Photo contest week #25 - "Trunks"

I love fairies!

Call me a sucker if you want to, but I love fairies. They are truly magical for me.

The invitation I received from @silviadiez to participate in this contest brought back so many memories of me as a child dreaming of fairies that I could not help but share the trunk of an unique tree with you.

When I was touring Australia, a few things of what to do were on my bucket list. The first was a visit to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), and the second was visiting the Fitzroy Gardens for one-stop, the Fairies Tree.

My friend, that lives in Melbourne, knew my love for fairies and sent me copies of four books. The author was Ola Cohn and the books tell the stories of fairies who's home was a tree.

Ola Cohn was also an artist who carved out fairies, gnomes, kangaroos, koalas, dwarfs, butterflies, flowers, spiders, and more on the trunk of a 300-year-old red gum tree. This she did over three years.

It was with huge anticipation that I entered the gate and followed the path that led to the tree. All of a sudden, I could see it.

It was as if I found my inner child with creatures that appeared to have fallen from a fairytale and landed on top of the rough bark of the tree.

I got goosebumps when I read the plaque at the bottom of the tree. Words that are also taken up in her first book.

“I have carved in a tree in the Fitzroy Gardens for you and the fairies, but mostly for the fairies and those who believe in them, for they will understand how necessary it is to have a fairy sanctuary – a place that is sacred and safe as a home should be to all living creatures.”

Later on, she wrote the four books I mentioned that brings the fairies to the homes of many children.
The books tells the story of hundreds of years ago, when the fairy queen was born and, at the same time, the seed of a red gum tree “reawakened.” This tree became the home of the fairies and other animals.

A bad bunyip forced the fairies to leave the tree and live elsewhere for hundreds of years.
A magician eventually helped them trap the bunyip in the Cave-Of-No-Escape of which the entrance was sealed by a spider web (in the main photo), and the fairies could return to their tree.

Her books carry on telling the stories of those who lived on the tree.

It was pure magic for me when I could now not only see the words of the books in my mind but also live through the beauty of each carving and the story it told.

The tree may no longer be alive but the stories on the trunk will be alive for many more years to come.

How I wish for "a place that is sacred and safe as a home should be to all living creatures."

By the way, if you ever find a fairy tree, make sure that you don’t cut it down because if you do, bad luck will follow you for the rest of your life.

^{All the images are my own taken with my iPhone so that I could bring something of this magical tree trunk back to my family}

I invite: @ngoenyi @dove11 @event-horizon

Account summary:
Club100
Transfer to vesting: 1,825.000 STEEM
Normal transfer: 51 STEEM (Competition and charity)

Vote @pennsif.witness for growth across the Steemit platform through robust communication at all levels and targeted high yield developments with the resources available.