From The Wish Fairy of the Sunshine and Shadow Forest by Alice Ross Colver; Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, 1919; pp. 13-18.
IN the beginning of things, you know, long, long, ago, when all the animals and birds lived together in friendliest fashion in the Sunshine and Shadow Forest, the squirrel looked for all the world like a mouse.
Yes, sir, Miss Squirrel Fluff and Miss Creep Mousie were almost twins, except that Miss Creep Mousie stayed on the ground and in holes, and Miss Squirrel Fluff stayed in the tree-tops.
You see, in those days, Miss Squirrel Fluff’s tail was long and thin, like Miss Creep Mousie’s, and it didn’t look at all like the beautiful wavy brush we know.
And the trouble was, hardly anybody could tell them apart. If 14 they happened to be chatting together on the ground, and somebody came along, somebody would say:
“Dear me! Here are Miss Squirrel and Miss Creep Mousie together again, and, I declare! I don’t know which is which. Now let me see — which is which?”
And then Miss Squirrel Fluff would scamper to the tree-tops and scold the stupid somebody, Miss Creep Mousie would scamper to her hole and dive in, and they’d both be angry as angry could be because — now this is a secret — each thought the other was very homely!
Finally, Miss Squirrel Fluff had had enough of such nonsense, and in a fine fury, one day, she scampered to her tree-top and scolded for an hour. At last, Miss Wish Fairy heard her, and flew up to find out what the great trouble was.
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“It’s this,” chattered Miss Squirrel Fluff, angrily, “Everybody thinks I look like that plain, ugly Miss Creep Mousie, and I’m sick and tired of it. if I were as homely as she, I’d — I’d —”
“What would you do?” asked Miss Wish Fairy, laughing.
“I’d — I’d — well, I’d wish so hard that I could have something beautiful about me, even if it were only my tail, that it would have to come true!”
“Your tail — hm — you wish for a beautiful tail, do you? Well, that’s modest enough. Now do as I tell you, and your tail shall be the most feathery-to-look-at in all the whole Sunshine and Shadow Forest.”
Then she told Miss Squirrel Fluff to run down to the brook and dip her tail in it three times. That Miss Squirrel Fluff did. After that she scampered tree-topward 17 again and sat on the wiggliest-tippiest-high branch and waved her tail, and waved it and waved it till she thought it would fall off from aching.
Miss Wish Fairy watched anxiously. She waved her wand, and waved it, and muttered charms and queer words, and still the tail did not suit her. At last she called Mr. Wind, and with a Whoof! and Poof! he came. Miss Squirrel Fluff was nearly blown off the branch.
“Hang on tight!” Miss Wish Fairy called, “And hold your tail out straight in the wind!”
And Mr. Wind whoofed and poofed upon little Miss Squirrel Fluff until she was fairly chattering with cold, and shivering with fear lest she fall off. But she held on, and held on and suck the tail out straight, and in a few moments Mr. Wind blew away, and Miss 18 Wish Fairy sighed with relied, and Miss Squirrel Fluff came down to a lower less wobbly branch, and turned herself around to look at her tail.
Behold! Mr. Wind had dried it so fast that every little hair stood out all soft and fluffy, and Miss Squirrel now had a tail that was the most feathery-to-see in the whole Sunshine and Shadow Forest.