The Accident
2.
"Ready?" she asked him from her seat behind the controls of The Pixie Dust Express.
"Ready!" he said from his canoe, oars in hand.
"And Terence," she said with a sly grin, "try to keep up."
Tink and Terence teased each other often like this. They had a strong and durable friendship. When she returned from her adventures with Peter Pan these two were able to slip back into their old ways very easily.
During a previous test of a different prototype, the little pixie boat zoomed off the water, went on land and got tangled up in a cluster of cat-o-nine tails. Terence went looking for her to make sure she was all right. Tinker Bell always was, but still.
When he started searching where The Express landed, he couldn't find her anywhere.
"Tink?" he called out. "Tink, where are you?" He searched through the reeds and the plants and the water lilies alike. The dust keeper looked high and looked low. He was getting worried, the timber of his voice changed reflecting that growing concern and anxiety.
Terence started yelling out her name. He was flitting above some broad leaf plants when Tink suddenly jumped out from under them and yelled "ROWR!"
"AAAHHH" he squealed, completely startled. She couldn't help but laugh. That look on his face was priceless. Of course, he wasn't too happy about it at first, but then he settled down and laughed right along with her.
Tink released partial tension on the wound up stretchy thingy she employed as a substitute engine. The rubber band powered three playing cards Tinker Bell had fashioned into a large paddle wheel on the back of the Express and two sets of walnut shells that rotated on either side of the boat. With all three spinning, the vessel moved across the placid waters at a good clip.
"Now for Hydro-Drive," she announced to herself. Tinker Bell said it every time she engaged the drive system that had given her so much grief in the past. She always thought it was for good luck. With a pull of a lever the three skis descended from the boat's hull while the full tension of the rubber band was released. The new Pixie Dust Express shot down the stream like a bat out of hell. Somehow The Express was travelling faster than any previous model she had built. It barely skimmed across the surface of the water and Tinker Bell had to hold on for dear life. The air plowed into her and nearly knocked the dainty girl off her feet. She dare not let go or risk being thrown from the boat. If that happened, the craft would outpace her fairy flying.
Terence was nowhere in sight. His little canoe slipped quietly along. He had given up trying to keep up several prototypes ago. He rowed his little boat to the shore and flew off after his best friend.
"Wow, she is really moving," he commented, a smile across his face.
Tinker Bell wrestled with the control stick. She pulled and pushed to dodge obstacles in the stream: Water Lilly's, frogs, hollow reeds, cat-o-nine tails, rocks, roots and logs. They rocketed past her as blurs. She was anxiety stricken and her heart raced. It was too fast now. A small part of her tinker mind tried to find a reason for it. Maybe it was the gourd she chose. Maybe she put too much tension on the stretchy thingy. Maybe it was the third ski. Whatever reason, this was no longer test run. It had become an exercise in survival.
Maybe I should let go.
Tink noticed that when she turned the boat it tended to go too far in that direction, forcing her to pull the other way and over correct. But each time she would pull and push the boat kept moving right and left farther and farther. The Pixie Dust Express started to bob and weave and then it fishtailed wildly. Then it turned sideways. When it did the water rushing passed underneath grabbed the edge of one of the skis and flipped the boat over. The Express didn't plow into the water and stop; instead, it flipped wildly over and over and over again. Bits and pieces shearing as it did and whistling past any little marine creature nearby. With the world tumbling over itself in her eyes, Tinker Bell shrieked in stark terror. She would be lucky come out of this unscathed.
Terence watched as the boat danced across the water's surface, tumbling out of control. Then it smashed into a log with a sickening thump, exploding into shards some that went as high as the trees themselves.
"Oooh," he said wincing. "Wow! She broke another one. Tink's not going to be happy about that."
Tinker Bell was infamous for her violent temper and mood swings. She would turn a bright red when she got mad. In extreme cases, her whole body glowed with anger. One set back like this could send her into a long, deep depression or a tirade of monumental proportions. Extreme emotions and competitiveness were defining characteristics when it came to fairies with extreme talents. Vidia was the same in many respects, her talent level being second only to Tinker Bell. In either case, when either of those two girls got mad, it was always wise to duck.
Terence finally caught up to where The Pixie Dust Express had all but vaporized against the log.
"Whoa! That looks bad." He turned around looking for his friend. After an epic failure like this he knew right off that she would need someone to perk up her spirits.
"Tink," he called. "Where are you, Tink?"
Nothing.
"Hey, where are you?"
Still nothing. The only sounds he heard were the bubbling of the stream and the rustling of the leaves in the tree branches above. A splash caught his attention, but it was the last of the fallout from her boat hitting the water.
He decided to employ a little game he and Tinker Bell used to play with Lizzy when she was a young girl. "Marco…," he called, waiting for her to respond with "Polo."
Again nothing.
Okay, Tink, you've done this one before, he thought. He spied some broad leaf plants, just like the ones she hid in the last time. There was some movement underneath. Well if that's the way you want it, two can play.
Terence silently flew down into the stems of the broad leaf plants and listened. He heard something and moved very quietly towards the sound. He spied something green hiding under one of the leaves. So there you are. Terence drew in closer, never making a sound, always keeping an eye on his quarry. He ducked behind one of the plant stems and waited for the right moment.
He jumped out from behind his cover and yelled "YAAAH! GOT YA!"
"YEEEK!" A praying mantis shrieked in terror and flew off, scared out its mind.
"Ooops! Sorry, ma'am," he called out to the bug he had frightened.
Tink must be somewhere watching this and laughing her wings off, he told himself. Terence kept looking for her, searching the banks of the stream, inside a log, around some cat-o-nine tails and even behind a frog.
"Did you see anything?" he asked the amphibian. It replied in the negative.
Terence realized he was playing into her game of chasing her down. He changed his strategy. He would make her come to him. The dust keeper flew up to a tree branch with a bird's eye view upstream from where they came and sat down. In a loud and clear voice he said, "Okay, Tink, if you want to hide go ahead. I'm just going to sit here and wait until you're ready to show yourself."
He even went so far as to recline in a bend in the branch. He lay there comfortably, even crossing his legs while he waited. "Any time now, Tink," he said loudly. He watched for her to reveal her hiding place, unhappy that he wasn't playing along anymore. Terence watched and waited for a few seconds. Then he turned the other way downstream. His eyes caught the glimpsed of something in the water. What's that?
Terence left his perch and flew down to investigate. As he got closer the funny thing in the water took shape, colors became more visible, even a bit of movement. That's when he saw her. Tinker Bell, lying on the bottom of the stream, on her side, motionless. Only her wings showed movement, bobbing with the currents. His heart sank. Terence rushed to her side, only to stop abruptly.
"Nice try, Tink, but I'm wise to you," he mumbled. "I come rushing in to save you and you jump up and scare me. Not this time."
Terence fluttered down at a leisurely pace and gently set down in the water so as not to get his wings wet. Wet wings meant a fairy could not fly and Tinker Bell was taking quite a risk with her little practical joke.
He reached down into the water and lightly shook her arm. "Okay, Tink, you can pop up and scare me now."
She did nothing. Terence shook her arm again. Still she did not move. He got worried, but maybe that was what she wanted. He pulled her shoulder and she rolled over onto her back. Cloudy ribbons of crimson streamed from right temple. She was bleeding profusely.
"TINK!" he yelled. Terence quickly reached down and pulled her head above water. Terence spent so much time looking for her and she was here, under the water unable to breath. Was he too late? He pulled her close and listened for breathing, but heard none. Panicky, he grabbed her arms and tried to drag her out of the water, but he nearly slipped and fell in himself. Instead, he threw her over his shoulder and carried out of the stream and onto dry land. He put her down gently and put his ear to her chest. Nothing at first, then a faint sound of a heartbeat, maybe.
He had to get the water out of her lungs quickly so she could breathe. He turned her over and pushed down on her back to compress the water out of her lungs, moments later a little of the clear liquid came trickling out of her mouth.
"Tink, wake up. You have to wake up!" he cried, his voice trembling with fear.
"Please be alive, please wake up," he pleaded, his voice breaking even more. "Don't die. You're not going to die."
Most of the water seemed to be out of her lungs. At least that is what it looked like to him. He turned the limp tinker fairy onto her back and shook her hard.
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP, TINK!" he shouted. "Tinker Bell! It's me, Terence, your best friend. You have to wake up!"
He endlessly recriminated himself. Why didn't I stop her? I should have been in the boat with her. I should have put my foot down and made her stop building these things. I should have just ordered the balloon carriers no matter how much she would have hated me.
A torrent of emotions flooded his heart and mind. Fear. Anger. Dread. Anxiety. Emptiness.
And love.
Especially love.
Once she announced he was the very best friend she could possibly have he vowed never to tell her that he loved her. Not just as a friend, but as so much more. He wanted to kiss her rosy cheeks, hold her in his arms, snuggle with her in front of a campfire in the Winter Woods, lay her across his lap and feed grapes to her under a tree in a summer meadow. He hoped to show his love to her in every special way possible.
He couldn't after that. To reveal his true feelings would jeopardize their friendship. She was too special to hurt in such a selfish way. How could he take away the best friend she could possibly have? He chose her happiness over his own.
Tears ran down his cheeks. His heart pounded like a drum, his breathing sped up and deepened. Nothing he was doing seemed to help. His mind told him it was a losing proposition. His heart wouldn't listen. Terence kept calling to her, shaking her, thinking what else he needed to do to bring her back.
"Tink," he pleaded, panic having fully set in. "Don't leave me. You're so much more to me than just a friend. You're the reason I get up every morning. My rounds are precise so I can finish early and spend that much more time with you. I look at you and can't understand why you think I'm so special. Seeing that smile on your face brightens my day every time." Then he said it. "I love you, Tink. I love you more than anyone in the entire world."
Nothing. Not a single sound came from his beloved Tinker Bell. Terence's body trembled and his voice cracked.
"No…, no, please, no."
After several long minutes of trying to revive the pixie, he finally accepted the inevitable and gave up. The young dust keeper grabbed her lifeless body into his arms and wept. She was gone. He couldn't save her.
"I love you, Tinker Bell," he whimpered. "I love you so much. Please come back to me. Please don't leave me."
He cried. He opened his mouth wide and the most disheartening wail you ever heard emanated from it. Terence fell into such deep shock that he began to rock back and forth, Tinker Bell still in his embrace.
"I'm so sorry, Tink. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept repeating.
He took one last look at the girl he had loved. Terence brushed those wonderful golden locks from her sweet face, gave her a heartfelt kiss and said, "Goodbye." He put her head on his shoulders and hugged her ever so sweetly. It would be last time he would do this.
Tinker Bell was gone.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoy this story please drop me a line.
