Hello I’m Dash. Thanks for joining me on another fairyland adventure. Today we are following a fairy called Tinka. She is a sweet fairy, that always falls into odd situations. I do hope she’s okay. Let’s see.

Tinka the Fairy

Tinka is what some call a scallywag. She always manages to find trouble, though she says it finds her, that it’s not something she searches out.

Today Tinka has stowed away on a sailing ship. A big old wooden one with cannons and sails! How incredible is that? She’s hiding in one of the lanterns near the captain’s cabin. One of Tinka’s favourite tricks is to glow, like a glow worm. Humans often mistake her for a lit candle wick. How funny. Pretending to be a flame, Tinka listens in on human conversations, unnoticed. Wow! Some would call that nosey, or crazy, as some wee folk believe humans aren’t that interesting. I disagree, but let’s continue.

Tinka hid one night listening to the captain entertaining the sailors with funny accents. She was so taken by his voice changes that she did not notice the ship setting sail. When Tinka finally realised they were moving, the ship was in the middle of the ocean, and there was no land in sight. Not knowing which way to fly home she decided to stay on the ship. There was plenty of food, plenty of entertainment and some lovely seagulls would bring her sweet-smelling flowers from places she had never heard of.

After many moons of sailing, the ship was hit by a violent storm. It shook the ship like it was a rag. The sailors scrambled about, lowering the sails so they would not be torn, tying things to the deck to stop them floating away, and bailing out any water that got on board. While doing that, no one realised that the ship had been pushed off course. A calm sea welcomed them the next day, though no one knew where they were, other than in the middle of the ocean. If they continued to sail in their original direction, it was possible they could get further off course. 

No. The ship had to sit still for the day until the captain could ascertain where they were. For this the captain had to wait till night so he could read the stars. Sailors use the stars to tell them where they are, and which direction to go in. Basically the stars are a map!

While they waited a strange mist floated in from the south. Tinka thought it unusual and so did the seagulls. One gull even offered to fly her to land. She refused. Soon the mist grew into a heavy fog surrounding the ship. Suddenly, from nowhere this voice boomed out. It was pirates!! The sailors were under attack! 

Tinka wanted to help but the blast from one of the cannons knocked her out. She awoke later aboard the pirate ship, locked in a lantern. The mean pirate captain, with a patch over one eye and dressed in black, was tapping on the glass to see if she was awake. Tinka pretended to be dead. As still as can be, and without moving a muscle she watched and waited. Finally, she was rewarded with the pirate captain opening the lantern for a closer look. As he swung the door wide, Tinka leapt up and flew out of there as fast as she could. Right out an open window.

In the distance there was a tiny spec of land, so she flew towards that. Taking all of her energy, and two moons of flight, Tinka eventually made it to a beach. Finding a beautiful flower, she curled up inside and went to sleep. The excitement of the capture and the escape had worn her out. Tinka was exhausted. She slept all night until the sun’s early light woke her. Stretching, she peered out of the flower. That is when she heard singing. A funny happy song. 

Hey Ho

There was a captain Flo

Treasure hunting she would go

And yelled yo yo

Hey Ho

There was a boy named Joe

Who climbed to the crow

And yelled land ho!

Hey Ho

I gave sailing a go

Lots of thrashing to and fro

And yelled oh oh

Hey Ho

We fought a fierce foe

Under the sea the ship did go

All yelled no no

As curious as ever Tinka went to see who was singing. At the base of some flowers there was a brownie about her age, wrapped in what looked like bark and leaves. Different to other brownies she’d seen, he was golden haired with a smile that would melt ice. Well, that’s what Tinka thought. I think she was in love.   

Like most wee folk, Tinka loved music and singing, so she listened to the golden haired brownie from a distance. As he moved along the flower stems watering them, she stayed out of sight a few stalks away. The brownie boy sang and whistled to himself as he worked his way down the beach. Sweat dripped from his brow as the sun rose in the sky. Wiping the sweat away with his arm, the brownie looked up into a coconut tree. Shaking his head as if in a ‘no’ he moved to the next coconut tree. Peering high into the leaves, she realised he was looking for coconuts. Tinka watched from a distance, and peered up into the leaves as he did.

Still singing to himself the brownie continued to look up coconut trees. Eventually he stopped singing and nodded to himself. Next, he flew over to a large rock. With plenty of huffing and puffing, the brownie pushed the heavy rock towards the tree. Tinka wanted to help, yet she also did not want to scare the brownie, so she stayed where she was.

As the brownie pressed his back to the rock pushing it along, a crab popped up from the sand beside him. The two spoke for a moment before the crab disappeared into the sand. A few seconds later the rock wobbled a little, then stopped. Then it wobbled again as the crab popped up underneath it. Lifting the rock on his shell, the crab moved it towards the tree. The brownie was delighted. With a point of his finger the brownie showed the crab where he wanted the rock. The crab was happy to help. After the brownie thanked him, the crab vanished into the sand.

Suddenly, in a flash of movement, the brownie shot up into the coconut tree. Tinka could hear rustling way up high. Then there was a thud as a coconut hit the ground. No, the coconut hit the rock. Fluttering down, the brownie moved to the coconut, looked at it, then rolled it up the curved trunk of the coconut tree as far as he could. Pushing it outwards, the coconut hit the rock again. After a few more goes the coconut’s outer husk was cracked in several spots.

Waving at a passing seagull, the brownie waited. Nothing happened, so he waved at another seagull which came down and spoke to him. With a shriek the seagull called to a couple of his friends, and as a team they started to peck at the coconut husk. Slowly, piece by piece, the husk was removed, revealing the hard inner shell. Thanking them, the brownie proceeded alone. Once again he rolled the coconut up the curved trunk as far as he could. There was a thud as the coconut hit the rock and split in two.

Jumping down, the brownie looked at the coconut. Inside was some cool refreshing coconut water, and some tender white coconut meat, called copra.

‘So, are you going to join me?’ The brownie yelled without looking up. Tinka looked around, yet no-one else was there. ‘Yes, I mean you.’ He stared directly into her eyes. ‘It’s a hot day, you need a cool drink.’

Embarrassed, Tinka stepped out from the stem she was hiding behind. Slowly she made her way to where the brownie was. He introduced himself as ‘Kai’. Tinka introduced herself, then gulped down the tasty coconut water. Then he showed her how to remove and eat the copra.

Kai was excited to have a visitor. He explained how he too had set sail on a very large ship. It had become lost at sea, then out of nowhere a strange mist had appeared. Tinka said she had seen the mist too, right before the pirates attacked. Kai said the mean pirates had sunk the ship he was on, which was sad because the humans on it were so lovely to him.

There was not much he could do to assist them, so he had asked a pod of passing dolphins to save them. The dolphins were happy to help, and carried each human to an island where they could be rescued. Kai himself only had enough energy to fly to this island, the same as Tinka. He had been here too many moons to count, and though he loved it, he sometimes felt lonely. He had tried to make friends with the handful of animals who lived on the island, and with the migrating birds and fish who passed by. Yet he still felt lonely living in a place with no other wee folk. Tinka smiled at him. She thought the place was lovely too.

Well, I can see why they say trouble finds Tinka. What a sequence of events? I’m sure she didn’t expect that. Other than stowing away on the ship, most of it was beyond her control. 

But I suppose it comes down to your perspective, or the way you view it. Was what Tinka up to truly trouble or just an adventure? Some may say it was fate or destiny. These refer to the fact that there were some events beyond Tinka’s control and a handful within her control. 

Ultimately whichever way you look at it, Kai has finally found someone to stop him from feeling lonely. Tinka won’t be alone either. Each may have found a curious soul like their own. So, I’m sure the two will head off on some great adventures together!

The outcome to any choice can be unexpected, and may land you somewhere you may never have thought of. Yet, don’t let that stop you. Hopefully you always land somewhere positive, even though the journey may not have been.

Take care and see you soon!