Have you ever wondered how a fairies’ family grows?

Not too many people notice that low fungal growth. Those domed caps balanced on a stem blend with the ground colours around it.

This is a story of a family of fairies that thrived in the forest living in their mushroom. From the outside, to the human eye, it is a small simple thing that appears impossible to house life. As such we often dismiss them and even smoosh them under our feet. However, if you were invited inside a fairie mushroom home you would be able to stand to your full height and move from room to room like being inside a human home.

On this particular day a small boy was playing in the growth on the side of the forest path not far from his family’s camper. His chubby hands drove hot wheels cars and trucks around and around. He was talking and vrooming away. His favourite place to drive by was a large mushroom. His noises and happy play sounds drew the fairies out of their home. The little boy stopped and stared. He was frozen. “Don’t worry little boy, we want to join in your fun.”

The fairies each took over a car and played with the boy for hours. When his parents called him for dinner the fairies warned the boy to not let anyone hurt their home. The boy just smiled and thanked the fairies for playing.

The next day the boy wanted to show his family the fairies because they hadn’t believed him when he had told them at dinner about his playdate. Of course, the fairies remained

hidden and the boy’s brother laughed, his mother told him he had a beautiful imagination, and his dad rolled his eyes and started to walk on. Still laughing his brother kicked at the mushroom. The little boy screamed and lunged toward the mushroom. With big tears streaming down his cheeks he tried to stand the mushroom back into its earthy platform.

The last thing he heard was his mother’s scream as a strange sensation crept up through his fingers and arms and slowly over his whole body. His family saw the particles of his body disappear like dust on the breeze along with the mushroom it was holding.

The mushroom was suddenly thriving in a new part of the forest. The occupants of the mushroom house were suddenly one family member larger!

By Shari Marshall -2019