Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 33 text:

The Branksome Slogan 31 And before Miss O ' Neill could say ' ' Bless you Patty O ' Flaherty ' s brown pigtails had disappeared out the door. Patty skipped down the street, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks rosy and dimpled. She almost ran right into Mr. Murphy, who was polishing his store window. ' ' Hello there, Patty, he laughed, and where are you skipping to? Patty could hardly keep her black buttoned shoes still as she said, Mr. Murphy, would you believe it, but I, Patty O ' Flaherty, am going to see the fairies dance a fairy ring in the deep, deep woods ! Mr. Murphy smiled to himself. T hope you find your fairies in the deep, deep woods, Patty. The sun was painting long, dark patterns on the road as Patty skipped on her way home. The shop windows turned to gold and a cool breeze ruffled the evening papers by the post office. A cricket chirped at Patty from the edge of the woods and a little grey squirrel ran across her path, chattering noisily. Her mother was waiting for her as she opened the white gate in front of her house. Patty, ' her mother said sternly, Where have you been skipping to all day? ' Patty looked breathlessly up at her mothei , her brown eyes as shiny as the buttons on her shoes. Mother, would you believe it, but I am going to see the fairies dance a fairy ring! Patty ' s mother g-azed at her in a strange way. Patty, she said, for goodness sake stop thinking about such silly things and get some supper! All that evening Patty O ' Flaherty felt happy inside. She sang as To Mm M ' -michael

Page 32 text:

30 The Branksome Slogan Stardust It was plain to see that Patty 0 ' Flaherty was feeUng very, very blue. Her two shiny brown pig-tails sat primly on her two drooping shoulders. Her brown eyes looked sadly down at two shoes which scuffed disconso ' lately along the dusty road. Yes, Patty O ' Flaherty was certainly very unhappy about something. It could not have been the weather, for the sun was as gold and bright as the yellow butter- cups which nodded in the green grass by the road; the sky was as blue as the corn-flowers which peeked at Patty from the wayside. No, it was something more dreadful than Patty had ever heard before. Someone had told Patty O ' Flaherty that there were no fairies! That was the reason why she was not skipping or singing as she usually did ; she was thinking and wondering about fairies n ' things. When Patty arrived in the town, she went straight to Miss O ' Neiirs Candy Shop. Surely Miss O ' Neill would tell her the truth about the fairies! The bell gave a merry tinkle as she opened the heavy door. ' ' Why if it isn ' t Patty 0 ' ' Flaherty herself; and what can I be doing for you? Patty looked longingly at the coloured candies in the shiny jars on the shelf. Then she said, Miss O ' Neill, are there really and truly fairies ? Miss O ' Neill looked at Patty and smiled. ' Tatty , she said, ' T have never seen a fairy or lepachaun, but I ' ve heard it said that by the light of the moon, in the deep, deep woods, the wee folk dance a fairy ring. Patty O ' Flaherty ' s brown eyes popped open and her red mouth said, Oh ! Oh, thank you, thank you. Miss O ' Neill !

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32 The Branksome Slogan she helped her mother with the dishes ; she skipped when she brought her father ' s pipe and slippers to him. That night Patty did not object to going to bed; she lay under the cool sheets listening to the clickety- clack-of her mother ' s knitting kneedles, and the contented crackle of her father ' s paper. The moon lay a shimmering path of moonbeams across her coverlet, Patty fell asleep. Patty did not know how it happened, but suddenly she was sitting up in bed; the moonlight made tiny patterns on the dark floor. Then she rememibered the fairy ring! Up she jumped, throwing off the covers. Her toes wriggled around the floor until they found two fuzzy slippers. She threw a warm dressing gown over her little white nightie and then very slowly, quieter than a miouse, she slipped into the hall, past her parents ' room, and down the stairs. The moon shone as bright as day outside, and the air was warm and pleasant. Patty ran quickly across the road, ran into the coolness of the deep, deep woods, until the moon could hardly find its way through the ragged branches of the cedars. Still Patty did not see any fairies; on she went, the moss cool and damp under her feet. The air was filled with strange noises and cool smells. Soon she came out into a small clearing. The moon laid a silver carpet on the forest floor; Patty was so tired that she sat down on the ground; her head felt heavy, and she was oh, so, tired . . . Then it happened! Tiny voices were singing and there was music, strange and wonderful, like the tinkle of glass. Patty rubbed her eyes. Did she really see fairies? Yes, a tiny elf was sitting in front of a toadstool, looking up at her. ' ' Oh! said Patty, ' ' you really are a fairy, aren ' t you? The little fellow laughed, ' ' Yes, Patty O ' Flaherty, we are fairies. The little elf looked at her a little sadly, Patty , he said, We have always been here ; there have always been fairies, but the trouble is, too many people don ' t take time to believe in us. Fairies are thoughts, which live in every child ' s mind, and as long as children believe in fairies, and love them, we will be here. So it happened that Patty saw the fairies. Whether it was a dream or not, Patty will never know. But next morning, when the sun poked his warm fingers across her room, Patty looked at her slippers, and there on the soles were tiny specks of silver. They could have come from the fairy ring in the deep, deep woods. What do you think? CHARMIAN PHILLPOTT, Form IV.