A Coming of Fairies Chapter 1

A Coming of Fairies

Chapter 1

Up the airy mountain,

Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-hunting

For fear of little men;

Wee folk, good folk,

Trooping all together;

Green jacket, red cap,

And white owl's feather!

- from The Fairies by William Allingham

As the sword plunged home, deep into the dragon’s heart, the great beast thrashed in agony, spraying great gouts of fiery blood. Eric leaped back, narrowly missing being crushed by the dragon’s death throes. He stifled a scream as a great drop of flaming ichor splashed upon his chest, leaving a red patch in the shape of a star that almost immediately began to bubble with blisters.

Gradually, the dragon’s agonized thrashing ceased, and it lay still and silent. It breathed its last smoky breath, and the fires in its eyes went out at last. Eric stood, silently holding his sword.

A tear fell onto the page. Kara wiped it away angrily, and then continued writing.

He was relieved that the ordeal was over, but at the same time, it saddened him to see the death of this fantastic creature.

Another tear, another angry swipe. Why in the world had she decided to call the protagonist Eric?

After another moment of silence, the fairy Peasblossom spoke. “You have done well, young hero. You truly are the prince of the fairies. Come, and claim your birthright. Your parents are waiting.”

Eric turned, and, accompanied by the fairies, disappeared into the mist, never to be seen in the land of mortals again.

This wasn’t the ending Kara had originally planned. She’d meant for the story to end in a party, or something. Something cheerful, with a heartfelt family reunion, but, somehow, she couldn’t manage cheerful just now. Still, that was her creative writing homework done, finally. Now she just had to finish the calculus. And the chemistry. And that history reading, and, now that she thought about it, she had to study for that linear algebra test, too.

Kara sighed, and headed into the kitchen for a soda. It was going to be a long night.

Ding-dong!

Doorbell, Kara thought. With any luck, somebody else would get it.

Ding-dong!

Except there was no one else, was there? With her parents off on date night, there was just her, and John, the little brat, who was zonked out in from of the TV.

Ding-dong!

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Kara called, abandoning her soda on the counter. “Geez.  Once is enough.”

Had to be the babysitter. Finally.

Kara unbolted the door, and swung it open to reveal a short, rather gawky young man in a t-shirt with a video game logo. Kara looked him up and down, unimpressed. “You’re Jamie?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Jamie the babysitter?’

He grimaced. “It’s a boy’s name too, you know. As in short for James?”

“Is it?” Kara asked.

“Is it what?”

“Short for James?” Kara explained, with exaggerated patience.

Jamie grimaced again. “No. Can I, um, come in? I kind of have to, um, you know, babysit?”

Kara stepped aside, allowing him to enter. Jamie glanced around the tile floored entrance hall.

“So where is your, um, son? I mean, we might as well get the introductions over, and then you can be on your way, to, um, where ever it is you’re going…”

Kara sighed. “He’s my brother, not my son, and he’s in the TV room. You can introduce yourself if you can get him to look away from the TV long enough. “

“Your parents?”

“They already left. Got sick of waiting for you.”

Jamie blushed. “I’m so sorry I’m late, I was just, um-“

Kara held up a hand. “Stow it. I’ve got to get back to work.” And, with that, she left Jamie in the entrance hall, and headed back to her room, stopping in the kitchen on the way to retrieve her soda.

A couple of minutes later, as she was painstakingly working her way through A History of Pins: From Past to Prickly Present, she heard a knock on her door.

“What?” she asked, glancing up from the tedious tome.

Jamie stood in her doorway, looking a bit sheepish.  “You were right.”

Kara licked her finger to turn a page. “About what in particular?”

“About your brother. He’s, um, staring at the TV. And he won’t look up. He answers, eventually, but he never, um, looks up.” Jamie shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  “This is looking to be the, um, easiest babysitting job I ever had. At least until I have to, um, feed him.”

“Told you,” answered Kara, rolling her eyes. “He’s a complete couch potato.”

“Yeah, I, um, noticed,” said Jamie.

Silence fell in the room, complete save for the rustle of turning pages. It was broken, eventually, by the sound of Jamie clearing his throat.

Kara looked up, raising her eybrows. “You’re still here?”

“Well, I figured, we could, um, talk or something, to pass the time,” Jamie muttered, embarrassed.

“You did, did you?” said Kara, raising her eyebrows.

Jamie didn’t notice the warning signs. “That’s a, um, nice picture,” he said, hand jerking up like a marionette to point at the photo of Eric on her desk. “That your boyfriend?” The last three words were jerked out of his mouth so quickly they were almost unintelligible. Jamie blushed.

“Yes,” Kara answered, voice dangerously flat.

“Oh.” Jamie deflated, blushing further, like some sort of red balloon.

“He’s dead,” Kara added, voice still emotionless.

“Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry!” Jamie looked frantic. “So sorry! I didn’t realize…”

“I’m working. Get out.” Kara was close to tears again, not that anyone could have told by looking at her.

“Yes, umm, of course, whatever you want, I’m so sorr-“

“OUT!”

As Jamie vanished from the open door, Kara told herself, I will not cry. I WILL not cry. I will NOT…

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she returned to her textbook.

The coming of fairies was not anticipated by anyone, man, beast, or magical creature. It started with a rumble…

Kara was almost done with her linear algebra homework when the ground began to shake. She grasped her desk hard. She could hear pots and pans rattling down in the kitchen, and then a loud clang, and then a yelp that was probably Jamie. “What in the…” She muttered.

And then there was a crack…

Kara clapped her hands to her ears as a sound like the sky splitting open pierced the night. She swore loudly, and then swore again as her chair vibrated across the floor.

And then everything went still…

The lights flickered, then went off as the rumbling ceased. “Hey!” echoed a prepubescent voice from downstairs. “I was watching that!” But, aside from John’s shrill tones, everything was silent.

And everything stayed still… For now.

Kara handed a flashlight to her still sulking brother, and then lit the third candle. “Jamie?” she called. “What’s taking so long?”

There was a clatter and a yelp. Then Jamie called triumphantly, “I found the batteries!”

His voice sounds nice without all the umms, Kara mused. “Then bring them out here!”

“Um, okay!”

Kara rolled her eyes as the wavering light of Jamie’s flashlight appeared from upstairs. So much for without the umms.

“I want to watch TV,” John whined.

Kara sighed. “There’s no power,” she explained. Again. “And without the power, the TV won’t work.”

“Then I want to play on the computer,” John sulked.

“Same problem, brat.”

“Am not a brat!” her little brother complained.

“Are too!” Kara stuck out her tongue.

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“I’ve got the, um, batteries…” Jamie interrupted.

Kara blushed, embarrassed to be caught acting childishly. “Just set them on the kitchen table, with the candles.” Jamie did what she told him, and then joined her and John in sitting around the kitchen table. For a few minutes, silence reigned.

John was the one who finally broke it. “Why can’t I use your phone?” he asked Kara plaintively. “It’s got games on it.”

Kara sighed. “Like I said before, we have to save the power for emergencies.”

“This is an emergency.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kate replied with a tone of finality.

John sat still, pudgy face wrinkled into a frown. He sighed. “There’s nothing to do,” he finally concluded.

“Deal with it, brat,” Kara told him.

“Am not a brat.”

“Are-“ Kara caught herself just in time. “If you’re so bored, then go to bed.”

John sighed again. “Yeah, ok.” He looked up at Kara pleadingly. “Are you sure I can’t use your phone?”

“Go!” Kara snapped.

John shuffled up the stairs to bed, leaving Kara and Jamie alone in the candlelight. For a long time, neither could think of anything to say.