The Fairy Godmother Part 80

I had just wreaked some semblance of order on my Grandparents home when I got a text message from Velvet.

“YOUR WASHING AND THAT OF ENID’S PARENTS IS DONE, WHERE DO YOU WANT THEM SENDING OR DO YOU INTEND TO COLLECT?”

“I’d better get back to them,” I told Malcolm, stepping out into the garden whilst he sat in what must have been his favourite seat, he seemed to spend a lot of time on it.

“Hello Velvet,” I said as soon as she answered.

“I didn’t know whether to ring you or what,” she replied.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“In my Grandparents garden,” I replied. “Don’t tell anyone, but the place was a bit of a mess, Malcolm doesn’t do housework and Natasha hasn’t been back long enough to notice the state it’s in.”

“So you’ve been cleaning up after someone else again,” said Velvet.

“I thought they’d have an enormous row when Natasha got back and saw it and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” I replied. “Also, I do feel a bit responsible.”

“You are just too nice,” Velvet replied. “Do you want me to send their washing there.”

“If you could,” I said. “Then I can get everything tidied away before I leave.”

“And your stuff?” she asked.

“I’ll come and pick it up,” I said yawning loudly.

“Let me know when you are leaving and I’ll take it to your rooms, along with something for you to eat,” Velvet told me and then hung up.

“Something just appeared in the living room,” said Malcolm looking confused.

“It’s your laundry,” I smiled.

“What are you going to do with it?” he asked, not what should I do with it, I noticed.

“I shall put it away,” I smiled.

“Oh well, you’re a woman, you should know where this sort of thing goes,” he said going back to his chair and picking up the newspaper. I felt tempted to leave it where it was and let him face the music, but I had a feeling she would blame me for it. Also, it gave me an excuse to look round the house.

“Do you have an airing cupboard?” I asked.

“What one of those?” he asked.

“A cupboard that you put freshly washed clothes in,” I said.

“I wouldn’t know,” said Malcolm. “Natasha deals with that sort of thing.”

“So where have you been getting clean towels from whilst Natasha’s been away?” I asked.

“I didn’t know towels got dirty,” he said, so I gave up and got the bag of laundry to follow me up the stairs.

“I’ll start by opening every door till I find something that looks like a clothes store,” I thought to myself.

The first door was the bathroom, I changed the hand towels and flannels, I couldn’t see any bath towels on show and put the mucky ones in a pile on the landing.

Next was a guest room, the bed was unmade and there were no towels in sight. Somehow I found it hard to imagine anyone visiting. Next was another guest room, equally devoid of things that needed washing. Lastly was their bedroom. It looked as if Malcolm had just got undressed and left his clothes on the floor. It also looked as if he had been eating in bed and washing it down with the odd glass of something. The bed was covered in crumbs and food stains and the bedside tables were covered in used glasses. Somehow, I thought the pile of washing I’d sent of earlier wasn’t everything.

It took an hour to get the room in some sort of state of tidiness and to get all the clean things from the laundry put away in the right places. I put the mucky stuff in the laundry bag and went back down to the living room. Malcolm was snoring in front of a roaring fire and I had the job of waking him up before I left. It didn’t look like it was going to be an easy.

I tried blowing on his face, to see if that had a result, nothing. Shaking his arm gently, he rolled over onto it, but didn’t wake up.

“Malcolm,” I tried calling. No effect, so I shouted. Nothing what-so-ever.

I tried ringing his phone, not that I expected anything to come of it, not when I head the ring tone, but I was wrong, he snapped awake with a start.

“What is it!” he snapped, reaching round for the mobile.

“You were asleep,” I said.

“What of it!” he snapped. “Can’t a man sleep in his own home!”

“I just wanted to tell you I was going,” I replied. “I’ve got some more washing to get done. There are clean towels in the bathroom and kitchen. I’ve changed the bed clothes in your and Natasha’s room and collected up even more clothes to be washed.”

“And now you’re off?” Malcolm asked.

“Yes,” I smiled.

“Good,” he snapped. “Now I’ll be able to get some peace.”

“The washing will be returned when it’s done,” I said.

“Are you still here?” he asked. I waved my wand and departed, ringing Velvet as soon as I got to my room.

“I thought you were going to ring before you came back,” said Velvet, looking up from the dusting.

“I was going to, but that man got me so annoyed,” I sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“I am doing what you were doing at Malcolm’s,” she replied. “What did he do to annoy you?”

“You mean apart from having absolutely no idea about anything to do with house keeping?” I asked.

“He’s a man,” said Velvet. “Men of his age generally leave that to the women folk.”

“That’s what he kept saying,” I replied.

“So what was the final straw?” she asked.

“I had to wake him up to tell him I was leaving and all he could say was “Good, he’d get some peace and quiet”, that and “Haven’t you gone yet?” like I’m some sort of servant,” I replied.

“You didn’t expect him to be grateful for all your efforts did you?” Velvet asked.

“I put a lot of work into getting the place in a fit state for Natasha,” I said. “She’d have killed him if she’d seen the place looking like that.”

“No, she wouldn’t,” said Velvet. “She knows what he’s like and that he wont lift a finger to clean the place, so she will expect a mess when she gets back. She wont like it, but it wont come as a surprise.”

“And now she’s going to find it clean and tidy,” I replied.

“That depends on how much longer she’s away,” said Velvet. “It hasn’t taken him long to trash the place, it wont take him long to do it again.”

“I suppose not,” I sighed. “And she’s probably going to be away for a few more months.”

“Exactly, nothing to worry about,” Velvet smiled.

“All that effort,” I said.

“It can’t have been all you working and him leaving you to it?” she asked.

“No, he was quiet chatty at first,” I remembered.

“Then he got tired and confused,” said Velvet. “Don’t take it personally, it’s just that as the day wears on he gets tired and forgets who people are.”

“So I was just the cleaner?” I asked. “The hired hand?”

“Not someone to talk to, or even be polite to,” said Velvet.

“Mum’s side of the family is just so much hard work,” I sighed.

“And that bag?” Velvet asked.

“Even more dirty washing. I thought we’d got everything, but I hadn’t gone upstairs to ferret it out,” I explained.

“You changed their bed,” said Velvet, taking a quick look through it.

“He’d been eating in it,” I explained. “So it will probably be equally mess in a week.”

“I’ve put some tea in the oven for you and put all your washing away,” smiled Velvet.

“And the rest,” I said looking round. “You are a saint.”

“Have your tea, relax, unwind and then get some sleep,” said Velvet. “I’ll get Malcolm’s washing done, even if the old idiot doesn’t deserve it, you do for trying to get to know him.”

“Thanks,” I yawned.

“I’ll send it to their house with strict instructions for it all to put itself away,” Velvet laughed.

“That would be interesting to see,” I said. “Especially if he were awake to see it.”

“I shall do my best,” laughed Velvet.

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 79

For the second morning I woke up not entirely sure where I was, but as my eyes began to focus I realised that I was in my own room and Mum was not the only one who needed to do some serious housework.

After breakfast I decided to change the bed clothes, I couldn’t remember when I had last changed them, so I decided that today would be a good day to do it. Then I piled up all the clothes and towels that needed washing on the sheet. There was more there than I thought there would be, so I took them down to the laundry.

“I was wondering when I would see you again,” said Velvet taking the laundry and handing it over to one of the many workers.

“I’ve been very busy,” I replied.

“So I heard,” said Velvet. “And what have you found out?”

“Half of my family are sane and reasonable and the others are certifiable,” I replied.

“And now what?” Velvet asked.

“Good question,” I said. “I have absolutely no idea.”

“And is that why you are cleaning up?” Velvet asked.

“No,” I smiled. “As you know, I helped Mum clean her rooms out yesterday and when I woke up this morning I realised mine could do with the same treatment.”

“Mum?” asked Velvet.

“Enid,” I replied.

“I know who she is, but you’ve never called her Mum before,” Velvet replied.

“She never felt like my Mum before,” I admitted.

“And now she does?” asked Velvet.

“After seeing her parents and the way they treated her,” I shook my head.

“They were always hard on her,” Velvet agreed.

“I think I understand her a bit better,” I said.

“You think?” Velvet asked.

“She’s always been such a strong person, very much “my way or the wrong way”,” I said trying to work out how to explain. “Now, somehow she is vulnerable, I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

“Some,” said Velvet. “So what about Natasha and Malcolm?”

“You know that magazine I’ve been working with?” I asked.

“Yes, I saw that first edition, you did a very good job with it,” said Velvet. “Haven’t quite got around to the second yet, as you know I am quiet busy.”

“I got Natasha to help with the second and a few more,” I smiled.

“How did you get her to do that!” asked Velvet.

“I told her that she was the best interior designer, that the Editor’s wife wanted to revamp their home and would she do some articles for the magazine about it,” I said.

“And she couldn’t say no,” laughed Velvet. “You have a talent for getting people to do things. What did Malcolm think?”

“He’d get a bit of peace and quiet,” I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Velvet.

“I just don’t understand him,” I replied.

“What’s to understand?” asked Velvet.

“They are a couple, yet he doesn’t mind when she disappears off working,” I said.

“He knows she’s happy doing what she enjoys rather than sitting at home getting board and restless,” said Velvet.

“So he’s happy because she’s happy?” I asked.

“Yes,” smiled Velvet.

“But wont he be board when she’s not there?” I asked.

“He might be, after a while, or he might be busy doing all those little things he couldn’t get done whilst she was at home,” said Velvet. “If you’re worried about him why don’t you just drop in on him?”

“My room’s a mess,” I replied. “I really aught to sort it out.”

“That sounds like an excuse,” said Velvet. “Your room has been a mess for quite a while, I’ve heard the maids speaking and, knowing Malcolm, a visit to him is never going to last long, you could do it in less time than it’s taken to talk to me.”

“You don’t think I’m being stupid or something?” I asked.

“Perhaps, but only for spending ages debating on it,” Velvet replied. “He’s your Grandfather, you don’t need any other excuse to see him.”

I knocked on my Grandparents front door and waited.

“Oh, it’s you!” said Malcolm looking disappointed. “For a moment I thought she was back,” he added turning round and walking back into their front room. The room looked untidy, there were the remains of a take-away on the coffee table and several mugs littered around the room.

“Good job it was me,” I said. “I don’t think she’d like to find the place looking like this,” or you looking like that. He looked tired and unshaven, his hair looked like it would benefit from seeing a comb and his clothes were splattered with food, possible some of the take-away that hadn’t quite made it from container to mouth.

“It’s just housework,” said Malcolm.

“So, you’ll either have to find a cleaner to do it, or learn to do it yourself,” I replied.

“Natasha wont have a cleaner in the house, she doesn’t trust them to do it right,” he replied shaking his head and then looking like he regretted it.

“Then you’ll have to do it,” I replied.

“But, it’s women’s work!” he replied.

“If you mean by that that men are incapable of doing it?” I asked.

“It’s something women know about, but men don’t,” he tried to explain.

“How about I give you a lesson in housework,” I said.

“I don’t know,” he looked uncertain.

“It would save you from one hell of a row when Natasha gets back,” I replied. “She might feel that she can’t leave you alone if the place looks like this when she does.”

“But she enjoys her work,” he said.

“So we clean up before she gets here,” I said, picking up the remains of the the first of the take-ways. “Where is the bin and what day does it get emptied?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “She always puts things in the bin.”

“It doesn’t take much doing,” I replied.

“I don’t know which bin to put what in,” he snapped. “When I was young there was one bin and everything went in it, now there’s, I don’t know how may bins and boxes, I don’t know what goes in which, all I do know is that if you get it wrong they wont empty it and you get a hefty fine as well.”

“It’s very simple,” I said.

“Are you saying I’m stupid?” snapped Malcolm.

“No,” I replied. I might be thinking it, but I haven’t said it. “Natasha did all that sort of thing and she, obviously, didn’t leave you instructions about it or you’d have followed them, you can’t be expected to know what you haven’t been told about. Shall we start?”

“I will not have it be said that I did the housework in my own home,” said Malcolm.

“I wont tell if you don’t,” I replied. “Now, will you help me?” I asked.

“Well, of course,” Malcolm replied. “Can’t have my little granddaughter doing any heavy lifting or anything.”

“Right,” I said. “Now we have that sorted, lets start with the rubbish.”

“Why do we have to start with that?” he asked.

“Everybody has to start somewhere and it smells the most,” I replied.

“What about the laundry, some of my socks can be a bit on the wiffy side, at least that’s what Natasha says, I wouldn’t know about it,” Malcolm mumbled.

“OK,” I said handing him a bin bag. “Start putting the laundry in that.”

“What are you going to do with it?” he asked.

“I’ll send it to the Fairy Laundry,” I replied.

“Are they any good?” he asked.

“A Fairy Godmother has to look perfect at all times,” I replied. “That means we have to have a laundry service that is second to none.

“But will Natasha approve of it?” Malcolm asked.

“It is run by Velvet,” I replied. “My Father’s second wife.”

“You mean the one he did marry,” said Malcolm. “I remember her well, very precise she always put her best into whatever she was doing.”

“Exactly,” I said. “So you can expect her to do not just a good job, but the best job possible.”

“Definitely,” he smiled. I got the impression this was something I might have to ask Velvet about, then again, I might no want to know the answer.

“Is this everything?” I asked half an hour later.

“All the stray undies from under the bed, tea towels from behind the kitchen cupboards, table clothes from up the chimney,” he said counting his fingers.

“And the bath towels from behind the sofa,” I added.

“Nearly forgot those,” he said, ticking them off on his fingers as well, I feel as though I aught to ask how things got in such odd places, but I’m not sure I’d like the answers I’d get. “I think that’s everything,” he said, looking into the bin bag.

“I’ll send them off to Velvet, if we find anything else it can go in the next load,” I replied giving my wand a quick wave, I just hoped she wouldn’t mind doing them. “Now, the bins and no more procrastinating.”

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 78

“Where am I?” I thought, my eyes gradually focusing on a ceiling that I didn’t recognise. There was a knock on the door.

“Are you awake?” came Enid’s voice and then I remembered where I was.

“Only just,” I replied with a yawn.

“What do you normally have for breakfast?” Enid asked.

“Tea and toast,” I said. “But don’t worry, I can always go to the canteen.”

“I can do tea and toast,” Enid replied. “I don’t have any jam or marmalade though.”

“It’s OK, I just have toast and butter,” I replied, getting dressed quickly. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“The bathroom’s across the hall from your room,” she said. When I looked out the hall was empty, but there was a clean towel in the bathroom, so I set about tidying myself in readiness for tea and toast.

“What are your plans for today?” Enid asked after we finished the tea and I took the dishes to the sink.

“Shall I wash and you dry?” I asked.

“OK,” she sighed. “But I was just going to wave my wand over them.”

“And you complained to me about excessive wand use,” I said filling the sink with hot water, there were a few dishes in there that looked as if they’d been there a few days at least. I don’t know why I missed them the day before.

“You needn’t bother with some of the older dishes,” Enid said. “I’ll do them later.”

“I’ve got a sink full of hot water,” I smiled. “I may as well wash those as well,” I added, putting the plates to the bottom in the hope that the hot water would loosen up whatever it was that was stuck to them.”

“If you must,” she sighed, looking round for a clean tea towel, fortunately there was a knock on the door.

“Hello Enid,” said Velvet holding out a bag of laundry. “You brought this lot down yesterday.”

“Thank-you,” said Enid, opening up the bag probably looking for tea towels, there didn’t seem to be any clean ones in the kitchen.

“I was beginning to think you’d found someone else to do your washing for you,” said Velvet, not moving from the door step.

“No,” said Enid. “I don’t think anyone could wash anything cleaner than you. I’ve just been a bit busy lately and I forgot to take them down. Thank-you for being so prompt.”

“No problem,” Velvet smiled, finally walking away.

“If I knew anyone else who did laundry I’d take them there,” Enid muttered.

“Why?” I asked. “As you said, she does a very good job.”

“But she’s always asking questions,” said Enid. “Here are the tea towels, at the bottom of the bag!”

“There are some dishes to dry,” I replied pointing to the draining board. “You know where they all go.”

“Of course,” said Enid, picking up a plate, drying it and then searching through the cupboards to find out where to put it, just like I would have done. I carried on with the washing without comment.

“So what are your plans for today?” asked Enid again when she found a cupboard with plates in.

“I thought I’d better check up on the magazine, see how they are coping with Natasha,” I said.

“Good luck,” said Enid, almost dropping the plate as she reached up to put it away.

“Do you want to come with me and see her at work?” I asked.

“I’ve seen her at work before,” Enid replied. “I’ll miss on that, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m sure it wont be that bad,” I smiled, though I wasn’t entirely sure about the matter myself.

“They may be lucky, if they remember to worship the ground she treads on and do exactly what she tells them to do without questioning anything,” said Enid.

“What are you going to do?” I asked in return.

“I thought I’d potter round here, do any housework we missed out on,” said Enid looking around her.

“I’ll give you a hand,” I smiled.

“But what about the magazine?” asked Enid.

“They thought they could get along without me,” I replied. “I shall give them the chance to do that and come in at the last minute, so if they need some help, I’ll be there.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Enid smiled.

Everything was running smoothly when I arrived at the printing press. The magazine was being printed and the first batches were being loaded into vans for delivery. I have to admit to feeling slightly disappointed that my assistance wasn’t needed, then again, I had set it all up so that everything would run smoothly, so I should have felt pleased that my planning had worked.

“Natasha is wonderful,” said the Editor. “Everything ready to go, in plenty of time, I’m going to be home before midnight for the first time ever.”

“Glad it’s all worked so well.” I replied. “Where are the girls?”

“Georgie has gone off with my Grandson and Juliet has gone home,” said the Editor. “I would have thought they’d all go off together to celebrate, but for some reason Juliet thought she’d be a gooseberry if she went with them,” he added looking puzzled.

“Georgie and your Grandson seem to be a couple,” I tried to explain. “I think Juliet felt she’d be in the way.”

“Nonsense,” the Editor laughed.

“I think Juliet has her heart set on someone,” I said trying to turn the conversation away from the Editors Grandson and Georgie.

And he isn’t paying any attention to her?” the Editor asked much to my surprise.

“I don’t think so,” I replied.

“Then he’s an idiot,” the Editor replied.

“That I wouldn’t argue with,” I smiled. “The problem is to get him to notice her.”

“Who is this man?” asked the Editor.

“He is the photographer for the other magazine,” I tried to explain.

“You mean the ex-photographer for the other magazine,” the Editor smiled. “They sacked him this morning. The editor blamed him for the drop in sales.”

“From what I understand, he was the main reason the magazine was selling any copies in the first place,” I said.

“I was thinking of offering him a job, that is if he is prepared to work with Juliet,” the Editor smiled. “She is the one who has the best ideas for layout and photographs.”

“Sounds like she’s spending a lot of time here,” I said. “What does the bookshop owner think of that.”

“She packed in her job there, she’s working full time here now,” the Editor explained. “Hadn’t they told you?”

“I’ve had a few family issues to sort out,” I smiled. “And they seemed to be managing without me, so I left them to it. They knew how to contact me if they needed to.”

“They said you were upset,” said the Editor.

“The idea of the Fairy Godmother is to steer people in the right direction and let them get on with it,” I explained.

“I told them they aught to invite you to join in the celebrations,” said the Editor. “They said you wouldn’t want to, but I said it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Instead they left me sitting around waiting for them to come back and tell me how things had gone,” I sighed.

“Very inconsiderate,” he said. “So you’re here to see if they’ve mad a mess of things?”

“I know that makes me sound bad,” I said. “But, I didn’t leave it too late to sort things out.”

“But not without magic,” he replied.

“Like I said. Family problems, I forgot it was printing day today,” I replied smiling hopefully.

“I believe you,” he smiled.

“Tell them I called round,” I said.

“I will when I see them,” he smiled as I disappeared back to my room. Everything was sorted, but somehow it didn’t feel as if I had given them there happy ever after, it didn’t feel properly finished.

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 77

“Have you two quite finished?” asked the she wolf.

“I think so,” I said. “How about you Mum?”

“I feel miles better,” said Enid. “Ready to face anything and that includes my Mother.”

“Good,” said the she wolf. “You’re keeping my little ones awake.”

“Sorry about that,” I said. “But I thought wolves always howled at the moon.”

“They do, but when they are older, it’s been hell trying to explain that they can join in in a couple of full moons time,” the she wolf explained. “And their Father is getting rather annoyed, he normally comes here to howl.”

“We’d better leave you in peace,” I said, getting ready to wave my wand.

“Don’t forget to put that fire out before you go, it’s amazing how much those things can spread, we haven’t had any rain in months and everything is tinder dry,” the she wolf warned.

“Of course,” I said, getting rid of the campfire.

“Don’t suppose you could drop a bit of rain on the place,” the she wolf asked. “There’s plenty of it up in the clouds, but we need it down here.”

“No sooner the word than the deed,” I said waving my wand twice, we disappeared before the rain got to where we were standing, the thank-you from the she wolf echoed after us.

“You’re always doing that,” said Enid as we appeared in her rooms.

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Helping,” Enid said. “I’d have just left the camp fire and gone.”

“But that would have been irresponsible,” I replied.

“That’s the difference between us,” Enid smiled. “You think of these things and I don’t.”

“You could always change that,” I replied.

“How?” she asked.

“Think of what I would do and then do it,” I explained, she gave me a look that said told me it would never happen.

“So what do we do next?” she asked.

“I was thinking of getting something to drink and then going to bed,” I replied.

“I don’t think alcohol is a good idea,” said Enid.

“I was thinking more like hot chocolate,” I said. “All that howling has left me with a slightly sore throat.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” said Enid, waving her wand and two mugs of hot chocolate appeared on the coffee table. “I have a guest room,” she added. “Would you like to stay the night?”

“That would be very nice Mum,” I said.

“You never called me Mum before,” said Enid.

“You never felt like my Mother before,” I said, picking up the mug. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s nice,” said Enid taking me through to the guest room. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I said, looking round the room. We hadn’t done much in there because the room hadn’t been used and therefore there wasn’t any rubbish in it, just dust. I walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers a cloud of dust arose and I waved my wand to clear it from the

room. Looking in the drawers I found a nightie which was just my size, so I got changed and went to sleep.

“I wonder how long this has been here,” I thought as I drifted off.

I knew it was a dream because Lily was there and she was talking to a much younger Malcolm and Natasha.

“I tell you Enid’s pregnant!” Lily shouted.

“Who’s the Father?” asked Malcolm. “As far as I know she doesn’t know many men, at least not that well.”

“She’s fixated on that artist, I forget his name, he’s been doing sculptures in the library,” Lily replied. “Don’t you know anything about your daughter.

“Don’t be silly,” said Natasha. “She hardly knows that waste of space.”

“She’s been obsessed with him for the last five years at least,” said Lily. “I thought she’d forget about him when I got her sent off to help out with Santa, but as soon as she got back she went in search of him.”

“Are you sure she’s pregnant?” asked Malcolm.

“Yes,” snapped Lily. “I can spot the symptoms, I’ve gone through them myself.”

“You must understand, that pregnancy wasn’t a good idea,” said Natasha. “You were not stable enough to carry the baby.”

“I would have liked to have the chance,” Lily sighed.

“Rosie is a very good child and having shared a womb with a human meant that the illness didn’t end her,” said Natasha.

“If I’d been allowed to carry her, she might not have fallen ill in the first place,” Lily said.

“Unlikely,” said Natasha.

“What’s this got to do with Enid?” asked Malcolm.

“I don’t see why she should be allowed to carry a child when I wasn’t allowed to,” said a rather petulant sounding Lily.

“This relationship, if there is one and I don’t think there is one outside Enid’s imagination. This relationship is far to new to warrant Enid getting herself with child,” said Natasha. “You are seeing babies where none exist.”

“Just like you to laugh at what I’m say,” said Lily. “You never believe me when it’s something about your beloved Enid.”

“Not that old chestnut,” said Natasha looking at the ceiling. “We do not have favourites.”

“You’ll see I’m right,” shouted Lily and dashed out of the room sobbing.

“Is it her time of the month?” Malcolm asked.

“And what do you know about time of the month?” Natasha asked coldly.

“It’s what some of the men say when their wives are having a strop,” he said.

“And what else do they say?” Natasha asked.

“That they’ll calm down in a week or so,” Malcolm replied.

“Well, if that is the problem, Lily will be prepared to listen to reason in a week and I’ll talk to her then,” said Natasha.

“Right,” said Malcolm. “I’ll leave you to deal with it then.”

“Yes, like you always do,” Natasha smiled.

The scene faded to darkness, but returned, through the windows I could see snow falling, so it must have been a few months later. Enid came in through the front door carrying a baby, she looked like an early photo of me. The only baby photo of me.

“Where on earth did you get that from!” asked Natasha.

“This is my daughter Myrtle and I gave birth to her three weeks ago,” Enid smiled.

“What on earth have you brought it here for!” Natasha snapped.

“I thought you’d like to meet your granddaughter,” Enid said, stoking my hand.

“Why would we want to do that?” asked Malcolm.

“Because she’s your granddaughter,” Enid replied.

“Babies take up a lot of time,” Natasha explained. “You’d be better off dropping her off at the nursery. Eve’s working there now, she’ll take care of it.”

“Myrtle is my daughter,” Enid snapped. “She is not an “it” and I will take care of her.”

“I hope her Father is going to help you,” said Natasha. “Because you’ll never manage by yourself.”

“I can’t imagine Father was much help when you were bringing up Lily and I,” said Enid.

“He wasn’t, but I had Eve to take care of you, I didn’t have to waste my time with that sort of thing. You, I assume will be doing it all yourself,” said Natasha.

“I was hopping that you might give me a hand occasionally?” Enid asked.

“Forget it,” said Natasha. “You brought this baby into the world without bothering to ask us, so you can look after it.”

“Thanks for nothing Mother,” shouted Enid, walking out of the door and slamming it shut behind her. I started screaming.

“I hope she isn’t going to bring that noisy brat back here,” said Malcolm.

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” said Natasha.

“Thank-you dear,” said Malcolm and then the scene faded.

“What the hell was that?” I thought and drifted back to sleep.

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 76

“It hasn’t been this clean and tidy since,” and Enid paused. “Since I don’t remember when.”

“I would like to argue the point,” I said. “But it is the first time I’ve been in here. Got to say I would have thought that your rooms would be spotless and organised.”

“I have a busy life,” Enid replied.

“You’ve been suspended as Head of the Fairy Council for a few weeks now,” I replied. “There were take away containers that had mummified remains in them, you could at least have thrown out the rubbish!”

“After a while they stop smelling,” said Enid.

“And they start developing their own ecosystem,” I replied.

“It’s not that bad,” Enid replied.

“There was a line of ants taking the contents of one box away!” I said.

“I hope you haven’t deprived them of whatever it was,” said Enid, looking slightly worried.

“No, I traced where they were coming from and took the box to them, it’ll save their little legs,” I sighed. “However, this lack of cleanliness isn’t good.”

“OK! I stuffed up!” said Enid.

“I know what Eve would have said if I’d let my room get in that state,” I said, not that it would’ve, the rooms were checked daily and nothing could be out of place.

“Probably the same as she said to me if there was any rubbish in my room, even if it was in the bin,” said Enid. “I don’t know why we had bins, we had to empty them as soon as we put anything in.”

“I know what you mean,” I sighed. “But you know the standards she set, why did you let it get to this?”

“I don’t know,” said Enid, sitting down suddenly, on the floor.

“Was it when Lily died?” I asked cautiously, though I knew that wasn’t the case, the dates on some of the rubbish went way back before then.

“No,” said Enid. “Though I think it has got worse since then.”

“So when do you think it all started?” I asked, sitting down opposite her.

“Difficult to say,” said Enid. “Lily was always the perfect one, when she went to school, she was immaculate. I tripped up and landed in a puddle, mud all down my dress and frogs in my hat! When we got home, I got put in the bath and was sent to bed without any tea, she had fruit salad and ice-cream. Everything she did was perfect, I stuffed up every time, but she was my sister. Now she’s gone, they act like she never existed and I’m still the failure.”

“I think what you need is something the humans call closure,” I said.

“It’s a bit hard to have a funeral without a body, anyway they seem so maudlin,” Enid replied.

“A memorial service,” I suggested.

“No one else has suggested it, Mum and Dad definitely wouldn’t go, so what would be the point,” Enid replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“The point would be to enable you to move on,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because this isn’t good for you,” I snapped.

“Who cares?” she asked.

“I do,” I replied. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I thought you hated me,” she said.

“You are my Mother,” I said.

“That doesn’t mean much,” she said.

“It does to me,” I replied. “And much as I may have arguments with you, I don’t want to see you like this.”

“You could always leave,” Enid replied.

“Or I could shake you till you have something to feel sorry for yourself about,” I said.

“I have lost my sister!” she shouted.

“So you need to do something to express that loss or it will consume you,” I shouted back at her.

“Like what?” she asked.

“We could go to the back of beyond and yell at the moon,” I suggested.

“And what good will that do?” asked Enid.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I think it might be to let out all the anguish or something, some human’s do it.”

“So?” asked Enid.

“We could give it a go,” I suggested.

“What if someone saw us, it would be so embarrassing,” Enid replied.

“So we make sure there is no one there,” I said.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“No, but that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared to try,” I said.

“When should we do it?” Enid asked.

“Now,” I said waving my wand.

“Where the hell are we?” asked Enid, looking round carefully because we were on the top of a mountain.

“We are at the top of the back of beyond,” I said, looking down. “And the sun is in the process of setting.”

“So how long do we have to wait before we can howl at the moon?” asked Enid. “And what do we do whilst we are waiting? I’m getting cold!”

“We build a campfire,” I said.

“With what?” Enid asked. “If you hadn’t noticed, we are quite a distance above the tree line.”

“And I am a Fairy Godmother,” I said, giving my wand a little twitch and a campfire appeared in the centre of a circle of stones.

“What about reducing the use of your wand?” Enid asked.

“What about it?” I replied.

“What are we going to do whilst we wait for the moon?” Enid asked changing the subject.

“We could talk,” I suggested.

“About what?” she asked, sitting down on one of the stones and leaning towards the camp fire.

“Why didn’t you tell Natasha that I was due?” I asked.

“She’d want me to get someone else to carry you, like she did with me and Lily,” said Enid.

“And you didn’t want to do that,” I said.

“No,” snapped Enid.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I wanted to be closer to you than I was to Natasha,” Enid snapped.

“So what happened?” I asked.

“Things weren’t easy,” said Enid.

“One thing I’ve learnt, life is never easy,” I replied.

“I turned to my family for help,” Enid said.

“With most families that would work,” I said.

“But not ours,” snapped Enid.

“So, what happened?” I asked.

“Any time I had problems, all I got was other people manage or drop the brat off at the nursery,” said Enid. “Sorry.”

“And you get that told enough and you finally do it,” I said.

“I’d had a really bad week, you were teething and I hadn’t had any sleep. Natasha took me there,” said Enid. “She did the talking and got me to sign the papers.”

“How did you feel when you had?” I asked.

“I felt like shit,” she said. “Like I am the worst mother in existence.”

“Well, you aren’t,” I said. “Natasha is.”

“Natasha kept us, I didn’t keep you,” she yelled.

“You may have been in the same house as her, but you didn’t know who she was,” I said. “I wouldn’t call that keeping you. Also, she let you down when you need her most.”

“I should have known what to do,” said Enid.

“You had Natasha as an example,” I said. “How are you expected to learn about maternal instincts from her, a cuckoo could give her lessons on child care!”

“But,” said Enid.

“You tried,” I said. “And you said you wanted to make things right with me.”

“If it’s possible,” said Enid.

“That’s the difference between you and Natasha,” I replied. “She will never admit to doing anything wrong and until she does that, she can’t even start making things right.”

“Does this mean I have a chance?” Enid asked.

“That is a glorious full moon,” I said pointing at it. “Come on Mum, lets howl at the moon.”

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 75

“So?” asked Enid and her Father as soon as I got back to them.

“What?” I asked.

“You know what!” said Enid. “Don’t play dumb.”

“I think Natasha is in her element, the Editor’s wife is hanging on her every word,” I replied.

“Is there much for her to do there?” asked Enid’s Father.

“It sounded like the whole house needed a make-over,” I replied. “They were talking about a room a month for as long as it takes. Sorry.”

“What’s to be sorry about, as you said, she’ll be in her element and I’ll get some peace and quiet for a few months at least,” Enid’s Father replied. “It’ll take her mind of,” he shuddered.

“What?” I asked.

“She was thinking of having some more children,” he said. “I think she was just bored, but she was actually thinking of carrying them!”

“Isn’t she too old?” I asked.

“No,” he said vaguely. “Her Mother gave birth to twins last month, what with that and Lily, well, it’s been praying on her mind since then. I think she thinks she didn’t give you and Lily enough of her attention when you were little,” he added looking at Enid.

“Enough attention! I remember you two turning up for my 16^th birthday party and I had to ask Eve who you were!” snapped Enid. “Do you know how embarrassing that is. You just weren’t a part of my life, or Lily’s.”

“I’m sorry about that,” said Enid’s Father. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Of course it matters,” snapped Enid. “I’ve only just found out what my Father’s name is,” she added turning to me. “It’s Malcolm, by the way. You have no idea what that feels like.”

“I think I do,” I replied. “It took you long enough to admit to being my Mother and I nearly had to drag my Father’s name out of you.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Enid quietly.

“You always were like your Mother,” said Malcolm.

“I am nothing like that over blown egotist,” Enid shouted.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I smiled.

“Like you know anything about her,” Enid replied.

“I’ve met lots of people like Natasha,” I said. “What you see is what you get and at full volume.”

“That’s true,” said Malcolm.

“So what’s all this about wanting children?” I asked.

“She went to visit a friend of hers when Lily, you know what,” said Malcolm.

“I didn’t know she had any friends,” said Enid.

“That isn’t very nice of you,” I said to Enid. “Everyone has some friends. Also, we all know what Lily did, why don’t you say it rather than skirt round it like that.”

“It’s hard to take in,” said Malcolm. “The thought that she was so desperate that that was the only solution that she could come up with,” he looked away and cleared his throat. Normally I would have given him a hug, any body else, I would have, but somehow, I didn’t think it was something he would appreciate.

“It hasn’t been easy for any of us,” I said, looking at Enid. “But it’s what she did.”

“I know,” Malcolm sighed. “I think your Mother thought that if she had some more children, she’d do a better job of bringing them up than she did with you and Lily.”

“Are you saying that she was thinking of giving up her work so that she could concentrate on them?” Enid asked.

“She was thinking she had short-changed you two,” said Malcolm.

“So she thought, rather than sorting out things with Enid, she’d wipe the slate clean and start again?” I asked.

“Something like that,” said Malcolm.

“The danger with that is that she loves her work,” I said. “Not doing it would be very frustrating for her and she might take her frustrations out on her children.”

“I had worried about that,” Malcolm agreed. “But, you know what she’s like, Enid, when she gets an idea in her head nothing stands in her way.”

“So you are hoping that this will take her mind off children and by the time it’s over she’ll have lost interest in the idea?” I asked.

“Something like that,” he admitted. “If this led to more work, then that would probably seal the deal and if you decided to have a baby,” he added looking at Enid. “Then I might be able to sell the idea of being a granny to her.”

“That’s too much,” said Enid. “I’m not having another baby just to get Mother used to the idea of being a Granny.”

“You wouldn’t have to do much,” said Malcolm. “Your Mother might even take on the job of bring it up,” he added looking hopeful.

“I messed up totally the first time, I want to make it right with my daughter, I definitely don’t want to have another so that Mother could make a mess of their life,” snapped Enid.

“You want to make things right with me?” I asked. “Or is there another daughter you haven’t told me about.”

“Of course I want to make things right with you,” said Enid. “What Mother wouldn’t want to, well, apart from mine.”

“If you two are going to start talking things through,” said Malcolm. “Could you do it somewhere else, I’d like to enjoy the piece and quiet whilst I have it.”

“Of course, Malcolm,” we said and I took us back to Enid’s rooms.

“I thought you’d take us back to my office,” said Enid looking round.

“Which is where?” I asked. “You’ve been suspended as Head of the Fairy Council and you are no longer the Head of the Fairy Godmothers, so where is your office.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Enid sitting down on the sofa in her living room, a cloud of dust arose and set her coughing.

“The stuff you took from the Head of the Fairy Godmother’s office, where did you put it?” I asked. She pointed to some boxes just inside the door. “And the Head of the Fairy Council office?”

“Behind the sofa,” she replied, pointing.

“How long were you planning on leaving them there?” I asked, running my finger over the top box and seeing a line appear in the dust.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Enid.

“Like you haven’t thought about cleaning anything in here,” I said walking round the room.

“There didn’t seem to be a great deal of point,” said Enid. “It isn’t as if anyone comes here.”

“They wouldn’t want to, not in this state,” I said. “You and me are going to get cleaning.”

“I’m not one of your jobs, you don’t have to tell me to clean up,” Enid snapped.

“Looks to me like I do,” I said. “Do you have a feather duster, I haven’t seen cob webs like that since the ones in the Fairy Council Hall.”

“I think it’s the same spiders,” said Enid. “Some of them do look rather familiar.”

“It’s not like you to be like this,” I said. “You’re usually the first to be cleaning up.”

“Lily, she was always the first. As soon as you mentioned the cob webs in the Council Hall, she wasn’t happy till she had some of the apprentice fairies up there cleaning them out,” said Enid. “We had our disagreements but, she was always there. Now she isn’t any more, she just faded away in front of me. Now it’s as if she was never here. Mother, you know what she said. I find it hard to take.”

“She did so much,” I said.

“And it’s all been forgotten,” Enid said.

“Then we must do something to make sure she is never forgotten,” I said. “What do you think, a statue, a garden or a day?”

“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Enid.

“OK, you think about it whilst we get the cleaning done,” I said.

“Are you obsessed with cleaning?” asked Enid.

“The first few jobs you had me do involved a lot of cleaning,” I reminded her. “You get a lot of satisfaction turning a pig pen into something suitable for someone to live in.”

“The cleaning stuff’s in that cupboard over there, you can start with the cobwebs,” said Enid.

“And what will you do?” I asked. “I said I’d help you with it, not do all the work.”

“I thought I’d start by picking up the laundry off the floor and sending it down to Velvet,” said Enid. “Then I thought I’d pick up the rubbish and everything else there is on the floor.”

“We can’t do the hoovering till the floor is clear,” I said. “Reciting something she drummed into me the first week at Fairy Godmother College.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever remember that,” Enid smiled.

By Janice Nye © 2020

The Fairy Godmother Part 74

I tried Juliet and Georgie’s flat first, I didn’t think that they would still be in work, so it seemed the logical place to start. The lights were out and the flat was empty and cold.

Next I tried the book shop, on the off chance that they were working late, for some reason, maybe a late delivery of books. Likewise, lights out and no one home.

I went to the magazine’s offices. The editor was working late, but then he tended to.

“Looking for the young ones?” he asked, looking up from what he was doing.

“I had an idea for the next magazine,” I said.

“Good job someone has,” he smiled. “One magazine might make a splash, but you have to follow it up.”

“I agree,” I smiled. “And with something better, if possible.”

“So what’s this idea?” he asked.

“I was wondering if there was any scope for something on interior design,” I said, beginning to think that my idea was sounding a little lame to say the least.

“I don’t know anything about interior design,” said the editor. “But my wife is always talking about it, trying to get some ideas on how to put something into our home.”

“I know an interior designer,” I said slowly.

“Are they all superior attitude and know it all?” asked the editor.

“Very much so, unfortunately,” replied.

“Then they’ll be perfect,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do a before and after article.”

“It could take a while,” I said.

“All the better, a room a month, she’ll be in her element,” he smiled.

“How did you know she was a woman?” I asked.

“She’s my wife, I’ve been married to her for,” he paused for a moment. “A long time, in fact our anniversary is in a weeks time. I can tell her it’s an anniversary present, she’ll be over the moon.”

“Should we mention this to the others?” I asked.

“If you could send them a text?” he asked hopefully. “I would do, but I’d end up swearing at my phone again, my Grandson’s told me how to use it, several times, it makes me feel such an idiot when I forget and have to ask him.”

“How about we send it on your phone, I can give you a quick reminder on how to use it and your Grandson will think you’ve got the hang of it,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he smiled handing over the phone.

Two days later Enid and I were standing outside her parents home.

“Are you sure you want her doing this?” asked Enid.

“The Editor didn’t think that his wife would take an interior designer seriously if she didn’t come with an ego the size of mount Everest,” I said.

“That describes her,” said Enid, knocking quietly on the door.

“They wont hear you knocking like that,” I said, as the volume of the voices from the back of the cottage rose at least another twenty decibels.

“Perhaps we should try another day,” said Enid, whilst I banged on the door hard enough to drown out what Enid and her parents were saying.

“Are you going to answer that door or do I have to,” I heard Enid’s Mother shrieking, a couple of minutes later her Father opened the door.

“I hope we haven’t come at an inconvenient time,” said Enid apologetically.

“Who is it?” yelled Enid’s Mother, before her husband could get a word out.

“It’s Enid and her daughter,” he said, sounding slightly shell shocked.

“Myrtle,” she yelled back. “God knows it’s a stupid enough name, I would’ve thought even you would remember it!”

“Hello Granny,” I shouted.

“Don’t you ever call me that,” she shouted back, running through to the front door.

“So what should I call you?” I asked.

“Natasha,” she snapped. “It is my name!”

“I didn’t know,” said Enid.

“It’s a nice name,” I said.

“Thank-you,” she replied. “Your great grandmother, Myrtle, chose it.”

“It’s better than Enid,” said Enid.

“I can’t help it, you looked like an Enid,” said Natasha.

“I think, if I have a daughter, I shall call her Natasha,” I said smiling. That got everyone’s attention.

“You aren’t are you!” asked Enid’s Father.

“No, but I might think about it one day,” I said.

“Thank God,” said Natasha and Enid together.

“So why are you two here?” Natasha asked.

“You are a interior designer,” I started.

“I am the best interior designer ever,” Natasha replied.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I have been working with a magazine editor,” I said.

“I’ve seen the magazine, you’ve made a great start, but you will need something special for the next one if you want to keep the new readers,” Natasha said.

“That’s why I was thinking of you,” I said.

“What would you like me to do?” Natasha asked.

“The Editor’s wife wants their home revamped,” I smiled. “You could do a room per magazine for as long as it takes, before and after stuff and the reasoning behind the designs, that sort of thing.”

“And you thought of me!” said Natasha.

“You are the best interior designer,” I said.

“I’d be delighted,” said Natasha. “I must get to work straight away.”

“I’ll take you to see the editor and he can introduce you to his wife and their home,” I said waving my wand.

“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” said Enid’s Father.

“If anyone can pull this off it’s her,” said Enid.

“Didn’t you know your Mother’s name was Natasha?” he asked.

“I don’t remember her being anything other than Mother,” Enid replied. “And you were always Father.”

“Malcolm,” he said. “My name is Malcolm.”

“I’ll have to tell Myrtle,” Enid said. “She likes to know names.”

“Back again,” said the Editor. “And is this the interior designer you were telling me all about?”

“Yes,” I said. “This is Natasha.”

“I didn’t think she would be so young,” he said smiling. “Not that that is a problem, I don’t think my wife is the jealous kind.” They both laughed lightly and I began to wonder what I had let myself in for. “I’ll take you over to meet my wife and leave you two to it. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me getting in your way.”

“Which room do you want us to start with?” asked Natasha.

“I think my wife has a lot of ideas on that subject,” he smiled.

“Shall I whisk you both over?” I asked. “Then I can whisk you back here once the introduction have been made.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” the Editor smiled, so I waved my wand and there we were.

“Hello,” said a little old lady. “You are the most interior designer,” she stuttered, then paused for a moment. “You must forgive me, but I am stunned, to see such a talented and glamorous lady in my humble home.”

“Your husband said that you wanted to shake things up in here,” Natasha said. “Let me help you.”

“Thank-you so much,” said the Editor’s wife. “I didn’t know where to start.”

“Which room do you think is most in need of change?” Natasha asked.

“Let me show the house and we can work for there,” said the Editor’s wife.

“We’ll leave you two to it,” said the Editor.

“Of course dear,” said his wife. “He’s not very good when it comes to homes,” she said to Natasha.

“Men seldom are,” said Natasha.

“Sorry about that,” I said waving my wand.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it,” said the Editor when we got back to his office.

“I’d better leave you to your work,” I said.

“Don’t you want to talk to the others?” he asked.

“If you don’t mind,” I said. “I’m sure you can explain it just as well, if not better than me.”

“They said there’d been a row,” the Editor said. “But they didn’t say what it was about.”

“It’s stupid, I suppose,” I said. “But they went off celebrating the success of the first magazine and I know it was very successful.”

“But one success isn’t everything,” said the Editor.

“Yes,” I sighed.

“And they didn’t invite you along,” he added.

“I don’t suppose I’d have gone,” I said.

“But you wouldn’t have sat around waiting for them to tell you the good news either,” said the Editor.

“No,” I replied.

“And that’s why you don’t want to face them?” he asked.

“That and I’ve been up to my ears and beyond with family and I could do without having my judgement questioned for once,” I said.

“OK, I understand,” he smiled. “What will you do now?”

“Sort things with Mother,” I said.

“Good luck,” he said as I waved my wand.

By Janice Nye © 2020