There was once a boy who nobody liked. They called him Nasty Nigel.
Nigel lived up to his title. He was rude to his parents, mean to his mates, and he tortured small animals.
Despite all of this, Nasty Nigel was lucky enough to have a Fairy Godmother. “That’s not right,” you’re proba bly thinking, “He doesn’t deserve a Fairy Godmother, he’s the last person who should have his wishes come true – what about all us good kids who say please and thank you and do our homework and don’t hide our vegetables in our pockets?” But Fairy Godmothers don’t work like that; everybody is entitled to help when they need it, even the likes of Nasty Nigel.
Nigel’s Fairy Godmother, Arabella, was not happy with the arrangement either. She’d only applied for the job in the first place because she’d seen an advert in Fairytale Free-ads and thought it had better perks than standard fairy work. Nasty Nigel’s lack of manners and aggressive attitude got him into sticky situations all of the time. Ara bella was forever rushing to his aid. Nigel never knew, of course (Fairy Godmothers are rarely seen – Cinderella was one of the privileged few), but after several weeks of bailing Nigel out of trouble, Arabella got a bit tired of it. She went to have a word with The Boss. “
I hardly ever have time for anyone else,” she said. “Nasty Nigel is taking-up all my watching quota.”
The Boss answered from behind his veil of mist; that soothing voice inside her mind, yet all around. “Arabella, grant this boy’s deepest desire and he will soon learn there are other more fulfilling rewards.” The Boss always spoke like that, rather enigmatically, and even if his advice didn’t make sense to Arabella at the time, it all slotted into place in the end. Clever really.
Anyway, off Arabella went, to follow his words of wisdom. She put on her best Fairy Godmother uniform, you know, frills and glitter and stuff, made sure her wings had an impressive glow, and polished her wand. She ap peared to Nasty Nigel just as he was turning the dog into a mummy by wrapping him in sellotape.
“Nigel,” Arabella said, “if I granted you one wish, what would you wish for?”
Nigel’s beady eyes narrowed. “You’re kidding, right? This is a joke innit?”
“Nigel,” Arabella replied, “I’m not kidding. This isn’t a joke. I’m your Fairy Godmother. I’m giving you a single wish and you can wish for anything at all. Do you understand? Anything.”
Nigel looked at her doubtfully, because people like him know deep down that they don’t deserve wishes. “Why?” he said.
“Look, just hurry up and make your wish before I change my mind,” Arabella snapped.
“Right,” said Nigel, letting the dog drag itself off to survive another day. “I can have any wish I want, yeah? I can pick, like, enormous wealth, or everlasting life, or to be a prince, or whatever?”
“Yes, yes, anything. Though I warn you – be careful, remember King Midas….”
But that horrible boy’s eyes were alight with greed and he didn’t want to listen to the advice of a stupid fairy. “I’ve already decided,” he said. “I want you to make me really cool and really popular, right now.”
So Arabella granted Nigel’s wish there and then, though it would take a little time for the effects to show. “There we are,” she said. “I’ll be off now.”
“You’ve done it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Well, I don’t feel no different, fairy.”
“Oh, you’ll soon feel very different,” Arabella assured him, with a sweet smile, and disappeared in a puff of glittering smoke.
Arabella secretly visited Nigel the next day. He was in a real rush to get to school. He couldn’t wait to test his new popularity.
Nasty Nigel strutted into the classroom with his hair spiked and his tie at a jaunty angle, and he leant on the doorframe waiting for everyone to notice him. But all he got were a few funny looks.
“I’m here,” Nigel said.
Miss Robins peered over the top of her glasses. “So you are. I’m waiting to start the register Nigel, sit down.”
Arabella, who was watching from the back of the room, saw Nigel’s frown.
“How come Miss Robins spoke to me like that?” Nigel muttered under his breath. “Doesn’t she know I’m popular? And how come everybody isn’t looking at me? Don’t they know I’m cool now?”
Arabella smiled to herself. He’d be cool all right, but it was going to take a bit of time.
Nigel became more and more disgruntled as the day progressed. He wasn’t picked as a team leader in games, the other children steered clear of him in the playground, and nobody admired his spiky hair.
“Stupid fairy’s stupid wish,” he muttered. But some thing was different about Nigel. Soon the other kids re marked on it.
“Hey, what’s with the orange nose, you doin’ it for a bet?” a boy called Sean said.
“Huh?” Nigel checked his nose. “What you on about?”
Sean ran off laughing so Nigel went back to the classroom.
“For goodness-sake Nigel, go to the toilets and wash that paint from your nose,” Miss Robins ordered the moment she saw him.
Nigel slunk to the boy’s toilets. And when he looked in the mirror he found that his nose really was quite orange. And it was growing. And it was pointy.
Arabella sat quietly on the edge of the sink, watching with invisible smugness.
Nigel shook his fist in the air. “Oi, fairy! I know this is your fault. What’ve you done to me?”
Arabella smiled. Stage one was complete.
Nigel woke up the next morning to find his mother standing over him.
“You’re as white as a sheet and you feel like ice,” she said. “You’re staying at home today.”
Nigel drove his mother mad. He collected mini beasts from the garden and set them loose in the house, he deleted a load of important stuff from her computer, and he ate everything out of the biscuit barrel, which made him be sick all over the shoes in the shoe rack.
“You’re going back to school tomorrow,” said Mum.
The next morning, Nigel’s head had puffed-up like a balloon, but his mother still sent him to school. The other kids picked on him something awful. Arabella felt quite sorry for him. She re-appeared in Nigel’s bedroom that evening.
Nigel waved his tiny stick-arms at her. “I want a
word with you! I asked to be popular, and all you’ve done
is make me fat and given me a stupid carrot-nose!”
“And button eyes,” Arabella added.
Nigel rushed to the mirror. Two black buttons stared back at him. “What have you done?”
“I’ve turned you into a snowman, to match your icy heart,” she said. “After all, you did ask to be cool.”
“I asked to be popular!” he shrieked.
“Oh, but everybody loves snowmen Nigel, so you’re sure to be popular… eventually.”
“You’re rubbish at magic!” he shouted.
But Arabella stuck her fingers in her ears and turned invisible.
So Nigel had no choice but to cope with being a snowman. He needed special clothes to fit his new round shape, he couldn’t go anywhere near radiators, he had to shuffle to school because he couldn’t get in and out of the car, and worst of all, he couldn’t play computer games because of his tiny stick-arms.
Although Nigel got far more attention now that he was a snowman, often there were so many children around him that their hot bodies made bits of him melt. It wasn’t very nice to be standing in a puddle half the time, it looked like he’d wet himself. When the new class pets ar rived, Nigel leant over the cage with everybody else, and Ginger and Spice the guinea pigs got hold of Nigel’s car rot nose and pulled it through the bars. They’d nibbled the end off before Miss Robins could retrieve it. And although Nigel now had lots of friends to play with, their idea of playing with him meant pulling bits off of his body to make snowballs. Great fun for everybody else, but not so great for Nigel.
Nigel often had to sit all by himself at the back of the classroom beside an open window to keep cool. One par ticularly cold and snowy day in January, the heating was up so high that Nigel had to sit right up close to the win dow and nobody came near him all morning. Nigel felt so lonely that he started to sniff.
“Don’t cry, or your cheeks will melt,” said a soft voice.
Nigel looked up. A new girl stood over him. She had round glasses and very pink cheeks.
“I’ll sit with you, if you want,” she said.
Nigel’s button-eyes widened. “Thank you.”
The new girl was called Carly. She went to get her coat and sat with Nigel right up until break.
Nigel helped Carly with her number-work.
Arabella was so surprised she nearly fell off the edge of her desk.
At break time a bunch of kids wanted to play with Nigel. They didn’t try to break bits off him this time be cause there was plenty of snow lying around, but they still threw snowballs at him because he couldn’t run away, only shuffle. A boy called Barry saw that Nigel was getting a bit upset. “Come and play over here,” Barry said. “Thank you,” said Nigel.
Barry told the others to go away. “Nigel’s had enough,” he said. The other children ran off because Barry was one of the biggest boys in the school.
“Do you want to borrow my hat and scarf?” Nigel asked, noticing that Barry was shivering. “I don’t really need them; they’re just for show.”
“Thanks,” said Barry. He put on Nigel’s stripy hat and scarf.
Arabella steadied herself against the fence. “Well, I’ll eat my wand,” she muttered.
At lunchtime Nigel had trouble eating because he couldn’t reach his mouth with his little stick-arms. There 12 was a girl called Zoe sitting opposite. “Would you like me to help you?” she asked.
“Okay,” said Nigel.
Zoe broke Nigel’s sandwiches into pieces and popped them into his mouth one by one, which made her giggle, and Nigel laughed too. “Would you like some chocolate cake?” Nigel of fered.
“I love chocolate cake!” said Zoe.
So Nigel shared his chocolate cake.
Arabella almost choked on a pumpkin puff.
And it didn’t stop there. When Nigel got home he thanked his Mum for a lovely tea, and he played hide and seek with his sister even though it was virtually impossi ble for him to hide with his huge white bottom.
Arabella granted Nigel happy dreams that night. She bestowed warm, contented feelings as he slept.
In the early hours Nigel the snowman melted com pletely away… and in the morning, Nigel the boy woke up.
The first thing Nigel did when he realised his body was back to normal, was run, rather than shuffle, to the mirror, where a pair of happy eyes looked back at him.
When Nigel got to school lots of people were pleased to see him. Carly gave him a wide smile and Barry gave him a pat on the back. Zoe gave him a hug, and there was no puddle afterwards. So Nigel’s wish came true after all, and nobody ever called him Nasty Nigel again. Yes, it was certainly a success story, though, of course, Arabella couldn’t take all the credit – The Boss was the brains be hind it really.
There’s one more thing you might be wondering be fore the story is over, did Nigel ever thank Arabella for 13 turning him into a snowman? (And back again?) Well, the answer is, he wanted to. He did call for her, but she never returned. You see, Fairy Godmothers only appear when you really need them. And besides, Arabella was too busy making somebody else’s wishes come true.
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About the author
Lisa Joy Smith Lisa Joy Smith is a teacher and a mother of three little little girls. She has been a member of SCBWI for over a year now and she finds the Norwich critique group particularly helpful for improving my work. She is currently polishing a novel, Moth, before she sends it to her agent with fingers crossed. She is halfway through the first draft of her new book, The Pulse.
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