Summer, 1845

Spring passed with the widow introducing Thumbelina to life on her farm. The girl quickly made friends with all of the barnyard creatures, finding herself even able to understand and communicate with them. The widow and the animals also discovered that Thumbelina could sing with a voice more soft and sweet than had ever been heard before. She would sing while doing her chores, playing with her animals friends, or even when preparing dinner with Mother.

Mother and the animals loved their new charge and Thumbelina loved her whole world of the farm.

Of course, life can become complicated when you're only the size of a thumb!

When cooling her feet while her animal friends were drinking from the water trough, she would slip on the wet wood and the bull would have to fish her out of the water with his nose ring. Or when helping Mother sweep the steps with her little goose feather broom, she fell through a crack in the wooden stairs and fell into one of the chicken's nests. Luckily, the baby chicks saw her as one of their own since they all worked together to navigate the big world and didn't mind her dropping in. And for the most part, Thumbelina didn't mind it either.

What she did mind was when her small stature landed her in some sticky situations. Like almost being baked into a cherry pie or being swung at great heights by the goose while on a stick.

Then there were days when Thumbelia's size made a difference.

One day at the start of the summer, Thumbelina was out in the garden helping Mother weed the area around the tomatoes. The girl wiped her face with the gardening apron she wore over her 'outdoor' dress. While the day wasn't necessarily scorching, the labor made her warm.

She was about to resume her work when she heard a frantic buzzing. Thumbelina followed the sound to a bumble bee rapidly twitching to escape a spider's web. A quick scan of the area revealed that the spider wasn't home. Thumbelina rushed to help the trapped bee.

"Shh, shh, it's alright. I've got you." She soothed, gently pulling the bee's legs from the webbing. As she worked at detangling the insect, the girl noticed an intricately designed saddle strapped to the bee's abdomen. Thumbelina barely had time to register the fact before the bee tore the rest of its way free.

It circled around the girl as a 'thank you' before darting off into the sunset.

"Thumbelina?" Mother called. "It's time to get dinner started, my dear!"

"Coming, Mother!" She called, hoping her voice would carry enough. She looked once more in the direction the bee traveled. Why would a bee be saddled such as a horse?

After the ladies had cleaned up from their work in the yard and had dinner, it was time for their nightly ritual - stories.

Oh, how Thumbelina loved the stories Mother told! She could curl up in her walnut bed with a morsel of raspberry kringle and listen to the stories Mother had heard when she was a child. In their corner of Denmark, written stories were few and far between. Most of how they shared tales was telling them across generations.

They did own a few bound copies, which Thumbelina perused while Mother brought her tea in from the kitchen along with their story snacks.

"Alright, dear!" Mother clapped her hands. "What shall it be tonight? I can tell you The Princess and the Pea again; we do have that new collection of fairy-tales from that Hans Christian Anserson fellow…" Mother paused as she noticed her daughter's lack of enthusiasm. "Is everything alright, Thumbelina?"

The girl leaned against the spine of a book about maps. "Mother… while I was in the garden today, I found a bee in a spider's web."

"The poor thing!"

"As I was working to free him, I saw a saddle on his back!" She looked at her mother incredulously. "Can you believe it? A bee saddled like a horse! How is that possible? Who could manage such a thing?"

Mother pondered this before selecting a book from a higher shelf. "I might have an idea…" She settled into her chair.

Thumbelina whistled for Hero, their loyal dog. The pooch lifted his head from where he lay and trotted over to the bookshelf. Thumbelina slid herself off of the shelf and onto Hero's back. Without any direction, he took her to where Mother was waiting.

"Good boy," She muttered before disembarking.

Mother had opened the book to a beautifully hand illustrated page of a house carved out of a mushroom. Thumbelina barely noticed the rest of the illustration or the words on the next page as her attention was diverted by the creature standing on the mushroom's balcony.

"He looks like me," She whispered. Kneeling, she studied the image. "He has to be close to my size as he appears to fit inside of a mushroom!"

"This is a story about fairies, my dear." Mother explained. "They are said to be the keepers of the land and the elements of nature. Do you see those things protruding from his back? Those are wings!"

The girl could scarcely believe it. "Wings? You mean fairies can fly?"

Mother chuckled. "Yes, Thumbelina. Fairies can fly. Although I could imagine that they would saddle other flying creatures, like bees, for long distance travel; much like how humans saddle horses for long journeys."

The pair flipped through the book late into the night. Mother read the story, but Thumbelina was entranced with the illustrations of creatures that were her size!

They stopped just before the candle burned too low. Mother helped Thumbelina over to her dollhouse where she slept.

Thumbelina loved the big house that she and her mother shared, but once she had been gifted with a house more to her size, it was a nice place to relax after a long day.

She opened the tiny wardrobe that held her night dresses. Once she had selected her favorite, a white top with cap sleeves and a flowy blue skirt, she waited patiently for Mother to undo the back of her day with tweezers.

"Mother…" She hesitated.

"Yes, dear?"

"A-are fairies real?"

It was Mother's turn to hesitate. She finished undoing the girl's laces so she could change.

"Thumbelina…"

The girl took a shaky breath. "They're not real, are they?"

"I wouldn't say that," Mother flipped the book back open to the page where the fairy court mingled. "There are many things within this world that are real though no one has seen them. I have a hazy memory of seeing a fairy once when I was a little girl. It could have been a dream, but who's to say that fairies are not real regardless?"

Thumbelina picked up the doll's brush from the vanity in her doll's room and slowly brushed out her tresses. She looked back at the book where the fairy prince and princess danced together.

"They look happy. Were you happy with Father Arne when he was alive?"

Mother drew in a sharp breath to ward off the tears that threatened. "Yes, my dear. We were very happy."

"And in love?"

"Very much in love." Mother raised her hand, indicating for her daughter to hop on. She brought the girl up to eye level. "Are you worried about something, sweetheart?"

Thumbelina pressed herself against her mother's thumb. "Well… I love the farm, the animals, and I love you of course! It's just that…"

"You've never met anyone who's your size?" Mother surmised sadly.

"And… I suppose love works best when two people are the same size…" She tearfully looked at her mother. "Am I the only one like me?"

"Oh, my dear Thumbelina!" Mother brought the girl up to her cheek for as close a hug as she could manage. "For one thing, never doubt my love for you simply because we are different. Remember that I am your mother and you are my daughter. Nothing can change that! But I can understand the longing of a lonely heart. All I can say is… have faith. The Witch would not have brought you into this world if you didn't have a higher purpose."

The girl nodded. As Mother reached to put her back in her tiny room, Thumbelina stopped her.

"Mother? Would you move my walnut bed from the room to the counter? And perhaps prop up the book? I'd like to look at the pictures while I sleep. Maybe dream of fairies - like you did."

"Of course, my dear." Mother set up the counter as her daughter requested. Both ladies kissed their index fingers before pressing them together. "Good night, Thumbelina. Dream well."

The woman turned to Hero before exiting the room. "You watch out for her, Hero."

The scruffy dog barked an affirmative as he was given a 'good night' scratch behind the ears. He laid down once more, keeping an eye on his tiny charge as she slipped out of bed to admire the illustrations of the book.

With all that comes with trying to stay realistically accurate in a world that includes tiny people, there are some WEIRD Google searches! I thought that I'd include the funny/ interesting Google searches for each chapter! Enjoy!

When were dollhouses invented (1600s Amsterdam)

When were tweezers invented (3000 BC)

Anatomy of a bee

Storytelling traditions of Denmark

When did HCA publish his earliest works? (had to change the timeline for this one!)

Danish legends about fairies (couldn't find any actual lore/ legends, made up my own/ pulled from other sources)

Popular 1800s Danish Boy Names