Thursday, September 22, 2011

A Tall Tale Full of Magical Princesses and Turtles

This is my post for  the Accidental Knitter's ABC Meme that I am participating in.
The letter is T and the post is Tall Tales.

This is a letter that I will write to my grand daughter one day, but I hope not too soon.

Dear Isabella,

Among the many stories I have told you over the years, there is one particular one that I hope you can forgive me for.

One time, after a trip to Florida, Pop-Pop and I brought you a little stuffed turtle.   You were about 4 years old.  When I gave you the turtle, I told you a little story.  I wonder if you remember it.

  One day when Pop-Pop and I were walking on the beach, we spotted a little turtle.   The turtle looked very young, a baby in fact.   She looked sad.   I knelt down, like this, and gently picked up the little turtle.   She was very shy, but I think she liked me.
After a little while, I thought I had better put her down, right in the same spot just in case her Mommy came looking for her.
As we started to walk away, we noticed that the little turtle seemed to be following us.  I knelt down again, like this, and told the little turtle that she needed to stay here on the beach.  After all that's where she lived, that was her home.  
We started to walk away and again the little turtle followed us.   I said to Pop-Pop, I wish we could take her home with us.  I think Bella would love her.
As soon as I said that,  a magical fairy princess appeared.
The Princess had long brown hair, and big brown eyes, just like yours, Bella.  She was beautiful, just like you.  Her dress was green and it sparkled.
The Princess told Pop-Pop and I that she was the Fairy Turtle Princess.   She said that she found homes for little lost turtles, just like the one who had been following us.   She wanted to know if we knew of a little girl who would always love and take care of the little baby turtle.  I told her that you, Bella, you would always love and take care of this little baby turtle.
Then the magic Fairy Turtle Princess waved her magic wand and turned the little turtle into a soft and cuddly turtle.  This is that turtle, Bella.


I remember that after I finished the story and handed you the stuffed toy turtle, you said to me, "Is that for real, Grandma?  Did that really happen?"  And I said, "Yes, yes, it did Bella."  "That's just what happened."

On your 7th birthday, you had a party with all of your little girlfriends.   You wanted to show them your room.  Your bed was loaded with many stuffed toys.   I saw you pick up the little green turtle and tell your friends that this turtle was special because she was real once.  And then you told them about the Turtle Fairy Princess.

The innocence of your belief in Magical Fairies touched me.  Especially since I knew that soon,
Bella, all too soon,  you would find out that your little turtle was never real, and there was no such thing as a Turtle Fairy Princess.

I hope you can forgive me, Bella, for the Tall Tale that I told you.
But I hope you will always remember how it felt to believe in Turtle Princesses.

3 comments:

  1. What a wonderful grandmother you are. Your grand daughter is very lucky.

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  2. This is so lovely it made me cry.  I wish you could come and tell me stories like that.  We should all try to hang on to a bit of that innocence.

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  3. But of course the Turtle Princess is real, go peek in the mirror!

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