Daisies in the Summer

A thick morning mist sweeps over the meadow but the summer sun shines determinedly through to beam light upon the cabin of thatched flower stems which stands out from the mud huts. In which Lily the goblin is doing her spring cleaning. She steps out onto her stoop to sweep and sees a group of fairies collecting dew drops from the leaves, their wings glistening in the sun like stain glass windows.

'How fortunate it must be', imagines Lily, 'to be so beautiful that those on down on Earth look upon you in awe and admiration'. The little goblin looks into a pale of water and sees the hooked nose, gray wrinkled skin and beady eyes woefully staring back at her.



It always makes Lily sad when she catches glimpses of her reflection. What always cheers her up is to climb to the top of the cherry tree which stands in the meadow. What an amazing sight it is, seeing farmer Giles fields stretching as far as the eye can see and the great mass of green that is the dark wood. And seeing all of this inspired Lily.



‘Perhaps I can create beauty’ she thought.



Lily enjoys creating flower bouquets but when the other goblin see her they always make fun of her. 'That's the worst mud pie I've ever seen' one laughs.



They always made fun of Lily for not liking mud and preferring the smell of flowers over mould.



Lily realizes that she cannot stay in a village if she is not wanted and so she begins to think where she is to go.



A handsome butterfly lands down on a foxglove near Lily. ‘I see your problem’ he says You’re not done yet. I was once a lowly earthbound caterpillar but I made slept in a cocoon for a fortnight and emerged the spectacular butterfly I am today’.



So, Lily gathers a mound of leaves and makes herself a bed to sleep, how very cosy it was. Lily keeps count of the days and nights and is sure a fortnite has passed, a rather hungry and thirsty Lily emerges from her cocoon to find she is still the same goblin that went in.



Crestfallen Lily weeps, leaning against a daisy stem for support. Then she remembers how the flowers transform from buds into bloom by facing the sun. And so, Lily spends the rest of that day basking in the sun, after a few hours Lily becomes rather hot and sore. She goes to the stream to cool off and sees her face has become quite red.



Not the transformation she was hoping for.



'I shall settle for changing my appearance’ she thinks. She uses the petals from the tulips to create a red and yellow dress. The powder from the crushed stamens serves her for makeup, disguising her gray face.



She sees the fairies having tea and settles down among them.



‘And who are you?’ Asks one of them who is clearly the leader as she is her crown is gilded with silver.



‘I’m Lily.’



‘Ew, it is an ugly goblin’ Says their leader peering under Lily’s bonnet. ‘You must leave our group at once!’



‘Leave her alone’ says one of them ‘She is doing no harm.’



‘We cannot have her associating with us. What would our king think of us, even if she is good natured, we cannot be seen with her. It is the way of the world.’



Lily had lived on the nectar from the flowers and the nuts and berries from the trees. But now autumn had come and all the flowers had died and the trees bore no more fruit.



The wind and rain beat down on poor Lily. Worn out from all the walking, the rain and wind beating she collapses in a muddy field too exhausted to walk further but hoping that some kind person might come to aid her. Overhead a flock of geese are flying south to warmer countries over the sea. How Lily wishes she too was flying away from this place.



BANG! BANG!



A plume of smoke rises from the bushes and two of the birds fall down to Earth.



‘Ah, a goblin’ says farmer Giles.



He slings Lily over his shoulder and takes her home to his wife.



‘And who are you?’ Asks the farmer’s wife.



‘I’m Lily.’



‘Ew, it is an ugly goblin’ Says the farmer’s son



'These beings have magic powers. They can spin straw into gold.’



‘Well I’m not having you staying in my house says Mrs. Giles. You can sleep in the barn.’



Weeks passed by and Lily has been able to turn the barn into quite the cosy home. But not once has she been able to spin straw into gold.


‘You are not able to make me gold. What good are you?’ says the farmer leaving poor Lily out in the cold.



Lily walks across the now frozen field with nothing more than her sack dress for warmth.


She stumbles upon a green castle on the other side of Daisy Forest. A pile of autumn leaves lay undisturbed at the door, the hinges of which, have worn away, leaving the door ajar, just enough room for a goblin to squeeze in. This is the abode of the fairy king. He had broken his wing on a bramble many years ago, leaving him unable to find a wife and has now become an old bachelor. And so, he sits in castle on the cold winter nights, alone.



‘And who are you?’ Asks the fairy king.



‘I’m Lily.’



‘I see you are a goblin.’



‘Indeed I am.’ replies Lily. ‘I just needed somewhere to revive myself from the cold. I’ll see myself out now.’



‘I have prayed for days for you and you have finally come. Come sit with me by the fire.’



‘I don’t understand’. Replied Lily ‘Why would you want an ugly Goblin for a wife?’



‘Poppycock. Don’t say such things. You distress me. You are the prettiest little maiden I ever set eyes on. I can’t believe my luck in having met you’.



The little goblin mends the fairy’s broken wing and nurses it with love and care. Lily and the Fairy King get married and as the years roll by the Goblin Village and the Dark Wood become nothing but memories.





~The End~