A Fairy Story

By Grace Petersson

She looked incredulously at the nurse before her.  “My name,” said the nurse in a softly spoken West Country accent “is Nurse Kingfisher, Victoria Kingfisher at your service.”  Nurse Kingfisher looked as if she had walked off a WW1 battlefield first aid station wearing a grey dress and cape, white cuffs and a white muslin cap.  “I can help you, dear,” said the smiling, rosy-cheeked matron.  But how thought Flora………

Flora always craved two things: to have a son and to be beautiful all her life.  She coveted beautiful women.  She envied them; wanted to be them.  Flora also wanted beautiful children, so she searched for the most drop dead gorgeous man and found all her most ardent desire in Christian Oboe.  Christian seemed the perfect man: handsome with chiselled jaw, wavy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, sweet, kind and most of all he adored Flora with a passion.

So when Flora discovered herself pregnant soon after their marriage, she felt her life could not be more perfect.  The pregnancy went well; Flora looked after herself ensuring she was still irresistible to the attentive Christian who found her curvaceous body equally irresistible.

Flora and Christian had a son – the pinnacle of perfection.  They named him Rowan after Christian’s grandfather.  Rowan was a good quiet baby, who hardly ever cried and Flora’s body returned swiftly to its trim, sexy and enticing self.  She was comfortable in her beauty, her husband’s and that of her perfect son.

However, this perfect state came crashing down when Flora noticed Rowan was not progressing as quickly as her friend's children. 

“Johnny smiles at me all the time,” said Flora’s best friend Cara, of her adored offspring.  Rowan was not smiling at either Flora or Christian.  Slowly, after studying the signs of autism, Flora began to notice other signs of autism in Rowan: he rarely responded to her smiles or any facial expressions and would not look at toys or other objects even when Flora pointed to them.  Something was just not right, she knew and after many consultations, severe autism was finally diagnosed.

The first response of Christian, Flora’s husband was to deny any responsibility for the often inherited illness.  “It can’t be me!” he staunchly cried.  “No one in my family has ever had this condition, “it must be you he postulated”, pointing accusingly at Flora who was brokenhearted at the plight of her son and the cruel reaction of her husband.  She just desired to have her beauty, her stunning husband and her perfect son.  Now, none of that seemed possible.

Gradually as the months went by, Christian withdrew more and more from the family unit, until he finally, said he was leaving.  He had a new relationship with a beautician who he claimed made him happy and met all his needs.  Reluctantly and tearfully, Flora accepted the situation, taking Rowan for regular check-ups and talking to other mothers in the same situation. 

During one of these check-ups, Flora was so distraught and overcome by events that she fainted.  When she awoke in a ward, Flora found the nurse who called herself Nurse Kingfisher, looking at her sympathetically and offering hope.  Flora’s first cry was “What have you done with my baby!” 

“Don’t worry yourself dear, he is in good hands for a little while.”

“So how can you help me?” asked Flora.

“Well,” said the redoubtable Nurse Kingfisher, “You want your beauty, your handsome husband, and a perfect baby, is this not so?”

“Well yes,” replied Flora uncertainly,” but it’s not feasible is it?”

“Aha, that’s where you’re wrong, my dear.  I am your fairy godmother, and through me all things are possible.”

“What’s the catch?” asked Flora suspiciously.

“You just have to complete a few wee challenges and all your dreams will be yours,” said Nurse Kingfisher with a flutter of hands in the air.

“And what may they be,” asked Flora suspiciously?  “Will Rowan be safe?”

“Not only will he be safe, he would be made perfect in your eyes again and your pretty husband will be back in your arms and your home.  Isn’t that what you want?”

Flora thought about it and decided what the heck just ask the crazy lady what she would have to do.

“While looking after Rowan, you must train to be a professional nurse, choosing your specialism of working with children with autism in all areas and levels of the autistic spectrum until Rowan is ten years old.  You will have to ensure Rowan is looked after properly and appropriately whilst you study. You will have to utilise all the trusted contacts you can muster to achieve your goal.  Once you can prove to me that you understand fully the needs and challenges of an autistic child, your husband and Rowan will be returned to you perfect and good as new.”

Flora so desperately desired her beauty, her husband who loved her for her beauty and mostly for her son to be perfect; she was willing to try anything.

“However,” warned her fairy godmother, “if you should fail in your challenge, you will look like the wicked witch of the east in the Dorothy story and we all know what happened to her!”

So Flora, being so very proud of her appearance and the admiring glances she received from men everywhere, immediately found a suitable nursing course.  She asked friends and relatives to help care for Rowan as she studied.  Then she threw herself into the lives and needs of all autistic children she encountered, no matter where they were on the spectrum.  Amazingly, Flora discovered she loved the children, not in spite of their condition, but because of their so-called affliction.  She gradually realised how blessed she was to have Rowan, just as he was.  He actually was perfect she now knew.

As Rowan grew in confidence, poise, and beauty both inside and out, Flora discovered she loved and valued her son far more than her presumed beautiful appearance.

Eventually, Rowan reached his tenth birthday and Flora was a fully qualified nurse, working part-time and wholly happy in her situation, so much so, she forgot about the consequences of Nurse Kingfisher’s challenge.

One day as Flora walked in a field of bluebells with their son galloping through the azure blue blooms, Nurse Victoria Kingfisher appeared and said “Well done Flora, you have fulfilled the challenge and I am ready to return your handsome Christian to you and make Rowan just as you desired.  The fairy godmother was about to wave her magic wand, when Flora shouted “No, no!”  Rowan alarmed looked to his mother to ensure she was safe.

“No!” repeated Flora, “I don’t want my husband back, beautiful or not and I don’t want a hair on Rowan’s head to be changed.  I see now beauty is within and not just on the outside.  I know now I have been vain and shallow and could not see until just now that Rowan is perfect just as he is.”

“Well,” said Nurse Kingfisher with a little smile and a twinkle in her perceptive blue eyes, “My work appeared to be complete here.”  With that, she flew over the rainbow to save another soul in torment.

Copyright Grace Petersson