by Sarah Earlene Shere, ©2025
(Jun. 20, 2025) — Little Ida, bouncing on my lap, clapped her hands, “‘Once upon a time’, that’s how it must begin, for all the best tales start that way!”
Looking down at the tyke, I suddenly felt a great responsibility. Common sense spoke in my ear, “You tell her too many fairy tales. She’s going to have to grow up, someday, and face the hard realities of the world. People are more complex than ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Not every story is destined for a happy ending.” At that moment, the headline on the newspaper, atop the table beside me, caught my eye, followed by a butterfly, which landed on the paper’s edge and peacefully opened and closed its brightly colored wings. Yes, the world was full of darkness; thus I saw it to be my duty to tell of how that darkness could be overcome with light. Looking back down into Little Ida’s bright eyes, I began, “Once upon a time…”
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” — G.K. Chesterton
Sarah Earlene Shere is an author, actress and cosplayer in her native home of Southern California. In the early 1990s, at the age of eleven, Sarah fell in love with storytelling. Since having grown closer to God and fallen in love with Jesus, her stories often take the form of biblical allegory, reflecting her favorite authors, John Bunyan and Hans Christian Andersen. Sarah’s stories and writings are available from Amazon and other major book sellers. Her current flash fiction fairy tales can be found on Instagram @FairyTaleFlashFiction where, for a limited time, she posts a new fairy tale every Friday. She prays you are blessed by her stories!
See her Amazon page here.