The Enchanted Woods
Faerie Dance

Sugar was very excited. She was starting dance lessons that day. She flew to the Fountain of Luck and waited for Hope. Mistie couldn't come because her mother wanted her to do some chores. After a little while, Hope trotted up and said," Hi! Sorry I'm late. I got a letter from Joy. What's up?" Sugar said excitedly," Oh, Hope, guess what?" Without waiting for the unicorn to guess, Sugar went on," I'm starting dance lessons today." Hope smiled and said," I'm sure you'll be very good." Sugar laughed nervously and answered," I hope so. Will you meet me after class and then we'll go exploring together? It ends at 3:00." "All right," Hope agreed. "Where is the class at?" "Just go to my house and it's about 10 trees over," Sugar said. "You can't miss it. It has a sign that says "Miss. Honey's Dance Tree." Hope nodded. "It's so neat!" Sugar said. "It has a big room underground to dance in and even mirrors! Much nicer than where I used to dance." Hope nodded again. "I'm going to bring Miss. Honey some flowers," said Sugar. "She'll like that. I'm going to get ready. See you!" Hope waved her horn as Sugar flew off. Sugar flew back to her tree and got ready. She had made a pretty white dress out of a tulip. She put her brown hair into a bun and put a loop of white seeds around it. Then she rushed off to her class. Sugar was very early. After she had circled the tree a couple of times, she spotted a small clearing full of beautiful orange and gold flowers. It was a long ways off, but Sugar had plenty of time. She decided to pick a bouquet of these flowers for Miss. Honey. So she flew to the clearing. The flowers were small, so they were easy to pick. Sugar thought about how nice they would look in Miss. Honey's dance room. She yawned and saw a big flower that was just the right size for a faerie to curl up. She flew up and nestled down. The petals were so fluffy and sweet-smelling and Sugar decided to take a nap before her class started. She closed her eyes and was asleep immediately. Back at Miss. Honey's dance tree, students were arriving in bunches, showing off dresses and whispering. When Miss. Honey arrived, she said," Let's go inside and start." They filed in. When everyone was sitting on the floor, Miss. Honey took roll. Sugar's name was the last one on the list. When Miss. Honey called it, nobody answeredm, so the teacher marked her absent. "Tsk, tsk," she said, shaking her head. "I had great hopes for that one. It is bad to be absent the first day. All right class, let's stretch." Hope went to Miss. Honey's tree around 3:00 and waited. Soon, faeries began flitting out and disappearing, but Sugar was not one of them. Figuring Miss. Honey kept her late for some reason, Hope kept waiting. When Miss. Honey came out, she looked at Hope and said," The unicorn excercise class is every Tuesday. You do not look like you need excercise, though." Hope blushed and said," Thank you, but I'm waiting for a friend." Miss. Honey looked around and said," Nobody is inside my dance room. What is your friend's name?" "Sugar," Hope replied. "I'm sorry, but Sugar was not here today," Miss. Honey said. "I can't help you." She flew away. Hope stood there for a minute and thought," Where could Sugar be? Maybe Soot, the owl, carried her off. Or maybe she fell asleep at her tree. I'll go check." She went to Sugar's tree and poked her head inside, but the faerie wasn't there. Hope started to get worried, so she ran to the Fountain of Luck, which was their usual meeting place. No Sugar. But Mistie swooped down and asked," Where's Sugar? She told me yesterday about the dance lessons. Aren't they over yet?" "She never showed up," Hope said unhappily. "She's not home, either. Mistie, she's gone!" Mistie was startled and said," You look around for her. I'll fly up and see if I can spot her. Check around the Ancient Tree, Crystal Lake, and Abianna's tree." Mistie floated up into the blue sky. Hope ran to the Ancient Tree. A unicorn was basking in the shade. "Truth, have you seen Sugar?" Hope asked. Truth shook her head and said," No. Maybe some of the other unicorns have, though. She's friendly with all of them." Hope tried Destiny, Trust, Constance, Grace, Faith, and Beauty, but none of them had seen Sugar either. So Hope ran to Crystal Lake and asked," Have any of you seen Sugar?" The mermaids that were bathing in the refreshing water shook her heads and looked worried. Sugar was their friend, too. Hope grew discouraged. Suddenly Mistie flew in front of her and said berathlessly," Sugar is in a clearing of flowers not far from the dance tree." Hope neighed with joy and Mistie led her to them. Hope was about to wade into the gorgeous golden flowers, but Mistie cried," No! Hope, those are Sleeping Flowers. Whoever breathes their scent falls asleep." Hope started back and said desperately," How are we going to get Sugar out?" Mistie shrugged. " Hold your breath and pick her up in your mouth," she suggested. Hope nodded and plunged into the flowers, holding her breath. Soon she saw Sugar fast asleep in a big, puffy, flower. The unicorn picked the faerie up and brought her to a mound of soft, green moss. Mistie fanned Sugar with a daffodil and soon the faerie woke up. "Where am I?" asked Sugar. "You fell asleep in the field of Sleeping Flowers," Hope explained. "I'm sorry to say, you missed your dance class." "Missed my class," asked Sugar. "That's terrible!" "I'm sure Miss. Honey will understand," Mistie said. "Thank you for saving me," Sugar said. Hope smiled. "That's what friends are for," she and Mistie said in unison. They all laughed.

Copyright 1997 by Chantessy