Once upon a time, a newly married couple move into a country farmhouse, where the only hanging painting featured three red-haired girls on a mountain. The painting stirred the couple’s desire for children, even as they struggled with infertility.

     After three years of praying, the woman found a pinecone in her garden. She planted it right next to her house and prayed one more time. Before long, a red-haired fairy in a green dress appeared to her; she introduced herself as Everly, the Forest Fairy.

     “For giving me a home,” Everly said, “I will give you children in return.”

     As so, the woman became pregnant immediately. She sat next to the tree, as it grew alongside her belly, to thank God every morning. After nine months, she and her husband gave birth to triplet girls who, like Everly and the girls in the painting, had red hair.

     Everly helped dress the babies; the first wore a flower crown, the second a night sky onesie, and the third was tanner than the others. When the mother saw them, she gave the names of Ardith, Lilith, and Tanith; the father shortened them to Ardi, Lili, and Tani for everyday use.

     As they aged into early childhood, Ardi, Lili, and Tani spent much of their time playing outside. Ardi ran around in the garden while Lili tried to pull all the flowers from the dirt unless Tani stopped her. Before they did all these things each day, the girls glued their eyes to the painting of the “Mountain Girls,” as they called them, for encouragement.

     Throughout the next four years, Ardi, Lili, and Tani frequently dreamed of climbing a mountain so that they, like the Mountain Girls, could stand on one. Every time the girls told their parents about the mountain, though, they said it was too dangerous to climb one.

     However, the girls’ desire to climb a mountain together continued to grow as they entered primary school and learned to read on their own. One day after school, Ardi, Lili, and Tani sat in the school library looking through a book that featured the same painting of the Mountain Girls they had at home. While Lili asked questions and Tani pointed out words, Ardi read about the painting’s history aloud. From doing so, the girls found out the painting captured a true event of three girls climbing a mountain.

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani rushed home immediately to tell their mother about the painting’s history. Even after they persuaded her to let them be like the Mountain Girls, though, their mother said, “Girls, you’re not climbing a mountain.”

     Lili stomped outside with crossed arms and a frown as her sisters followed. When she was about to pull another flower, though, Lili looked up at the nearby pine tree, which had miraculously grown taller than her house throughout her six years.

     “Lili, what are you looking at?” Tani asked as she caught up to her sister.

     “It’s the pine tree,” Ardi replied with a jump. “If we climb this tree all by ourselves, Mommy and Daddy can take us to a mountain!”

     “Can I climb fast?” Lili asked, pulling her hair. “And throw branches?”

     “Can I beat you or Lili?” Tani asked.

      “Yes,” Ardi replied. “Be nice, please.”

     As so, the sisters spent the rest of the afternoon climbing up the pine tree. Tani sped up to beat Ardi and Lili, becoming the first to reach the top. Lili also tossed out several branches and pinecones throughout her journey.

     Upon reuniting at the top, Ardi, Lili, and Tani talked about their mountain climbing dreams until it got dark outside and their father called for them. Even though the pine tree was so thick the girls could not see their father, they exclaimed to him about climbing the tree without help from the top.

     The girls climbed down the tree the same way they climbed up; Tani moved below Ardi and Lili threw out branches and pinecones.

“Will you take us to the mountain now?” Ardi asked once they reached the ground. “Please?”

“Maybe when you’re bigger,” their father said as the girls went inside with him.


     After the girls graduated from primary school five years later, their parents took them bike riding on the nearest trail. Ardi, Lili, and Tani, as they have always done, talked about climbing a mountain as they followed their parents on their bikes. They even looked around trying to spot mountains; yet, they kept finding none.

     The family did not even park their bikes at a mountain, but at a park with a steep hill that was higher than all the surrounding trees.

     “We thought you’d take us to the mountain,” Ardi told her father.

     “This giant hill,” their father replied, showing off the hill, “is mountain preparation.”

     “Go ahead and climb the hill,” their mother instructed. “Dad and I will join you for a picnic when you reach the top.”

     “What if we can’t see you?” Lili asked. “Would we have to shout and throw sticks...”

     “Do what you did in the pine tree,” their father replied.

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani ran towards the hill and began marching up. Because there were no branches to grab onto, though, each step felt like lifting rocks. Tani helped Ardi up the hill as she began to slow down while Lili got onto her knees and crawled. The girls moved so slowly it took almost an hour for them to reach the top.

     Once the girls reached the hilltop, they could not even look down as the surface was too wide. Yet, Ardi, Lili, and Tani shouted to their parents in the loudest voice they ever used and sat down to wait.

     “I’m scared,” Lili said after ten minutes, clutching her knees. “Did Mom and Dad even hear us?”

     “If they didn’t,” Tani added with a head shake, “they didn’t even start climbing.”

     In response, Ardi prayed for their parents to reunite with them. The girls waited for thirty more minutes until their mother and father arrived with water bottles and a picnic basket.

     As their mother promised, the family ate lunch on the hilltop; Ardi ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Lili, who preferred spicy foods, ate a pepper jack sandwich and Tani, with a preference for unusual food combinations, had apple butter and fluff (a peanut butter and jelly variant). As the girls ate, they daydreamed about, upon climbing an actual mountain, posing in a picture to look like the Mountain Girls.

     Once the family finished their lunches, their father removed his camera from the basket. “How about I take your picture right now?” he asked.

     The girls all shook their heads.

     “We are the Mountain Girls,” Ardi commented, placing her hands on her hips.

     “Not the Hill Girls,” Tani added with a head shake, “or even the Tree Girls.”

     “When you finally climb a mountain, Dad and I might not be around to take a picture,” their mother replied.

     “How about you let us climb the mountain as soon as possible?” Tani suggested.

     “I cannot wait after we graduate from high school,” Lili added, crossing her arms. “When we’re in high school, you and Dad should still be around.”

     “How about a few days before high school graduation, then?” Their mother resolved.

     The girls nodded as they drank their waters and followed their parents down the hill. This time, though, they rolled down the hill together instead of marching or crawling.


     As Ardi, Lili, and Tani entered adolescence and aged through high school, they thought more and more about their dream picture. They thought about it so much by their sixteenth birthday that they got sketchbooks that day; the girls drew frequent pictures of mountains.

     A few days before the triplets’ high school graduation, though, their parents died in a train wreck. Even though the young women inherited all their money, it was not enough to even support themselves. Hence, they sold a lot of belongings they enjoyed but did not need, including the painting of the Mountain Girls.


     The triplets spent their first few weeks of adulthood with nothing to look forward to. They got so bored they engaged in chores that mirrored their early childhood behaviors; Ardi cleaned the house with Tani’s help while Lili pulled the weeds in the outside garden.

     One day, though, Lili found a packet of tulip seeds in the garden. Not knowing who put it there, Lili planted the seeds there and prayed for them to grow.

     Lili went outside to check and water the tulips each day over the next three months. The night she found them fully grown, Everly appeared to her out of nowhere. She took the tulips and made herself a flower crown, thanking Lili for planting them.

     “I heard you wanted to climb a mountain,” Everly commented. “Is that right?”

     Lili nodded with a frown. “We don’t know where one is, though,” she said.

     “Bring me some items from your sisters,” Everly instructed.

     Lili entered and exited her house to bring Ardi out with a vase of three flowers and Tani with a tanning spray bottle. Everly first tapped her wand on each of the flowers, turning them into three round carts. She then turned the tanning bottle into a unicycle, which automatically connected the three carts with strings.


     As Everly drove them on the unicycle, Ardi, Lili, and Tani thanked God with Psalms and Proverbs; they prayed in their carts nonstop until they arrived at the mountain.

     Upon thanking Everly and leaving their carts, Ardi, Lili, and Tani stared at the mountain, which was high enough to fade into the clouds. The triplets frowned and widened their eyes as they slowly approached the mountain.

     “Everly,” Lili moaned, “this mountain will take over three days for us to climb.”

     “We don’t even have food and water to get us through,” Tani added.

     “If you took us to a smaller mountain,” Ardi commented, “we wouldn’t need food and water to make the climb....”

     “This is an enchanted mountain,” Everly explained, “and I lived in the trees here before they got struck down by lighting, and I moved into the pine tree your parents planted.”

     “Are there other fairies to help us?” Ardi asked.

     “They will help you,” Everly said, “but only if you complete tasks throughout your climb.”

     The women thanked Everly as she disappeared. They prayed one more time before taking their first steps up the mountain. The bottom of the mountain was nothing but jagged rocks, so taking even one step drew ounces of sweat out of the women.

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani climbed for several hours before they found a sparrow perched on the edge of a mini cliff. They sat down near the sparrow, wanting to rest from their workout but also not wanting the sparrow to fall off.

     Before falling asleep with Ardi and Tani, Lili scooped the sparrow in her arms. They woke up the next morning, though, to find no sparrow in Lili’s arms. Instead, a brunette fairy in a brown dress, who introduced herself as Sienna the Sparrow Fairy, appeared.

     “As a reward for helping the sparrow,” said Sienna, “you can bring three rocks to me.”

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani continued their climb up the mountain to collect a few loose rocks with Sienna following. As soon as the number of rocks reached three, the triplets sat down to watch Sienna turn them into three hard-boiled eggs; Ardi got a regular egg while Lili’s egg was spicier than the others and Tani’s had a darker yolk. The triplets thanked Sienna as they ate their eggs for energy.

     The triplets spent the next day struggling to climb even more since it rained constantly; the rain created puddles of water for the triplets to drink, but it also made the rocks slippery. Yet, the triplets persevered until they found a shivering dove on another loose cliff. The wet women didn’t want to leave the dove alone, so they sat near it having to make another decision.

     After a few minutes, Lili scooped the dove under her armpit and followed her sisters further up the mountain until they found a small cave. The triplets entered and fell asleep as Lili kept the dove in her arms. As with the sparrow, they woke up to find the dove absent; a blond- haired fairy dressed in a white dress, who introduced herself as Paloma the Dove Fairy, appeared in its place.

     “Now that you saved the dove,” Paloma said, “You can bring me three sticks for a reward.”

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani searched the cave for three sticks and brought them to Paloma, who turned them into three carrots; as with the eggs, Ardi got a regular carrot while Lili’s was warmer and Tani’s was darker. The triplets thanked Paloma as they ate their carrots.

     The triplets spent the following day struggling to climb even more than before, as there were fewer and fewer rocky edges to step onto. Perhaps they neared the top of the mountain to stare at it with wide eyes and frowns; the tip was pointy with no rocks at all.

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani prayed and drank water from nearby puddles before they fell asleep. They woke up the next morning to, unexpectedly, find Everly in front of them.

     “Can you help us reach the tip?” Ardi asked.

     “There is no way for us to get to it,” Lili added.

     “You don’t need to reach the tip,” Everly replied, “because you’re already...”

     Nevertheless, as Lili did on the giant hill seven years earlier, Ardi, Lili, and Tani crawled towards the tip and held onto it.

     “Here is your reward for climbing the mountain.” Everly took out her camera to capture a picture of the triplets. Afterward, she gave one printed copy to each woman.

     The women examined their pictures, feeling thankful Everly could take one in their parents’ place. However, the women could not help but frown; there was nothing to replace the Mountain Girls painting in their parlor.

     “Everly,” Lili asked, “can you give us a giant picture?”

     “Once you climb down the mountain,” Everly promised.

     Ardi, Lili, and Tani climbed down the mountain for three more days, helping birds and getting food from fairies along the way once again. When they reached the bottom, Everly guided the girls back into their carts and drove them home. Upon returning to their house, Everly turned the carts and unicycle back into flowers and a tanning spray, which Ardi and Tani carried
back inside while following Lili.


     Everly spent the next three years painting a picture that looked exactly like the photo she took of Ardi, Lili, and Tani. As soon as she finished, Everly returned to the triplets’ house to hang her painting where the Mountain Girls painting used to hang.


     Ardi, Lili, and Tani thanked Everly as they looked at the painting, which looked almost like their mountain photos. The women even daydreamed about their own children taking inspiration from the painting that illustrated a collective dream that came true.

     The triplets named the painting after themselves: “Ardi, Lili, and Tani.”

THE END