Whirling around to face her mother,
her face pink with barely controlled
glee, the young girl could hide the
toothy grin spreading across her
face as she hopped from foot to
foot, her eyes wide with excitement.
“I’m looking for fairies, Mama! Papa
said I was away with the fairies,
which means they must be around
here somewhere. But I’ve never seen
them before…do you think they’re
invisible? Or hiding?”
At that look, it became very difficult not
to laugh. Kneeling down so was at her
child’s level, she transformed her face
into a fascinated expression. She could
just explain what the saying meant -
and really she should. But Idun would
much rather indulge a childish fantasy.
“Oh, I’ve seen fairies about before.
But you have to look very carefully
for them. They get quite shy, and
like to hide away from us big
humans. I’ve heard that they like
sugar though - how about we go
get some from the kitchens?”