The Fairy Forest: A True Story

By Barbara Costanza

The book is based on a true story within a privately owned forest preserved for the minds of creative people. Mossy trails with interesting twists and turns are lined with homemade fairy houses. After our familys loss of a child, we decided to gather a community of friends to use our land as a magical place to go for peace and to connect back to nature. We asked friends and family to write their own fairy character and some are used in the book.
The main character in the book has suffered the loss of a sibling. She is asked to watch the family cat for five days, which she is not very interested in doing. She has many complaints about this chore being she is a doctor, mother, and wife and not in a good frame of mind, she feels overwhelmed with life.
The first day, it started to happen, while going to the house to check on the cat she ventures into the woods only to discover a whole new dimension of life. While she is walking on the path looking for the cat she trips over a tree root and falls. She is not sure if she has injured her head or if what she sees next is real. She meets a figment of her imagination named Rosy. While laying on the ground the character sketches what she sees. Rosy is an old spirit who guides her each day through the woods. The next morning the fairy spirit is revealed on the sketchpad, which begins the true-life journey. Each day for five consecutive days, she returns to feed the cat and ventures back into the woods. She meets different fairies and she has unordinary experiences. Once she enters through the gate she is transformed physically into the fairy realm. She gets introduces to many of the fairy characters and is impressed with their diversity as they show their own personality and special gifts. On the last day, through the evidence of her sketched drawings, she is becomes aware that this was not just her mind playing tricks on her. For her it is a personal journey discovering how to enjoy the simple things in life just as she did when she was a child. She is shown that her sibling is still with her and lives on it the afterlife filling the emptiness in her heart.
The photography in the book will make readers feel like they are taking the adventure with her. We know that nature has its own way of healing the human spirit in ways beyond our comprehension. This story is a light read and can only make you feel that love is all around us even when we feel alone.
The real character and illustrator goes through the grieving process and slowly begins to heal using her creative mind. She went back to college and received awards for her drawings. It has enlightened and changed her life. We hope that the readers will find their own personal creative self while taking a walk through these pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514449547

Barbara Costanza

The Fairy Forest …. the earth at it’s best. I lost a 26-year-old son who was addicted to drugs and died from the disease. My story is not uncommon and I am like many parents who suffer from the loss a child. When our world comes to a stop we search for comfort within ourselves, in places that are so deep it is like exploring a foreign land. My experience came to me with surprise instead of seeing the world as dark and dull every thing I approached was intensified. My husband and my two children grieved and friends were there for us. Although as hard as I tried I could not find comfort anywhere I was. So I found myself wanting to be alone because my thoughts were just out of my body and too hard to explain to others. I walked the beaches, streets at night, woods during the day; I could see things that I never saw before. All colors were brighter, sounds warming; I could touch the air and smell the rain. My work is in my home and living on Long Island N.Y. in an upper-middle class suburban town, I had the advantage to roam peacefully alone so I could figure out what I should do to survive another day. I am Catholic with a strong faith but at this time I did not feel the desire to connect to my church. A friend suggest I go to a metaphysical church were I could get a message from the other side. The service was held in an American Legion hall in my town so I went to it. As I entered the building many people I had never meet before welcomed me inside. A younger woman I had never meet or spoke to before came to me and casually told me that my son who passed said he is very sorry and she went on with the rest of the service. This helped me to understand that there is so much more I can learn about our natural human senses. My cousin found a site in an advertisement ad named The Forever Family Foundation she really had no idea what it was about but again I went to a meeting this time it was in a hotel. I went alone with my grieving pain that hurt every inch of my body. A lovely lady greeted me, she was on the committee staff, she told to come inside and take a seat. I was now sitting in a room filled with about fifty people overflowing with grief, people who recently lost family, friends and mostly children. The people were not talking or looking at each other they were wrapped up in their own pain and today was a new experience for all of us who attended. The events began and they were just incredible and uplifting. The room became much lighter as heartfelt stories poured out. We were witnessing evidential proof that we can communicate with our loved ones on the other side of life. I truly felt from that moment my life would be restored again to some kind of happiness and it was. I am so grateful to the foundation that was stared by parents who lost their own child. After watching people from all walks of life share their deepest emotions gave me the idea to write a story about how we can use our imagination to take us out of sad situations. I believe one of our purposes here is to uplift each other in any way we can. Mother earth kept me grounded and courageous people taught me to share my own story written through the heart. My hopes are to encourage others to use their creative minds, cast the fear, and bring it to others for it is where magic really does exist.

Book preview

About the Book

The book is based on a true story within a privately owned forest preserved for the minds of creative people. Mossy trails with interesting twists and turns are lined with homemade fairy houses. After our family’s loss of a child, we decided to gather a community of friends to use our land as a magical place to go for peace and to connect back to nature. We asked friends and family to write their own fairy characters, and some are used in the book.

The main character in the book has suffered the loss of a sibling. She is asked to watch the family cat for five days, which she is not very interested in doing. She has many complaints about this chore. She—being a doctor, mother, and wife (and not in a good frame of mind)—feels overwhelmed with life.

It starts to happen on the first day. While going to the house to check on the cat, she ventures into the woods only to discover a whole new dimension of life. While she is walking on the path looking for the cat, she trips over a tree root and falls. She is not sure if she has injured her head or if what she sees next is real. She meets a figment of her imagination named Rosy. While lying on the ground, the character sketches what she sees. Rosy is an old spirit who guides her each day through the woods.

The next morning, the fairy spirit is revealed in the sketchbook, which begins the character’s true-to-life journey. Each day for five consecutive days, she returns to feed the cat and ventures back into the woods. She meets different fairies, and she has extraordinary experiences. Once she enters through the gate, she is transported physically to the fairy realm. She gets introduced to many of the fairy characters and is impressed with their diversity as they show their own personalities and special gifts. On the last day, through the evidence of her drawings, she becomes aware that this is not just her mind playing tricks on her. For her, it is a personal journey—discovering how to enjoy the simple things in life just as she did when she was a child. She is shown that her sibling is still with her and lives on in the afterlife, filling the emptiness in her heart.

The photography in the book will make readers feel like they are taking the adventure with her. We know that nature has its own way of healing the human spirit in ways beyond our comprehension. This story is a light read and can only make us feel that love is all around, even when we feel alone.

The real character and illustrator goes through the grieving process and slowly begins to heal using her creative mind. She went back to college and received awards for her drawings. It

Reviews for The Fairy Forest

[Frederick Hill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is magical, like the fairies and spirits it introduces us to. We are reminded that love is eternal and our loved ones who die are always with us. The hurt from lose doesn’t go away. But once we learn to focus on the joy we shared with those who are gone the pain becomes part of the memory of loving them.