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Selena
snuggled deeper into her downy-feathered bed and turned her multihued
eyes on her father. “Please, papa? Just one more story?”
Jayson kissed his daughter’s forehead and smoothed down her wings. How
could he resist the love of his life? He studied her a moment drinking
in the swirl of her eyes framed in a thick fringe of black lashes. Her
mother’s eyes, thank the Gods. At four, she already invited comparisons
to her mother, lost to childbirth these long years. Narrow strands of
ruby red curls gleamed from the mass of raven hair that cushioned her
head. A startling array of blues and greens roiled and spun within her
tiny child wings, as ever changing as the colors of her moods. He
smiled and took her small hand in his.
“Last one, moppet,” he said. “Growing fairies need their beauty sleep.
What would you like to hear?”
Selena’s petal
pink lips pursed as she considered. “Hansel and Gretel,
papa. I want to hear about the witch.”
Jayson motioned with his free hand and the air before them twitched. In
moments, a picture hovered in the air of two human children at the door
of their parent’s cottage. The picture shimmered and the figures began
to move as Jayson spoke:
Once upon a time not so very long ago, two human children found
themselves weary of their usual pursuits. These children, brother and
sister, lived deep in the forest in a small wooded cottage with their
parents. Hansel and Gretel, for those were their names, had become lazy
and selfish despite the efforts of their loving parents. No longer did
they extend helping hands or offer words of thankfulness for their
blessings. Their
worried parents prayed nightly for help from the
Universe in guiding their children’s feet back onto the path of Love
and Light.
Now on this sunny afternoon, Hansel and Gretel soon became bored with
their games and childish pursuits. Gretel begged their mother to come
and play, but Mother had many chores to finish and the evening meal
still to prepare. Hansel beseeched their father to build them a play
fort, but wood needed splitting and seeds needed sowing. And Time was
ever short. Hansel and Gretel pouted and sulked. Finally, they decided
Mother and Father’s love had failed them, for they refused to stop
their silly work and play. The two resolved to strike out into the
forest and find better parents. Parents who understood the needs of
children.
And so on this day of days, the children set off with naught but the
clothes on their backs down the long trail through the thickening
trees.  They walked and
walked with churlish words and a seed of Darkness in their hearts.
Birds sang cheerful tales in the tops of the pines. Squirrels busily
gathered nuts and chittered to their mates. Flowers bloomed and greeted
them with nodding, cheery blossoms. But the children walked on,
heedless, seeing only their purpose on the path before them. Soon the
full Moon rose and the children became hungry.
“Whatever shall we eat, Hansel,” Gretel cried. “I’m tired and hungry
and you’ve forgotten the food.”
“’Twas you forgot the food,” Hansel groused. “Find us something
to eat.”
Now the creatures of Forest, of Fairy, of Goddess, and Earth had
listened to the children and followed them throughout their long walk.
It was saddened, they were, to hear children toss blame for events of
their own making. Finally, Will-o-the-Wisp stepped forward and began to
glow. He darted to and fro until the bickering children focused on his
soft light.
“Look, Gretel!” Hansel exclaimed. “A firefly. Do fireflies know what’s
good to
eat?
“For fireflies, I suppose,” Gretel said.
“We’ll follow and find out,” Hansel said, thinking it a game in the
making.
Will-o-the-Wisp smiled and darted up the trail making sure to keep in
sight. Shortly, he came to a fork in the path and he quickly led the
children down a new lane.
“Look, Gretel,”
Hansel said pointing. “There’s a cottage ahead and a light in the
window. Maybe these are the new parents we’re looking for.” Gretel no
longer cared. She scowled and trudged after her brother.
Will-o-the-Wisp led
the tired children up to the faded wooden door and winked out. Hansel
raised a fist and beat on the door, banging loudly in the evening hush.
The door squeaked open and a beautiful lady stood radiant in the light
of a fire that crackled in the room behind her. Her long white dress
flowed down to her ankles, skimming her bare feet. Golden tresses wove
around her shoulders and framed a heart shaped face, enhancing her
glass-green eyes. She looked serious to the children, but not
frightening. The child Gretel stepped forward and curtsied low, for she
was not without manners despite her lazy ways.
“Ma’am, we are but poor lost children who are hungry and tired. Might
we come in and rest ourselves?” Gretel asked.
The woman
studied the children and did not miss the Darkness in their auras. She
tilted her head and listened to the wind tell her the children’s true
tale. Finally, she smiled and invited the children inside.
“My name is Tharaysa, little ones, and you have indeed traveled far
from home to have found me. Come, warm yourselves by the fire a moment
and then we will find you an evening meal.” They followed her
gratefully and collapsed in front of the inviting hearth. The woman
joined them and curled into a soft cushion on the floor. “Now, little
ones. What shall we have to eat?”
Hansel and Gretel looked at each other confusedly. Wasn’t this woman
going to feed them? Maybe she meant to ask only what they’d like to
eat. Hansel thought for a moment. “Rabbit stew,” he said finally. “Full
of carrots and potatoes, celery and onions.”
“And freshly made crusty bread,” Gretel added.
Tharaysa clapped her hands. “Oh children, that does sound marvelous!
I’ve not had my evening meal as yet either. The garden is just beyond
the cottage. You’ll find everything you need there,” she said. “I’m
afraid I don’t have any rabbits to hand,
but I’m sure there are several warrens nearby. Check the cupboards,
darlings, for anything else you need.” With that, she rose from the
floor and glided out of the room.
The children stared after her. Finally, Gretel rose slowly to her feet,
too tired to complain. “Come along, Hansel. It looks as though if we
want to eat, we’d best get busy.”
Hansel rose grudgingly to his feet and took a basket from the kitchen
counter. “I’ll gather the vegetables,” he said. “You make the bread.”
Some time later with the meal prepared and laid out on the cottage’s
small table, Tharaysa reappeared. “There now, darlings. It smells
tantalizing. Shall we eat?” The children ate ravenously, too tired for
conversation. Presently, Tharaysa spoke again.
“No rabbit, darlings?”
Hansel shook his head. “Too difficult or too barbaric?” she asked.
Hansel shook his head again and continued to eat. Tharaysa smiled
gently and spooned another mouthful of stew.
Soon, Tharaysa stood and patted her stomach. “Very good, children.
Thank you for a lovely meal. Be sure to put everything away properly
when you clean up.” She floated from the room, leaving the children
with a final thought. “You may sleep by the fire tonight and tomorrow
we’ll get you back home.”
Hansel and Gretel struggled to their feet and looked around the tiny
kitchen. Only then did they notice the mess they’d made. Dirty pots and
silver filled the sink. Dirt and cuttings covered the once spotless
floor. And of course, the remnants of their meal on the small table sat
before them. Wearily, the children set to work. After what seemed like
hours, with the kitchen finally laid to rights, the children collapsed
in front of the fire and fell instantly to sleep.
In the next room, Tharaysa quietly chanted over two candles, one pink
and one white. She dropped a pinch of Frankincense into the flame of
one and then sat comfortably on the floor to meditate. She allowed her
mind to drift until she found her higher self merging with the floating
dreams of the children. She smiled as she guided them to higher
understanding of their evening.
The next morning, the children rose slowly. Their bodies ached and
complained though their minds were refreshed. Tharaysa moved gracefully
into the room and wished them both a blessed morning.
“Miss Tharaysa,” Gretel said quietly. “We weren’t lost yesterday when
we came to your door. My brother and I had run away to look for better
parents.”
“Yes, child. I know,” Tharaysa said with a comforting smile. “Do you
still wish to find better parents?”
“No,” said Hansel, looking to Gretel for agreement. “We’ve been very
selfish, Miss Tharaysa. Our parents do much more every day than what
little we did last night.”
“And still?” Tharaysa prompted.
“And still they find time to spend with Gretel and I in play,” Hansel
finished.
“I’m going to help my mother more in the kitchen,” Gretel stated
suddenly.
“And I’m going to help father outside,” Hansel said.
Tharaysa beamed at them both. “That’s what families do,” she said
softly. “If you participate in the work, your parents will have more
time and energy to participate in your play. Selfishness hurts
everyone, children. Most especially you.”
 Tharaysa hugged the
children close and told them to close their eyes tight. In a blinding
flash, the children were back in their own doorway, at the exact time
they’d started to leave the day before. Hansel looked at Gretel and
they smiled a secret smile. Hansel ran off to find their father in the
garden and immediately bent to help him work. Gretel found her mother
in the kitchen and set to making the evening’s bread. The children’s
parents thanked the Universe that very night after tucking their
shining children into bed. Hansel and Gretel tried very hard from that
moment on to always be unselfish in their needs and to be good
supportive members of their families.
Jayson finished the story and looked lovingly at his daughter. Her long
lashes rested on her silken cheeks and her tiny mouth smiled in
pleasant slumber. At his gesture, the story image quietly dissolved.
“Sleep sweet, my precious,” he murmured, and left his dreaming daughter
in the hands of the Goddess.
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