Silence reigns. Darkness drifts through the forest, wrapping the trees in its warm comforting blanket, scattering sleep as it goes. A low mist patrols the forest floor, keeping watch over the animals secure in their homes. The forest breathes as one, safe in night's embrace.

One by one, they appear. Tiny lights flicker and dance in the shadows, pinpricks of daylight piercing the solitude of night's dark fabric. Musical laughter rings out in the clearing as they gather in the toadstool ring. More and more lights flare into life and soon the ring is awash with a rosy glow of an early dawn. It is midnight, and the time for the fairies to play.

Three fairies break off from the group. Settling on a log grown thick with moss, the trio launch into song. Crystal notes tumble through the air like liquid music. Their matching golden sashes mark them out as fairies of importance, and indeed these minstrels herald the arrival of the Queen.

Two polecats dash into the clearing, drawing a small coach made of twigs and foxglove petals. A hush descends across the fairies, holding their breaths as one. A short fairy with a mop of golden hair and matching beard flits forward, opening the door of the coach. The Queen takes his hand, and steps onto a bed of moss.

Her silvery hair cascades down her back like a waterfall frozen in time. Clad in a gown of finest violet, she flickers her velvet wings and hovers above the clearing. A smile plays across her lips and dances in her pale eyes. The Queen opens her arms wide, gazing down at her subjects.

“My people!” she cries. “I have been gone too long, and words cannot express how much I have missed you all! But tonight is the Winter Solstice! Let us put needless differences aside, and celebrate as the family we once were!”

A loud cheer rises from the fairies. Caught up in the moment, several pump their tiny fists in the cold night air. Fairies clad in green break open tiny baskets of food, filling bluebells with nectar and laying out plates laden with sweet treats and fairy fancies. The host descends on the feast as the minstrels begin their song again, and the air grows lively with the sound of celebrating.

The Queen has returned.