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Lilly
knelt down in the middle of the daisy patch and carefully placed the basket
beside her. She ran her hand over the daisies as she wondered which one to
pick. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the perfect one. Gently she
snapped the stalk and laid the beautiful daisy carefully in her basket. Lost in
her thoughts, she was not prepared for what happened next. It started with a
very unusual sound, and it sounded as if it were headed directly toward
her.
Ahhhhh,
Ohhhhh, Awwwww.
Lilly stopped gathering daisies, jumped up and stared into the treetops. Branches were snapping like twigs and leaves were scattering everywhere.
“What on Earth is
that?” she asked herself, puzzled. “I could have sworn in the midst of all the
ruckus I heard a cry.”
Ahhhhh, Awwwww,
Ohhhhhh.
There it was again,
only this time the sound was clear. It was a scream. Someone or something was
definitely in major distress.
Lilly continued to
follow the sound. It was without question getting closer. She glanced around
and decided it was in her best interest to hide or at the very least get out of
the way. Just as she jumped behind a large oak tree she heard yet another cry;
this one, unlike the others, was recognizable.
“Oh no, this is
going to hurt,” a voice said echoing through the treetops, and a body tumbled
in the midst of scattering leaves and broken branches toward the forest
floor.
The voice was
closer than ever and Lilly was scared.
“Oh no!” she
screamed. “It’s coming.”
She clung to the trunk of the large oak that she was hiding behind and waited for the inevitable, for the thing to land. She closed her eyes, hoping against hope that this thing wouldn’t actually land on her. One last piercing scream filled the air. Whatever this thing was, it hit the ground extremely hard, tumbling for several feet and landing smack in the middle of a large pile of debris—dried leaves, broken branches, and, of all things, a huge pile of nettles.
Barely daring to
breathe, Lilly opened one eye. Her heart was pounding louder than ever, so hard
that she thought it might actually jump out of her chest. Too afraid to move,
she waited to see what would happen next.
The silver bell
above the dorm monitor’s station rang gently; it was time to start the
day. Madame Louise walked between the beds and opened the curtains of
every tiny window. The sunlight poured into the room. Leaning down, she
whispered softly to each beautiful, sleeping little fairy.
“Good Morning
precious little fairling, time to wake up,” she said stroking the hair
from the face of each little fairy before moving to the next bed. She
leaned over and whispered into Lilly’s ear, “Time to wake up, little fairling,
good morning sleepy, beautiful fairy, time to wake up.”
Lilly stirred, but she didn’t quite wake up. She thought she heard Madame Louise’s gentle voice, but she was sleeping so soundly that she was sure she was dreaming. She nestled deep under her sheets and made no attempt to get out of the bed. She was having a fabulous dream and wasn’t quite ready to wake up. Madame Louise slowly pulled back Lilly’s sheets and stroked Lilly’s golden curls away from her face. She stared at Lilly for a moment and smiled. Gently, she tickled her tummy, whispering as she did so.
“Lilly dear, it
really is time to get up . . . you shall miss breakfast if you don’t,” she
said with a giggle. “Breakfast, Lilly, fairy crumpets with hot butter and
a lovely cup of rose hip tea. It’s your favorite, Lilly,” Madame Louise
giggled.
Rosie, Ivy, and
Pearle had gathered around the foot of Lilly’s bed; they were tickling her
toes and whispering her name. Lilly finally sat up and glanced at Madame
Louise, who was motioning toward her. Lilly knew it was time – time for
their hug. Madame Louise grabbed all four little fairies, pulled
them close, and gave them a little hug to start the day. She did
it every morning to each and every one. Lilly jumped out of bed and
glanced at Pearle.
“May I,
Pearle,” she whined. “Please?”
Pearle nodded
and tapped her lap. “Of course,” she giggled,
“come on!”
Lilly jumped
straight from the bed into little Pearle’s lap.
“Could you
please take me to the bathing room? I have misplaced my slippers and my
toes are freezing,” Lilly said as she pointed to her tiny feet.
Pearle’s face
lit up. There was nothing she loved more than giving the girls a ride on
her lap. Pearle’s Chariot, the fairlings called it. Although Pearle used
it daily, there was no slowing her down; she was incredibly fast in the
chair that the elders had designed specifically for her. Often going too
fast, especially around corners when playing her favorite game, make a
fairling green! Spinning as fast as she could around and around on
her back two wheels, trying to make the fairies sick. She
could almost always make Boris sick and sometimes even Jack.
Lilly, often turned grey, though not quite green, and Ivy and
Rosie, well they were pros just like Pearle.
(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 7/1/2022)
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6/21/22 |
Excerpts 1 & 2 |
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6/21/22 |
Review Book 1 |
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6/22/22 |
Author Interview |
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6/22/22 |
Review Book 2 |
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6/22/22 |
BONUS Promo |
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6/23/22 |
Excerpts 3 |
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6/23/22 |
Review Book 3 |
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6/24/22 |
Excerpt 4 |
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6/24/22 |
Review Book 4 |
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6/25/22 |
Review Book 4 |
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6/26/22 |
Scrapbook Page |
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6/27/22 |
Review Book 1 |
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6/28/22 |
Review Book 2 |
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6/29/22 |
Review Book 3 |
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6/30/22 |
Review Book 4 |
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6/30/22 |
Review Book 4 |
I read the first two books in this series to my granddaughter several years ago and they are adorable! I loved the characters, and so did she!
ReplyDeleteSo cool that you were already familiar with this series! This is my first time to read. My boy was a bit too young to really dig into this but I'm hanging onto it for the future :)
DeleteI love these excerpts! Such adorable characters!
ReplyDeleteLove the start of this series.
ReplyDelete