A woman found a 4-yr-old's fairy house—then spent 9 months making incredible magic for her
At a time when we could all use an uplift, a story of unexpected friendship and honest-to-goodness magic is warming people's hearts. And it's one of those stories that just gets better and better.
A woman named Kelly Victoria shared the story on Twitter. "At the beginning of the pandemic I went through some painful personal stuff," she wrote, "and would often go out at night for long walks because no one was around and I couldn't sleep anyway. One night I was walking down my street and noticed that someone had set up a few little objects in a tree planter, and upon closer inspection, I realized it was a fairy garden with a little note about the 4-year-old girl who felt lonely in quarantine and wanted to spread some cheer."
The fairy garden was set up by a tree, and a note on the tree read:
"Our 4 year old 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."
The next day, Kelly wrote a note to the little girl, pretending to be a fairy named Sapphire that "had come to live in the tree because she had set it up so nicely." She left the note on the tree during her walk that night.
In her note, Sapphire said she would leave some lucky dice for the girl if she did these things:
- Say 5 nice things to people you love
- Do 3 helpful things for someone in need
- Promise to always be kind and brave, and to show love to those in need.
- Draw a picture of your favorite animal so I can show the other fairies!
Kelly wasn't sure if she'd even see it, but the next night, she found a note from the girl, Eliana, telling her how she had completed the requests. She included two drawings of "piggies," her favorite animal. Kelly says she "immediately burst into tears."
She did leave a bunch of resin die that she had made with a note for Eliana (and one for her parents with her real name and phone number, so they'd know she wasn't some kind of creeper).
And the next night, there was another note from Eliana, thanking Sapphire for the die and for the gnome magnets she had left. She explained what she was doing with the die, and then wrote, "Please stay safe from the sickness. I love you."
She also got a note from Eliana's parents, thanking her for being "a much needed bright spot in our quarantine season" and explaining that they'd been playing a modified version of D & D (Dungeons & Dragons) with Elaina, so the die were a perfect gift.
And so began a nine-month long magical friendship. "Doing this every night gave me purpose in a horribly painful and lonely time," wrote Kelly. "I looked forward to my days again and I started ordering art supplies and little trinkets to leave her."
Kelly texted with Elaina's mom to get personalized ideas for gifts. She even sent a photo of herself dressed as an elf, photoshopped to look like she was tiny.
Elaina responded by asking totally 4-year-old questions, like "What do you and you friends feel like? I mean like your skin feeling?" and sharing some totally 4-year-old artwork. Adorable.
Then came some news. Eliana's family was moving to a new house and would have to leave the fairy garden behind. Elaina was having a tough time with the idea of moving, so Sapphire wrote her a long note. "Getting to know you has made me less afraid of humans," she said. She told Eliana that she would be having to leave the tree soon so they could go through the moving transition together.
Eliana's mom said it helped her so much and they wanted to try to get together in person before they moved.
That's tricky in a pandemic, of course. And also tricky when you're supposed to be a teeny-tiny fairy, not a full-grown person. So Sapphire told Eliana that when fairies move houses, they grow to the size of humans for just one day to move all of their belongings. Brilliant.
She said she had one more gift, and that she hoped Eliana wouldn't catch her leaving it. But, of course, she did.
They got to sit and talk for about an hour, and Eliana asked "a million questions about what life is like as a fairy."
"It was incredible and one of the most important and impactful afternoons of my life thus far," wrote Kelly. "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."
Eliana wrote Sapphire a story in the form of a tiny book, and the two plan to keep in touch from time to time.
"She's changed me forever," Kelly wrote, "and the things her mom has said about how her self-confidence, her kindness towards others and her creativity have skyrocketed since meeting me make me feel like I made an impact too."
Childhood is naturally magical in many ways, but to have a person help spur on a child's imagination and creativity, especially at a time when we all need a break from reality, is truly heartwarming to see. This is magic as it should be. What a beautiful gift these two have given each other—and to the rest of us as well.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."