Hello, it's me, Lily, wishing you a happy new year.

I'm sitting in my mud home under my frozen pond, with my wood stove keeping me warm and a big stack of books beside me.

A pie cooling on the table.

A flies pie, of course. I'm wrapped up in a patchwork quilt with two dragonflies curled up and sleeping at my feet. And I'm thinking of you and I'm

wondering, what are the things that make a day a good day for you?

For me, something that makes my days brighter is sharing stories with you.

So I'm pulling a story out from my archives, episode 74, the New Year's Fairy.

Maybe you are a new listener here at Tales from the Lily Pad. Welcome.

Maybe you've been listening to my stories for years and you're wondering where to find

older episodes that have disappeared from your feed. You can.

I think of my stories as gifts,

and I will never take them back.

You can always find them for free

at tales from the lilypad.com.

Have you ever heard of the New Year's fairy?

She has the very particular job of delivering day books from Father Times Library to people all over the world.

Sometimes the books look very important. They might have a soft leather cover with gold leaf designs and gold letters and a golden clasp that locks with a golden key.

Sometimes the books look drab and plain with cardboard covers, the color of dried grass or old tea bags.

The daybooks for children are cheerful cheerful with covers that look like they

are made of flower petals or mermaid scales or sunrises or butterfly wings. Every book has 365

blank pages, one for each day of the year.

But mostly, people can't see the books.

...