Once upon a time in the Enchanted Fairy Land, there lived three fairies, called Xenia, Sierra and Madison. They were the best of friends and always hung out together.

They were very excited as the Bug Circus was in town. The three of them went together and were having a great time. First they saw the Ant Trapeze Act, and then they went on the Grasshopper Ride. At the end of the day, they stopped by some stalls selling trinkets. All three of them spotted a jewellery box with diamonds on it. They absolutely loved it, so they bought it together.

When they reached Madison’s house, they opened the box. Madison picked it up to look at it more closely and as she turned it over, a scroll fell out of a secret compartment inside the box.

“What is that?” exclaimed Xenia.

“It looks very old,” said Sierra, unrolling the scroll.

It was a map to a treasure lost in the Enchanted Forest Land many years ago. The three fairies could not believe their luck.

“We must go looking for the treasure,” said Sierra. “It belonged to the Fairy Queen and she buried it outside the Enchanted Forest Land to protect it from the evil wizard Igoro, who wanted to steal the treasure,” she explained.

“Imagine, if we found it! We would be rich!” sighed Xenia.

“No!” said Sierra firmly, “the treasure belongs to the Fairy Kingdom and all the fairies in it. We will find it and give it to the Fairy King to share it with all the fairies in Enchanted Fairy Land. We will leave tonight, once it gets dark.” The other two fairies nodded in agreement.

That night, the fairies set out to look for the treasure. They reached the edge of the Enchanted Forest, somewhere they had never ever been before. Suddenly they heard a lovely voice singing a sweet song.

“Who can that be at this time of the night?” asked Madison, clinging on to Sierra’s arm. The fairies looked around scared.

“Who is that? Show you!” shouted Xenia, trying to be brave.

“I’m right behind you pretty little fairies!” came the voice. The fairies turned around but all they could see were trees and more tress.

“Where? Show yourself!” said Sierra.

“Look closely little brave fairy,” said the voice again. The fairies jumped with surprise as they realised that the voice was coming from a big old oak tree right in front of them. They could make out a face in the bark of the tree.

“Oh hello!” said Xenia, “You’re a talking tree?”

“Yes, dear,” said the tree, “and I know where you three are headed, and I have something for you. Take one of the magical mushrooms from my roots and it will protect you from danger. Now go quickly before the sun rises.”

The fairies thanked the old tree and went on their way.

The fairies had been walking for a while now and were getting tired. “Can’t we take a rest, please?” asked Madison. “We have to hurry and be there before the sun rises as we want to find the treasure in the dark of night so that Wizard Igoro does not find us. But alright we can sit down for a bit to see where we are to go next in the map,” explained Sierra.

As they sat down reading the map, they heard a rustle of leaves. “Who … whoo is that now?” shivered Madison.

Suddenly there was lots of smoke and a tall wizard appeared.

“It’s Igoro,” whispered Sierra to the other two.

“A little birdie told me you have something that I have been searching for a thousand years! And I want it now!” shouted the evil wizard Igoro. “I will be spying on you! And you will lead me to the treasure!”

He waved his magic wand and before the fairies could move anywhere he had cast a spell on them. The spell made the fairies do whatever the evil wizard was asking them to do.

“Lead me to the treasure” shouted Igoro, and all three fairies flew ahead of him towards the Smokey Mountains.

The fairies were now very close to the buried treasure and the Wizard was getting very excited.

“Hurry up, hurry up,” he kept saying.

The fairies flew faster and faster. Suddenly they heard a loud roaring sound. Now what? The fairies looked towards the wizard.

“Oh!” he smiled an evil smile, “Haven’t you heard of the Firey Dragon that protects the treasure!? Why do you think I needed you to go ahead and bring the treasure for me? Now go!” he said pointing towards where the sound was coming from.

The fairies could do nothing but obey him. They flew in towards the mountain cave where the treasure was. As they got closer it became hotter and the roars became louder.

“What are we going to do?” cried Madison, “the dragon will eat us all.”

“Quick Xenia, throw the mushroom into the cave,” whispered Sierra.

Xenia threw the mushroom into the cave and they heard loud gobbling sounds. Soon after that the roars were replaced by loud snores. It seemed like the dragon was fast asleep.

The fairies tiptoed into the cave and saw that the treasure was lying under the dragon’s tail. Xenia and Madison lifted the tail gently while Sierra pulled the treasure chest out slowly. As the three were flying out quietly, the dragon started to wake up. Xenia had a brilliant idea. She had special mimicking powers and as they flew out of the cave, she shouted, “I am Igoro, the evil wizard, and I have the fairies treasure and I have cast a spell on the dragon. Muahahaaahaahaaa!” in the voice of the evil wizard Igoro.

The dragon could not see the tiny fairies flying out, but it heard the voice and became so angry that it started to blow fire and flew out of the cave looking for the thief who had taken its treasure.

The wizard was very excited to see the treasure chest that he did not hear the dragon behind him and started dancing around and singing, “I have the fairies’ treasure. I am Igoro, the greatest wizard!”

The dragon headed straight for the wizard and blew a big fireball at him. The treasure chest flew out of the wizard’s hands and the fairies caught it, while the wizard ran away with the fiery dragon following him.

The fairies smiled and hugged each other. “Let’s head back to the Enchanted Fairy Land,” smiled Madison. “There is no place like home.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 14th, 2017