Frank R. Stockton

“ It was not long before the aged oak was a hundred years younger; strong, vigorous, clad in the brightest green and able to withstand the fiercest storm.
Now, when the villagers knew what had happened, they thought it quite right that the girl should marry and take care of the child who had been her step-mother, and when the boy who had been the constable grew up, he married this child, and there was a great deal more happiness in that village than there would have been, if the lost dryad had not come to it, looking for a tree. ”

“ It must be remembered that there is a peculiar property pertaining to the kiss of a dryad. Whenever a dryad kisses a human being, that person becomes ten years younger. So all good mothers are very careful to keep their children away from large oak trees. If a girl, of a dozen years, were to sit in the shade of one of these trees, she might attract the attention of an affectionate tree dweller; and then, if this dryad should kiss her, the little toddler of two years might go home—if perchance, she remembered where she lived—and astound her parents. ”

“ I really ought to do something for you, and I will never kiss you or the child.”
“But how could you help me?” said the girl, smiling.
“I don’t know,” said the dryad, reflecting, “perhaps there are some people in the village who would like to be younger.”
“Yes,” said the girl, “that might do. We could live here together and setup a kisserie. It will be very pleasant for me to have everything my own way and not to be scolded, and I shall take the best possible care of the child. ”