Summerland – Part One

Sandy took off the sunglasses again and rubbed her eyes before putting them back on. Was she really seeing what she thought she was? Hundreds of little fairies flying around the flowers in her back garden? Fairies dressed in bright coloured tunics with fluttering butterfly wings upon their backs and tiny golden sandals on their feet, skipping and dancing and laughing.

Sandy’s mum had bought the Sunglasses from an old charity shop when they’d been out shopping and Sandy had liked the look of them because their frames were shaped like white daisy petals and their lenses were bright yellow. She’d thought they looked really cool but she’d never expected them to be magic sunglasses.

“And they must be magic”, said the little girl, gasping as she looked around at the fairy world, “If they let me see fairies”.

She reached out and touched one of the fairies that was painting bright colours onto a flower with a tiny brush, prodding it with her finger just to make sure it was really there.

“Hey!”, the fairy said, angrily, “Who do you think you’re poking?”.

But then the fairy looked up and saw who had prodded it and, in a startled voice, he called out to his fellow fairy folk, “She can see us! That little girl can see us!”.

Then, suddenly, Sandy was surrounded by a swarm of angry fairies, some of whom were hovering around her face grabbing at her sunglasses and trying to pull them off.

“Help! Help!”, cried Sandy, frantically, turning and running away from the fairies.

But then, just as she was half way across the lawn she saw, on the other side of the lawn, an ornamental garden gnome get up from the ceramic toadstool he was sitting on and start shouting at the fairies.

“Hey you”, he said, using his gnome fishing rod to whip a fairy out of the air, “Leave that little mortal alone”.

“But she can see us”, said one of the fairies, “She’s wearing magic glasses and no mortal is allowed to see fairies. She might tell all the mortals about us and then where would we be?”.

“I won’t”, said Sandy, “I promise I won’t”.

But the fairies wouldn’t listen and the next thing that Sandy knew a fairy was flying round her at a dizzying speed wrapping her up in a garden hosepipe .

“We must take her to the fairy king”, said another of the fairies, “He will know what to do with her”.

“Oh no”, said Sandy, calling to the gnome, “Please help!”.

But, just then the Gnome ran over to an old green watering can, with a long spout, that was sitting in a corner of the garden and picking it up brought it back over to Sandy.

“Quick!”, he said to her, “Rub this”.

“A watering can?”, asked Sandy, puzzled.

“In the mortal realm perhaps. But in the fairy realm it is a Genies watering can and the Genie can help”, explained the Gnome.

But Sandy couldn’t rub the watering can because her hands were bound by the hosepipe.

“Use your foot”, said the Gnome, holding out the can.

Sandy reached out with one of her feet and rubbed the watering can.

And, as she did, out of the spout of the watering can came a swirling cloud of white mist that then turned into a Genie just like the one she’d read about in the story of Aladdin.

“Who has rubbed my watering can? Whoever it is may have three wishes?”, said the Genie.

“Oh, I wish you would save me from these fairies”, replied Sandy as one of the angry fairies tugged at her hair.

“Very well”, said the Genie, reaching into his watering can and pulling out an aerosol can with the words “Fairy repellent” on it before spraying it at the swarm of fairies around Sandy who, seeming to find the smell of the repellent revolting, flew off choking and coughing and holding their noses.

“Phew”, said Sandy as the Gnome began unwinding the hosepipe from round about her, setting her free, “Those fairies are not as nice as I expected fairies to be”.

But then the genie of the Watering can told Sandy that she still had two more wishes.

“Ask anything”, it said, bowing, “And I shall grant it, little girl”.

“Mmm? Well”, she said, “I’d like to see more of fairy land but not anything scary like those fairies. Just fun things”.

“Very well”, said the Genie, “What we need is transportation”.

Then, putting what looked like a dog whistle in his mouth, the Genie blew on the whistle and then, flying down out of the sky, to her amazement, Sandy saw a giant flying hot dog; a frankfurter in a hot dog bun but with wings.

And then, barking just like a real dog, the hot dog swooped down and landed in front of the little girl.

“Good boy”, said the Genie patting the hot dog.

“Wow”, said Sandy, “Can you eat it?”.

The hot dog growled angrily and looked upset by this suggestion.

“No, no. Out of the question”, said the Genie, shaking his head, “The flying hotdog is not for eating, it’s for flying on. It’s the giant flying hotdog of Summerland”.

“Summerland”, asked Sandy, “I thought that Summer was a time, not a place”.

“Oh yes”, replied the Genie, “But every season is a place in fairyland; Springland, Summerland, Autumnland and Winterland. In Summerland it is always Summer and everyone is always happy and life’s one long Summer carnival”.

“Oh”, said Sandy, liking the sound of Summerland, “I’d like to go there”.

“Well then, climb on board the flying hotdog”, said the Genie, “And to Summerland we shall go”.

Then Sandy, the Genie and the Gnome all climbed onto the flying hotdog and, in the next instant, the hot dog had soared up into the air, flapping its golden wings and then, as fast as a jet plane but without all the bumpiness of plane travel, it flew off in the direction of the sun.