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.
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Lizzy's Sunset - Chapter 10 - Clara
It was a mild evening a couple of days later, when Prilla caught up with Lizzy at the Fairy Camp Tree. Lizzy excitedly described her activities while Prilla was gone. She wore scrapes and splinters from trying to Apparate onto moving wagons.
"It's all timing." sympathized Prilla. "I tore up some skirts until I got it. It's a bit like dancing, with the wagon leading. You have to flow with the wagon."
"I'll keep at it." Lizzy grimaced as she rubbed her bottom.
"What did you think of the fast-flyers?" Prilla eyed Lizzy with a half-smile.
"Well," Lizzy chose her words carefully "They sure are a proud lot."
"Mmm. Not many humble fast-flyers. So they took you for fast-fly trips?"
"Elwood took me to Birmingham, and Wisp took me to Manchester. Elwood was nice, but he wouldn't stop chattering at me. We almost flew into a building! Wisp was a little frightening; she kept buzzing close to the tree-tops. At that speed..." Lizzy shuddered. "They both seem a little... unstable."
Prilla nodded "You'll find most of the high-end talents are like that. Even Tinker Bell. Wisp is a close second behind Vidia, although Vidia would never admit it. Elwood is probably the number three fast-flyer. How did they like being Apparated back?"
"Elwood vomited for a full minute. Wisp was alright. She's small, but surprisingly tough." Lizzy guessed Prilla's intentions. "If I had to work with one of them, I think it would have to be Wisp."
"Good." Prilla nodded. "Tonight, I'd like you to meet one of my "regulars".
Prilla Apparated them to an open-air market in London, now closed for the night. They fluttered to a section with fruit from Europe and the world.
"Tracy lives alone with her mother, who works evenings as a waitress." Prilla explained. "Most of the salary goes to pay rent. I always try to take something healthy for Tracy." She stopped over a huge display of apples.
"Pick a couple with stems you can hang onto." Prilla instructed, "Then shake a little pixie dust on each, not too much, just enough so you can handle them." Lizzy followed her. They stood on the pile of apples looking at each other, holding 4 apples between them.
"How are we going too...?" asked Lizzy.
"I didn't think of that." commented Prilla. "Let's try back-to-back." They flattened their wings, and pressed their backs together. Prilla made the jump, and they were stumbling on a ledge outside a flat window.
"It worked!" cried Lizzy. She looked around. This was not an elegant living area.
"First time I've done that." The window was open just enough for a fairy to step through into the flat. "We'll have plenty of time with Tracy. Her mother travels an hour to work by bus & tube, and another hour to return. She won't be home until 1 or 2 in the morning."
They fluttered with the apples into a small but tidy bedroom, containing 2 sleeping cots and boxes of clothing. One of the cots had remarkably good drawings of Prilla stuck to the wall nearby. They floated through the doorway.
"Sometimes I bring pencils and other school supplies." Prilla added. "It's amazing what some humans throw away." The next room was a compact kitchen/lounge area. A young girl, doing school-work at the kitchen table looked up at their approach.
"Prilla!" she cried. "You brought a friend!" The 2 fairies set the apples in the center of the table. Prilla hopped across the table, picked up a short pencil, and flew it back to Lizzy.
"Write your name for her." Prilla indicated a small scrap of paper nearby. Lizzy did so, and also drew a smile-face with twin hair braids, on a stick figure with a pair of small wings.
"Lizzy." read Tracy. Lizzy stuck out her hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Lizzy. I'm Tracy." She gently shook Lizzy's hand. "Are you best friends?" Prilla and Lizzy glanced at each other, smiled, and both nodded "yes". Tracy had learned to ask mostly yes/no questions. "Have you known each other long?"
Prilla picked up the pencil and wrote "new" next to the stick-drawing of Lizzy. She then wandered over to look at Tracy's school-work.
"You're a new fairy? How do you like being a fairy?" Tracy asked. Lizzy smiled grandly and hugged herself. "I'd like to see the fairy world someday, but I haven't finished school yet." Prilla jingled for Tracy's attention to one of her school-work geometry exercises.
"Well, I wasn't sure about that one." explained Tracy. Lizzy wandered over to look. Prilla picked up the pencil and began drawing geometry figures that showed a clearer way to the solution. "Oh. I never thought of that."
As Tracy proceeded through the exercise to the answer, Lizzy asked "Where did you learn this, Prilla?"
"Tinker Bell taught me some, and showed me more from the human books in our library." Prilla swung the pencil onto her shoulder. "Tracy is a smart girl, she just needs a little tutoring."
Lizzy eyed Prilla with new admiration. "Is she the only one?"
"There are a few others, and more in the past, but they moved away and I lost track of them." Prilla sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could Apparate to people, instead of just places."
Lizzy watched as Tracy moved on to history, then english school-work, with Prilla helping as best she could. It grew later into the evening.
"Can I just draw Lizzy, before I go to bed?" asked Tracy. She spent several minutes sketching, then showed the results. Lizzy bounced and clapped at the marvelous drawing of herself. "I'm going to put it right next to my pictures of Prilla." Tracy declared.
"Perhaps she's an art-talent." suggested Lizzy.
"Maybe, but human children need to try every talent before they decide." Prilla answered, as Tracy put away her school-work.
The fairies tucked Tracy into bed, kissed her forehead, and waited while she drifted to sleep.
"Well," said Prilla, "Her Mum should be home in a few hours. It's been a long day, I think I'll head home." Lizzy nodded. "Tomorrow is Saturday for humans, which is often easier for us. I'll see you at breakfast." They each Apparated back to Pixie Hollow.
Lizzy and Prilla spent the next day fast-transporting messages & supplies, and bouncing about the various fairy bases & stations in London.
"The more places you're familiar with, the faster you can get around." stated Prilla.
They had lunch and supper at the Fairy Camp Tree, chatting with some of Prilla's acquaintances. Early evening, they hopped into the Richmond Park base to pick up some maps.
"Tonight," announced Prilla, "We'll do a new contact. I'll let you decide which one."
Lizzy gazed over the maps, smiling, "Some lucky girl or boy is going to meet fairies tonight." She pointed to a red dot. "This one."
"There are closer ones..." suggested Prilla.
"No, this one."
"Alright." smiled Prilla. "Let's go!"
"Flying in the city at night is usually safer." explained Prilla, as they zipped along. "Not as many eyes to see you, so just stay near the rooftops."
"You said Saturday is easier for us." prompted Lizzy.
"On Friday and Saturday evenings, many parents will go out for a meal and a show, leaving their children with a babysitter. You'll see."
"Do you visit many boys?" asked Lizzy. Prilla made a wry face.
"Boys are more difficult. Human parents raise them differently than girls; rough-and-tumble adventure. It's not easy for a fairy to appeal to that. Girls are more socially inclined. Sometimes if a girl has a younger brother..." Prilla trailed off.
They paused for a moment near a streetlamp to check their course.
"Actually, even holding the attention of girls nowadays is more demanding." Prilla continued. "Children have so many distractions... television, music, battery-powered toys... and when girls discover boys, fairies are GONE." she chuckled.
"I think we're almost there." claimed Lizzy. They dropped down closer to the houses, peering into any lit windows.
As they approached a partially open 2nd floor window, they heard a girl exclaim "It's the hawk! Hide fairies, hide!" Prilla and Lizzy both snapped against the wall, under the window ledge.
Prilla frowned. "Hawks don't fly at night." She looked up and down the street. "What's going on?"
They both raised their heads and looked into the room. There, they saw a young girl playing with paper cut-outs at a small table.
"Ahh." smiled Lizzy.
"Let's just check something." Prilla fluttered down to a ground floor window. She and Lizzy saw a teenage girl talking on the phone, while watching the telly.
"That's the babysitter." said Prilla. "I don't think she'll be bothering us." The two fairies fluttered back up to the girl's room, and stepped through the open window. At Prilla's advice, they sat on the edge of the window sill.
"Don't want to frighten her." Prilla suggested. "We'll just sit here chatting, and she'll notice us. Stay alert. Some children will charge at a fairy, like we're a new toy, but one girl was afraid of me. Be ready for anything."
The girl looked over to find the jingling noise, and froze, staring at the two fairies.
"Smile." hinted Prilla to Lizzy, "Give her a wave."
"Fairies?" asked the girl. Her eyes glanced to an old book open on the table, then back to Prilla & Lizzy. "Real fairies?"
"I think it's safe to approach." Prilla & Lizzy pushed off and floated toward the girl. "This side of the table, away from her.", which is where they touched down.
"Are you really fairies?" asked the girl. Prilla & Lizzy nodded "yes".
"Children believe even more in fairies if they know you have a name." Prilla said to Lizzy, while watching the girl. She walked forward, and found a pencil & scrap of paper amongst the art supplies on the table. She wrote her name, then handed the pencil to Lizzy, who also wrote her name.
"Prilla. And Lizzy" read the girl. "I'm so happy to meet you. My name is Clara. I've just been tracing pictures from my grandma's book. Would you like to help me colour them?" The two fairies jumped to work.
"This is the water fairy." instructed Clara, "Her hair is black, and her dress is blue." She picked up another cut-out, "This is the garden fairy. Her hair is red, and her dress is pink and red."
They colored away as Clara chatted. "I've already done the hawk. Are fairies really afraid of hawks?" The two fairies nodded "yes". "I can see why. Hawks are much bigger than fairies." She set down a yellow crayon and picked up a brown one. "I'm doing the light fairy."
Prilla gazed over at Clara's work, then at her own, then Lizzy's.
"Lizzy..." said Prilla in a low voice, "Does any of this look familiar?"
"What do you mean?" asked Lizzy.
"Well," pointing to her blue-dressed cut-out, "This could be Silvermist." Prilla pointed to Lizzy's cut-out, "That could be Rosetta. You even colored her dress right, without realizing." Prilla pointed to Clara's cut-out, "And that's GOT to be..."
"Iridessa!" Lizzy looked at Prilla in astonishment. "Where is this coming from?"
"Clara mentioned that book." Prilla jerked her head toward the old book. "Why don't you have a look while I keep Clara busy." Lizzy fluttered over to the book, and slowly turned pages.
"What sort of fairy are you?" asked Clara. Prilla picked up the pencil and wrote "mainland visiting". "Oh, do you visit here on holiday?" Prilla laughed, and wrote "visit children".
"Prilla!" cried Lizzy. "Prilla, come here!" As Prilla fluttered over, Lizzy indicated the book page, saying "Look like anyone you recognize?"
Prilla stared at the life-size tracing of a fairy with yellow hair, a short green dress, and actual cotton balls on her shoes.
"Well, take my dust..." murmured Prilla.
"That's my grandma's book." informed Clara. "She gave it to me, to look after. Grandma's gone now. Mummy says she's with the angels." Clara moved her chair over closer. "It's a book about fairies. Would you like to see it?" The two fairies nodded "yes".
Clara started near the front, and slowly flipped pages as she chatted about what she knew, or imagined, of the life of fairies. Prilla's eyes never left the journal, but Lizzy looked repeatedly from the book, to Clara, and back to the book.
"...and that's all about fairies." concluded Clara. The journal still had many blank pages.
"I've got an idea." grinned Prilla to Lizzy. She turned to the "Actual Size Fairy" page, looking at Clara, and pointing to the tracing. Prilla then turned to the next blank page, and laid down on the page.
"Oh." Clara smiled, "You want me to trace you?" She reached for a pencil as Lizzy also laid down on the page nearby.
Clara gingerly traced the outlines of the two fairies. Together they filled in feature lines, colored the two tracings, then Prilla and Lizzy wrote their names. When they were done, Prilla rolled cart-wheels in a circle around the page, while Lizzy jumped and applauded.
They continued with the cut-out tracings, until Prilla heard footsteps in the hallway. The two fairies Apparated to the window ledge outside.
"Clara?" called the babysitter as she entered, "It's time to get ready for bed, sweetie."
"Alright." answered Clara, looking about the room for her fairy friends. When the sitter left, Prilla and Lizzy returned to the small table top.
As Clara changed to her bedclothes, Lizzy turned to the front page of the old journal. She read the inscription: "Scientific Fairy Research, Lizzy Griffiths & Tinker Bell".
"You can't tell her." said Prilla, from beside Lizzy.
Lizzy looked up at Clara. "But she's my..."
"You can't tell her." Prilla insisted. "She's just a child. It would mess up her young head."
"But..."
"Promise me you won't tell her." Prilla looked at Lizzy sternly.
"I promise." Lizzy whispered.
"You can visit her any time, but remember there are many other children to visit too. We need lots of children to believe in fairies."
The babysitter returned once more, to see that Clara was in bed. The fairies waited nearby until Clara fell asleep. Prilla then fluttered over to the old journal, and flipped the pages to the new one of her and Lizzy.
"Something to remind her, in the morning." Prilla smiled. "Dulsie's tearoom?"
"Meet you there!" Lizzy grinned, and the two fairies vanished.
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Author's Post Note:
I'm going to call that "a wrap". This story certainly grew much more than I expected. And it's not even a proper story with a climax; just a bunch of ideas strung together. Oh well, I managed to close some circles. Hope you enjoyed it.
The story title seems a bit off, considering where it goes now. It's part of the story's evolution, I guess.
When I started this story, I only had the movies & a couple chapter books to draw from. See how dangerous "a little knowledge" can be? I've totally mixed up the time-lines, characters, and talent specifics. It seems there are 2 Disney Fairies eras:
- The earlier Pixie Hollow "golden age" era, with the Pixie Dust Tree, covered by the movies.
- The later Fairy Haven era, with the Home Tree & Mother Dove & fairy dust, covered by the books.
Something really bad happens in between. I'm not looking forward to hearing about that. I cringe every time an author beats-up fairies. I like my fairies safe & happy.
The character of Prilla doesn't even come along until the later era. From what I've read so far, she doesn't "teleport" to the mainland (as such); it's more like a duplicate of her is created on the mainland and her consciousness jumps to the duplicate, while her real body sort-of "zones-out".
I like the vitality of the movies, but the books have many interesting characters which might clutter-up a movie. So in my ignorance, I cherry-picked. Anyway, now I can get on to some other story ideas that have been whispering to me.