Across Time: A Collection of Short Stories

The Fairy

Once upon a time, Kwabena saw a fairy. Let me tell you how it happened. There was a terrible drought at that time, and, when the women went to fetch water, they found that the village lake had dried up. Kwabena's mother wept. "What are we to do with no water?" she asked. "My children will not live long without it, and neither will the rest of the village."

"What can we do?" another woman replied. "We should go to the akomfo, the priests and priestesses. They'll know how to appease the abosom, the deities."

The others agreed, so they started back to the village. Kwabena followed. Hearing a whisper, she looked around. Nobody. She took another step. Another whisper, this time from by a tree. When she looked down, do you know what she saw?

A fairy.

Kwabena's eyes widened. "Goodness! I've never seen a fairy before. I must be dreaming."

"Do you want me to help you or not?" the fairy asked. "I could restore all that water to the lake, but not unless you say that you believe in me."

"I do. I do," Kwabena said quickly. "Now will you help me?"

"Not unless you retrieve my water jar for me. I've lost it, and it's my favorite. Do get it for me."

"Where did you see it last?" Kwabena started. No answer. She blinked, and the fairy was gone.

"Kwabena," her mother called. "Hurry along."

When Kwabena caught up to her mother, she told her what she'd seen. "You didn't see a fairy," her mother said. "This heat must be getting to you."

"I did. I did see one," Kwabena said. Her mother shook her head.

That evening, the abosom spoke through the akomfo. They said that the villagers needed to sacrifice three days' worth of meat for it to rain. The hunters were sad to lose so much, but they did it. On the fourth day, it didn't rain. "We were tricked!" Kwabena's father said, grinding his teeth. "We lost so much money, and it didn't even rain!"

Kwabena remembered what the fairy had said. The next morning, she slipped off to find the water jar. It wasn't near the tree where she'd seen the fairy, nor was it by the lake. Kwabena wandered farther and farther off. The savanna stretched out as far as she could see. She looked under every bush. Nothing. Then, as she was about to give up, she saw it. Near a huge boulder. When she came up to it, she heard peeap peeap peeap uuwuurgh oowuurgh uuuwuurgh.

A lion!

She shuddered and backed away. "Don't be afraid," the lion said. "I'll give this to you if you'll get this thorn out of my ear. Please. It hurts." His ear twitched.

"Goodness! How do I know you won't eat me?" Kwabena asked, trying not to shake.

The lion growled. "I promise I won't. Is that good? Now please get it out."

"All right. I will." Taking a deep breath, she reached up and plucked the thorn from the lion's ear. He shook his head and roared.

"Thank you. Now I'll give this to you." Picking up the tiny water jar in his teeth, he dropped it in Kwabena's hand.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Lion!" she said, hurrying to the tree where the fairy had been. Bending by its roots, she put the jar down. "I have your water jar."

"Do you?" the fairy asked, coming out of her house. "I see. I'll repay my debt to you." Disappearing inside her house in the tree's roots, she came back with a full water jar. When she emptied it, the lake refilled.

"Thank you!" Kwabena shouted. But the fairy had gone. Kwabena ran all the way back to the village to tell the news.

"Where have you been?" her mother asked, her hands on her hips.

Kwabena was so breathless she could hardly tell her story.

"That didn't happen." Her mother shook her head.

"It did! It did! Come to the lake," Kwabena insisted.

"I believe her," another woman said. So the women all went to the lake and found it as Kwabena told. They wept for joy and left gifts by the tree. And that is how Kwabena saw a fairy.