Rena and Cora - A fairy tale of two sisters

Once there were two fairies that were sisters, and as it turned out, the very best of friends too. They did everything together. On clear, sunny days when the clouds made big, puffy shapes against the sky, they would fly over the daisy fields and have races with the butterflies. On dark, dreamy days where you never see the sun and the sky looks like a continuous gray blanket, they would lie under the Russula mushrooms and tell each other stories of what they would be when they grew up.
Rena, who was older, wanted to be a writer so her stories were always full of much adventure. Cora, wanted to help people. She wasn’t sure exactly how, but she knew she would figure it out when the time came.
On one particular dreamy day, Rena and Cora were sitting around the tall oak trees waiting for the rain to stop dripping when the sun pushed its’ way out from behind a cloud. With their heads together, they stared up towards the heavens. Suddenly Rena noticed a rainbow soft and hazy place itself like a giant eyebrow across the sky.
“Cora,” let’s see if we can fly up and touch that rainbow.”
“What?” laughed Cora. “It is way too far.”
“We are good flyers, “ coaxed Rena. “We could do it. Come on, please?”
“Oh, alright,” shrugged Cora. “I guess we can try.”
Together they took off flying higher and higher. Higher than they have ever been before. While they we flying they heard a loud “Caw! Caw!” Looking back they saw a large, black crow flying close behind them.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” shrieked Cora. “Watch out!”
There was nowhere to go to hide. The girls didn’t know what to do. Quickly they started flying back down, but the Crow followed them. Faster and faster they flew until they felt they could fly no more.
In a flash, the Crow snapped his beak and broke off one of Cora’s wings. She suddenly started to spin out of control toward the ground.
“No, Cora!” yelled Rena as she tried to fly under Cora to catch her. But she was spinning too fast and hit the ground hard landing in a pile of grass clippings. Rena rushed up to her side afraid of what she might find. Cora lay very still.
“Cora” Rena whispered. “Cora, Cora. Are you O.K.? Wake up. Say something.”
Rena lay her head on Cora’s chest and began to cry. Sometime later, Rena felt a hand in her hair and looked up to see Cora opening her eyes.
“Oh, Cora! You are alive! Oh, I am so happy!! You’re alive! You’re alive!” She began kissing Cora’s cheeks.
“Rena, I don’t think I can move.”
“Stay here. I will go for help.”
Rena flew home to get her Mom and Dad who scooped up Cora and rushed her to the hospital. Cora spent many days there. The whole time Rena sat by her side.
“I am so sorry, Cora. This whole thing is all my fault. You didn’t want to fly up that high. I should never have made you do it. I am so, so sorry.”
“Rena, it’s O.K. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know this would happen.”
The doctor came in and said that Cora would make a full recovery but would never be able to fly again seeing as she only had one wing. Finally the day came when she was able to come home. She was very sore and tired and spent a lot of time in bed getting better.
Every day she got stronger and stronger until she was able to run around outside with Rena just like she used to. The other fairies would come over often to ask Rena to fly with them. Cora always told her to go. Rena felt bad flying off with her friends and leaving Cora behind. How she wished there was a way Cora could fly again. Her friends suggested she go to Lucia, the wise, old butterfly that lived in the Abandoned Garden.
So one day, Rena flew over there and told Lucia her dream for Cora to fly again. Lucia sat for a long time thinking about the problem. Then a slow smile spread across her face and she said. “Go home, dear one and very soon your wish will come true.”
Rena went home and waited and waited. Then one day, they got the sad news that Lucia had died. On her table she had left a note for Cora. The note read:
“For helping others and the joy that brings,
I leave for you my magic wings.”
“Magic wings?” thought Cora. She looked down and there were Lucia’s big, beautiful wings. Very gently her Mother attached them to her back. Cora was a little nervous at first since it had been so long since she had flown.
She jumped up to try them out. Flapping the wings a few times, she flew a little before landing back on the ground. The next time she went up further and really flew. These wings were amazing! Because they were so big, they glided through the air with barely any effort. Cora found that she could go farther than before without getting as tired.
Over the next few weeks Cora used the wings to fly everywhere. She heard that there was a little girl in Tulip Valley that was very sick. No one could get the medicine to her in time –except for Cora. When baby blue bird fell out of her nest, Cora caught her before she hit the ground. And when Junior Grasshopper wasn’t going to make it to his wedding on time, Cora picked him up and flew him there with time to spare. These really were magic wings. They let her fly again, and help people. “This is what I was created to do,” she thought.
As for Rena, she decided to use her love for her sister and her love for writing to create books for the little fairies of their land. Now the adventures she writes about are Cora’s. She calls them The Great Adventures of Cora and her Magic Wings. Maybe someday she will fly by to help you. So watch. And if you happen to see something out of the corner of your eye and then when you look, it is gone, just imagine that it was probably Cora.