_He who takes sunshine into the lives of others also lets it into
his own life._
Alice was in the garden gathering roses for her mother. The day was
warm and the sun very bright, so she sat down under a tree to rest,
exclaiming: “Oh, if there were only such things as fairies! I wish
I were one, for I would like to do nothing but play. I’m so tired
of working and going to school!”
Just then something touched her on the shoulder, and turning
round she saw a tiny fairy with a smiling face and shining wings,
standing in the heart of a sleeping poppy.
“Little girl,” said the fairy, “we don’t play--we have to work, and
very hard sometimes.”
Alice laughed at the idea of a fairy working, but the wee voice
continued: “I am a sunshine fairy, and I have to make people smile
and be happy. Would you like trying to be a fairy?”
“Oh, yes, indeed I would,” replied Alice. So they started off
together. As they walked along the road the fairy stopped and
kissed all the flowers to wake them up. Then she smiled and waved
her hand to the birds and butterflies as they flew by; and on every
one she passed she threw a ray of sunshine from her magic wand.
She stopped at a little hut in the woods and helped an old lady
cook dinner for her son. From there she went to a big hospital
where many sick people were, and she cheered them up and soothed
their pain. Then she went to a poor man’s house, and finding his
little children eating dry bread for supper, she touched it with
her wand and turned it into cake.
As the big round sun began to go down, the fairy turned homewards,
and after walking a long way they came to a large forest. In it was
a mossy throne where the fairy queen sat, surrounded by hundreds
of Sunshine fairies. As Alice and the fairy came in they went and
knelt before the queen, who smiled and asked them if they had had a
pleasant day.
“Oh, yes,” said Alice, “but I am so tired; I’ll never say again
that the fairies don’t work!”
The queen stooped and kissed her, and just then Alice woke up and
found her mother bending over her. Her mother asked how she had
enjoyed her nap--and would she like to go and see a sick friend.
“Mother dear, I’ve been to sure-enough fairy land where the
Sunshine fairies live, and I’m going to try to make people happy
just as they do!” exclaimed Alice.
“I am so glad, dearie; as soon as you are ready, we will go, and
you may carry these beautiful roses that you have picked, for I
know that flowers always cheer the sick and make them feel brighter
and happier.”
“Yes, I will, and then I’ll be a sure-enough Sunshine fairy, and
not a dream one!” laughed Alice.