In one beautiful town with the wonderful name of Wonder, there lived a little girl called Lily. The girl was six years old and had recently started school, in Year One.
Lily was a very clever girl and very curious. Whenever interesting events happened somewhere, the girl absolutely had to know everything and be at the centre of attention.
Lily had one other peculiarity—the girl absolutely didn't believe in fairy tales and thought that everyone around her was deceiving her.
One evening, when Mum was putting her daughter to bed and telling the story of the Little Red Hen, the girl said indignantly:
Mum, what are you on about? How can a hen lay a golden egg? Our Nan's got chooks in the country and they lay ordinary eggs, and she hasn't got any golden ones in her chook pen.
Lily love, it's a fairy tale! But you should know that miracles often happen in life and fairy tales really do know everything and see everything.
Mum replied to her daughter.
Oh, give me a break! I might only be six, but I know the whole truth about fairy tales. Katie from next door had a dream—to learn to sing beautifully. Well, her mum promised her that one fine day, when she got a bit older, a fairy tale would come to their house and teach her to sing. And what happened? Three months have gone by and Katie still can't sing any better than before.
The girl laughed.
Well, maybe the time hasn't come yet, or maybe it's not the right miracle that's meant to happen to Katie.
Mum answered Lily.
Every evening Mum told her daughter a new fairy tale, and each time Lily doubted that everything really happened the way Mum told it.
One day Lily was listening to the story about the Magic Fish that could grant wishes. Mum tried hard, choosing the most interesting stories and really wanting her daughter to believe in miracles after all.
But Lily was stubborn:
Mummy, you're telling untrue stories again! How can a fish talk? That's impossible! And who makes up these fairy tales anyway?
The girl asked in amazement.
Mum just threw up her hands; she didn't know what to answer her daughter.
Lily also had a dream—to learn to swim. Some of her peers already went with their mums and dads to the river not far from town, and swam without floaties, all by themselves.
The girl imagined a hundred times how she'd run into the warm river and dive underwater with her eyes open, where she could watch the beautiful underwater world. But no matter how many times Mum explained how to move her arms and legs in the water, nothing worked for Lily.
One day, when school finished, Lily decided to walk home not along the bank, but across the wooden footbridge over the river. Her classmates often ran across it to the other side, but Lily was scared—the bridge seemed so fragile that she was afraid of falling off it.
But one fine day the girl decided to take a shortcut and head home across the bridge, which her classmates had already crossed to the other side.
And so, Lily stepped onto the edge of the bridge, took another little step, and another and another, until she reached the middle. Suddenly one plank collapsed, and the girl's foot was caught as if in a trap. Then another board broke and the girl fell straight into the water.
Lily felt the cool water cover her head, and her arms and legs completely stopped obeying the girl.
Help!
Lily screamed with all her might, trying to surface, and plunging underwater again.
And suddenly underwater she saw a bright light, and then a beautiful mermaid appeared before her. Her eyes shone with bright light, golden hair swirled through the water like waves, and there was a smile on her face.
Swim, Lily! You can swim, you swim better than anyone!
The mermaid said.
The girl began to move her arms and legs, immediately surfaced and swam to the shore. She stopped being afraid completely; she realised she'd learnt to swim and had nothing more to fear.
Coming ashore, she looked into the water. But there was no longer a beautiful mermaid there, nor the bright light from the radiant eyes of the beautiful girl Lily had just seen. Only courage and self-confidence had appeared in Lily.
Having recovered a bit, Lily headed home.
Why are you all wet?
Mum asked Lily in surprise.
Mum, Mummy, I saw a fairy tale! She helped me learn to swim and now I'm not afraid to walk home across the bridge. It was definitely a fairy tale, I'm sure of it. She was so beautiful, with kind eyes and a radiant smile. How could I not have believed in miracles before!
From then on, Lily knew that fairy tales would always be nearby and would always help. The fairy tale helped the girl believe in the miracles that happen in everyone's life.
Often fairy tales for children help us learn to believe in the miracles that happen every day. You just have to believe and dreams will start coming true!
