A Trip to Fairy Land

This is a story written by a girl named Pat Bonney when she was ten years old. It was published in the newspaper in 1937 and I have just read it for the first time. Why would I be interested in a story three quarters of a century old? Pat was my mum! The accompanying picture shows her as a small child.

"BOTHER homework," sighed Jill as she rubbed her eyes. In a moment she was flying through the air on the back of a green and gold rosella parrot which seemed to be in rather a bad mood, because when Jill asked where they were going, he only grunted.
At last he condescended to mutter, "The Queen of Wattles sent me to bring you to Fairyland for her birth day party."
         Soon they came to a beautiful wattle tree, where the parrot dropped his wings and they floated to earth to a most beautiful gully, with a rippling stream flowing through.
         Jill felt a little shy, but she bowed to the Queen, who was clothed in gold, and surrounded by wattle fairies.
         Suddenly there was a disturbance on the little stream, which proved to be the platypus arriving with the water lily fairies. No sooner had they arriv ed than the kangaroo came bounding along laden with the orchid fairies. There were sun orchids, green hoods, brown beaks, gnats, rabbit ears and butterfly and spider orchids, also many others that Jill did not know.
           Soon after, the wallaby came with the heath fairies in their pink, white and red frocks, while the opossum followed with the gumnut fairies.
           After bowing to the Queen, all the fairies danced merrily round her untilmidnight, when they sat down to a fairy supper served on toadstools.
           Suddenly Jill felt a bump. She thought that the kangaroo had col lided with her, but opened her eyes to find her pen in her hand, and she heard her brother say, "Wake up, sleepy head, you can't do your home work in your sleep."