Tales to Help You Grow

The stories of "Little Celestial Fairy" are an educational tool to help the little ones understand and work on their emotions and also to start connecting with themselves and to learn to listen to their inner voice.

I started writing them for my two daughters when they were little and almost all of them were inspired by something that happened at home. I edited, published and distributed them myself, but after a while an unexpected event altered my circumstances and forced me to close the publishing house. That's when I decided to share them for free, first on my Catalan/Spanish blog (which you can visit here) and now on this one in their English version.

Many parents and teachers from numerous Catalan, Spanish and Latin American schools have been using them for a long time to work on emotional education with their children and/or students, and I am deeply grateful to all of them for the trust they have placed both in my stories and myself. My gratitude also to all those who recommend them on their blogs of a personal or educational nature, to the Barcelona City Council Library Consortium and to the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which include them in their list of resources about education and emotional intelligence.

The stories can be read in any order, as each one contains an independent story, but it is important to read "The Fairies' School" first, as it establishes the common thread of the entire collection and introduces the two main characters. The final outcome is "The Fairies' Secret", which obviously can be read at any time, but it is undoubtedly worth doing so when you have read, at least, most of the others or those that interest you the most.

I hope that Little Celestial Fairy captivates you with her innocence, her ability to love and her great desire to help others. I will be delighted to receive your comments and you can contact me whenever you wish through the email that you will find in the “Contact” section.

A warm hug.

Dolors Garcia Folch

1. The Fairies' School

Learning to trust yourself and to connect with your inner voice.

Last night Little Celestial Fairy could hardly sleep. She’s been looking forward to beginning her lessons at the Fairies’ School. And finally the first school day is here!

She jumps out of bed and shakes off her sleepiness, flapping her little wings.

Soon she begins hearing the shouts and laughter of her classmates who are on their way to school.

“I’ll be right with you,” she says, leaning out of the window.

“I just have to get my magic wand!”

But when she looks around she realises that her magic wand is not there.

She feels her heart beating fast and, worried, she begins rummaging through the drawers. She looks under the bed, she empties her toy chest... She even goes out and looks for the wand under the stones and among the bushes.

But her magic wand is nowhere to be found...

”Oh, my! What shall I do now?” she says, sitting on the floor with her eyes full of tears.

When her classmates hear her crying, they come to see what’s happening.

“Poor Celestial,” she hears one of them saying to another. “Without her magic wand she’ll never become a real fairy. There is no need for her to go to school anymore. Come on, let’s go, otherwise we’ll be late!”

Little Celestial Fairy has heard everything and she stays sitting there, alone and very, very sad.

“Perhaps they’re right,” she thinks, “and there’s no need for me to go to the Fairies’ School, because without my magic wand I’ll never be a fairy."

And with tears running down her cheeks she wonders: “How will I be able to help people now? How will I make wishes come true without the magic of a wand?”

And she cries, she cries without stopping... and her sadness spreads all over her body, and by and by her wings begin to lose their sparkle.

But at the Fairies’ School, the teacher has seen and heard everything. She knows Celestial and is sure she would be an excellent fairy because she has the most important thing a fairy must have: a great wish to help others.

The teacher opens a drawer and takes out a golden box. Inside, all curled up, is a pile of glow-worms. She picks one very carefully and, blowing softly, she fills it with the magic of her breath.

“Wake up Sparkly”, she says. “Go and tell Celestial she must keep on searching. Go with her and help her find the Fairies’ Secret!”

All that weeping has left Little Celestial Fairy half asleep. When she opens her eyes she keeps on thinking about the things her classmates have said, and she is increasingly convinced that she’ll never be a real fairy.

But suddenly she hears a little voice:

“Keep on searching, Celestial! Keep on searching!”

“Who’s that?” she asks looking around. “Who’s there?”

But she sees no one, because Sparkly is very small and is hiding behind her.

“Keep on searching, Celestial! Keep on searching!” She doesn’t know where this little voice is coming from. She looks around but she can’t find anyone.

But then she realises that perhaps she ought to pay attention to that little voice.

“I don’t know you, but perhaps you’re right," she says. “My magic wand is somewhere, and wherever it is I‘ll find it. And then I’ll go to school and learn to be a real fairy."

By and by her little wings start to glitter again, and her fallen tears become colourful sparks on her dress.

With a smile on her lips, the little fairy’s apprentice gets ready to begin her journey; a journey around the world on which she’ll meet a lot of friends who will help her find her magic wand.

Would you like to follow her on this journey?

Sometimes we want to do something but someone tells us that we don't know how or that we can't, and then we don't even try. The important thing is what you think about yourself, not what others think, who are also often wrong. If you want to do something, put all your desire into it and try as hard as you can. Whether you succeed or not, at least you will have tried and maybe you will have discovered something you need to learn to be able to do it the next time.

Little Celestial Fairy wishes to go to the Fairies’ School to become a real fairy. But she listens to what her classmates say and she becomes very sad, because she thinks she won’t be able to make her wish come true. If she hadn’t listened to them, do you think she would have cried so much? Perhaps she would have become a bit sad, because she had lost her magic wand, but she would have gone to school anyway.

There is also a little voice which is always by your side. It’s not a real glow-worm but something inside you that tells you what you have to do and helps you find solutions to your problems. In order to hear it you must be quiet and ask it whatever you need to know. You won’t hear a different voice from yours, and you won’t hear it with your ears. You’ll feel it like a thought, as if you are the one who is talking. But you’ll know that it’s that voice, because you’ll have no doubt that this is the answer you needed.

Little Celestial Fairy is very sad because she believes she won’t become a real fairy. But when she listens to that little voice telling her to keep on searching for her magic wand, she believes again she’ll be able to go to school someday. The little voice gives her the solution to her problem to enable her to make her wish come true.

2. Come on, Little Snail!

Learning to respect everyone’s limits and to be patient.

It's been raining all night long. Little Celestial Fairy goes out of the nest of a squirrel which shared his bed of dried leaves with her. Suddenly, something bumps her on her head and she looks up. The squirrel is on the highest branch, collecting acorns for breakfast.

“Would you like some?" her new friend asks her, pointing to a heap he has piled up on a leaf.

“No, thanks," replies Celestial. "I'll take some nectar from those beautiful flowers."

And, waving goodbye to him, she flies towards a white bellflower plant.

After filling her belly, Celestial washes her face with a water drop falling from a leaf. Then she arranges her dress and runs her hand through her hair to comb it.

“I’m ready!" she exclaims happily. "Let's see if today I'm lucky and can find my wand!"

Then she jumps on to the ground doing a flip, but unfortunately she stumbles and falls down on something sticky.

“Oh, my, this is so disgusting! What's this?" she says rubbing her hands and shaking her dress.

“Hey, you, listen!" she hears somebody say. “This sticky stuff is my slime, which helps me slither on the ground."

And then Celestial sees it. It's a snail!

“I’m so sorry, little snail," she apologises. "I didn't mean to upset you. Where are you going so slowly?"

“I’m going to that lettuce field to have breakfast," the snail replies.

“Well, if you don't hurry up you won’t get there until dinner time!" says Celestial, amused.

" For me, breakfast means the first thing I eat when I wake up, whatever time it is, whether it’s  daytime or  nighttime,"  the snail answers.

“I’m looking for my magic wand,” Celestial says. “You haven't seen it, have you?"

"No, I'm sorry, but if you want I'll help you look for it when I finish my breakfast," says the snail.

Little Celestial Fairy believes it's really great that the snail wants to help her, but she thinks:

"If he goes so slowly, the night will come before we can start searching."

She decides to do something to make the snail go faster.

"Come on, hurry up!" she cries, pushing the snail from behind with all her strength.

And, suddenly, the snail loses his balance and falls over, with his shell upside down....

Please, darling, you'd better not help me. I'm not in a hurry, and besides, I like to go slowly, feeling the freshness of the wet ground."

But Celestial grows impatient. She has come and gone to the lettuce field four times, but the snail seems not to have moved.

“I've got it!" she says resolutely. “If you leave your shell here, you'll be able to move faster. We'll come back and pick it up la-ter!”

And before the snail knows what has happened, Celestial takes his shell off and puts it aside.

“Can’t you see? Now you can run!"

The poor snail feels naked. All his life he has worn his shell, which protects him and serves him as a house. Now he looks like a slug, and it's not that he doesn't like slugs; it's just that he wants to be a snail.

“Please, little fairy, put my shell on again," he asks her. “I’m cold!"

Celestial doesn't understand. She wants to help the snail go faster but he doesn't want to. What can she do?

And then, Sparkly, which has being making signals so that Celestial can hear it, whispers in her ear:

“Let him go at his own pace. If you want to help him, make his journey more pleasant... "

The little fairy hears the little voice and she realises it is right. She still doesn't know who this voice belongs to, but she's learning to listen to it.Then, she decides to tell some tales and sing some songs to the snail, so that the way is not so long and boring.

Finally, when the sun begins hiding behind the mountains, they get to the lettuce field, and the snail goes deep into the lettuce leaves to have "breakfast".

Little Celestial Fairy realises that there's no time left to look for her wand, but she's happy because she has spent the day with her new friend.

“I’ll look for it tomorrow,” she thinks. “Actually, I have plenty of time before the new course at The Fairies' School begins".

Without realising it, while keeping the snail company she has not thought about her wand all day long. What she doesn't realise is that now her wand is a little bit closer. But it will be a long time before she finds out. Her trip has just begun...

Would you like to travel by her side?

Respect the pace of others. Some people need more time than others to do the same thing.

Little Celestial Fairy thinks that the snail moves too slowly, because she can fly very fast. However, the snail is not in a hurry because all his life he has moved slowly and he knows he needs more time. Finally, he also gets to the lettuce field, and he enjoys a great breakfast-dinner.

Learn to wait if you want to do something but you can't do it straight away. Sometimes, if you get angry, sad or nervous, you do things the wrong way.

Celestial gets so impatient, trying to help the snail go faster, that she actually ends up being rather unkind. She wants to go fast to find the wand and doesn't realise that the snail can't go faster. Luckily, she listens to Sparkly and enjoys a good time instead of getting more and more nervous.

3. Rachel's Old Rag Doll

Learning to appreciate what you have, to share it with others, and that the best things cannot be bought with money.

“Wake up, little fairy! I think we are arriving!"

Little Celestial Fairy opens her eyes, half asleep. The stork has woken her up from a dream in which she was playing with her friends at changing the colours of their dresses with their magic wands.

She and the stork have been flying together for some days across the sea, and now and then the little fairy has rested on the stork's back. When she sticks her head out of the feathers, she looks down but she only sees the sea.

“I can't see anything," she says, tired of having the same view everyday. She covers herself with the feathers again and tries to keep on dreaming that amusing dream. 

But suddenly, she feels something pricking her thigh, and a little peck makes her jump.

“Come on, wake up, you sleepyhead!" the stork shouts at her smiling. “And look there!"

Celestial rubs her eyes and looks above the stork's head.

"We've finally arrived!" she cries happily. “But, where are we?"

There's a big city in front of them, with the highest houses she has ever seen. It's a city of skyscrapers.

When they fly over the streets, the little fairy is dumbfounded: thousands of things are advertised on neon signs all over the place; crowds of people are walking quickly down the streets; there are so many cars that they have no place left to move... In a corner, some boys wearing caps and sunglasses are dancing, with their heads on the floor and their bodies spinning in circles.

Celestial's head is spinning, too. There is too much noise, and after a while she wants to get out of there.

They fly over some streets and approach a bell tower.  The stork lands there and says:

“My friend, my trip ends here. This place is quite good to make a nest, don't you think?"

The little fairy hugs the stork.

“Thanks for allowing me to fly with you. I must keep on looking for my wand. Perhaps we'll meet again someday."

And, after kissing the stork on her beak, Celestial flies off and continues travelling.

Soon she realises that the streets have changed. Now the houses are old and everything looks very sad, but she hears the laughter of some children playing football with an empty plastic bottle.

This place makes her feel upset because the people who live here are poor, and sometimes they don't even have money to buy food...

But after she's been flying for a while, the streets change again. Now the houses are lower, and there are gardens in front of them, and there are trees and flowers everywhere.

Suddenly she sees a red balloon flying by... and then a yellow one... and a blue one... and a green one... Just in front of her the sky is filled with coloured balloons, and Celestial has fun pushing them away with her hands.

Below her there is a birthday party in a garden, and Celestial decides to get closer. There is a girl wearing a crown with the name "Rachel" glittering on it. There are children around her, wishing her Happy Birthday and giving her gifts.

Sitting on a tree branch near the house, Celestial sees Rachel unwrapping the packages quickly and putting them in a big bag by her side.

“May I play with a doll?" a little girl asks her.

“No, I'm sorry. It's new and it might break" she replies.

And when she has fi-nished unwrapping the last gift, she gets up and drags the bag with all her strength into the house.

“Do you feel like making some drawings?" says a freckly boy.

“If we use the pencils, the points will wear down" Rachel says.

“Then we can play ball" says another.

“No, it could burst" she replies again.

So the kids decide to play hide-and-seek, but Rachel doesn't feel like it. She sits on the doorstep and thinks:

“I hope they go home soon. I'm looking forward to playing with my new toys."

Meanwhile, Celestial has got into the house through an open window.

“This must be Rachel's bedroom" she says.

There are toys everywhere: plenty of dolls on the shelves, a pile of stuffed animals on the bed, a wardrobe full of fancy dresses, and drawers full of drawing and craft tools and materials.

“But there's no room for all the gifts she got today!" says Celestial aloud.

And when she flies to the window to go out, she sees the little legs of a rag doll, sticking out of a half-closed chest.

“What are you doing here?" she asks the doll, opening the lid. “Why aren't you sitting on a shelf with the other dolls?"

“I’m the first doll Rachel got" the doll replies. “She loved me very much, and we played together every day, but when she got new dolls she put me aside and she doesn't even remember that I'm here. At any moment she'll throw me in the bin."

“Well, I think you're the most beautiful one," says the little fairy. "Perhaps one day she'll play with you again."

But deep down, Celestial knows this is unlikely. Today Rachel has got a pile of new toys and dolls to play with.

Suddenly, while she's wondering how she could help the doll, she hears someone coming upstairs and she hides inside the chest with the doll.

The door opens and Rachel comes into the bedroom carrying all her gifts.

“Oh finally they are all gone and I can play without anybody touching my stuff!"

And, sitting on the floor, she scatters all the gifts around her and starts playing.

“I’m so sorry" the father says to his wife, “I’ve lost my job, and if you're the only one working we can't keep on living in this expensive house.

Tomorrow we'll have to take our things and move to a smaller place."Celestial waits inside the chest for Rachel to go to sleep. When the girl falls asleep, Celestial gets out, and then she hears the girl’s parents talking in another room.

Little Celestial Fairy gets very sad.

“Poor people" she thinks. “I’ll stay here until tomorrow and see if I can help them."

She gets into the chest again and falls asleep next to the doll.

The following morning, when Rachel wakes up, her parents have already been packing suitcases and dismantling the furniture for a long time. Out in the street there's a van which will take everything to their new home.

Rachel's mother comes into her bedroom and tells her about what happened. She asks Rachel to choose just one toy to take with her because in their new home there will not be room for all of them.

"No mummy, I want all of them! They are mine and I want to take them all!" the girl shouts angrily at her mother.

And with her eyes full of tears, she goes out of the room taking nothing at all...

When Celestial is alone, she gets out of the chest.

“Poor Rachel, she wants everything and now she'll end up with nothing."

Then she hears Sparkly's voice:

“Put the old rag doll in a box“ it says.

And the little fairy, knowing that this little voice is always right, takes the doll and, without anyone noticing, puts it in a box which is still open.

Some hours later the van is loaded. The little fairy sees Rachel and her parents getting in the car and driving behind the van. With a little jump she starts flying, and she follows them until she reaches the van and sits on the top.

They soon get to the streets with old houses, where people who do not have much money live. They stop in front of a little house and begin unloading the van.

It's a three-floor building, and other families live there, too. A group of kids sit on the front steps, looking at the men come and go as they carry furniture and boxes into the house.

Rachel goes into the house passing by the children without even looking at them. She goes to her bedroom and lies on the bed, crying.

Celestial, who has followed the girl without her noticing, talks to her:

“Don’t cry, Rachel. Surely you'll make a lot of friends here and you'll have fun."

“And what do you know?" the girl says without raising her head from the pillow.

But after a little while she gets up and finds out who's talking to her.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asks through her tears.

–"I'm Celestial. I went to your house while I was looking for my magic wand, and I saw what happened. If you like, we can be friends" she replies.

“I don't need any friends" Rachel says. “I like to play alone with all my toys, but now I have none left, and I'm sad and angry because I've had to leave them all in the other house."

“You know what?" Celestial says. “Once, a dwarf told me that everything happens to us for a reason, so that we can learn something from it."

“Leave me alone" the girl replies. “How can I learn something from all this?"

The little fairy realises that she won't be able to convince Rachel. She says goodbye to her and goes out to the street. But there she sees some girls playing, each carrying a rag doll, and they're laughing and having great fun. Then she hears Sparkly's voice:

“Give Rachel her rag doll and tell her to go out."

Then Celestial turns around and goes into the house again. She takes a look and soon sees the box where she put the doll.

“Come Rachel, and look what's in here!" she cries.

The girl comes closer, and when she sees the doll, she says:

“I don't want this doll. It's old and I don't like it!"

“Come on, take it and come with me, please..." Celestial insists.

The girl decides to trust her. She takes the doll and follows Celestial into the street. When she sees the girls playing, she stays on the doorstep looking at them, but then one of them says to her:

“Would you like to play?"

Rachel looks at the little fairy and, without saying anything, nods and walks slowly towards the girls. Immediately they start talking to her and they lend her their dolls, which look very like her own old rag doll.

A little while later Rachel is playing with her new friends and she looks really happy. Her doll is happy that they are playing together again.

And Celestial, seeing that they don't need her anymore, flies slowly away over the houses, with a smile on her face.

She's been able to help the rag doll, and she has also helped Rachel realise that she doesn't need so many toys to play with; that there's nothing better than playing with other children and sharing the little that one has, even if it's just a rag doll or an empty plastic bottle used as a football.

The night is coming, and the little fairy decides to visit her friend, the stork, and sleep by her in the bell tower.

“Tomorrow I'll get up early and carry on looking for my wand" she thinks.

And once again, without realising it, she has got closer to it today.

Will you go with her again?

Learn to share. If you share something with somebody, you'll make him or her happy. Later, you'll be glad when he or she shares something with you. It's quite normal that sometimes it's difficult to share things because you don't want them to get broken or because you love them. But the important thing is that things should make us feel better, and playing with friends makes us really happy, doesn't it?

Rachel doesn't want to share her toys, but when she meets the girls in the street they have a lot of fun playing together and sharing their dolls. She only has her old rag doll, but since all of the children share their dolls, it's like they have more than just one.

The things we can buy, like toys, sweets, our favourite food, etc., only make us happy for a while, for a few days or even for a few months. But as time passes by, they don’t make us as happy as before. On the other hand, the happiness we feel when we've got friends can last forever, even if we don't see each other as often as before.

Rachel has no toys left, and she now thinks she won't have fun anymore. But even though she only has her old rag doll, she has met some new friends, and she'll be able to have a lot of fun with them, besides playing with dolls.

We can always learn something from everything that happens to us, especially from the unpleasant things. When we have a problem or are going through a difficult time, we try to find a solution. We look inside ourselves to see if we did something to make it happen. When the problem has passed, we may even realise that things are better than before. And we learn and grow forever...

Rachel has learnt that she doesn't need so many toys to have fun. She has new friends and has fun playing with her old doll, which she had previously put aside. In addition, she has learnt that when people share things everybody has more of them: their own things plus the other people’s things.

4. You can do it, Lyco!

Learning to accept yourself as you are and to trust yourself.

Last night, Little Celestial Fairy dreamed about her magic wand, and now she's looking forward to continuing her search for it. She's been flying through the forest for a while, with her eyes wide open, squeezing her little body into every burrow she finds.

But she's in such a hurry that sometimes she forgets to check if there is somebody inside them.

"Ouch! I've pricked myself!" she cries as she comes out of a porcupine burrow.

And, after putting her arm into an ants’ nest, she takes it out quickly, all covered with ants.

"That's enough! Stop tickling me!" she cries jumping and shaking the ants off...

But the worst comes when she puts her head into a beehive full of bees, which chase her for a long timee until she jumps into the river...

There, sitting in the water, with her hair dripping wet and her face covered in stings, Little Celestial Fairy realises she's very, very tired, and she hasn't had breakfast yet. Shaking water off her wings, she finds a bush full of flowers, blue, just like her dress. And there, feeling the sun's warmth drying her little fairy body, she enjoys filling her mouth with their sweet nectar.

Suddenly she hears a sound that distracts her.

"It sounds as if someone is crying," she says, pricking up her ears.

And, wiping her mouth with her hand, she turns her head to find where the crying is coming from.

"Who is crying?" she asks aloud.

"It's me, Lyco," she hears someone answering from the top of a tree.

Celestial flies up to a branch, where she finds a little bird in a nest.

“Are you Lyco?" she asks sitting by his side.

"Yes," he answers through his tears.

"Why are you crying?" she asks stroking him.

Drying his tears with his wing, the little bird answers her:

"All my brothers and sisters have flown away with my parents to look for some food, but I can't fly."

"Why not?" Celestial asks.

"Because my wings are too small and they aren't strong enough!" he says, stretching them to show her.

"Well, I think they are big enough for you," she says. " You’re little, and if you had bigger wings you would look pretty funny! Look at me! My wings are little, too, and they take me wherever I want to go."

Lyco looks at Celestial and thinks she is right, but he starts crying again:

"I can't. I can't fly!"

Little Celestial Fairy doesn't know what to say. She's getting sad because she doesn't know how to help the little bird. She would like to have her magic wand to be able to use some magic. And suddenly she hears that little voice which is always by her side:

"Give him a little push; give him a little push..."

"A push?!?" she says amazed. "But if I give him a push and he really can't fly, he will fall down and hurt himself!"

And then she hears the little voice again:

"I don't mean a real push. Help him overcome his fear. Take his wing..!" 

Then, Celestial has an idea:

"I know what we'll do, Lyco! I'll fly with you, so you'll see that nothing bad will happen..."

And before the little bird has time to think about it, Celestial takes hold of one of his wings and makes Lyco jump off the tree.

“Let me go!" cries Lyco. "If you keep holding my wing I can't move it!"

And then, when Celestial lets go, Lyco flies up moving his wings quickly.

"I can fly!" he cries, "I can fly!"

But his wings get tired soon and the little bird falls down on the grass.

"Can't you see?" he says to Celestial. He looks as if he's about to burst into tears. "I can't do it well! I already told you I can't fly!"

"Come on, try again! You must try again. You'll see that each time you'll fly a bit further! You can do it, Lyco!"

And, doing a little hop, Lyco flies off again. By and by he cheers up, and even though he falls down several times, he keeps on trying until he learns to fly up and down, to turn around, and even to do a somersault before landing.

Lyco is very happy, and Celestial feels pleased to have helped him. But suddenly, the little bird stops smiling and starts crying again.

"And what's the matter now?, asks Celestial astonished. "You've already learnt to fly; why are you crying ?"

"I'm hungry," he says, "and I can't catch any worms! I'm sure they'll run away if I try to catch them because my beak is too small!"

And he cries and cries without stopping.

“  ou're doing it again!" exclaims Celestial. "And what would you do with a bigger beak? It would be so heavy that you could not lift your head up!" she says.

Then, Lyco realises that perhaps Celestial is right again, and thinks:

"If I've been able to fly with these little wings, I'm sure I'll be able to capture some worms with my beak, even though it is small."

And, doing some little hops, he gets close to a pile of stones and begins to turn them over with his beak. Soon a worm appears, and before it can get away, the little bird catches it and swallows it in one bite.

"I've done it!” he cries happily. "I've caught a worm myself! I've caught a worm myself!"

Little Celestial Fairy looks at him smiling. Lyco isn't afraid of being unable to do certain things anymore. And, happy about that, Celestial realises she has been able to help him even without having her magic wand.

"Still, I must keep on searching for it," she thinks. "A real fairy needs her magic to help others."

And, after saying goodbye to her new friend, who is eating worms non-stop, Celestial flies away moving her little wings. She'll carry on with her trip. What she still doesn't know is that she's getting a bit closer to her magic wand with each passing day...

Do you want to know what's coming next?...

Love yourself the way you are. Perhaps there are many things you can't do, but there are many you can. Sometimes we think that we'd like to be taller, more intelligent, to have longer hair or different coloured hair... or we believe we would be better if we could do things that others do... You are perfect the way you are! Think that there's no one like you in the world! You are special!

Lyco thinks his wings are too small and he can’t fly. He gets sad, and he doesn't try to fly. If Celestial had not helped him, he would never had flown...

Don't give up doing something just because you think you won't succeed. Try it as many times as you need, and you'll see that each time you do it better. Think about little children learning to walk. They fall a lot don't they? But everybody learns to walk!

Some need more time and some need less, but EVERYBODY needs time. There are things which are more difficult for us, and others that are easier. The important thing is that we want to do them and we keep on trying even if we don't succeed!

Lyco falls down many times but because he keeps on trying, he flies better and better. If he had not tried, he would still think he couldn’t fly. Just a little practice was needed.

5. Iris Has Got Sad Eyes

Learning that loving doesn't mean holding on, and we must respect the space and freedom of those we love.

It is very windy. Sitting inside a tree trunk, Little Celestial Fairy is waiting for the wind to stop blowing so strongly, so that she can carry on searching for her magic wand. Outside, plants and tree branches are swaying in the wind and they seem about to fly off at any moment.

"If I go out now the wind will blow me away!" she thinks sticking her head out through the hole and then pulling it quickly back into the trunk.

Listening to the sounds of the wind and the rustling leaves, Celestial drifts off to sleep.

After a while, the wind dies down, and Celestial, now awake, leaves her hiding place.

“Oh, my legs are beginning to hurt!" she says stretching them and shaking her wings.

And by and by she flies away, wondering where she should go.

But when she starts flying, she soon realises that she doesn't need to move her wings! The soft wind is carrying her away, and Celestial lets herself go like a feather.

"What fun!" she cries.

And going up and down and turning around, the wind carries her further and further away.

Suddenly, Little Celestial Fairy looks down there and sees a girl riding a white horse, galloping fast through the field.

"Perhaps she has seen my magic wand!" she says.

And moving her wings quickly so that the wind doesn't carry her in another direction, Celestial begins to fly after them.

After a while they reach a farm, and when the girl gets off the horse, she sees Celestial sitting on the fence, puffing after having flown so fast.

"Who are you?" she asks the little fairy, amazed.

"Wow, your horse runs really fast!... My name is Celestial" she answers, "and I'm looking for my magic wand. Have you seen it around here?"

"No, I haven't" the girl says. "Are you a fairy?" she asks again.

"Yes... well... no... I don't know... I mean... I've lost my magic wand and I can't go to the Fairies' School anymore..." replies Celestial.

"Well, I think you are  a fairy because you look like a girl but you are very small, and you've got wings but you aren't a bird," the girl says.

"You've got a beautiful horse," says Celestial coming closer to stroke it.

“It's a mare, and it's called Iris. My grandpa gave her to me when I turned five. Now I'm ten, and since I'm a big girl now, I can go out with her whenever I like. We have a lot of fun together. We love each other very much... " the girl explains.

But Celestial looks Iris in the eyes and she realises that the mare is sad.

"I think something is wrong with her," she says to the girl. "Can't you see what sad eyes she has?"

The girl nods her head.

"She has been looking like that for some days, but I don't know what’s wrong. I try to do everything she likes; I give her some apples and carrots; I brush her a long time, I stroke her, I play with her and go riding whenever I can. And when mummy gives me some money I buy her some mints, which she really loves, but she doesn't look as happy as before... I don't know what's wrong with her."

Meanwhile, Iris comes up to the gate and stands still, looking at the field. When Celestial sees her, she approaches her and looks in the same direction. With her fairy eyes, she can see further than a human being. Then she sees them. Far away, on the other side of the field, a herd of horses is eating green grass by a stream.

"Now I know what’s wrong!" she exclaims flying to the girl's side.

"She's sad because she would like to meet those horses."

The girl looks towards the field, but she can't see them. 

"Where are they? I can't see them!" 

Celestial explains to her that they are too far away for her to see them, but Iris can smell them.

"But why does she want to go with them? Doesn't she love me?" asks the little girl, holding back her tears. 

“Of course she loves you!" replies Celestial, "but sometimes animals like to be among their own kind. I’m sure you like playing with your friends, but that doesn’t mean you stop loving Iris, does it?"

But the girl doesn't want to listen to her any more. She runs away, takes Iris and shuts her up in her stable.

"You've got me, and I love you so much. You don't need anyone else. You can't go and leave me alone. What would I do? I would miss you!" she says with her eyes full of tears.

Iris looks even sadder than before. On the one hand, she wants to go and meet the horses, but on the other she doesn't like to see her friend crying, because she loves her.

For a long while, Celestial thinks about how to help them, but she doesn't know what to do.

"If she loves Iris so much, she'll want her to be happy. What can I do so that she’ll let her go?" she wonders.

And then, Sparkly, who is always by her side even if she doesn't realise it, tells her:

"Just go, the three of you... Just go, the three of you..."

When she hears the little voice, Little Celestial Fairy thinks happily:

"I've got it! The three of us must go and meet the horses!"

And hoping her idea will work, she tells the girl:

"Perhaps if both of us go and meet the horses with her, Iris will be happy!"

And the girl, who loves her mare so much, thinks that perhaps this will cheer her up.

"Yes, let's go! I'm sure she will enjoy being with them for a while.”

And both of them mount the horse, which starts galloping happily across the field.

After spending some time with the herd of horses, the girl looks Iris in the eyes and sees they are no longer sad. Then she realises that her beloved mare is happy among these horses, and even though she'll miss her a lot, she decides to let her stay with them.

"I love you, Iris," she says showering her with kisses. "Don't forget it!"

Without turning her head, so that the mare can't see she's crying, she goes back home with Celestial flying by her side.

The little fairy stays by her for some days, keeping her company. One morning, as they wake up, the girl hears a familiar noise.

"It's Iris! It's Iris!" she cries happily, running outdoors.

Iris has come to visit her, but she's not alone. The whole herd has come to the farm.

"You've got a lot more friends now!" says Celestial. "Surely, they'll come to visit you from time to time!"

Iris is happy, and seeing that, so is the girl.

Celestial smiles looking at them. She decides it's time to leave. She's got a long way to go if she wants to find her magic wand. She doesn't realise it yet, but as it happens every time she helps someone, she gets a little closer to it...

Will you go with her on her trip? 

We must respect our loved ones' freedom, so that they can always choose whatever they want to do without worrying that we'll think they are avoiding us  or that we’ll stop loving them.

Love is like the wind: it's very strong, it gets everywhere and we can't ever shut it up. Sometimes we think that if someone who loves us is willing to do something without us, it's because he or she doesn't love us enough.

We must learn that everybody needs their space and freedom so they can do what they want to do. Sometimes people need to be alone for some time, enjoy some activity without any company,or just meet other people. The ones who really love us will continue to do so wherever they are, whether they are alone or with other people. And they will even feel more comfortable with us if we let them do some things without us "sticking" to them all the time.

Iris loves the girl very much, but she also likes to be with other horses. The girl gets sad because she thinks that if Iris goes, the horse will stop loving her. Later on, she realises that this won't happen and she enjoys seeing that her horse is happy.

Our loved ones won't always be by our side, but all of them are in our life for some reason. Sometimes people come into our life and after some time we don't see them any more. We are close friends, we share a lot of things, but suddenly we stop meeting them, because they move, they change their telephone number and we can't reach them or, in the worst case, they die. 

Of course we will miss them, especially at the beginning, but we must learn to keep the beautiful memories of everything we shared. During the time we were together, we surely learned something from them, or they learned from us, or perhaps we helped each other in some way... or we just had fun together! Some people go, but other people will come, and we'll share beautiful things and times with them. 

The girl misses Iris, and this is absolutely normal, because she had a lot of fun with her. Now they can't do the same things together, but instead, now and then she can enjoy spending some time with all the horses of the herd, and she couldn’t do that before.