For all the dancers and people who make magic.
Authors Note:
One of my favorite fairy tales is Sleeping Beauty. I’m far beyond the age of enjoying happily-ever-afters through a single romantic kiss, but I do enjoy a good damsels of distress story. Sleeping Beauty was trapped in a coma, and she needed awakening.
As a ballet dancer, I have danced in the Sleeping Beauty ballet. Never as the main character, but always shining as a supporting character which gave me the opportunity to develop my own personality while acting. In 2023, I am preparing for auditions for my last run at this ballet. I am hoping to become one of the fairies; specifically the lilac or finger fairy or Carabosse, the evil fairy (two if lucky, or all three) so as tradition goes, I am rewatching the prior Sleeping Beauty ballet produced by my dance company four years ago.
After having danced and watched reruns of the Swan Lake ballet the previous spring, the Sleeping Beauty ballet is a medicine to sore eyes (or so the saying may go); although admittedly the orchestra music in Swan Lake is superior. So I am watching Sleeping Beauty and I’m at the prologue act where all the fairies are presenting their gifts to the baby princess. It’s probably one of my favorite parts in the entire ballet. That is, if it is done well. Inevitably, I started critiquing the backgrounds and costumes. I think there needs to be more jewels, glitter, and basically more floral bling that makes the entire scene look like a birthday party for a princess where six fairies are presented as guests. That’s my thought on the 2019 Sleeping Beauty production.
When the end of the fairy dances and solos neared, I was watching the finger fairy’s dance and daydreaming a world where I got to be her. That got me to laugh because the finger fairies gift is a good sense of direction (I think) and I have a terrible sense of direction. That’s ironic. I thought that was a bit silly. That's when I started wondering why these fairies chose their specific gifts. Why did they think their gift was important, essential, and for the betterment of a person? (If we were to be specific, princess and future queen of the land).
This story satisfies an answer for my questions.
Here’s the story:
Once upon a time-
Yes, because this is a retelling of a fairy tale, of course it must start like this.
Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, a baby girl was born to a king and queen. The baby was just like any baby. The baby would cry when hungry, cry when tired, cry when their swaddling was full, and cry for the sake of crying.
That’s what babies do after all.
And just like every birthday, there was a party. Except since this baby was a princess, and the king and queen were very generous folks, the entire kingdom was invited. This was no ordinary party, instead imagine a festival. A grand one with flowers of every color decorating the cobblestones, bright streamers hanging from each building, and spring ornaments dangling from each tree in the kingdom. Musicians would play their music on the streets, salesmen lowered the prices of their trade, and children received gifts and allowances from parents. Basically, the princess’s birthday was Christmas in the late spring. A brand new holiday. That’s how much loved the king and queen were.
So at a party where everyone was invited; since the palace gates were always thrown open, to make the people feel welcome, the roof of the ballroom was removed. Natural sunlight shone upon the grand space where the king and queen sat on their thrones and their babe cried in her cradle as her nursemaids fretted right beside.
The minute the townsfolk heard the news of the princess’s birth, guests began streaming into the palace with gifts of various shapes and sizes. A tailor brought the princess tailored clothes, a baker baked a cake, a blacksmith crafted a delicate chain of necklace for when the princess grew older, and a jeweler came with a crown adorned with droplets of aquamarine and silver. The line of guests and their piling gifts went on and on.
The kingdom was not only of human inhabitants. From the sky flew in the fae folk astride giant, multicolored dragonflies and the nymphs who rode in on clouds. Elves marched in bearing tall floral banners and the merfolk breezed in with human legs, each step leaving the marble floors wet and the air tasting like the sea.
The king and queen welcomed these guests who then received their turn around the infant’s cradle to admire the newborn. Then, when it seemed that all guests had been welcomed, doves flew in alcoves and from the open ceiling of the ballroom at the sound of trumpets and the twinkling of harps. In came the fairies with their magnificent wings and elegant clothes that moved as if they were as light as a feather.
There were six fairies in total, and they were the only ones given formal invitations from the king and queen because they were the very powerful fae who lived in the skies and were worshiped like gods by the people.
Each fairy wore a different colored dress: cotton-candy pink, sky blue, lime green, lemony yellow, tangerine orange, and lilac purple. This is very important because it is the only way the humans and the non-fairy folk can address those fairies. Fairies had their own name, but it is simply too difficult to pronounce with the human tongue. And the land-dwellers don’t dare try to spell it out with ink because the fairies are simply too divine.
So the fairy dressed in cotton-candy pink is called Pink, the one in sky blue, Blue, the one in lime green, Green, and so on.
Like the other guests, the fairies each brought a gift for the baby. And because they are fairies and live in the sky, they, of course, also wield magic. That is how they would be giving their gifts. Through magic. This is just as important as their names because fairy magic is very potent.
Why else would they be worshiped like gods?
I’m sorry, let me stop right here for a sec. I know, I know. I definitely said before that land-dwellers worshiped them like gods because they lived in the sky or whatever, but if that was all it took to be looked upon like gods, what of dragons? What of giants? Do they not live in the sky too? Heck they do!
So. Fairy magic is powerful and highly treasured because they last over life-spans and since most fairies can fly with wings and most fairies are pretty and most fairies are kind, land-dwellers can’t help being mesmerized.
The six fairies lined up in no particular order and bowed to the king and queen, then with a courteous nod from the royal couple, they glided to the baby who now miraculously remained calm and watched them with huge, bug-like eyes.
Green, the fairy dressed in lime, presented their gift first.
“Elegance.” she said as she touched the tip of her forefinger to the baby’s forehead. “The princess shall grow up to carry elegance and poise fit for a queen.”
The other fairies behind her looked at each other. So did the other guests. Someone snickered.
Oh, the gift was wonderful, but it was oh so very funny because Green was the clumsiest fairy in that entire realm. As if on cue, Green tumbled to the floor when she turned to walk from the crib.
“I’m okay!” she called before shuffling away from the next fairy’s path.
The next fairy was the fairy dressed in cotton-candy pink. Pink went up to the princess and stared down over her long nose into the crib for a very long time. Her squinty eyes scrutinized the infant so intently that the child began to wail once more. Pink jabbed a wrinkled finger into the pink flesh of the infant’s forehead.
“Beauty.”
Noone objected as a glow bloomed from the fairy’s fingertip and enveloped the child who grew iridescent. The fairy, by the way, while they are named Pink, is also known as the ugliest fairy in the realm. Now don’t say I am mean to say so, because you would agree. And Pink is ugly, not grotesque. So stop that.
The next fairy was Blue in their sky blue robe who fluttered over as if reluctant to do so, then looked back at her sisters. (The fairies were not related of any sort, but in the same way that birds are a flock and fish are a school, fairies were sisters).
Purple, the fairy dressed in lilac, urged her on. When Blue continued to stare at them and then proceeded to cross her arms, Green, Pink, Yellow, and Orange also waved their hands as if to urge their comrade forwards.
Blue frowned. “Now why do I have to give a gift to a mere human?” they grouched. The king and queen who were on the throne, turned beet red. Unbeknown to this, Blue continued. “We have already given plenty and the princess has many other gifts. Is my presence not enough?”
However, by noticing the uncomfortable silence and small unwelcome chatter that her words had caused, Blue sighed reluctantly and dropped a finger onto the baby’s smooth forehead.
“Generosity.” she mumbled wistfully, then zipped back to join the others.
The audience fell back into a collective sigh. That was a good gift coming from the most selfish fairy in the realm. It was a gift fit for a future queen.
The next fairy, Yellow, crept up to the infant and gently placed her finger onto the child’s forehead.
“Voice,” said the fairy, their own words coming out in a wicked, throaty rasp. “She shall have a strong and delicate voice like that of an angel’s.”
When the magic was finished, the fairy who is known for having the most terrible voice in the realm stepped down and Orange took her place beside the cradle.
Now by now, a pattern in a fairy’s gift should be obvious to all who observe and hear this story. So when Orange declared that the princess should have a terrific sense of direction, you should also assume that this gift is given to the princess by the fairy with the most horrible sense of direction indeed.
This is how most fairy gifts are received. The gifts are given by magic and those gifts are usually of qualities that that specific fairy does not have. In that sense, Green, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Purple all were given other names according to the gift they gave at christenings. Green was also known as the Fairy of Elegance, Pink as the Fairy of Beauty, Blue as the Fairy of Generosity, Yellow as the Fairy of Music, and finally, Orange was known as the Fairy of Direction.
Now the fairy in her lilac silks stepped up to the infant child to give her gift. The audience collectively caught their breaths for this fairy was the most majestic they had ever seen. Purple, who’d walked as if she were gliding, was the most elegant fairy worthy of being called the Fairy of Elegance. Purple, who’s fair visage glowed, was the most beautiful fairy worthy of being called the Fairy of Beauty. Purple, who was rumored to have fed the poor and given homes to the orphans, was the most generous fairy, worthy of being called the Fairy of Generosity. Purple, whose delicate songs can be heard each morning, was the most musical fairy, her voice making her worthy of the title as the Fairy of Music. And Purple, who’d led the lost down the right path, was worthy of being the Fairy of Direction.
Thus Purple was so very good that she was simply known as the Good Fairy. So the Good Fairy touched the infant's forehead with the tip of her forefinger and prepared a gift.
Suddenly, the winds lashed out and the blue sky grew gray. The ground rumbled as if there were an earthquake. The king’s advisor, who’d been standing near the doors with the head maid, scurried up to the king as thunder rolled in the skies above and panic shot through the crowd. The king’s advisor was holding a rolled up parchment with a list of all the beings in the kingdom, all who would attend the princess’s christening.
The advisor held the parchment to his chest with fear in his eyes. “I think we may have a problem.”
“I can see that, Albert,” the king growled. “I thought you said the weather would be nice today.”
The poor advisor seemed to shrink down into the cuffs around his neck. “My liege, I’m afraid this is no ordinary weather.” Then the advisor shook out the parchment so that his highness could see what the matter was.
The parchment was very long. All the citizens of the kingdom were on the list from the human villagers to the elves and fae folk and the nymphs and the merfolk. Then at the bottom of the list were all the fairies of the sky who’d received a personal invitation because they were revered guests worshiped like gods.
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Green, respectively the Fairy of Elegance. Pink, respectively the Fairy of Beauty. Blue, respectively the Fairy of Generosity. Yellow, respectively the Fairy of Music. Orange, respectively the Fairy of Direction. Purple, the Good Fairy. And-
The king’s eyes bugged out from his head. And? The list should have been over. They thought it was. However, the kingdom had forgotten, there was another fairy.
If Purple was the Good Fairy, this fairy whom the royal court had failed to invite was the Evil Fairy. She had all the flaws of all the fairies combined and instead of the sky, she lived belowground. Although a fairy, she resembled a witch because she spoke spells like curses and upheld wicked motives.
The king slumped in his throne. “Oh, we are screwed.”
The ground shaked more violently and a crack tore through the ballroom floor. The guests scattered, forming a circle around the crack that caved in to reveal a jagged circle as steam rose from its depths and out came a shadow.
“I hope I’m not too late?” a shrill voice crowed.
When the mist cleared, a fairy clad in black robes stood smirking at the throne. The fairy was the ugliest fairy anyone had ever seen. They were hunched like a crone and the face looked so old, but the fairy’s hands were smooth and eyes bright blue. Their walk had a terrible limp as they hobbled towards the throne and the fairy bowed to the queen and king.
“I assume my invitation was led astray?” demanded the Evil Fairy.
The king gulped and looked at the advisor. The advisor trembled, face sheet-white.
The fairy turned towards the other fairies who stood by the infant’s cradle. “Sisters, did you by chance, by accident, receive my invitation too?”
Since fairies can’t lie, the others had no choice but to shake their heads.
The Evil Fairy turned back to the king and queen. A storm still raged outside. No rain fell, but wind rattled the glass and swept up skirts and hair.
The Evil Fairy was calm as she said, “I have a gift.”
“No!” This time, it was the queen who spoke. Her own mistake.
The fairy turned. “No?” The Evil Fairy laughed, stepping closer to the throne. “No? You failed to send me an invitation and when I grace your presence, you say ‘No’?” The fairy tilted her head. “No…?” she echoed.
The queen trembled on her throne. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
The fairy swept her dark skirts and made way for the cradle. The queen choked back a sob as she watched the dark creature approach her child. The king placed a hand on his queen’s.
The fairies who were near the cradle made a semi-circle around the baby.
“You cannot harm her,” said Pink.
“No curses,” added Green.
“Or incantations,” doubled Yellow.
“Just a gift. Only a gift,” promised Blue.
The Evil Fairy glared at all her sisters and then spoke so that all who were present in the ballroom could hear.
“Do not worry for your princess will grow elegant, graceful and delicate as a flower,” said the fairy. “She will grow beautiful, no other creature should rival her beauty.”
Now the Evil Fairy was pacing the ballroom and meeting the eyes of each guest with her blue ones that glimmered with power.
She continued, “The princess will grow to be generous, the land will love and respect her like a queen.”
The Evil Fairy began to prance, her dance steps as wicked as her heart. “The princess will sing, her voice will be like a melody. Your princess will lead. Her heart and head, strong, in the times of need.” The fairy laughed, “Yes, all this will be true. But-”
The audience held their breaths.
The Evil Fairy continued, “But, while the princess shall be elegant, beautiful, generous, musical, and a great leader above all else, she shall prick her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday, and die.” Then before anyone could stop the fairy, a bright ray of light shot towards the infant from the Evil Fairy’s finger. The spell was now made, and the fairy vanished, taking the storm with her.
All was calm and still after the fairy had left, that a pin-drop could be heard. Noone knew what to do for fear was now wrapped tight around their hearts. Then the Good Fairy stepped forwards and placed a hand on the baby’s forehead.
“She shall not die,” said Purple. “I have yet to give my gift.”
Everyone looked at Purple with wide eyes. Some wiped away tears, blinking out the fear.
The queen lept from her throne and fell before the fairy. “I beg you, please remove the curse on my baby!” sobbed the queen.
Gently, the Good Fairy lifted the queen to her feet. “I cannot remove another fairy’s gift, but I can alter it through giving my own.” Then the Good Fairy, with her hand on the baby’s forehead, spoke these words, “Yes, truly, the princess shall grow. Elegant, beautiful, musical, and more. And yes, truly, like my sister bid, in sixteen years prick her finger she will. But death? No, that will not do. In a deep slumber all will fall to0.”
So the festivities ended, and fearful no more, the king and queen waited for all that the fairies said to come true. And just as the fairies had bestowed, the child grew elegant and pretty, her hair dark like the earth, eyes blue like the deep sea and cheeks rosy pink. The princess was named Rose and became like promised, the most elegant, beautiful, generous, musical, and directed creature in all the lands.
By her sixteenth birthday, Princess Rose’s great reputation was known throughout the lands that along with the entire kingdom who’d celebrated her birthday at the palace, four princes from four different kingdoms came to ask for her hand in marriage.
The celebrities went as planned and the king and queen watched from their thrones unafraid of the Evil Fairy’s curse for they had banned all objects resembling a needle from entering the palace. Since the day of Princess Rose’s christening, all spinning wheels and spindles had been burned, banned, and taken away. The king had declared the curse not to make way. Now the royal couple was assured as they watched their daughter dance with her suitors in the search for love.
“Isn’t this going well, my love?” said the king to his queen.
The queen returned his smile with a tired one. Her years of worrying had left her with exhaustion. “Yes,” the queen replied, her worry dissipating with relief.
“Mama! Papa!” the king and queen looked up to see their graceful daughter smiling as she ran towards the throne. She’d left her dance partners behind her and held a silver tipped object wrapped in golden thread. “Look!” Rose spoke with delight. “This is called a spindle. I’ve never seen such a delicate looking thing.”
The queen trembled anew. “Honey… where did you find that…?”
“It’s a gift from a kind old lady!” Rose grinned.
“Rose, can you hand this over to your papa?” asked the king, reaching out with twittering hands.
Rose gave it to him and stepped back, confused at her parents’ wide-eyed reactions. “What’s wrong? Why are you both trembling?”
“It’s nothing, my child,” said the queen. “Now go back and stay with your suitors. Don’t accept gifts from any strangers.”
Rose was confused because she’d been taught that no one from the kingdom was a stranger and everyone she crossed paths with should be welcomed with open arms, but she nodded her head and turned to leave.
But while the princess had turned as if her mind was already made up to obey her parents’ will, she was sixteen, only a teenager. The child was curious and demanded to know things. Her heart told her that something was wrong and her parents were withholding secrets.
Rose spun back around. “What is that spindle?” wondered Rose. “Papa, you must know.”
“I do not,” the king lied. “Now go along.”
“Mama?” asked the princess.
“It is curious,” said the queen. “Now go, dear.”
“The old lady showed me. I can use it,” promised Rose, hand outreached.
“No, I will be keeping this,” the king answered. “Now go, child.”
Rose crossed her arms. “I’m sixteen. I’m no child!” And in that fiery moment Rose felt so angry at her parents for hiding something that she grabbed for the spindle in her father’s hands.
Her hand immediately drew back. “Ow.” Red blood dropped onto white marble. Rose had grabbed onto the needle of the spindle. “Oops,” the princess swooned. “I think I cut myself.” Then she collapsed.
The king and queen had no time to register the horror of what had just happened, because in the moment that their daughter had fallen before them, they too felt their eyelids grow heavy. Dark clouds now rolled over the kingdom and the people fell into a deep slumber, just as the Good Fairy promised it would.
The only ones spared from the sleeping spell were the four suitors from four different kingdoms. Vines shot through from the soil and drove these suitors away.
When all the people were asleep and not a creature could be heard, the Good Fairy appeared and took the princess in her arms. In the middle of the ballroom where light can still shine from the open ceiling, the fairy made a bed of vines and blankets out of clouds and placed upon it, the sleeping princess.
Then the fairy left.
The lifespan of a fairy is very long. Longer than a human. However, the Good Fairy knew that even if she were the youngest of all the fairies, she would only have about a hundred years. The Good Fairy had not been given the chance to give Rose the true gift she had wanted to give her at her christening, and that was the gift of love.
The Good Fairy wanted the princess to have what she did not have, the ability to not only be loved, but to love back. The Good Fairy’s lack of love was what tore her apart from the Evil Fairy. Lack of love was what led to her lover's tragic end. So a hundred years was what the Good Fairy had to give Rose the gift of love.
The Good Fairy set out to look for someone who would love Rose like the queen and king loved Rose, but also someone Rose would love back. The difficulty was that when a fairy dies, so does their spell. Rose will not wake in a hundred years until the Good Fairy’s death, but when the spell of deep sleep breaks, so would the other gifts. Elegance, beauty, and generosity would be no more. Rose would be ordinary without her natural musicality and direction. These are all things the child would have to learn on her own and for that, she would need a friend that would be her best support.
The Good Fairy spent her years searching throughout all the lands from hills to plains and over oceans and rivers. Years passed and still she could not find the one. Decades went on. Then came the hundredth year. The last day of the last month of the year. The Good Fairy fell depressed on the road in her crumpled old cloak.
“Good fellow, shall I fetch a pail of water?” called a voice. The fairy looked up and had hope. A tall man in roughspun clothing rode astride a donkey. The fairy nodded her head, so the man hopped off the ass and lifted the fairy onto its saddle before leading them to a bubbling creek. The man filled a cup with water and gave it to the fairy. The cup was gold, the cup of a king.
When the Good Fairy was finished drinking, she told the man that she needed some food. The man gave her a shiny red apple from a sack, now empty. The man was headed west, but when the fairy was finished eating, she demanded they go east.
The man looked troubled, but obliged and asked for a destination.
“Keep straight,” said the fairy. “You will know when you see.”
Here, readers, this man doesn’t even know that the traveler he is helping is the Good Fairy. He doesn’t know that they are a fairy at all! And you might be thinking, “the fairy, what is she doing? Demanding for food and water and a ride home, shouldn’t she be able to just use magic and poof! Everything goes according to plan?” Yes, maybe if she was a hundred years younger. But she’d had only a century more to live and today is the last day of the month of the last month of the hundredth year. So.
The pair had been traveling for a while and in the silence, the fairy demanded that the man sing. So the man hummed a little melody that led him to dancing too, and the fairy, to telling him about her childhood.
Then after that, the fairy had them stop by a river where she told the man to take a bath. Since the man had heard many wise words from the old stranger, he obeyed, tying his donkey to a tree and wading into the cold, fresh waters. The fairy went to the banks of the river and spit out the seed of an apple that had been wedged between her teeth. The river sloshed over the dark seed and took it away, but where it used to be was a shiny red tunic with gold lining and cuffs. When the man emerged from the water, the fairy gave him his new clothes.
Clean and dressed, the man now looked like a golden-haired prince. The two continued on traveling.
The sun had already begun to descend when the pair reached the gates of a sleeping kingdom.
“Good fellow, is this your home?” asked the man. “If so, how are we to wake the ones who are asleep?” The man reached a slumbering villager and shook them gently. The villager did not even stir.
The fairy did not reply.
“You wanted my help, I believe.” the man nodded his head. “Alright.” Then he tied his donkey near the gates and headed for the palace.
The cobblestones had grown rough over the years. And the vines crawled over every wall of every building. But the land was still decorated in celebration for Princess Rose’s birthday. Colorful banners were dimmed beneath the gray sky. The roses that grew in every garden were small as if tucked into sleep. However, while all this was very curious to the man who’d never seen such a thing, what took his breath away were the many portraits of a young woman seen from the open windows of the villagers’ houses. The portraits depicted a beautiful woman with dark hair like the earth, eyes like the deep sea, and cheeks rosy pink.
The man ran past all he saw and trotted up the palace gates that were left wide open and stepped onto the marble floor. He now entered the ballroom and saw the grand floor. All the guests: villages, elves, fae, nymphs, mermaids, and more were sprawled across the floor in a deep sleep. Two figures on thrones were sleeping with their hands locked together, the king and queen. And in the middle of the room, was the sleeping beauty.
The sleeping figure on a bed made of vines was the woman in the portraits. Hair dark as the earth, eyes blue like the deep blue sea, and cheeks rosy pink. The man was dazzled and confused in his amazement. He turned to look behind him where he’d heard the good fellow follow him. Where the good fellow once stood was the Good Fairy with her wings exposed.
“You are elegant, beautiful, graceful, musical, directional, just like our princess. Can you love her? Even if she loses all the shared qualities you now have?”
“You are a fairy,” observed the prince. “Yes, of course, love can bloom,” replied the prince.
Relieved, the fairy took her last breath and faded away.
When the sun broke through the surface of the sky now blue, orange, pink, the gray turned away, the prince looked at the figure on the bed of vines once more. The girl no longer looked like the girl from the portrait with hair dark as the earth, eyes blue as the deep blue sea and cheeks rosy pink. That was what the people of the kingdom first noticed when the kingdom first woke.
The Good Fairy and the Evil Fairy were twins and passed on the same day. Rose woke and saw the young man in his red tunic and golden hair and believed that he had saved her. In a way, he did, because while everyone else noticed how Rose looked different, or that her voice was no longer lyrical, the young man did not care. He only asked if she required help and became her friend.
Then sure, like the young man promised, love did eventually bloom, although slowly, and the two got married. The young man taught Rose how to be elegant, how she could feel beautiful, to be generous, how to carry her voice, and how to trust one’s direction. Yes, the man taught her all these she now lacked from the disappearance of her fairy gifts.
But the true gift was love. That was important for it was the Good Fairy’s real gift.
And so they lived happily-ever-after.
The End.