Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.
Author's Note: I was beginning to wonder about "Lizzy's Sunset" (the 1-chapter version). Despite being found by some readers, it didn't seem to be inviting any reviews. Perhaps it was too melancholy for most readers. Then I read its 1st review (by murder-winter-cullen ).
My first reaction was: "AAGH! Why did you say that? Now you've got me thinking!"
Seriously, it's a brilliant idea that honestly never occurred to me. I considered the story finished; even dropped it into a folder labelled "Done & Out". I'd put the final paint on the story, and uploaded it. Then along comes someone who says "Did you notice this door here? Where does it go?"
Thanks, murder-winter-cullen. Here's my continuation of "Lizzy's Sunset":
.
Lizzy's Sunset - Chapter 2 - Farewell Tinker Bell
As Lizzy watched Tinker Bell gliding backward toward the window from her hospital bed, she felt more and more saddened. She wanted, so much, to spend more time with her tiny friend, but family was returning. As Tinker Bell touched down on the window ledge, the scout sparrow-man zipped across the room from his watch position at the door, leaving a trail of gold sparkles in the air. He joined the other 3 fairies outside the window, as Lizzy's granddaughter Clara entered the room.
"Hi, grandma!" she said, skipping up to the bed. Two women and a man also entered.
"Mum's wake." one of the women commented, "Did you have a good nap?" The adults clustered around the bed.
"Nap?" asked Lizzy, a bit flustered "Oh, yes. I suppose. How was the tea?"
"Dreadful." another of the adults answered, "They really should filter the water."
"I had 2 sweet buns." said Clara. As Lizzy looked to her, an idea came.
"Clara, I have something for you." Lizzy said, passing the Fairy Journal to the girl. "I would like you to keep this safe for me. When I was your age, many summers ago, I spent a rainy afternoon with a fairy named Tinker Bell."
Lizzy snuck a quick glance at the fairies watching from the window, as Clara turned pages in the book. "She taught me about fairies as we made this journal. Later on, I even met many of her friends. I don't know about Father Christmas, or the Easter Bunny, but fairies are real." The adults exchanged looks of concern.
"Take good care of this journal." Lizzy continued to Clara, who looked at her with wonder. "You'll know what to look for, and some day, you too may meet a fairy."
The younger of the 2 women exhaled heavily, and said to Clara "Well, young lady, I think it's time we got you home for dinner."
"Oh-h." bleated Clara in disappointment.
"Next time you visit, I'll tell you some adventures I had with Tinker Bell." Lizzy consoled her. As Clara left with her mother & father, Lizzy snuck another look at the window, but Tinker Bell and the dark-haired, purple-clad fairy were gone.
"I don't think it's a good idea to be filling Clara's head up with fantasy, Mum." said the remaining woman.
"Better that, than the weight of the world." Lizzy gave a wizened smile, which was completely missed by her daughter.
"I'll be back tomorrow, Mum. Is there anything you need?"
"Perhaps a book or 2 to read." Lizzy suggested.
"I'll see what's about the flat." she gave Lizzy a peck on the cheek. "Bye, Mum." As she left, a hospital attendant brought in Lizzy's dinner tray.
"Here you are, ma'am." he said, "Enjoy." He stepped out, pulled Lizzy's door partially closed, and continued to the next room with his trolley.
The nurse & scout fairies floated into the room from the window, but stayed wary.
"It's been such an exciting day," Lizzy said to the 2 fairies "I don't know if I'm hungry enough to eat all this. Would you like to have some?" The nurse and scout floated near the dinner tray. They definitely weren't interested in the meat or over-cooked vegetables, but they tried the mashed potatoes, and enjoyed the custard dessert.
"You must know all about Tinker Bell...?" Lizzy offered. The 2 fairies shook their heads "no".
"Oh. Shall I tell you then, how we met?" They both nodded "yes" enthusiastically. Lizzy set the dinner tray onto an empty night table, and began "It was many years ago, when I was a girl of 9. Father and I...".
An hour or 2 went by as she told the story to the fairies. They were good listeners; eyes big with apprehension at the scary bits, and smiling & laughing at the funny bits. By the end, it was dark outside, and Lizzy was yawning.
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I seem to have run out of steam. Perhaps I should get some rest." The 2 fairies pulled her bed-covers up as she laid back, and she was soon fast asleep.
Lizzy dreamt she was 9 again, and Tinker Bell had just showered her with pixie dust. She smiled at the company of her charming little friend, and floated into the air. After a few tumbles around the ceiling of her room, she and Tinker Bell floated out through the window, which was unexplainedly wide open. It was a warm, clear summer twilight. Lizzy and Tink flew together towards London, playing hide-and-seek through some small clouds.
Somewhere over London, Lizzy lost track of Tink. She felt herself drawn to a certain window of a large white building. Floating inside, she found herself looking down upon an old woman asleep in a hospital bed. A pudgy fairy was jumping repeatedly on an Nurse Call button, while a sparrow-man fairy checked the hallway. They vanished as a nurse and a doctor entered the room.
Time seemed to blur for Lizzy. When it settled down again, she was still floating in the same hospital room, but the old woman's head was covered by the bed-sheet, and the door was closed. The fairy and sparrow-man floated out of hiding, touched the head of the old woman through the sheet, then slowly drifted out through the window.
"This really is a strange dream." thought Lizzy, "I should be waking up about now. What does it mean?" Suddenly, heavy realization fell on her. "Is that me, laying there? That's me, isn't it!" Then cautiously thought "Am I dead?" She was suddenly filled with dread and panic. "But I'm still here. Am I a... ghost?"
Lizzy became aware that some invisible thing was tugging softly at her. She somehow knew it meant she had someplace to go, and the pull would become stronger if not yielded to.
"I want to see my grandchildren." said Lizzy, though no one heard her. She flew out through the window and into the night. She made 3 stops in the boroughs around London, hovering for a short time over the sleeping forms of her 5 grandchildren. The last was Clara, the youngest. Lizzy was happy to see the Fairy Journal on her bedside table.
Outside her last stop, the invisible pull was more persistent. She had to focus to stay in one place. She was about to give-in to it, then thought "Tinker Bell! I must see Tinker Bell. But how can I find... Pixie Hollow?" Lizzy looked into the night skies, and spotted 2 brighter stars. "Something about stars..." she thought "Second star... second star... on the right." She immediately flew towards the star as fast as she could.
Lizzy had no idea how long she had been flying; London was long gone. She saw nothing but ocean below her, but stayed on-course to her star.
Soon a lone island appeared ahead of her. She flew down towards it. "This could be it." she thought. "I'm looking for a tree, a really big tree, near a brook." From her aerial vantage point, she could eliminate a lot of mountain terrain, beaches, and grassland. She flew towards treed areas.
In a short while, Lizzy was flying over a snow-covered conifer forest. "What's this?" Lizzy asked no one, "Snow, on a semi-tropical island?" Then she saw in the distance, the biggest maple tree she could ever imagine, and flew directly for it. As Lizzy approached the tree, she found it was alive with lights, and tiny winged people.
"Fairies!" Lizzy exclaimed. "I made it!" She flew close to some of them and asked "Excuse me fairies, but could you tell me where I might find Tinker Bell?" They took no notice of her. "Oh. That's right. I'm a ghost." she thought, glumly. The invisible pull was stronger now. Lizzy had to "drift" against it. She realized she was running out of time.
"How can I find Tinker Bell? Think, Lizzy!" she said. "Tinkers wear green. They build & mend things. There must be some central place where all that is done." she thought. She flew in increasingly larger spirals around the huge tree, searching the community below for signs of tinkers. She almost missed a cluster of work-sheds & cottages, in a ditch at the end of a well-worn road.
As Lizzy drew closer, she could see the few fairies moving around at this late hour were all dressed in green. She turned her attention to the cottages, and quickly flitted to each one, reading the mailbox name-tags. After checking several dozen, she turned to a white teapot perched on an arched tree root. Her heart leapt when she read the name-tag: Tinker Bell.
"How am I to step inside?" Lizzy thought "Even if she's home." She reached her human-sized hand to the cottage front door, and suddenly found herself on the inside of the cottage, fairy-sized. "How did I...? No time for that now." she thought. Lizzy scanned the room, and spotted Tinker Bell, asleep in the bowl of a large seashell at the back of the cottage.
Lizzy floated close to the fairy, smiled warmly at her sleeping face, and said "Tinker Bell, I know you can't hear me, but I need to tell you... Even though our time together was short, I truly cherish your friendship. You've been like the older sister I never had. I have to go now, but if there is a way... I'll find you again. Farewell, Tinker Bell."
Lizzy glided to the cottage door, reached for it, and was suddenly again outside the cottage, and human-sized. She ceased struggling against the invisible pull, and was accelerated into the night sky.
.
More coming in chapter 3!