Once on a street, in a house, in a room, in the corner there was a plain, old cabinet. The cabinet was large and wooden. It had been painted a dark brown color. The top had windows with glass. Behind the panes of glass there were three shelves that would hold all that was to be displayed. It was once used for keeping delicious pies safe from the hands of the gluttonous. But that is another story for another time. Now, instead of keeping pies, the cabinet kept beautiful little old things safe. Little porcelain dolls, china teacups, old pairs of glasses, jars that hold buttons and beads, and a tin soldier were some of the trinkets kept inside the cabinet.
At night, when Sandman comes to sprinkle dust on the eyes of those who are tired, he also covers the little knick-knacks with his sand. But instead of the sand making the curios fall into a deeper sleep, the sand awakened the inanimate trinkets. The delicate china hands of the dolls would rub the painted eyes causing the slightest tinkle of glass and china that could be heard coming from the cabinet if you were awake. And the bustle of the three shelves could be seen if your eyes watched the cabinet at night. But what goes on in the cabinet is not meant for the eyes of those who should be asleep.
The dolls would move their little heads, wave their delicate hands, and blow kisses to the proud tin soldier. The proud little soldier would march back and forth in his spot on the first shelf. He kept a watchful eye over the shelf and the angel on music box pedestal. This angel was something of great importance. And it needed to be protected. So, the little toy soldier ignored the fluttering kisses coming his way and continued marching. It was his job to watch over her, and nothing would keep him from his task. This angel was what made it possible for the objects to move about and if anything were to happen to the angel they would cease to bustle about the cabinet evening. But it was more than just his job. The soldier loved the angel. It was the reason he took the job.
The angel was very beautiful. The tin soldier thought that she was more beautiful than the dolls or the painted pictures. But there seemed to be sadness behind her blue eyes. And that made the tin soldier sad. He didn't know what was wrong so the little tin soldier tried to cure her of her melancholy. But he did not know how. He tried jokes. He tried riddles. But nothing worked. She was still in deep despair.
And so the tin soldier marched. Back and forth. Back and forth. His mechanical key turning with each step. He guarded the angel because he didn't know what else to do. He asked her what made her sad. At first she wouldn't answer. But the soldier asked so often that the angel finally told him. The angel was sad because she could not move without the help of a human hand to turn her key. She could sing and talk but her pedestal held her in place. Making it impossible for her to move. She was forced to stay put. Trapped. Really all of the trinkets were trapped in the cabinet. But at least they had the freedom to move about as they pleased. The angel had to stay put.
One day the tin soldier couldn't stand to look at the pained expression on the angel's face. He marched over to the old pair of glasses. The glasses were the oldest thing in the cabinet aside from the angel. The glasses told him that the angel could never move. She was forced to stay solitary as punishment. The glasses said that she wasn't an angel at least not before. Before this cabinet she had been a fairy. The fairy had been a pain to the trinkets. She would sprinkle fairy dust on them and give them life. And then snatch it away. It had been a game to her. It was unfair that she played with them so. Finally one trinket had taken enough. And the trinket tricked her. He took her wand and cursed her to be an ornament. The fairy was encased with china and couldn't move even her head. She was forced to stay like that and the only way she would be free was if she was shattered into a million pieces.
The tin soldier was shocked. It couldn't be true. So he marched to the angel, and asked her what to do. He told her he loved her. It was why he marched to protect her. And said he would save her if he only knew how. The angel-fairy said that in order to break the spell, he just had to break her. The china that surround her, kept her in place. And if it was shattered, she would leave this cabinet. And she would be free. The little soldier said if that were true, then he would be frozen. At least this way they would be together even if she was stuck in place. But that wasn't enough for the angel. So, she promised that if he would save her, they could be together. She promised that she would enchant him to live all the time. It wouldn't just be at night. They would travel the world together.
So, the tin soldier began to search for a tool he might use to break her free. As he searched he came across the glasses. The glasses begged him not to. That this was only a trap. But the tin soldier wouldn't listen. He trusted the angel. He knew they would be together. So, he kept searching. The glasses followed saying, but what about the rest of cabinet. The tin soldier still wouldn't listen. He thought that the cabinet deserved it anyway. They were the ones to lock up the angel and freeze her in the first place. The glasses decided that he would have to force the tin soldier to stop. But the tin soldier was quicker and pushed the glasses off the shelf. And the glasses were broken into pieces. The tin soldier didn't care though. For the angel needed him to set her free. And then they would see the world together. They wouldn't be held down by the cabinet. They would be free together. Traveling and seeing all that they could with no limitations.
Finally he found a tool. A small hammer that he could use to chip away the china. He reached the china angel. He hacked away at the angel. Breaking away piece by piece. And as he did the angel whispered stories about how they would be together, about how if she would turn him too into a fairy so that he too could fly. So the little tin soldier continued to chip away. The more he chipped the harder it was to move. All the objects around him also began to be slower. But the soldier continued chipping away. Each time he lifted the hammer it was harder to bring it down. He became slower and slower. But he pushed through. Striving to set his true love free. He almost had her free. He lifted up the hammer one last time. He was nearly frozen. But he forced the hammer down and at last the fairy was free.
The soldier stood rigidly still. He couldn't move. All of the movement in the cabinet ceased. It stopped completely. The fairy looked at the tin soldier who had helped her. Her eyes looked the little soldier up and down. Then she laughed. And flew away from the cabinet. Leaving the soldier standing alone.