Pixie Dust Fuss - Tinkerbell Fairy Story for Kids

Jonathan and Redge come home in the middle of the day to find that the Folktale Forest folk are fast asleep and no one can wake them up! The mystery leads to Tinkerbell, who’s created a pixie dust harvesting mix-up of magical proportions. In an attempt to fix things, she borrowed a bit of stardust and accidentally sent all of Once Upon a Time into a super-deep slumber. Determined to make things right, she and her friends put their clever tinkering skills to work, turning the season’s first snowfall into an enchanted wake-up call.

Go to the episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/pixie-dust-fuss/ 

GRAB YOUR FREE PDF list of conversation questions for this episode:
https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep124freePDF 

PARENTS, TEACHERS AND HOMESCHOOLERS: In Pixie Dust Fuss, Tinkerbell’s earnest intentions to fix a problem goes awry puts the entire land into a deep slumber. Through her journey to set things right kids learn about responsibility, problem-solving, and the importance of asking for help when things go wrong. The story highlights how mistakes can become meaningful learning moments when approached with openness and honesty.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS STORY about a fairy, you’ll also enjoy this story about Hesper, the Fairy of the Evening Star, in episode 75: Once Upon a Lullaby: https://jonincharacter.com/once-upon-a-lullaby/   

CREDITS: This episode is a Jonincharacter production. It was written by Monique Hafen Adams, edited, directed and produced by Molly Murphy.  Monique Hafen Adams voiced Tinkerbell and all other characters were performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks.

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Chapters

• 2:10 What happened? Everyone's asleep!
• 3:16 Vesper comes flying in
• 6:28 What's Tinkerbell doing?
• 8:50 Tinkerbell caused the deep sleep?
• 11:48 Tinkerbell knows how to fix it!
• 12:54 The magical minivan is here to help
• 15:42 Good morning everyone!
• 16:37 Credits, how to contact Jonathan and Redge, theme song

Transcript

JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups.

THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.

REDGE: Jonathan, that was such a delightful visit to your home in San Francisco! It’s a truly magical place.

JONATHAN: Thanks for coming by, Redge!

REDGE: Its magic is different from what we have here in the Folktale Forest. The magic in your world hides in simple things and simple acts, but it’s magic just the same.

JONATHAN: I’m glad we’re back in the Folktale Forest, though!

REDGE: Home sweet magical home! 

(Loud snore.)

REDGE: Did you hear that?

(Another loud snore from somewhere and someone else.)

JONATHAN: Is that….snoring?

REDGE: Why look! It’s Zinnia Fig, sleeping there! In her garden? She’s hunched over her petunias. 

(A snore from Zinnia.)

JONATHAN: Over here, Redge! Big Bad’s sleeping right in the middle of the path to your hovel.

(A snore from them.)

REDGE: This is very strange. He’s dropped his basket of bread.

JONATHAN: It’s almost like they were suddenly overcome with exhaustion and fell asleep.

(Another group of snores.)

REDGE: And is that the entire Hey Diddle, Diddle Crew asleep too? Why is everyone sleeping outside of their homes? In the middle of the day? 

JONATHAN: Is all of the Folktale Forest asleep?

(Vesper comes flying in.)

VESPER: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!

REDGE: Vesper? Is that you? Jonathan, you remember Vesper, our moth friend and companion to Hesper, the Fairy of the Evening Star!

VESPER: Redge! You’re awake! Did I wake you up? Is it working? WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUUUUUP!!!!!

JONATHAN: Redge and I were visiting San Francisco, and we’ve only just returned to the Folktale Forest.

REDGE: Is everyone asleep in the Folktale Forest?

VESPER: Everyone’s asleep in the all of Once Upon a Time…You gotta help me wake them up! WAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!

REDGE: Alright, Vesper! (Clears throat) WAAAAAAA-

JONATHAN: Wait! What happened? Where is Hesper?

VESPER: Hesper is away in Slumberland for the annual Hibernation Celebration! I was keeping watch over her magical stardust that helps everyone fall asleep. But the darndest thing happened…..

JONATHAN: What happened?

VESPER: Well, I’m embarrassed to say….

REDGE: It’s alright, Vesper. You can tell us.

VESPER: A light outside my window turned on and….I was entranced by its bright radiance. I AM a moth after all: I couldn’t help myself! I stared and stared and staaaaared and before I knew it, I followed the light outside. Suddenly, the light switched off, and when I came to, all of the stardust was GONE!

JONATHAN: Oh no!

REDGE: All of it?

VESPER: All of it! I panicked and started searching. I searched every house, hole, and hovel…but then I discovered everyone was asleep. EVERYONE! And they have to WAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

REDGE: This is quite the predicament. There must be a way to wake up our friends…

VESPER: I’ve tried and tried. I’ve yelled across the Forest. I’ve tried nudging them. Splashing water on them. Nothing is working. 

REDGE: It seems the stardust has really taken hold of them.

VESPER: You’re right, Redge! Wait! No…it couldn’t possibly… not without Hesper…but…Oh dear. Oh dear dear dear.

JOANTHAN: What is it now, Vesper?

VESPER: I should have guessed it.

REDGE: What?

VESPER: When stardust is released from way up high, it creates a deeper sleep. 

JONATHAN: So the higher it falls…

REDGE: The longer the sleep?

VESPER: Yes!

JONATHAN: But who could have sprinkled stardust from way up high?

VESPER: A good climber, anyone with a plane, someone with wings, or someone with- 

REDGE: A tiny green hammer?

JONATHAN: A tiny green hammer?

REDGE: It was laying here on the ground.

VESPER: That’s a tinker fairy tool! 

REDGE: What’s a tinker fairy tool doing here? I thought the tinker fairies lived near Scribbleton.

VESPER: Great question! Maybe the tinker fairies know what’s happening. It’s harvest season. They should be at the Pixie Dust Tree this time of year.

REDGE: We’ll follow you there and see if we can help get the Folktale Forest back on its feet.

(Sounds of tinkering)

TINKERBELL: No, that doesn’t go there. (Tap tap on metal) Ugh. Which way should it….? Ah ha! There we go! Now I’ve just gotta turn this here (cranking sound) and screw that there (power drill) and umm what’s the spell? Pixie flippsy do, pixie dipsy…too? (twinkle of magic). 

(A boing as a spring pops loose.)

TINKERBELL: Not again!!!! Breathe….Ok. That’s ok. That’s ok. I’m gonna get it. How much pixie dust do I have left? If I could just find my hammer! Where did I put that thing?!

(A boing as another spring pops loose from the machine.)

TINKERBELL: OH FAIRY WINGS!

VESPER: Tinkerbell! You’re awake!

REDGE: Hi, Tinkerbell! 

TINKERBELL: Vesper! Redge! Jonathan! Yes…I’m awake…should I not be awake? 

REDGE: Everyone in the whole Folktale Forest…

VESPER: In all of Once Upon a Time! 

REDGE: Right, everyone in all of Once Upon a Time is asleep. 

JONATHAN: Except for us!

VESPER: And now, you too! 

TINKERBELL: How…umm…strange?

JONATHAN: Look over there by the creek. Some tinker fairies are sleeping too.

(Teeny tiny fairy snores.)

TINKERBELL: That’s…ummm…weird?

VESPER: What is that you’re working on?

TINKERBELL: It’s the harvesting machine.

REDGE: What’s it supposed to do?

TINKERBELL: It collects all the pixie dust from the Pixie Dust Tree for the season. Usually,  fairies tend to the harvest bit by bit throughout the summer. But I convinced all the other fairies that tedious work like that can be left to this here machine I made and they can all go have fun!

JONATHAN: But, Tinkerbell, where’s all the pixie dust?

TINKERBELL: Ummm, it seems the machine has been broken since early summer. All the pixie dust has drained into the creek behind the tree… and there will be no more pixie dust for next season. 

REDGE: No pixie dust? 

TINKERBELL: Yes.

VESPER: For the whole season?

TINKERBELL: Right.

REDGE: Oh dear.

JONATHAN: What does that mean?

VESPER: Without pixie dust, pixies and fairies and many magical folk won’t be able to use their magic. Wasn’t anyone supposed to check on the machine?

TINKERBELL: Yes.

JONATHAN: Who?

TINKERBELL: Meeeeee.

(Tinkerbell bursts into teeny tiny tears.)

TINKERBELL: Oh Vesper, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I was so confident that my new machine would work that I never checked on it. When I returned to collect the pixie dust and the machine was broken, I knew I was in real trouble. Then an idea hit me: What if I use another magical dust to fix my problem: 

REDGE: Stardust?

TINKERBELL: Right! Stardust! 

VESPER: That must have been your light outside my window.

TINKERBELL: I knew you’d be drawn to the light and then I could steal Hesper’s stardust.

JONATHAN: I didn’t know how…uh…dusty Once Upon a Time is!

REDGE: Well of course, Jonathan! There are many different kinds of magical dust here. Pixie dust gives you a burst of magical energy and if you think of your favorite things, it can even make you fly. 

JONATHAN: What about stardust?

VESPER: Stardust takes all your favorite things and whooshes them together in your mind turning them into lovely dreams. To help you sleep. 

REDGE: But like we said, you have to be sure to sprinkle it just above their heads at night. The higher you drop stardust, the longer someone will sleep. 

VESPER: I can’t wake anyone up, Tinkerbell. How high did you drop the stardust? 

TINKERBELL: Ummm…uhhh. Really, really, reeeeeally high up?

JONATHAN: Oh boy. 

TINKERBELL:  I thought I could give myself a little more time to fix everything, and that I could harvest pixie dust before anyone woke up! But-  

VESPER: But you can’t fix the harvesting machine.

TINKERBELL: Nothing on my tinker tool belt has worked. Not my wrench or screwdriver or my ‘Pixie Fixie Everything Up’ tape!      

REDGE: Would this tiny green hammer help?

TINKERBELL: There’s my hammer! Maybe I can repair it now! 

(Sounds of tiny hammering, screwing, drilling, cranking.)

TINKERBELL: Pixie flippsy do, pixie dipsy…poo? 

(A twinkling of magic. The machine starts.)

TINKERBELL: It’s working! It’s working!

(A boing as a spring pops loose again. The machine shutdowns sadly.)

TINKERBELL: OH FAIRY WINGS AND TINKER TOYS! Big help this hammer was!

REDGE: It’s ok! We’ll figure it out together!

TINKERBELL: This hammer is useless!
 
 (Tinkerbell throws her hammer and we hear it splash into water.)

VESPER: Oh no! Your hammer landed in the creek! 

FAIRY1 (yawns): That was a weird dream.

FAIRY2 (yawns): Very strange. Tinkerbell?

JONATHAN: The fairies that were sleeping by the creek!

VESPER: They’re awake! 

REDGE: When you threw the hammer, the water splashed on them and woke them up.

VESPER: But why? I’ve tried splashing water and it didn’t work.

TINKERBELL: Because that’s not ordinary water. It’s filled with pixie dust!

VESPER: When the machine broke, the pixie dust must have gone straight into the creek.

FAIRY1: What’s going on here?

TINKERBELL: I know how to fix this! I know how to wake everyone up! But I’m gonna need your help!

REDGE: Let’s do this! 

TINKERBELL: Redge and Jonathan, do you think you could get your Magical Minivan and bring it here? 

JONATHAN: You betcha!

REDGE: Not a problem. 

TINKERBELL: Vesper and my fairy friends, I’m going to need your help reworking the harvesting machine.

FAIRY1: Huh?

FAIRY2: I think we’re still dreaming.

VESPER: We’ll explain later! 

TINKERBELL: Let’s get to work! A little tinkering here. (Sounds of tinkering.) A new handle there. (Taps, tiny power drills, hammering.) Vesper, can you fly that nail over there to our fairy friends? 

VESPER: Sure thing!

(More hammering and tinkering.) 

TINKERBELL: Hold it in place now. Let me grab some tape…hand me my screwdriver! 

FAIRY 1: Huh? 

VESPER: Here you go! 

TINKERBELL: Almost have it, team! Lower it down in 3, 2, 1. Perfect! And…focus Tinkerbell… Pixie flippsy do, pixie dipsy…flew!

(A twinkling of magic.)

(Metal parts click into place and a magic sound as the machine settles its parts, then…)

(Beep, beep of magical minivan.)

REDGE: Hi, friends!

JONATHAN: We’ve returned!

REDGE: With the Magical Minivan as promised!

TINKERBELL: Great! Then we’re almost ready to go!

JONATHAN: What’s next?

VESPER: We’ve reassembled the harvesting machine!

TINKERBELL: Now, it’s like a shower! We just need to attach it to the Magical Minivan.

VESPER: And fill it up with water from the creek.

TINKERBELL: As we fly in the minivan, we can spray Pixie Dust water on all of Once Upon a Time.

JONATHAN: Which will give them that burst of magical energy they need to wake up!

REDGE: Brilliant!

FAIRY2: I still think I’m dreaming.

VESPER: There’s not a moment to lose!

REDGE: Let’s get to it!

(Sounds of tinkering, water gulping, and starting of the minivan.)

VESPER: First stop, Scribbleton. Here goes!

(They take flight.)

REDGE: Good thing Sal and Val made it so our Magical Minivan can fly, right Jonathan?

JONATHAN: Absolutely! 

VESPER: I see Scribbleton down below.

TINKERBELL: Power up the shower! 

VESPER: 3, 2, 1! Release the water!

JONATHAN: Water’s released. I think?

REDGE: Uh oh. 

VESPER: Why isn’t there water? 

REDGE: The water sprayed from the machine, but it’s not coming down for some reason.

JONATHAN: Where’d it go?

TINKERBELL: OH FAIRY TINKER WING TOYS! First, the harvesting machine didn’t work, and now this! I can’t believe I’ve messed so many things up!

VESPER: It’s ok, Tinkerbell. We’ll figure this out together! 

REDGE: Vesper’s right. When things get tough, there’s always a hand willing to help.

JONATHAN: There’s no problem too big that we can’t fix it. 

VESPER: Not with friends around. (Chuckles) And a little ‘Pixie Fixie Everything Up’ tape.

TINKERBELL: (Giggles) Thanks, guys. I’m sure with a little more tinkering and tweaking…

REDGE: I’m sorry to interrupt, Tinkerbell,  but…Jonathan, can you turn off the air conditioner in the van? 

JONATHAN: It’s not on.

VESPER: It did suddenly get very cold in here…

TINKERBELL: Come to think of it, my teeth are chattering.

JONATHAN: Wait, what’s that?

FAIRY1: Huh?

FAIRY2: Ok…now I KNOW I’m dreaming.

(Magical, swirling sound)

TINKERBELL: Is that snow?

REDGE: It is! It’s snowing!

VESPER: When we sprayed the water, the cool winter air must have frozen the water from the creek. Now, it’s coming down as snow!

REDGE: The first snow of the season!

TINKERBELL: Wow! And look! 

JONATHAN: Everyone is waking up! 

REDGE: Because it’s not just any ol’ snow, it’s…

ALL: MAGICAL PIXIE DUST SNOW!

(Sprinkling of magic snow coming down and yawns from residents waking up.)

VESPER: GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! 

TINKERBELL: Thank you all for your help! I couldn’t have fixed this without you. 

REDGE: Our pleasure.

VESPER: Next time, remember to ask for help before putting everyone asleep. 

TINKERBELL: (Giggles) Will do! 

FAIRY1: What about all the pixie dust?

FAIRY2: What about the harvest?

TINKERBELL: I will tinker with the machine! But also…assemble a tinker team! 

VESPER: Once this first snow melts, there will be pixie dust to spare until next season.

JONATHAN: Now, who wants to make it snow all across Once Upon a Time?

REDGE: Huzzah!

(Zoom of Magical Minivan.)

JONATHAN CORMUR: This has been a Jonincharacter production. This story was written by Monique Hafen Adams, edited by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks. We love hearing from you! Contact us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com or try our one-way text feature as a safe way to reach out. You can find even more ways to reach us in the show notes.

Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!