December 9, 2025 — In November, we held a Fairy Falls Writing Contest inspired by author Sharon Ledwith’s Fairy Falls series: Lost and Found (Book 1) and Blackflies and Blueberries (Book 2). Students were encouraged to submit stories based on the theme “The Day I Heard an Animal’s Thoughts.” The draw took place on December 1, 2025.
Our winner (Lexi R.) receives a prize pack that includes a signed copy of Lost and Found by the author, along with a few other surprises!
We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the students who participated and to the teachers who facilitated and encouraged submissions. The creativity and effort put into each story truly impressed us.
Below is the winning entry.
Note: This piece is published exactly as submitted to preserve the author’s authentic voice.
When I woke up, my palms were sweaty and my right cheek burned with pain. I slowly sat
up from the cold, hard ground, my head throbbing and my vision blurring slightly. I bring my
hand up to my face, gently touching the cut on my right cheek. The wound wasn’t deep, but
it still stung. When my vision came back, I looked around to take in my surroundings. Tall,
dark green pine trees surrounded me. They seemed to tower over me, like sky scrapers in a
city. Where am I? I thought to myself. That’s when I remembered; I had gone on a walk in
the forest to clear my mind. I must’ve tripped and scraped my face on something before
passing out. I looked around, and just to my side was a jagged rock that I must’ve hit my
face off of. I was busy trying to remember how deep through the forest I was when I heard
rustling in the bushes behind me. My stomach dropped as I realized I wasn’t alone in the
forest. I whipped around, startled by the sound. But there was no need to be startled,
because standing in front of me was a deer, it’s burnt caramel-colored fur almost
shimmered because of the cracks of sunlight peeking through the pine trees. The deer’s
innocent eyes looked directly into mine, and I realized that something was very wrong. The
deer’s bones seemed too visible, like it hadn’t eaten in days. “I need help.” My eyes grew
wide as I heard those three words echo in my head. “Did you just-” I paused, unable to even
comprehend what just happened. “Us forest animals, we need help. People from your
community keep ruining our forest and stealing our food.” The dear lowered it’s head in
disappointment and defeat. My heart shattered just looking at the starving deer standing
right in front of me, as well as for the other animals suffering with the same problem. It had
never occurred to me how much humans could be affecting animals and their
environments. “I’m so sorry that this is happening to you. Is there.. anything I could do to
help?” I asked. The deer raised its head . “Yes, helping us would be greatly appreciated.”
Right afterwards, I immediately tried to do as much as I could to help. I created posters and
flyers about how we should stop ruining the animals homes and lives, and instead we
should do everything we can to save their habitats and keep them safe in the future. I
decided to start a volunteer group to spread awareness for the animals, and we started
fundraisers to help them. Weeks later, I was taking a stroll in the same forest when I heard
someone talking in my head. “Thank you for everything. We owe you very much.” The deer
bowed its head, this time in respect. Before I could say anything, the dear bounded away,
deep towards the core of the forest.
