Week 1 Storytelling: She Had A Little Faerie Husband

I HAD a little husband,

No bigger than my thumb;

I put him in a pint pot,

And there I bid him drum.

I bought a little horse,

That galloped up and down;

I bridled him, and saddled him,

And sent him out of town.

I gave him some garters

To garter up his hose,

And a little handkerchief

To wipe his pretty nose.

"I had a little husband"

(Traditional nursery rhyme)

~~~

Samantha always had one foot on the ground and another in the clouds. She daydreamed of all things mystical, magical, and extraordinary.

She believed in gnomes, and unicorns, and even leprechauns, but most of all? She believed in faeries!

Every night she poured a bowl full of sweet honey, and smaller one with the amber liquor from one of the bottles from her dad’s special cabinet.

Under each night sky, she placed the bowls in the garden of wild flowers and weeds behind her house, and whispered, “I hope you enjoy! I'd like to meet you some day.”

(Here be Fairies)

She felt foolish and giddy as she tiptoed back into her house.

One dewy morning, she returned to the wild garden, and she bent down to pick up the bowls. The honey and the liquor was gone, as always, but this time replacing the liquor was a small silver ring! It was so small that when she picked it up, it fell into the cracks of her palm.

She smiled to herself, whispered thanks, and taking the ring and the bowls, and skipped back into her house. The ring was far to small to place on her finger, so she strung it into a bit of thread and she tied it around her ring finger.

That night when she brought the bowls, she filled them with just a bit more honey and liquor than usual. She carefully bent down to place the bowls amongst the brush and bramble, but when she did she saw a small faerie boy atop a flower. He wasn’t much larger than her thumb.

“You've accepted my ring!” He cheered.

She cried out, and startled, she spilled the amber liquids all down her hands. Sticky and sweet.

“Oh no! Don't spill it all!” The boy cried out in a voice as small as a bird’s chirp.

He flew on wings translucent and fluttering like a dragon fly, and sat on the liquor bowl’s rim.

She murmured to herself and wondered, I must be dreaming! She pinched her skin, but upon feeling pain, but she couldn't be awake, could she?

She always said she believed in faeries, but she didn't really think they were real, she just liked to think so. But now?

He dipped his tiny hand unto the amber liquor and raised his hand up, like a glass was in it, and proclaimed, “To us!”

“To us?”

“You're wearing my ring,” he explained with a as matter of fact expression. He drank the liquor from his hand, and stepped off of the bowl. He stepped onto her hand, stroking the thread around her finger, with the tiny ring. “You do intend to be my wife, do you not?”

Wife? She wasn't even sure he really was in front of her! His form seemed to be blurring on he edges, as if he could disappear with the blink of her eyes.

“But, I mean, you can't be real, can you?”

“You just have to believe,” he said with a wide grin.

Believe? She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and when she opened her eyes again his form become whole again.

“Okay,” she said. She decided wanted to please the faerie. After all, she'd been giving the, offerings for years. So, if they were real—well, then why wouldn't she want a faerie husband?

She thought that he really was quite attractive: dark hair, dark eyes, smooth skin, and pointed eyes, but…he was so small!

“How am I to be your wife? You’re so—er, I'm so...tall…”

“It is no matter,” he told her, and he flew up to her lips and kissed her softly.

Suddenly she felt like her bones were rearranging. She cried out, closing her eyes in pain. 

When she opened her eyes, the boy was in front her her, and he was not much taller than she. Amazed, she looked around to see the wild flowers and weeds were as tall as trees.

“Come with me, my betrothed,” he said, and he held out his hand.

She took his hand and asked, “Where are we going?”

“We are off to my town, in the  land of the Fae, of course.” He smiled and with a great flutter of his wings, he lifted off the ground. His hand still held her, and tugged at her.

“But I can't—” She started to say.

“You can!”
She felt a strange sensation on her back, and hand in his, she flew away with him.

She had a little husband, and they lived happily ever in the land of the Fae!

The End (for now!)

Author’s Note: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "I had a little husband.” You can find the rhyme in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897.)

I'm a Professional Writing major at the University of Oklahoma. I've been making stories since I couldn't even write the alphabet (seriously, my mom would transcribe them for me!) 

Currently, I'm writing a young adult novel, that I will publish! If you didn't already guess, my favorite genre is fantasy! I particularly like fantasy involving supernatural creatures: vampires, demons, shapeshifters, and faeries of course!

When I looked through the aforementioned book of nursery rhymes, my crazy writer's brain immediately tried to turn one of them into a young adult supernatural fantasy! So, when I saw "I had a little husband," I thought: FAERIE! And, well the rest just popped up on the page thanks to my muse (or whatever it is in my crazy writer's brain that comes up with this stuff."

I hope you enjoyed my story as much as I enjoyed writing it!