I got asked to post an example of a fairy tale that I wrote - ok, so this doesn't actually have any fairies in it, but I thought it was a good example of what I "used to" write before I found this place and started writing fanfic...
It's a really short little thing that I wrote about a year ago. I translated it from the original French version, so it's lost a bit of its panache, but I'm sure it's still quite enjoyable.
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~.~ Celadon ~.~
Once upon a time, on a big old maple tree, there lived a leaf bud that dreamt of flying like a bird. Barely out of its branch, it had met with a Blue Jay who'd made quite an impression. The bird had landed on a nearby branch, taking a short break after a long trip.
"Hello! Who are you? My name is Celadon."
"Hi there! My name is Jay. I'm a bird."
"Why aren't you attached to a branch?"
Jay explained that birds didn't grow on trees and that they were blessed with the ability to fly off to whatever destination they chose.
"Oh, how I would like to be a bird! Could you teach me to fly?"
But the bird told Celadon that he could not stay on the tree that long and with that, he left for a new adventure. No matter! Celadon promised itself to learn to fly anyway.
Shortly after, other little leaf buds appeared on the branch. Celadon told them about its meeting with the bird and explained to them how it was planning to learn to fly.
"But leaf buds do not fly!" the others told Celadon. "We have a much more useful task to do. When we're bigger, we'll help the tree breathe. That is what leaves are for."
"Blah! Breathe if you like, I'm going to fly."
Days went by and the little bud started unrolling itself into a leaf.
"See, I even have wings! Look, they're growing right out. I told you one day I'd be able to fly!"
Olive, a bigger leaf that was growing on another branch, was starting to get tired of hearing about its younger sibling's silly dreams.
"Those aren't wings! Besides, leaves don't fly any more than buds do."
"Well, it's not because you have absolutely no imagination that I have to believe anything you say, you old grouch! I say those are wings and I promise I'll fly with them one day. Oh, yes, believe me! One day, I, Celadon the maple leaf, one day I will fly."
With that, it started pulling on its stem as hard as it could to break off the branch. But all Celadon was able to accomplish was to make all the other leaves laugh.
Spring went by slowly and our little dreamer bud became a nice strong maple leaf. One day, a family of White-breasted Nuthatches decided to build its nest inside a hole of the tree trunk. They were very friendly birds and Celadon loved to hear them talk about their trips.
As summer rolled around, the nest found itself full of little baby Nuthatches. When they got big enough to learn to fly, Celadon asked Mother Nuthatch if she would show it how to fly, too.
"But...? Leaves don't fly, as far as I know."
"Oh, but I will. You'll see, one day I'll fly, just like you birds. Please teach me how."
Mother Nuthatch was so impressed by Celadon's determination that she decided to teach it some of the basics of flight. All the other leaves fell over themselves laughing as they realized what was going on. But Celadon was so intent on learning to fly that it didn't even hear them.
Celadon was a good student and by the time summer ended, it knew how to use its ends as if they'd been wings and flap them in the wind. It also knew how to read the force and the direction of the winds. Unfortunately, its stem was still very much attached to the branch.
September came and the temperature began to fall. The Nuthatches were about to fly south for winter when, suddenly, a great big gust of wind shook the maple tree. That's when... crack! ...Celadon, who was now a warm shade of red, was freed from its branch.
"Hurray! I'm flying! Look at me, I'm really flyiiiiing!"
The other leaves could hardly believe what they were seeing. Their sibling, whisked off by the wind, was now flying in the automn sky. The wind had removed several other leaves from their branches and they, too, tried flying. If Celadon could... but they hadn't bothered learning how so they quickly ended up on the ground.
As for Celadon, the little maple leaf who had learned to fly, it kept on going right up to the river where, it seems, it is now learning how to swim.
Fin.
