be getting old... these old bones cannot sneak like they used to!"

"Mr. Badger, you can come whenever you want in my garden, I would love your company! There's no need for sneaking anymore!"

          And then I realized I was talking to myself. Nobody was around me, but the sun above and its mild rays of light. The roses were all bloomed, joyfully spreading around their most wonderful scent. The badger was gone and I was all alone in the middle of the garden. Apparently he was still good at sneaking. 

     Sometimes I think of him. The funny smile on his face still makes me laugh. I hope we'll see each other someday. Whenever I have tea with my friend Grace in the gazebo of the rose garden I hope I’ll hear his laughter and see his goofy face once more.

Don't be afraid of the bugs, they are our friends!

 
If you look closely you will see that they are not creepy at all. They have feathers made of crystals and precious stones and if you sing to them they stop moving and they fall asleep. I did this once to an ant hill. The ants have stopped moving and they all fell asleep. I know you think it's fairy dust that I use to make this trick but in fact it is not. It's just music. And they adore music. When you see them flying around a bright light, they just dance. They spin so quickly and they smile and have the best time of their life. Don't you feel sad when they hit the ground lifeless. They've just escaped their little bodies. Now they're butterflies and they can be seen dancing under the moonlight. Their dance is slow and gracious and their wings in the moonlight remind me of the wings of the swans on the blue river. I've seen it with my own eyes ! They've all said to me: Nonsense! There is no such thing. But I new they were wrong. The butterflies told me the secret. You just mix two cups of stardust  with a leaf of wisdom and some courage. Then you drink the potion. It can either transform you into a lizard or let you see the blue river. Since then I have  never been the same. Now the blue river flows through my veins. The little fish swim inside me. I bring life wherever I go. I put that smile on your face and the sparkle in your eyes.

Fairy tale

       The forest fairy opened her eyes that morning just like she did yesterday and the day before. Something was different today. She felt it immediately. Maybe she forgot to close the door and the bunnies ran outside during the night to watch the swans on the lake. They did this last week too. Maybe the bunnies ran away for good! But why would they do such a thing? They feel at home here and ever since their mother left she did a wonderful job in taking care of the little fur balls. She even gave up her piano lessons to spend more time with them. No, no, no! It can't be true!

      She stands up from her fairy bed and goes into their room  to see if her nightmare is real or not. The two angels are still sleeping in their beds and Fizzle, the little one, is still sucking on his paw. She smiles and thinks that she's being silly imagining all these bad things. She goes outside to say hello to the neighbours and maybe she will hear the latest gossip from the old mushroom ladies who hang around next to her house. 

      Stepping outside she is astonished. It is the most beautiful morning she had ever seen. The beetles are dancing in the air with the butterflies and the ladybirds. The trees are clapping with their green branches. The sun smiles while gently caressing her face...Oh, what a morning!

       Dancing through the forest she goes to the bee hive to ask the bees for some honey. They fill a small pot for her. She dips her fingers in the honey and tastes it. It is delicious and sweet and it's like the whole flavors of the forest are trapped in the honey. And then she remembers the weird feeling she had when she opened her eyes today. And the certitude she had about it. She was wrong. She breathes relieved and smiles back at the sun thinking again how lucky she is and how wonderful her fairy life is. Maybe tomorrow Fizzle won't suck on his paw anymore. Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine brighter. She cannot wait for tomorrow because until then she still has today.

Sometimes the bad things are all in our head. Sometimes we make them so big only by using our most beautiful gift- our imagination. It can work both ways for us. It's all about control. By playing with it we learn to control it. It's really simple!

I make the rules in my kingdom

You cannot just come here and try to change something. You cannot even have an opinion. It's my land and I control it. Besides, everything is in perfect order. It might seem strange to you because you haven't seen perfection before. Therefore I understand your constant need to change things. In your world if you don't change something, as soon as it looks good  it will be damaged by others. There you have learnt to protect and to fight. These virtues I find noble and honourable, but here there's no need to use them. You are free to dream away and open  up your soul. What you see is called harmony. That's the term you use in your own world. The best example in case you don't remember how it feels like is probably from your childhood. Those perfect summer days when you were on vacation and your mother made you breakfast. Remember the sunshine and the smell of the air outside? When you felt like nothing bad can ever happen to you? That's what I am talking about. You don't want to change that.