Once upon a time in a land far from here were fairies are born and seasons are created a fairy fell in love. But this was no ordinary fairy; she was the princess of winter and heir to the throne. She was engaged with the autumn prince. But she did not love him, much less wanted to marry him. The princess was in love with a simple gardener from the palace. A fairy sent from the lands of spring to embellish the ice palace with flowers and scents.
She watched him from her window every morning. He talked to the roses and sang to the lilies, he made beautiful carnations pop from the snow and played the flute to the strawberry bush which immediately started to bloom. Every morning he would talk and sing and play his flute for the plants making the air full with scents and the garden beautiful with colors. Every evening she would sit by the window of her tower looking the beautiful cottage at the end of the garden, were the snow stopped and made a circle filled with green grass and the most wonderful colors at the entrance of the little house. She would look at the warm light and his shadow by the window. Imagining he was looking at her tower wanting her as much as she wanted him. And when the snow started to fall at night she sang a song of sorrow and despair before she went to sleep.
Even as sad as she was, in the midday she had the visit of her best friend; her lady in waiting who always cheered her up. Sharing their feelings for the loves of their lives, and how neither of them could have them. The princes for being too high to marry a peasant and the lady in waiting for her parents wouldn't accept her beloved. They never said a name, too afraid of someone hearing their secret conversations. The princess would listen to her friend as she adorned her hair with fresh flowers the gardener so kindly gave to her every morning. And then she would carefully help her dress in her complicated attires being very careful not to hurt or pull her wings.
The wings are the most important part of a fairy, without wings a fairy would lose her magic and would become a mushroom. And so the care of the wings was to be given by the most trusted fairy one could have.
One morning the princess noticed that the garden was still with snow, and the gardener was nowhere to be seen. She thought he may have been sick and called the maid asking her for him. "He won't come today my princess, last night he asked for the hand a young fairy. Rumor has it they have been in love for a long time but her parents wouldn't accept him, until last night that was. He is making the arrangement for his family to come to the wedding. The king has kindly lend him the palace main garden to celebrate the wedding, and every maid and lady in waiting is helping with the task" the princes felt her world crash "very well maid, go on with your duties" the words came out slowly and sad. "Are you sick my princes?" the maid kindly asked "yes, don't allow anyone on my room"
The maid retired to her duties and the princes locked the door. She sat on the window and looked down at the white dead garden with no trees and no flowers. It looked sad and gloomy. She sat there until the sun came down, not moving or talking, she wasn't even thinking any more, she just looked into the distance. She opened the window and suddenly felt the cold chill of the night. Knowing that that's what she would feel all her life, she stood up from the window and walked all numb and sore until she reached her closet and grabbed a rope she had once used to tie the curtains of her room. She tied one end to the bed post and the other one to her wings. She stepped in the window frame and jumped.
There was a ripping sound and she felt pain, but it was quick like a bee sting. She felt the rush of the wind on her hair, she looked up to the sky and saw the snow was starting to fall, and for the first time she wanted to sing a happy song. But sadly just when the first note came out of her lips she hit the ground. Fast, silent and painless. No one noticed, no one saw, not one would had ever imagined what just had happened.
In the morning before anyone could know the horrific event of the night , the gardener who had returned from his land went to do his duties. Thinking about his day, and all the tiring preparations for his wedding, tiring and boring but he knew it was worth it. He had finalized his job when he noticed something gleaming in the snow at the palace entrance. Discovering dozens of heart shaped golden mushrooms, the strangest and most beautiful mushrooms he had ever seen. He picked some and placed them in the basket he was going to give to his soon to be wife who was the prince's lady in waiting. He looked at the flowers and said to himself "Oh princes if I could only see you. I'll bet you will look wonderful with these ones. If you could only love me. If you would only look at me. Ha! What am I thinking, I'm sure you don't even know I exist. But don't worry soon I will be close to you. And one day we will both run away together" he continued to pick the beautiful mushrooms imagining them in the princes's silver hair.
