A Babe Story

Babe Wants a Job


By Connell Mathews



Once upon a time in the Forest of Destiny there was a fairy named Babe. She lived in a pea pod under the Willow Tree down by the grassy knoll. Babe was a special fairy with green eyes, and heartshine, for if Babe was to smile at you, and you were downtrodden, you would be filled with happiness, at least for a little while.

When Babe was young she had four flowers that she tended to every day, two pink with silver stems and two blue, with golden stems, but as Babe grew older, so did her flowers, and soon there was a garden that many fairies tended to. The King of the Woodland never assigned another job to Babe, so often, time was her own, and Babe was free to do what ever she pleased.

Babe loved to travel. Sometimes, she would visit the Land of the Humans, and other times she would camp out at the Rainbow River and laugh at the leprechauns and elves because they had wild parties where they sang and danced and fell into the water, but none of them could swim. If needed, Babe would use her magic to rescue them. Babe would, of course, visit the Black Rose to hear about things unknown, but often times Babe was alone.

Babe was older now, and a bit wiser, and although some don’t realize it, fairies do get to an age when they are less inclined to roam, however, Babe never lost her fever for discovery.

On one cold day in January, Babe packed her wand in her fairy satchel along with some honey, some magic sprinkles, her notebook, her glasses, and hopped upon her poppy stick and flew.

First, Babe went to visit her sister, Dawn. Dawn only came out when the sun was down, that was the kind of fairy she was. Dawn was the oracle for the littlest ones and very busy all night long. When Dawn saw Babe, she whispered aside, “Hey, hey, and they fluttered their wings and hugged. I’m so glad to see you.”

Babe watched Dawn work through the night, exhausted in the morn; Dawn fell asleep as they talked. Babe pouted, “Why hadn’t the King of the Woodland given her another job.” When dusk came Dawn awoke, but she was too busy to visit with Babe: two new fairies were coming their way. Babe hugged her sister good bye and went on her way, but she didn’t have a way.

Babe felt a tear in her eye as she flew. There was nothing here or there, there was nothing new, or so she thought until she wasn’t paying attention and into a hole in a Redwood tree she flew.

Bump, Bump, Bump, Babe bumped down through the trunk of the tree, down through all ledges that lead to limbs, and roots. Down into the ground Babe found herself covered with dirt and goo.

“Arghh!” Babe shouted at herself, “How could this have happened? Where am I? How could this be, no one is allowed to make tunnels under trees.”
Babe tried to fly up, but her wings were covered with goo. Her poppy stick was stuck above her, but she couldn’t reach it either. Babe looked around and searched for something she could climb on, but there was not-a thing she could use.
She took off her fairy satchel and looked for her whistle, but she didn’t have it, she’d forgotten it. Oh, what was Babe to do?

Babe sat down and began to cry. She hadn’t cried for a very long time, at least one hundred years, she thought. Why was she crying now? She was older and wiser, and, and, she lost her thoughts as she whimpered for a Big Rat, with a very large head and missing tooth was coming toward her. He was smacking his lips and breathing through the hole where his tooth was missing. Babe wondered if he was going to try to eat her.

Taking out her magic sprinkles, Babe tried to hide, but the goo made the dust disappear. Babe backed up further and further into the tunnel as the Rat moved closer and closer toward her.

Finally Babe stopped, “What do you want?”
But the Rat didn’t speak; he just kept gnashing his one big tooth.
Babe held out her fairy wand, “Please, I don’t want to hurt you.”
But the Rat put out his paws, with long nails, he grabbed her fairy wand and snapped it, and then he snatched her fairy satchel away.
Babe tried to flutter her wings again, but the goop was just too thick.
“Help help” cried Babe, but soon she found herself in a cage.
“He, he,” snarled the Rat, “I’ve got myself a fairy.”
“He he,” the Rat snarled some more, "And I’ve got her fairy satchel. What does she have in here?” said the Rat as he emptied the contents onto the tunnel floor.

Babe moved back as far as she could from the paws of the Rat,”Who are you?” She hollered. “What are you doing building a tunnel beneath the Redwood trees, you know that is not allowed? Wait till the King of the Woodlands finds out. You'll be thrown from the Forest of Destiny, just you wait and see.”

The Rat paid her no mind, he didn’t even introduce himself, he put on her glasses, and then glared at Babe in the cage.
“You’ll see,” said the Rat, “You are no threat to me, and neither is the King. I’m going to catch the King of the Woodland, too, and then I will be King! And then what will you do?” The Rat bellowed so loud his sound shook all the under land of the Woodlands, but he was so big headed he never even realized it.






Far away, in the castle of the King, reports came in from all over the Forest of Destiny. “Earthquake.” “Earthshake.” “Tremors.” “Catastrophe.”

“How could that be?” questioned the King. “Bring the Moles before me, I must have a report. Have them investigate immediately and report their findings 1, 2, 3.”

Within the hour the Moles reported, “Sire, there is something odd, we’ve found a series of tunnels beneath the Oldest Redwood tree. They are lined with goo and we are unable to travel through. The goo attaches to our feet and makes us unable to move.”

The King was worried. He agreed to meet the Moles at the site to investigate this himself. He brought along a team of engineers, one scientist, and the chief wizard to assist.



Babe sat in the cage deep in the tunnel. The Rat glared at her from time to time. “Maybe he is sad,' Babe thought to herself. So Babe began to grin and she smiled, perhaps her heartshine would help her. But the Rat glared back at her,” What do you think, this is funny? You stupid fairy. I know all about you. I know you are the King's favorite and he will come to rescue you.”

“The King doesn’t even know I am here,” said Babe. “You better send him a ransom note.”
The Rat shook his head, “I don’t have to listen to you. I know what I’m going to do," and without even looking before he leapt, he went up through the tunnel, as if he was going up through a shoot.
Babe sat down and tried to reach for her satchel, but it was no use.

When the Rat jumped out of the hole, he found himself inside a trap. The moles, the engineers, and the scientists had planned it.

The Rat was angry,” He was spitting ashes as he spoke, “You think you’ve got me, but there's something you don’t know. And I’m not going to tell you, so you better let me go.”

The King spied into the trap, he saw the glasses on the Rat. He knew immediately that they were Babes and he whispered to the wizard, "Babe must be saved."

The wizard blew into the tunnel and the goo dissipated. Down into the hole climbed the moles.
Babe was sitting on the lock of the cage trying to open it,”Oh Oh, thank-you, thank-you, you’ve come to save me. Hey, how did you know to rescue me?”
The moles told Babe the King had sent them.
But how did he know? Babe wondered, but then the chief mole held out her glasses,
“Oh you’ve caught the Rat, how fantastic!”



The next week, Babe made an appointment to visit the King.
“Oh, Sire," she asked, “Why don’t you give me a job?”
And the King replied, “But Babe don’t you see, you have not one, but many. You’ll find them on your own, and don’t think that I won’t know.”

With that Babe was happy. She went home for a bit, but Babe knew when it struck her fancy, that something was not yancy in the Forest of Destiny, it was time for her to roam.

C 2006