The fairy and the moth

Two winged creatures help each other in this parable by Ashrafi Antia

Frida the fairy, had butterflies in her stomach, as she sat in class desperately trying to memorise the words to a spell, at fairy school. She knew she had a problem learning magic. She was forever bungling up. “Your turn next,” said Miss Lily, turning towards Frida.  She was teaching them to turn a garden gnome into a prince. “Umm...uh... Cala za bam, fiddle de foo, turn into a prince you,” proclaimed Frida hesitantly, and the class burst into laughter as the garden gnome turned into a toad instead of a prince.

Frida turned red with embarrassment. She was the laughing stock of the class. Her classmates doubled up in laughter and made fun of her. They called her Fiasco Frida and Flop-fairy Frida. Her teacher slapped her forehead and stamped her delicate foot in exasperation saying, “When will you ever learn to cast a spell correctly, Frida?” 

But Frida had a problem all the jargon of the spells got mixed up in her head and the words came out in a different order. Instead of saying “Ala ca zam” It came out as “Cala za bam” and lo and behold the spell had a completely different effect, quite the opposite of what it should have. She had a learning disability called ‘Dispellia’. She had heard that some humans have it too and in their case it is called dyslexia — where the words or numbers get mixed up when they are reading.

Luckily, she was saved by the bell, signalling the end of lessons for the day. Feeling disheartened, Frida headed home. It was a wet, rainy day. She stopped along the way and sat on a toadstool under a big banana leaf, taking shelter from the rain, holding her tiny head in her hands. 

Her grandma came looking for her and said, “Oh! There you are dear. Why do you look so glum?” Frida related the morning’s fiasco at school to her granny. Grandma Greta said, “Cheer up, my cherub. Look, the clouds are clearing and there’s a beautiful rainbow in the sky. Why don’t you do some painting? That always makes you feel better and you are so good at it. Just like your namesake — the famous artist Frida Kahlo!”  Feeling like a great weight was lifted off her little shoulders, Frida smiled and followed her wise grandma’s advice. She found a quite corner in the woods, took out her paints and drawing book and began to paint. Painting always brightened her mood. Time flew by.

Suddenly, something fluttered out of the dry leaves that lay piled up on the forest floor. It was a moth. Monty the moth had been feeling low as his cousins teased him for being dull and drab. He was lying low, hiding from them, and camouflaging himself in the dry, brown leaves. Flying in circles around Frida, he admired her colourful painting of the forest landscape. He sighed, “Alas, there’s no colour in my life. I wish we moths were like butterflies, reflecting all the colours of the rainbow.”

“Don’t be sad,” said Frida. “I have an idea! How about I paint your wings?” “Sure. Why not? Let’s give it a shot,” said Monty, excited by the prospect of a makeover. Frida began working on the moth’s wings with her paint brush, giving him strokes of different hues and transforming him into a beautiful winged creature with her colourful patterns and intricate designs.  

Suddenly, loads of other moths seemed to appear from nowhere…flocking and fluttering around her. “Please paint our wings too,” they begged. So Frida turned their wings into her canvas and created the most beautiful moths that could compare in beauty with any butterfly.

“Come with me,” she said. “I want to introduce you to my grandma.” Leading the way, Frida flew to her corner of the woods, followed by a trail of the most beautiful moths. As they flew past the fairy school, the other fairies who had been making fun of her, looked in awe at the moth-fly-past and Frida’s gorgeous winged creations. They began clamouring for Frida to please paint their wings too.  Her teacher, Miss Lily, said, “Though you may not be good at fairy magic, you have magic in your fingers dear child”.

That’s how Frida became the first fairy fashion designer. She was grateful to her Grandma Greta, who taught her that it is okay to be different and that not everyone is made the same. The important thing is to find your own talent and what you are good at and people will love you and accept you for who you are.

So if you see a pretty moth flitting by, you can be sure she’s one of Frida’s fabulous creations.