The Mt Hill Town Hall was stolen away to Fairyland last night. It was last seen at its address 1 Lane Way at 11:00pm last night, and was first reported missing at 5:00am this morning. 1 Lane Way is currently a vacant lot, with a ring of mushrooms growing around it.
The town hall was allegedly stolen for use as a community centre in Fairyland, with the approval of King Oberon. Chances of its return are slim.
“We just don’t have enough modern community spaces there. That’s why we started the Mycological Association here in Mt Hill.” says Fay Goodfellow, Mt Hill Mycological Association President, and Fairyland dual citizen.
They went on to say King Oberon granted all the proper permits for the theft of the building, making it perfectly legal.
King Oberon could not be reached for comment.
“We will of course be sending representatives to negotiate the return of our town hall. If it is not returned, we will place sanctions on Fairyland,” says Mt Hill Councillor Celeste Howell.
When asked for details on these sanctions, Ms Howell gave no response.
“There’s nothing Fairyland wants from Mt Hill we couldn’t just take,” says Mx Goodfellow.
We shouldn’t get our hopes up about seeing the town hall again, according to solicitor Nathan Murray.
“It’s a tricky case. It crosses over into Fairyland’s jurisdiction, which is notoriously convoluted. There’s only one case of a stolen building being returned from Fairyland—a barn of sheep stolen from Shipfield in 1892. Even then, it was only the building returned, Shipfield never saw those sheep again. There was no punishment for the perpetrators,” he says.
The Mt Hill Town Hall hosts a number of community groups, which now have to find new venues. But, there are limited spaces available to them in Mt Hill, says Ms Howell.
“There’s the swing dancing classes—I’m taking those, it’s a lot of fun—a knitting group, a cursed beings support circle … I have no idea where they’re all going to go,” Ms Howell says.
Meanwhile, Mx Goodfellow says, “We’ll probably just start hosting the Mycological Association meetings in Fairyland.”
But, there is a silver lining; the mushrooms encircling the now vacant lot at 1 Lane Way are edible, and up for grabs.
Mx Goodfellow says, “Marasmius oreades—fairy ring mushrooms—are perfectly edible, and perfectly tasty. They have a sweet, earthy flavour.”
She recommends trying them in the Mt Hill Mycological Association’s mushroom soup. The recipe can be found on their website.
Brittany Lee is the co-founder, and editor of Banksia Journal. She is a writer from Perth, Western Australia, with a BA in Linguistics, and Postgrad Diploma in Journalism. Her work has appeared in AntipodeanSF, Dusty Attic Publishing, and Perth’s Raine Square Story Dispenser. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, knitting, and taking photos of flowers (such as banksias).
You can find her online at brittanyerinlee.com.
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