Selfless and thoughtful – A fairy tale

"Selfless" and "Thoughtful" were sisters of the little "Gold-wings"

fairies. I cannot tell you which of the two was the sweetest and best, or which was the most beautiful; they were both so lovable and so generous of spirit. Like little "Gold-wings" they were always thinking of others, and especially of how they could give pleasure to the sick and weak. They often sat on a mossy bank in the Fairy wood chatting about their plans. One day, as they sat on a mossy bank in the Fairy wood, Selfless asked Thoughtful what she should do next. and

"I have been thinking of little Davie. He is so lame and weak; suppose I fly to the nursery school and try to get someone to be kind to him." "A good idea," replied Thoughtful. "A good idea," replied "Selfless," "and I will fly over the fields and see what can be done there; then in the

moonlight we will meet, and tell each other what we have done." So, they spread their pretty wings and flew away.

The day ended and night engulfed the fairy land. The two sisters had returned and in the silver moonlight they sat on the moss-covered bank of the stream to talk.

"I flew to the kindergarten," said "Thoughtful," "you know Davie used to attend there before he was ill. Of course, no one saw me, and as I hovered over the teacher's desk, a young girl wearing rosy cheeks came up to the desk and laid a lovely bunch of crimson roses on it for the teacher. The scent was so delicious I could not help nestling down into one of the roses to enjoy it better. The teacher picked up the flowers, not knowing I was there, and as she buried her face in the soft petals,

to smell the sweet perfume, I whispered 'Send them to Davie'."

"A smile instantly came over her face, and she said: 'Bessie, a good fairy has whispered a kind thought to me; shall we send your pretty roses to Davie?'"

"'Oh! yes,' said Bessie, 'I'll take them to him with your love."

"Joy lit up Davie’s face when Bessie arrived with the roses. The teacher was happy to have remembered him, and Bessie was happy to have brought the flowers. I left the hut feeling pleased that everything had turned out well." Thoughtful turned towards selfless and asked, "what have you done, dear sister?"

Then "Selfless" answered: --

Then “Selfless” answered, “I flew away over the fields, and there I saw a little boy, Edwin, wearing his nicest clothes, running across the field towards a house that was all lit up with candles. I knew he was going to a birthday party. He was running so that he wouldn’t be late. Of course, he wanted to see the cake, which had been covered with icing and sprinkled with little pieces of silver.”

"I saw a little girl in the fields, also, walking along the hedges looking for blackberries. In trying to reach a branch of the ripe fruit that grew on the farther side of a ditch, the poor child overbalanced herself and fell in, uttering a loud scream."

"Edwin heard the scream and said to himself, 'I wonder what that is? I should like to go and see, but oh, dear! it will perhaps make me late for the party'.

"Edwin was torn between the choice of helping a girl and going to a party on time.

Soon the child screamed again and Erwin turned back, and ran to the place where the sounds had seemed to come from. He saw the little girl, who was trying to scramble up the steep side of the ditch, and could not; it needed the help of Edwin's strong hands to give her a good pull, and bring her safely out. Oh, how glad she was to be on the grass once more! Edwin wiped her tears away, and told her to run home; then he made haste to the party with a light, glad heart, and he arrived just as they

were sitting down to tea, so he was in time for the cake after all. But even if he had missed it, he would have been glad that he stayed behind to help the little girl."

"What a nice boy," said "Thoughtful". "Did he tell the people at the party what he had done?"

"Oh, no," replied "Selfless"; "his mother told him that people should never boast of kind things they had done, for that would spoil it."

"True," said "Thoughtful"; "but what did you do, dear Selfless?"

"I am the one who helped Edwin to listen to the Good Voice and make the right choice of helping the girl," replied "Selfless," as she looked down on the moss at her feet.

"A very good work" said "Thoughtful"; "and now, what shall we do next?"

"I have been thinking," said "Selfless," "that Christmas will soon be here, and how nice it would be if we could help the children at the Kindergarten to think of Davie, and make ready a Christmas present for him."

“A lovely idea,” said “Thoughtful.” “Let’s go there tomorrow. We have only a month left until Christmas.”

Next morning the two fairy sisters came to the Kindergarten, and floated about unseen, as fairies always do. First they rested on the teacher, who was very fond of these unseen fairies, and she began to think of Davie. "Children," said she, "Christmas will be here in a month; shall we make a present for little Davie?"

Bessie was the first to answer, and she said, "Oh, yes, it would be lovely to make a Christmas present for Davie; do let us try". And all the children said, "Yes, do let us try".

"It must be something made by your own little hands," said the teacher. "Think now, what could you do?"

"We could make some little 'boats' in paperfolding," said one child. Teacher said that would do nicely, and she wrote it down.

Another child said, "I could sew a 'cat' in the embroidery lesson," and Bessie exclaimed, "Please let me sew a 'kitten' to go with it," and the teacher wrote that down, and remarked that some one else might make the "saucer" for pussy's milk, in pricking. Then others might make a "nest" in clay with eggs in it, and a little "bird" sitting on the eggs, suggested the teacher. As the "babies" begged to be allowed to help also, they were told to thread pretty colored beads on sticks, and make a nice large basket.

"Now," said teacher, "I have quite a long list, and we must begin at once." So they all set to work, and when breaking-up day came, Davie's present was ready. There was a whole fleet of "ships," white inside and crimson outside. The pictures of "pussy" and her "kitten" were neatly sewn, and the "saucer" was white and clean, and evenly pricked, while the "bird" on its "nest" looked as pretty as could be, and the "bead basket" was the best of all--at least the babies thought so.

I have no words to tell of the joy that the children's present brought to little Davie, his face flushed with pleasure as the "boats" and other gifts were spread out before him; it was so delightful to think that the children had remembered him and worked for him.

"Selfless" and "Thoughtful" sat once more on the mossy bank, and rejoiced that the plan had worked so well. Do you know, doing kind things is like going to parties; when you have been to one party, you like it so much that you are glad to go to another, and when you have done one kind thing, it makes

you so happy you want to do another. If these little fairies and their sister "Kindness" should ever suggest thoughts to you, dear boys and girls, do not send them away. They will speak to you through the Good Voice, and the happiest people in the world are the people who listen to the Good Voice.