From The Chronicles of La La Land
Once upon a time in a magical land far, far away there existed a kingdom of bright, gay and happy fairies. These fairies were talented and had magical fingers; they could weave gold out of straw and carve ivory out of cold slabs of marble. Stories of these fairies spread around the world and many travelers, in search of exotic and precious wares to sell, eagerly stepped into La La Land for a first hand experience of what made these fairies so special.
La La Land was powered by an evil Queen who had been ruling over it for years. Not a blade of grass could grow without her permission and not a Phoenix could flap its wings until she allowed it. The fairies were actually petrified of the Queen as she was unpredictable and powerful and often very scary but they followed her blindly as the Queen allowed them to live in peace and even in prosperity as long as they bowed down to her. Consequently she allowed them to play in her garden and set up little stalls of their wares for influential travelers to inspect. She even lent them her magic flying carpet to carry them to far and distant lands where other fairies would congregate and put up dazzling little shows.
It was important for the Queen to be in control and as for the fairies, well, they simply didn’t know better. Intoxicated by success and blinded by greed they could no longer differentiate between right and wrong. Gradually they evolved into a group of subservient ‘lackeys who were puffed up with self-importance’ (brilliant phrase courtesy Stieg Larsson) and had no sense of fairness. There were just a few who could see through the unfairness that prevailed over La La Land but even they didn’t have the courage to incur the wrath of the evil Queen.
Well it so happens that one year, as the fairies were preparing for their annual ball – cupcakes and confetti et al – news flew in with the wind that The Fairy Godmother would be visiting from the United Kingdom and she would be coming to inspect the order of fairies and recommend several to be taken back to UK with her. It was an unprecedented honour for La La Land.
An old and wisened mirror called Oracle – a magical mirror that reflected truth in its starkest form – was summoned by the Governors of La La Land to receive Godmother. Oracle was special you see, it was the only one with the experience and wisdom to receive someone as special as Fairy Godmother. But as legend has it, things were not to transpire so easily. You see Oracle, unable to reflect anything but the truth, had shown the Queen’s true face to the world and the Queen hated the mirror for that.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?â€
she had chanted one stormy night. And poor Oracle, unable to utter anything but the truth had replied,
“It is power and position for what you care,
But my dear Queen, you’re anything but fair.â€
Oracle was to utter those words and it was banished from La La Land, locked away in a dark cellar and prohibited from stepping foot anywhere near the palace. Oracle was prohibited from meeting Fairy Godmother. The Queen just would not allow it, despite being advised otherwise by the sensible Governors of the land. She cursed Oracle with the strongest of curses and held it captive within its own wall. It turned to glass, frosted every day by the Queen’s icy glare.
But destiny plays a big part in the way things turn out. The winds were kind and they blew Oracle’s whispers across the corn fields and through the clouds, they carried Oracles words across the ocean and straight into Fairy Godmother’s ears. She was a gentle and kind soul and she sent a powerful spell Oracle’s way. Her spell broke the Fairy Queen’s curse and Oracle managed to break away from cold clutches of the Queen’s spell. Oracle found freedom to shine and shimmer across the land and thanks to Fairy Godmother’s spell, no curse could bind it anymore.
* This is a fictional piece of writing and any resemblance to a person, living or dead, is purely coincidental!
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