The Fairy Godmother Part 3

The rain started falling on the roof of the bus shelter as I read the instructions for my next job as a Fairy Godmother. The instruction

Get this right

was written large in several places.

“I shall be watching,” said the Head Fairy. I jumped, she was sitting next to me, not that there were any seats in the bus shelter, but a Fairy doesn’t let something like that get in the way.

“How long have you been there?” I asked.

“Long enough,” she smiled.

“Are you just here to observe or can I ask your advice?” I asked.

“You can ask my advice,” she said, after a moments thought. “It will probably be easier that way than having to sort out a mess once it’s made.”

“I might not make a mess,” I said.

“And you may not need my advice,” she smiled. “Now, what have you noticed about the assignment?”

“Apart from 

 

Get this right”

“I’m glad you noticed it, there were a lot in the committee that didn’t think you would,” replied. “What else did you see?”

“You’ve placed me here and there isn’t an address on this,” I said, holding up the paper.

“Why do you think that is?” she asked.

“Something is going to happen here?” I asked.

“Shall we wait and see,” said the Head Fairy making herself comfortable. It didn’t look like I had much choice with that one, so I joined her near the roof of the bus shelter, out of the wind and rain.

Half an hour later a shadow of a man walked up to the bus shelter.

“There is something not quite right about him,” I whispered to the Head Fairy.

“You can say that again,” she replied. “He is under strict curfew, he shouldn’t be out at this time of the day.”

“What on earth does he hope to gain hanging around here?” I asked. “The last bus left over an hour ago.”

“True,” she said, as someone else walked into the bus shelter.

“Do you have it?” they asked of the first man.

“Here,” he said, handing over something that looked a bit like a mirror. “And much good may it do you.”

“It isn’t for me,” said the second person. “It is for my lady, she has questions to ask of it.”

“I don’t want to know what you want with it,” said the first man. “You have told me more than enough already. Just give me what I asked of you and I’ll darken your door no more.”

“Do I have your word that you will say nothing of this?” the second man asked.

“Of course,” he said. “Now give me that which is mine.”

“I don’t know if I should,” said the second man. “There may be more that I would have from you.”

“You would go back on your word!” the first man shouted.

“I am not a man of my word, you are a fool to think otherwise,” said the second man. “I will be in touch with you.”

“You are evil,” said the first man as the second walked away with the mirror.

“And your opinion?” asked the Head Fairy.

“Is that a talking mirror?” I asked.

“It is,” said the Head Fairy.

“So the man who has it is up to no good,” I said. “And the lady he is taking it to is up to even less good.”

“So what do you think you should do?” asked the Head Fairy.

“I don’t know,” I replied frowning. “It has echoes of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

“So?” asked the Head Fairy.

“Do we find out where the mirror is going to or follow the man who got it?” I asked.

“Time to think it through,” said the Head Fairy.

“I thought you were supposed to advise me,” I snapped.

“I am here to observe you and stop you before you do anything wrong,” replied the Head Fairy. “If I tell you what to do all the time you will never learn and if you take that tone with me again you’ll find yourself on Christmas Tree duty.” I went pale at that thought.

“How do those mirrors work?” I asked. “I mean is there someone trapped in the mirror or what?”

“Got to say that is not a question that anyone has ever asked before,” the Head Fairy replied.

“Then perhaps following the man who got the mirror might lead us to where they come from and answer the question of how they are made,” I replied.

“And why do you think that is a better plan of action than following the man with the mirror to see who he gives it to?” asked the Head Fairy.

“One, we know he is giving it to a lady, two, the person who had the mirror in Snow White had it before she became a wicked step-mother, she probably used it to entrap Snow White’s Father and so we have plenty of time before anything happens in that story,” I replied.

“Plenty of time?”

“If she had met and married the King, she would be a Queen, he called her my Lady. Takes time to organise a wedding and time to see Snow White as a rival,”

“OK, any other reasons?” asked the Head Fairy.

“Him with the mirror has disappeared off and the other man is still there, hitting his head on the bus shelter,” I replied.

“I know how he feels,” muttered the Head Fairy. “So what do you plan to do?”

“Stop him from hitting his head for a start off,” I smiled.

“And how do you propose to do that?” asked the Head Fairy.

“I shall introduce myself as his Fairy Godmother, if that doesn’t stop him in his tracks nothing short of a gun to his head will,” I replied.

“Go ahead,” smiled the Head Fairy. “I should like to see you in action, but I reserve the right to intervene at any point.”

“Good evening to you kind Sir,” I said hovering near to the head of the said Gentleman, I had decided that a height of six inches was probably the optimum size for this introduction.

“What the hell,” he muttered. “I’ve got to give up the booze,” he added pulling a bottle out of his pocket and aiming it at the nearest bin.

“I think the recycling bin would be a far better choice,” I said. “We must all do our bit to save the world.”

“What the hell are you?” he asked looking directly at me.

“I am your Fairy Godmother,” I said, expanding slowly out to my usual height of five foot and a bit, I’m not that accurate with the height.

“Why don’t you bugger off and save the planet instead of bothering with me then,” he snapped.

“Man got the planet into this mess, they shouldn’t expect us to wave our wands and get them out of the shit,” I replied.

“Are you saying you couldn’t do it?” he asked.

“I’m saying that if we just waved our wands and sorted it then humans wont change their ways, and they would carry on making a mess and it would only put things off,” I replied.

“I see,” he said. “So what makes you think I need a Fairy Godmother?”

“You don’t find many people standing in bus shelters in the early hours of the morning hitting their heads against the structure,” I said. “It usually indicates a person who needs help from their Fairy Godmother and that is me.”

“Well, you’re not what I pictured as a Fairy Godmother, I don’t think the normal approaches are going to help me, so you may as well try,” he sighed.

“Should we go somewhere a little less open so you can tell me how you got to this state,” I suggested.

“That could take a bit of explaining,” he sighed. “My home is just round the corner, at least it is my home at the moment, the bank is due to repossess it tomorrow.”

“I think that is something I can sort out,” I smiled, looking at the Head Fairy, she nodded.

“It’s done,” she smiled.

“Lead on,” I said as his phone started making noises. He picked it out of his pocket.

“According to this, my mortgage has been paid off and my home is no longer going to be repossessed!” he said. “I hope this isn’t a joke.”

“The Head Fairy doesn’t do jokes,” I said. “But what she’s done she can always undo, so we had better get on with sorting things out.”

“OK,” he said. “Then you’d better come this way, there is a long story to tell, I just hope you can see a way to put things right.”

by Janice Nye © 2019