From The Wish Fairy of the Sunshine and Shadow Forest by Alice Ross Colver; Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, 1919; pp. 41-46.
“I WOULD like,” said a sweet little brown bird to the Wish Fairy’s Assistant, “I would like to be painted some other color this spring.”
The Wish Fairy’s Assistant, who was cleaning the birds for the Wish Fairy that day, pulled her brush out of the brown paint-pail, washed it off and smiled.
“What color do you wish to be painted, then?” she asked, politely.
“Oh, I’d —” the shy brown bird thought a moment. “I do wish I were blue like the sky!”
“All right!” said the Wish Fairy’s Assistant. “Blue, like the sky, you shall be.”
But when she came to look 42 through her paint pails, not a speck of blue did she have.
“Now that’s too bad,” she said. “I don’t know what I can do. I have no blue at all, and it’s very hard to get.”
“What’s the trouble here?”
It was the Wish Fairy who spoke. A fat red robin had just alighted on the ground, and from between his wings slid the Wish Fairy — down on to the ground. Then she stood looking about at the birds to see how her assistant was doing, while she waited for the little brown bird to answer.
“Oh, I did wish to be painted blue this year — like the sky” — the bird explained, “and there’s no blue paint left.”
“Ah! Ha! I see,” said the Wish Fiary. “You’ve never made a wish before, have you?”
“No, ma’am,” said the brown bird.
43
“Then you shall have your wish,” said the wonderful Wish Fairy, “but you must work a little to have it. You must fly up — up — up above the tree-tops; up — up — up to the clouds, and there you must rest on one and whistle for the wind. Then — you’ll see.”
“All right,” said the brown bird, cheerfully. “Good-bye everybody. I’m off!”
And she waved her wings to her friends and started. Up — up — up she went above the tree-tops, till the Sunshine and Shadow Forest looked like a wee patch of green below her. Up — up — up till the white clouds were near her. She was getting very tired, and was thankful to rest on the first one that drifted by her. She sank wearily back in the softy soft cloud and closed her eyes and waited till she had breath enough 45 to whistle for the wind as the Wish Fairy had told her to do.
Whoof! Up came Mr. Wind under the cloud and sent it sailing toward the blue sky. Little Miss Brown-Bird-that-wanted-to-be-blue peered over the edge a little frightened.
“It’s all right,” Mr. Wind called, cheerily. “The Wish Fairy told me to blow you up to Heaven!”
And he puffed, and blew, and blew and puffed, and the white cloud sailed, oh! so fast, straight for the blue, blue sky!
“Look out!” cried little Miss Brown Bird. “We’re going to bump!”
But Mr. Wind paid no attention. He just gave one last big PUFF! and Miss Brown Bird shut her eyes and shivered. But nothing crashed! and nothing hurt! She opened them again 46 quickly, and there she was, all mixed up in the blue, blue sky, that was as soft as the softy cloud.
And, by the way, when the cloud hit the sky it drifted apart and went all to pieces and vanished. Miss Blue Bird rolled around in the blueness of the sky till she was as blue as blue could be all over, then she gave a little jump, spread her wings wide and dropped down — down — down toward the Sunshine and Shadow Forest.
When she reached home, the birds were all there to welcome her, and if she hadn’t been as blue as the sky to prove it, they would never have believed she’s made such a long trip.