Katie's Christmas Fairies

Katie was excited because it was almost Christmas but she became even more excited when she woke up one morning and found a Christmas tree in the front room. She had run into the room, still in her pyjamas, to switch on the telly but stopped dead when she saw the tree. The furniture had been moved around a little to make room for it and there it stood, tall and Christmassy. Katie was so excited that she ran up and down on the spot, clenching her fists and crying ‘A Christmas tree, a Christmas tree!’ This made Daddy laugh. He laughed very hard, so hard that he made himself cough. He coughed for a long time, bent double with his hands on his knees. Mummy came and helped him back into a chair and slowly his coughing died down. He got his breath back and wiped his eyes, his face no longer such a funny colour. ‘Do you like it?’ he asked.
‘I do, I do! Where did it come from?’ said Katie.
‘The fairies brought it.’
‘Fairies?’
‘The Christmas fairies. They brought it last night when we were all asleep and they put it up and decorated it for us.’
Katie opened her eyes wide and, smiling, Daddy said, ‘I thought I heard the rustle of tinsel but I just rolled over and went back to sleep.’
‘Really? You heard them?’ said Katie, her eyes even wider.
‘Only just. They were very quiet.’
Katie stood closer to the tree looking at the baubles and tinsel. She reached out and touched one of the baubles. It was long, pointed at both ends and fatter in the middle. It has striped and when you twisted it on its cotton thread it made patterns as it span. Katie set it twisting and said, ‘This one’s my favourite. I remember it from last year.’
‘The fairies always put on your favourite decorations,’ said Daddy. ‘Let me put the lights on.’
He pushed a plug into the socket and the tree burst into sparkling lights that danced in Katie’s eyes.
When Christmas was over Katie watched Mummy Daddy take down the decorations from the tree and pack them away in a big box.
‘What will you do with them?’ she asked.
‘I’ll put them up the loft until next Christmas,’ said Daddy.
‘How will the fairies know where to find them?’
For a moment Daddy stood with his mouth open. ‘Go on,’ said Mummy, smiling, ‘how will they find them?’
‘Of course they’ll find them. Fairies know everything and besides I shall write on the box what’s inside so that everyone will know.’
‘I want to see the Christmas fairies putting up the tree,’ said Katie.
‘You’ll have to wait ’til next Christmas.’
It seemed like a long time ’til next Christmas; and it was, and lot of things happened too. First Daddy died. His coughing became a lot worse and he was taken to a special hospital called a hospice. One night Grandpa brought Katie home from visiting Daddy but Mummy stayed at the hospice. In the morning Grandpa told Katie that Daddy had died. Katie cried a lot but not as much as Mummy. Katie tried not to cry because it made Mummy cry.
Then they moved house. They left their house and moved to a flat. ‘Are we poor now that Daddy’s died?’ asked Katie.
‘Not exactly poor,’ said Mummy, ‘but we must be careful now.’
The new flat was near to where Grandpa lived and he often came to see them. He was Mummy’s daddy and he was the only person Katie knew that smoked a pipe. It smelled funny and Mummy wouldn’t let him smoke it in the flat, just as he had always had to go in the garden at their old house. He used to stand outside with great clouds of blue smoke coming from his pipe and Daddy would go out and smoke a cigarette with him. Now when Grandpa took Katie to the park he would smoke the pipe, making enormous blue clouds and say, ‘Don’t tell your mother.’
Then Katie had to go a new school. It was all right. Katie made some new friends but there were some kids she didn’t like.
It was coming up to Christmas again and one day Bug Johnson overheard Katie talking.
‘Christmas fairies,’ he jeered. ‘You big baby. There’s no Christmas fairies. It was your dad brung the tree.’
Bug Johnson was big for his age, thickset with piggy eyes and a piggy nose. No one liked him. He hit and pinched and shoved and stamped and was mean all the time.
‘You won’t get a Christmas tree this year,’ he said. ‘And you won’t get any presents, neither. Cos your dad’s dead!’ and he ran off laughing. Katie scowled at his back as he ran off. She knew it was Bug Johnson that wouldn’t be getting any presents. She knew Father Christmas had a list with all the names of the good boys and girls on it. She was fairly certain that her name would be on the good list as she had been trying extra hard to be good that year. Father Christmas also had a list with all the naughty boys’ names on it and Bug Johnson’s name was sure to be on that. In big letters. Big, red letters. And underlined.
Bug Johnson was called ‘bug’ because his brothers made him eat bugs to prove how tough he was.
‘Will the Christmas fairies bring a tree?’ Katie asked Mummy but Mummy got upset and Katie did not like to ask again.
It was different this year. Last year the Christmas fairies had brought an Advent calendar too but now it was well into December and none had appeared. Some Christmas cards had come through the post but Mummy had not put them up and some she hadn’t even opened.
One night Katie was supposed to be asleep but she could hear Mummy and Grandpa talking. The new flat was small and from her bedroom Katie could hear them in the kitchen.
‘When are you getting a tree?’ asked Grandpa.
‘Oh Dad,’ said Mummy. ‘I know I should but I just can’t bring myself to, not this year. It’s too soon. Dave always loved Christmas; he made such a fuss, dressing up and decorating everywhere. I can’t do it this year. It’s not the same.’
‘I know, I know,’ said Grandpa softly. ‘I didn’t feel much like Christmas after your mum passed on. But it’s not just you, you know. What about Katie? Where’s her Christmas? She’s had to grow up a lot this last year but she’s still a kid and Christmas is all about kids. Don’t let her lose everything.’
Katie did not hear anymore.
Christmas cards went up and Mummy bought an Advent calendar with chocolates. ‘Look what I’ve got you,’ said Mummy, pulling the calendar from a carrier bag.
‘Didn’t the fairies bring it?’ Katie asked. ‘They brought one last year.’
‘Um, they’ve been very busy and we have moved house,’ said Mummy. ‘Maybe they don’t know our new address.’
‘Will they bring a Christmas tree?’
‘Wait and see,’ said Mummy. ‘Now open your Advent calendar.’
Katie had lots of catching up to do so she got to eat a lot of the chocolates in one go but after that she only ate the one chocolate for each day.
One evening Katie had just had her bath and got into her pyjamas, ready for bed, when Grandpa came in through the front door. He nodded to Mummy as he took off his smoky old anorak then he said to Katie, ‘Do you know what today is?’
Katie shook her head.
‘Today is the Eve of Christmas Eve, it’s Christmas Eve’s Eve. It’s a very special day, not as special as Christmas Eve but very nearly. There’s magic in the air.’
Katie hugged Bear more closely to her chest. ‘Will the Christmas fairies bring a Christmas tree?’ she asked, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement.
‘They might but only if you’re a good girl and go to sleep. Keep your eyes tight closed and no peeking.’
Katie was very, very excited but Mummy said she had to go to bed or the Christmas fairies would not come at all. Mummy tucked her into bed and said, ‘Remember, no peeking. They won’t come if you’re still awake.’
Katie closed her eyes up tight but found it hard to sleep as she was thinking so much about the Christmas fairies. She imagined them flying through the sky, dozens of them carrying an enormous tree between them. They were tiny, with tiny sparkling fairy wings. They wore red and white and green and had tiny little holly leaves and red berries in their hair. They put the tree up by the telly and they started to decorate it, the fairies flying about with baubles that were as big as they were, hanging them on branches, and long lengths of tinsel but the fairies could carry them easily because they were magic. Katie thought she heard a rustle and one of the fairies tell another one to ‘sush’ but then she was asleep and couldn’t tell if she had imagined it, dreamed it, or it was true.
Katie woke in the morning and jumped out of bed. Mummy and Grandpa were up already, waiting for her as she ran up and saw the Christmas tree for the first time.
‘It’s the biggest Christmas tree ever!’ Katie gasped.
The tree was big. It was so tall that the top touched the ceiling and bent over, leaving no room for the plastic fairy which had to perch on a branch near the top. ‘It is a bit big,’ said Mummy, giving Grandpa a look.
Katie danced in front of the tree. It had all the same baubles and tinsel as last year, including her favourite twirly stripy. Mummy knelt down and gave Katie a hug and they both looked up at the tree.
‘It’s just the kind of tree that Daddy would have liked,’ said Katie.
‘Yes, he couldn’t have picked a better one himself,’ said Mummy.