This blog is my reflection of The Flying Child – A Fairy Tale for Adults , book launch, hosted by SH+ME on 20/02/24. It is written in the style of the fairy tale, from the perspective of The Little Princess – the character I created to give myself a voice when unable to ‘speak’ my story of Child Sexual Abuse.
Huge thanks to the SH+ME team: Joanna Bourke, Ruth Beecher, Rhea Sookdeosingh and Emma Yapp, and to our panel: Ruth Beecher, Clare Shaw, Jonathon Tomlinson and Patricia Walsh. Thank you to The Flying Child Team: Vicki, Simon, Jasmine, Toni, Kate and Rhianna (special thanks to security).
Thank you to ‘The People’ for listening.
“Hansel, don’t despair! I know how to help – wait and be patient”
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales
The Princess, (who was no longer little), sat on stage and surveyed the rows of faces. She was surprised to see how many had left their masks at the door.
A Curious Owl who had been listening on the day The Princess spoke her words, had gathered The Words-That-Had-Been-Spoken and placed them in a book. The Princess knew the book and the blossom trees had led The People to this place, and that they had come to listen to her tell her story, and she had a moment of Fear.
She looked carefully for mask-wearing old ladies, and cats – and of course The Evil King but one of The Women appeared at her side and reminded her that tonight was an Island and the Bravest soldier on the door would not let mask-wearing old ladies, cats or The Evil King cross the bridge.
The Princess wondered who had come to listen to her tell her story and she looked a little closer. The Doctors and The Social Workers looked back at her, and The Teachers, the neighbours and the friends, and she had another moment of Fear.
Why will they want to listen to me? She thought and she felt the itch of wing on her back and heard The Old Witch whisper inside her heart, remember you are not alone.
And The Princess turned to see that the Old Witch was quite right – she was not alone. To her right sat the Academic, The Wise Sage, The Doctor-Who-Believed-In-Not-Broken, and The White Witch.
No longer afraid, The Princess, taking a deep breath, began to speak shout her story.
The Wise Sage said Me Too and spoke about Silence and Courage and the bullshit of labels, and of never forgetting the importance of daffodils, and The People listened.
The Academic said these words are important and things must change, and The People listened.
The Doctor-Who-Believed-In-Not-Broken said these words are important and things must change, and The People listened.
And the White Witch said it was you who thought you were broken, not I, and that is why things must change, and The People listened.
The people spoke their own words about Severe and Enduring and not-broken. They spoke about Silence and Shame, and the bullshit of labels, and things must change, and some began to cry. They were scared of the words and of not wearing a mask so a Kind Fairy who was also one of The Women gave them a gift of time and Kindness and Empathy, and the people listened.
We need change, they said and began to demand it, and the birds, who were always listening and never far away, started to come once again.
***
A little while later, The Princess knew it was time to step off The Island and go back to The World. As she crossed the bridge, she stumbled. She looked down and saw the ground was covered in blossom. She remembered the words of The White Witch,
“One day, The World will be so full of these words, that the people will have to stop as they bump into them wherever they turn. They will trip over them and the people of The World will be forced to stop. And to listen.”
And The Princess could see The White Witch had been right. There were blossom trees in the street, on the road, and in the parks. There were blossom trees in cars and in lit windows, in parks and on top of double decker buses. The Princess looked, and as she looked she heard a crescendo of sound.
At first she thought it was the birds but it wasn’t. It was the sound of words in the air. Thousands and thousands of words, too many to count. The Princess stopped to listen. She heard stories of Evil and Dark. Of Angry and Fear. Stories of Masks and lives in Grey, of Journeys and Lost, and stories of Shame and Alone. She listened and she listened and she heard words of Wisdom and words of Hope.
The Princess, (who was no longer little), knew she would never be alone again, and she made a wish.
I hope for something new were the words that were wished, and the birds, carrying the wish and the thousands of words on their wings, flew across oceans to far away corners to share them with The World.
And The People were listening.
© Sophie Olson February 2024 #TheBlossomTree #HopeForSomethingNew
The Flying Child – A Cautionary Fairy Tale for Adults: Available now.
What a wonderful thing to read… this feels so positive and powerful. I had goosebumps the whole time I read it. X
I’m half way through my advance ordered copy of your book Sophie and whilst it is a very hard read, it is giving me hope, hope that I too can change/can find my voice, hope that professionals will learn to meet our needs without pathologising us, hope for a future where the damage that CSA inflicts is acknowledged and spoken about, not hidden shamefully away
My wish is that the NHS can fund specialist therapy for all those stuck in the despair of CSA trauma, we must surely deserve that after all we have endured?
Thank you for writing this book Sophie, for fighting so hard to survive, for enduring when it felt hopeless, for your activism, for The Flying Child and all the diverse work you are doing.
I feel so privileged to have found The Flying Child.
Thank you.
Jane A