Meet
Ditch, the Dodo Fairy
Keeper of the star jar
Morning, after. The letter on the sill and a star still up there in the daylight, if you know where to look.
Hello. I’m Ditch. I help little people let go of their dummy.
I live at the bottom of a garden, in a house about the size of a teapot, with a lamp outside that comes on by itself when the sun goes down. You have probably walked past it. Most people do.
My job is the night sky. Somebody has to build it, and it turns out that somebody is me - but I can’t do it on my own. I’m too small, and there is an awful lot of sky.
So I need kind children to help me build it. That is the only way it gets made.
How a dummy becomes a star
Here is the part nobody believes at first.
A dummy is not much use to a fairy. But a dummy that somebody loved, and gave away anyway, on purpose, because they decided to - that is the brightest thing there is. I carry it up, and I hang it out, and it stays.
Every star you can see tonight was given by somebody. Every single one. Go and look, and pick a small one near the edge - that one is new.
There is room up there for one more.
Things people ask me
Do you take them?
No. I have never taken anything in my life. You give it to me, or I go home with nothing - and honestly, some nights I do.
What if I miss it?
You will. That is allowed. Missing it doesn’t mean you weren’t brave - it means you loved it, and loving things is a good habit to be in.
Can I see you?
Not while you’re looking. I have tried, and it simply doesn’t work that way. But I always write, and I always say thank you.
Why “Ditch”?
A little girl named me that, before she could write her own name. I have been stuck with it ever since. It could have been worse.
This page is written to be read out loud, so it makes no case and gives no evidence - it is the story your child is being invited into, and it works best if you read it as though it were simply true.
The reasoning behind it, the age guidance, the seven-night plan and what to do when a night goes badly are all in the parent guide, which is written for you. The human half of the story - who actually made this, and why - is on the about page.