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What would happen if we combined Bottle Top Bill and Barbie all in one place? Well, now’s your chance to find out!
It was an always-magical day in Fairyland. The pink sky shone like a dazzling jewel in Rumble the dragon’s cave, and the smell of candyfloss and bubblegum filled the air. Dandy, the fairy, was going on a picnic with her friends Rumble and Tricky the troll. At first, Tricky was having a difficult time finding where the picnic blanket goes, but Dandy showed him how to do it by laying it neatly on the ground. The food was such a delicious affair. There were candyfloss sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate muffins, cheese and some lovely pink strawberry lemonade, complete with cocktails of little animals like leopards and elephants.
“Tuck in, everyone!” announced Dandy as she put her pink starry napkin on. Everyone ate hungrily and heartily. Wow, wasn’t the food good to eat? If you live in Australia, you’d rather fancy some fairy bread. Your mum would say, if you’re a Bottle Top Bill fan, “Look! Dandy the fairy made this magical fairy bread in her little kitchen just for you!” and your eyes would light up. You’d imagine the ABC Kids website would do a Bottle Top Bill cocktail craft where you can cut out images of Bill and his friends and stick them to cocktail sticks, ready to put in drinks. Ooooh, what am I saying? The paper would soak into the water. But it’s not Bottle Top Bill we’re talking about in this story, we’re talking about Dandy, the little fairy with a dear little white face and blue dress. As in any Aussie childhood, since Bottle Top Bill comes from Australia, you have to understand that fairies are a vital part of being a kid. You go around hunting for them, there are fairy rings, and there’s even a TV show called The Fairies. But for Dandy, she’s about to experience something which will change her life forever.
While in the middle of her slice of cheese, Dandy felt something fluffy and tickly land on her nose. It was a sparkling purple puffball about as small as the tip of her finger. It made little giggling noise which sounded like something a hyena would make, then ruffled itself on Dandy’s nose before flying off. Dandy wrinkled her nose for a bit, then sneezed.
“Aaaaa…aaaa….AAAAATCHOO!!”
“Bless you,” said Rumble, “You know, purple puffballs can give a fairy a serious allergy.” “This one didn’t give me an allergy,” said Dandy, rubbing purple hairs off her nose, “I think it wants me to follow it. Hey, come back!” “Wait!” shouted Tricky, “We haven’t finished the picnic yet! Come back yourself!” Just as Tricky was about to give chase, Rumble stopped him. “It’s no use, Tricky. We just had to let her follow this purple puffball.”
Dandy raced across Fairyland, chasing after the purple puffball and flying with all her might, until the purple puffball went through something in the middle of a cliff. Dandy knew what it was right away. It was a door. A magical purple door that leads to somewhere, just like in the books she reads at night. Alice In Wonderland, for instance. Dandy knocked on the door, and it answered by opening with a loud CRRRREEEEAAAAK. Dandy looked through, and saw a pink backdrop with magical sparkles all over it. She looked down and saw a slide leading down, down, down. She sat on the slide and happily decided to plummet down into the pink, glittery abyss below. “Okay, here we go!” she said, and down, down, down she slid, past images of rainbows and teddy bears and butterflies as her squeals of joy echoed through the pink wonderland.
At last, she was thrown off a ramp, and towards a huge pink lotus flower. Dandy covered her eyes, because pollen always stings a little fairy’s eyes and causes them to bulge into a pulp, but not this one. Dandy dived head first into the flower, which gulped it up and sent her sliding deep into its stem. The stem was full of sticky, gooey sap that smelt of cucumbers, and Dandy was helpless covered with sap as she slid towards a silver light, her wings forming into a little cocoon which surrounded her as the light drew nearer and nearer, and…
Dandy awoke feeling dizzy and nauseous. Where was she? This wasn’t Fairyland. Everything smelled of perfume, rich and sweet and fragrant, and there were fairies everywhere dressed in pink, yellow and blue. She held her head. It still hurt a little from going through that flower, and bits of her cocoon lay everywhere on the green grass. But the best part was when she looked at her wings. They spread out, sparkling in bright rainbow colours. “Wow!” cried Dandy, “Am I dreaming?” “No you’re not!” said a squeaky voice. Dandy looked to where the voice was coming from. It was the purple puffball she followed earlier, turned into a small, rabbit-like creature with big buckteeth, a ladybug broach and long, floppy ears. “My name is Lady Bird, and you must be in Fairytopia!” “I’ve never been to a place like this before,” said Dandy, “Never in my life.”