Story: Tommy and the Fairy

(Image of a cockle-shell via Wikimedia Commons)

A few centuries ago, there was a little poor boy named Tommy who lived in a little town on the coast of Ireland. One sunny morning, Tommy was skipping to school on the stone pathway when he thought he heard a whisper. He looked around, and found nothing but the brick wall to his right. He proceeded to skip to school when he came across a boulder the size of a wagon wheel in the middle of the stone pathway. Tommy took the same path every day for the past three years and had never seen this boulder before.

            Curious yet hesitant, Tommy carefully tiptoed around the boulder to find a little twinkling fairy hiding behind it. The fairy’s long hair was platinum blonde and almost covered her ocean blue dress, which was the same color as her eyes. Tommy was about to say something when the fairy reached up and put a finger to his lips.

            “Shhhhhh. Be quiet. I am trying to hear something,” she said. Tommy was incredibly confused at this point. All of a sudden, Tommy heard a faint whisper that said, “Now is the time.”

            “Wait… you are the chosen one?” the fairy asked. Tommy was still confused.

            “I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about,” Tommy replied.

            “Well, I was waiting to hear from the wind fairy. That whisper you just heard was the wind fairy, telling me who the chosen one is,” the fairy said.

            “The chosen one? What does that even mean? I don’t even know who you are!” Tommy said.

            “My name is Ophelia. Let me explain,” Ophelia replied. She then told him that she had been looking for the chosen one for about a year. The chosen one was the child who could turn seashells into gold so that the fairies could all be freed from the giants. 

            “But why am I the chosen one?” Tommy asked.

            “Because the wind fairy told me so. And she knows everything. Now we just have to find some shells for you…” Ophelia said as she started fluttering away. Tommy quickly followed her, assuming she was heading towards the shore.

            Sure enough, Ophelia was in fact headed towards the shore. Once they arrived at the beach, Tommy could feel the cool sand underneath his feet. Ophelia picked up a few seashells and placed them in Tommy’s right hand.

            “What am I supposed to do with these?” Tommy asked.

            “Um… I am not entirely sure. Just try concentrating really hard. Maybe think of a really happy memory – your happiest memory,” Ophelia said.

            Tommy furrowed his brow and thought about the moment when he learned how to tie his shoes. Within a matter of seconds, the small seashells in his hand turned into little pebbles of gold.

            “YOU DID IT! Now we can save the other fairies from the giants!” Ophelia exclaimed. Over the next few days, Ophelia gathered enough seashells to turn into gold to finally save all of the fairies. To thank Tommy for all of his help, she gave him a little kiss on his cheek and he immediately blushed.

            From that point on, whenever Tommy needed help or guidance, all of the fairies were happy to help and look after him.            

Author's Note: In the original story of Tommy Pritchard, Tommy Pritchard heard a voice singing on the other side of a stone wall on his way to school. He noticed a rock, and looked underneath and found a sixpence and took it for himself. Every morning after that day, he looked under the same rock and consistently found a sixpence underneath the stone every single time. He used them to buy candy and his father grew suspicious because he had no idea where his son was getting the money for the candy. He threatened to beat him so Tommy told his father where he was getting the money. The next day when he looked under the rock, he only found a cockle-shell under the rock, instead of a sixpence. In my version of the story, I wanted Tommy to become a hero and befriend a fairy in the process, so I added the fairy named Ophelia. I gave Tommy special powers so that he could save the ending and make a happy ending (like I always do in my own stories). When I read the original version of the story, I was not entirely sure what cockle-shells were (I googled it of course), so I wanted my story to just have seashells instead.

Bibliography: "Tommy Pritchard" from Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson; link to the reading online