In the middle of a deep forest there stood a small wooden cottage. It looked very old. It had holes in the roof, its windows and doors creaked, and it was all dirty. In this little cottage lived a witch. She was an old woman with a big nose and a wart. But the worst part wasn’t what she looked like, it was what she was. She was very bad. She talked bad about others, lied and made things up so that all the people in the forest wouldn’t like her. But one day she met someone who made her think about her behavior.
There was a little fairy named Maya who lived in the forest. She lived in a nice little house made of ferns with her mother. She was very good and hardworking. And everyone knew her mother as the wisest creature in the forest. Fairy Maya loved to walk in the woods. One day, when she went for her favorite walk, she saw the beavers at the creek couldn’t build a dam. It was hard for them. Maya was good, so she rushed to help. She tried her best to lift the heavy pieces of wood and put them in the right places. Although it wasn’t easy, she wanted to help. Suddenly, she heard elderly voice behind her. “Come on, what are you doing? Why are you helping them? You can’t do it anyway.” When Maya turned around, there was a grumpy witch standing behind her. But the little fairy didn’t let the witch discourage her. She finished her work, said goodbye to the beavers, even to the witch who was still standing there, and left.
At home, she told her mother everything. She was sad. She was sorry that even though she tried and meant well, the witch was mean to her all the time and mocked her. Mummy praised her fairy daughter for the way she had behaved and then she did something interesting. She took paper and drew two pots with a plant on them. She wrote LOVE on one pot and EVIL on the other. Above them, she drew a teapot full of water and said. “My dear Maya, look at this picture. It will always remind you that what you water will grow. And so it is with you. What you think about and how you behave will grow in you. Like watering a plant. Don’t let anyone water evil in you. Not even that witch.” Fairy Maya thanked her, took the picture and kept thinking about it. She decided that she would think only of love, to let it grow in her. And she would behave kindly.
After some time Maja went for a walk again. As she passed the witch’s cottage, the witch looked out of the window and cursed again. The little fairy gathered all her courage and came up to her. She held out her hand and said, “This is for you, it helped me a lot.” The witch hesitated for a while and took the paper from Maya’s hand. She unwrapped it and saw a painted pot with a plant and a full watering can. It also said: “What you water will grow.” Maya smiled and said goodbye.
Long afterwards, the witch held Maya’s picture in her hand. She thought for a long time about what she was watering. And who knows, maybe the little fairy Maja did the impossible. Maybe she made the wicked witch think about her behavior. Maybe one day she’ll figure out what’s better to water.
