The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1233 by Angharad Copyright © 2011 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Nora didn’t see Trish during her visit and by the time I’d seen her off and found Trish, who had recovered from her discovery of Bowditch’s demise, I felt very tired. I sat down on the sofa in the lounge and Trish came and sat with me. I don’t know where the others were but I suspect they were out with Simon, except Julie who’d gone to work–eventually.

I yawned and closed my eyes. “Are you tired, Mummy?”

“A bit yes, I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“Was my bed too lumpy?”

“No,” I tousled her hair, “you silly thing.”

“Shall I tell you a story?”

“That would be nice–does it have a happy ending?” I asked.

“I think so.”

“Off you go then,” I encouraged.

“Once upon a time, there was a boy who knew he was really a princess.”

“Oh dear, poor boy.”

“Hush, I’m telling the story, not you.”

“Sorry,” I whispered and she glared at me, then smirked.

“Back to my princess boy: no one would believe he was really a princess or even a girl and his mummy got fed up with him and sent him to live in a home. They didn’t believe he was a princess there either, but he kept telling them.

“Because he was really a girl, some of the other boys bullied him. She kept on telling them she was a girl and one day the boss of the home said he could wear dresses if she wanted to and call herself by a girl’s name.

“She did this, but everyone laughed at her and the bullying went on an’ on–but she was happier because at least she was wearing the proper clothes. One of the boys there used to do nasty things to her and it used to make her cry. When she told him she was going to tell on him to the boss lady, he got cross with her and pushed her down the stairs. She banged her head and had to go to hospital.

“She met a nice girl in hospital who had the same trouble–she couldn’t walk either and they became friends. One day the other girl was sent home and then the princess was sent back to the home as well. She was very unhappy and she had to go and see the doctor at the hospital. She liked him because he was a very nice man who treated her like a princess.”

By now my eyes were very moist and I had a lump in my throat. Fortunately, she didn’t notice but continued her narrative.

“One day when the princess had to go to hospital to see the nice doctor, she saw her old friend again who was walking. The other girl, had been staying with a fairy queen who had cured her with her magic shoes, and she could walk as good as new. The doctor asked the princess if she would like to go and see the fairy queen to see if she could be cured, but the princess didn’t know what to do.

“The princess was in a special chair which had wheels on it because she couldn’t walk, but it meant the bullies weren’t allowed to hurt her anymore, so she didn’t know what to do. At the hospital, she met the fairy queen who was a lovely lady and who was married to a fairy king, and he was nice too.

“The fairy queen allowed her to come and stay at her fairy castle with the other girl who was living there too. It was a very nice castle and they lived with the fairy king and queen, the king’s sister and the queen’s daddy, who was really a wise man–like the ones in the story of Jesus.

“In no time, the queen had cured the princess using her magic shoes and then invited the princess to stay and live with them. The princess, who was now being called a princess, agreed to stay with them. It was a lovely time and she played nicely with her friend who she now called her sister.

“A little later another girl without a mummy and daddy came to live with them too, and then two boys, one of them was also really a girl, but she took a long time to say so. Then a big girl came to live with them, she had been hurt and the fairy queen had made her better.

“They all lived happily together until one day, the princess saw something on her computer about people doing nasty things to each other–it reminded her of the nasty things she had done to her by the bully. She told the queen who promised to protect her and help her get over her hurt.

“Then the princess saw that the bully had died trying to climb up a beanstalk–perhaps a giant had knocked him down–but he was dead and couldn’t hurt anyone else ever again. The princess was very glad and they all lived happily ever after.”

“You were supposed to go to sleep,” she said when she saw me sitting there with tears rolling down my face, “not cry. Was it a bad story, Mummy, is that why you’re crying?”

“No darling, it was a beautiful story and you told it so beautifully, it made me cry with happiness.”

“Doh, Mummy, you’re supposed to cry when you’re sad not happy.”

“Ladies and some men also cry when they’re very happy as well as when they’re sad.”

“Well I’m not going to do that when I’m a lady, it’s silly.”

“I’ve always cried when I’m very happy, and your story made me feel very happy. I got an impression that it was a bit autobiographical, is that so?”

“What’s autographical, Mummy?”

“Autobiographical, means it’s about a real person’s life and is told by them.”

“You weren’t supposed to know that, Mummy–I disguised everyone.”

“It was just a lucky guess, I expect–it was a fine tale told very well.”

“I mean, I made you a fairy queen, so you wouldn’t know it was you I meant.”

“Oh my goodness, the fairy queen was meant to be me? I’d never have guessed, not in a million years. So who was the magus?”

“Wossa maguss, Mummy?”

“A wise man, like the three who went to see baby Jesus, they were the Magi, which is the plural of magus.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Mummy?”

“Okay, I’ll rephrase it, who was the wise man?”

“Gramps–silly.”

“Oh gosh, I’d never have guessed.” What’s a white lie between friends?

“Silly Mummy.”

“Yes, kiddo, silly Mummy for thinking she could cure the princess just by giving her a perfect environment to grow and flourish.”

“But you did cure her.”

“Only of her walking problem, not of any of the others. Maybe I should resign as queen of the fairies?”

“You weren’t supposed to know it was you as the fairy queen,” she pouted.

“I didn’t until you told me.”

She gave me a very old fashioned look.

“Do you feel safer now Bowditch is dead?”

“Yes I do, Mummy, especially with you to protect me.”

“Oh, I thought you were looking after me?”

“No–that’s your job as a mummy.”

“That’s where I’ve been going wrong.”

“Silly Mummy,” she said and we hugged.