A lonely 4-year-old set up a fairy garden and her neighbor played along in the sweetest way

Twitter / @saysthefox

One night at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, photographer Kelly Kenney took a walk in her neighborhood in the Los Angeles area and noticed a fairy garden. It had a note on it:

“Our 4-year-old girl made this to brighten your day; Please add to the magic, but don’t take away; These days can be hard, but we’re in this together; So enjoy our fairy garden and some nicer weather.”

Kenney, who is @saysthefox on Twitter and tweeted the whole story, was so moved by the little girl feeling cooped up and lonely at home that she decided to write to her. But this wasn’t just a one-off note. The fairy garden kicked Kenney’s imagination into gear.

“On my way back to my apartment I was brainstorming ideas of what my name was going to be,” she told CBS News. Kenney wasn’t just going to write to the girl; she was going to write to her as a fairy.

She adopted the name Sapphire and left a note in the garden telling the little girl, whose name is Eliana, that she had moved into the tree and promised her a gift of magical dice if the little girl would fulfill her wishes: say five nice things to people she loved, do three helpful things for someone in need, promise to always be kind and brave and, finally, draw a picture of her favorite animal so Sapphire could show the other fairies.

Of course, Eliana granted every one of Sapphire’s wishes and left another note, including drawings.

True to her word, Sapphire the Fairy gifted Eliana some magical dice and left a note to her parents, to let them know how to could reach her in case they had concerns about her identity.

This exchange of notes began a friendship that Keeney and the family never expected. Over the past 9 months, Sapphire and Eliana continued their friendship under the supervision of Eliana’s mom, Emily. Clearly, it has meant a lot to this lonely little girl, but Kenney said the connection helped her through 2020 as well.

“Doing this every night gave me purpose in a horribly painful and lonely time,” she shared on Twitter. “I looked forward to my days again.”

Kenney had started to chat with Emily over text, and when Eliana asked to exchange pictures, Sapphire the Fairy was happy to grant her wish. Victoria dressed up in costume and took some creative photos of herself as Sapphire.

As with most fairy tales, there is a twist in the story. Eliana’s family sold their home and will be moving out of town soon.

“[Mom] also mentioned that Eliana was having a tough time so I made sure to include some support in my letters and told her I had to move as well so she’d feel like we were both going through it together,” Kenney wrote.

But what Eliana really wanted was to meet her fairy friend before they moved. After a few conversations and a little fairy magic — Kenney remembered that sometimes, fairies can grow to the size of a human — Eliana and Sapphire finally met!

Kenney, Emily and Eliana got tested for COVID-19 before the meeting, because Sapphire “really needed to hug that girl,” she wrote. The photo that captures the moment the two finally met and hugged is extra touching in this time of social distancing:

They spent about an hour together, with everyone masked for protection, and promised to stay in touch.

Kenney posted the whole story in a thread on Twitter. And while Eliana was blessed by the friendship, the human behind the magical creature may have had the happiest ending of all in this story.

“It was incredible and one of the most important and impactful afternoons of my life thus far,” she wrote of their meeting. “I hope one day when she’s older she can understand that I truly needed her as much as she needed me these past few months.”

Good News, News

About the Author
Marie Rossiter
Marie is a freelance writer and content creator with more than 20 years of experience in journalism. She lives in southwest Ohio with her husband and is almost a full-fledged empty nest mom of two daughters. She loves music, reading, word games, and Walt Disney World. Visit Scripps News to see more of Marie's work.

From our partners