From The Wish Fairy of the Sunshine and Shadow Forest by Alice Ross Colver; Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, 1919; pp. 47-53.
THE Fairy-that-knew everything and the Wish Fairy were spending the afternoon together. They swung in a hammock made out of cobwebs, and the roses drooped over them to keep the hot sun off, and the honeysuckle they sipped was delicious, and altogether they were having a very happy and comfortable time.
The Fairy-that-knew-everything had been telling the Wish Fairy so many interesting things that had happened in the Sunshine and Shadow Forest — why the Robin’s breast is red; how Mr. Peacock colored his tail; how Mr. Rooster chanced to crow, and lots of other wonderful things.
48And the Wish Fairy had been telling the Fairy-that-knew-everything some of the jokes she had been able to play because of the wishes some of the birds and beasts had made. And then she told how happy she had made them too, and she explained the wish of Miss Pussy Foot and little Miss Canary Bird, and the Fairy-that-knew-everything was glad to hear about them. Though she knew everything that had happened in the Sunshine and Shadow Forest, she didn’t know what happened outside of the Forest, and she’d been anxious about Mr. Bow-wow, Miss Pussy Foot and Miss Canary Bird.
“By the way,” said the Wish Fairy, “you’ve never made your wish. Aren’t you going to wish for something?”
“Yes,” said the Fairy-that-knew-everything, “I am. I’ve been 49
wondering what to wish and I’ve just decided.”
“That sounds interesting. What is it?” asked the Wish Fairy.
“I wish,” said the little Fairy-that-knew-everything, “that there were something new and something different living in this Sunshine and Shadow Forest.”
“Well,” said the Wish Fairy, drawing a long breath, “that’s a queer wish. You’ll have to explain that to me a little better. I can’t make that come true unless I know what you mean.”
The Fairy-that-knew-everything leaned back and crossed her arms under her head.
“I would like the something new to be quite small,” she said, dreamily, “and I would like it to fly. Flying things are so pretty to watch. It is not to fly fast though — just sort of float along — low down — on big wings, so you 51 can see it well when it passes you. I would like it to be so beautiful that children will always run with their wee hands out to play with it. I would like it to be so delicate that grown people would never want to hurt or kill it.”
The Wish Fairy shut her eyes.
“I’m beginning to understand,” she said. “Now, what color do you want it?”
“Oh —” The Fairy-that-knew-everything thought a long minute. “All colors,” she said, finally. “Let it have the gold of the sunshine and the black of the shadows. Let it have specks and lines and tracings of all the sunset colors in it. And let it always hover near roses and fragrant flowers.”
“That’s a beautiful wish,” said the Wish Fairy, picking up her wand, “because you have wished for something that will make people happy when they see it, and 52 gentle when they touch it. Shut your eyes.”
So the Fairy-that-knew-everything shut her eyes and the Wish Fairy said this —
When the Fairy-that-knew-everything opened her eyes, she saw hovering before her three beautiful, beautiful butterflies! Their wings were wide, and they floated slowly and gracefully over the roses that drooped over the hammock, and each was a different color and had different markings on it. One was yellow with black stripes and dots — like the Sunshine and Shadow. Another was blue and gray like the sky, with faint, faint tracings of the pink and lavender that you see in the 53 sky at sunset. And the last was a deep orange with a wide blue edge all around its lovely wings, like the sky at dawn.
The Fairy-that-knew-everything clapped her hands in delight.
“Perfect,” she said softly, and the Wish Fairy nodded and smiled.