Fire Faery

I made Leah a fire faery figure out of magic wool to hang on the wall near her bed. I simply took a large handful of various shades of yellow, red, and a bit of purple roving, laid it flat on my hand, and shaped it into a rough form, then needled to secure. The head was golden, the form somewhat flame-shaped covered in a long cape. I gave the cape a high collar which framed the head. I made the head and the collar quite firm but the bottom of the figure is very loose. I wanted it to resemble a flame with the yellow in the center and the red on the outside (the brighter the color the hotter the flame is burning). There is one thin strand of purple which whisps up from the bottom and around the figure to the back. After I hung up the faery carefully, I read her "The Fire Faery" story from The Breathing Circle. It is about a little girl that dreads going to sleep because she is afraid of the dark. Leah is not afraid of the dark (I don't think) but she hates going to sleep and it is always a battle with her every night so I was looking for something to soothe her. After the story, she asked me "Why did Lucy not want to go to bed?" And I said, "What do you think?" And she said, "I think she just wanted to play and play all night" (which I know is the problem with Leah, she doesn't want to sleep because she's afraid she'll stop having fun or miss something). After the story she went right off to sleep, though, so I think it helped. We'll do it over and over.

At the end of the story, the little girl wakes up in the morning and the fire faery has left her a gift to remember her by, and to remember never to be afraid of the dark but to feel the light inside of herself. The gift is three feathers: one red, one orange, one yellow. I don't have feathers like that but I will try to find something around the house that I can leave on Leah's pillow for her present.

Natalie and I finished volume IV of the Tiptoes Lightly series and will start with The Wise Enchanter tomorrow night.