Chapter 11
"Where are you, Vidia?" Tinker Bell said with a touch of crazy in her voice. She was just as unhinged now as she had been when the little tinker fairy blasted off after the fast flyer. Tink's backside was still smarting from getting paddled by Vidia.
"Grrrr… I'll find you, Vidia, where ever you are!" she howled into the winds. "I will find you! And when I do you will regret it!"
"Tink," Terence called to her. "Wait, whatever it is that you're planning, don't do it, please."
Oh no, not now. She palmed her face as Terence, Rosetta, Silvermist, Clank and Bobble flew up to her.
"Tinker Bell, are you okay?" Silvermist asked her.
"You didn't hurt Vidia, did you?" Rosetta followed up.
"Not yet, but I will," Tinker Bell replied, that bit of crazy still very present in her tone.
"Tink, don't," Terence pleaded. "You'll only get yourself into trouble."
"Yes, let the queen handle everything," Silvermist told her.
"I get first crack at Vidia. Then the queen can have whatever is left," Tinker Bell snarled.
They all looked very worried for their friend. Tinker Bell was so emotional she was coming apart at the wings.
"Calm down, Miss Bell," Clank said.
"Aye, you'll only end up in trouble with the queen like Miss Vidia," Bobble helpfully added.
"In trouble? In trouble?! Where were you when I was in trouble?!" Tinker Bell shouted. "Vidia stuck me in a tree, told me that tinkers aren't real talents and then paddled my tushy for not saying she's more talented than I am."
"Oh dear," Bobble gasped.
"I am the most talented fairy in Pixie Hollow! If I don't tear her big, fat wings off and then force feed them to her with milk weed whip and ground cinnamon on top then she should consider herself to beTHE LUCKIEST FAIRY ON THE PLANET!" Tinker Bell ranted.
Tinker Bell then bolted off into the cherry blossom orchard. Terence and the others gave chase, but had to break off when all of them were stopped by Viola.
Hiding inside the hawk shelter Vidia had little else to do except reflect on how badly her plan had failed. She wondered how so many things went wrong when she had thought out the plan so thoroughly. Even as she became absorbed by her internal monologue Vidia never took her eyes off of the pinpricks of light that were formed by the closed trap door of the shelter.
So many things had indeed gone wrong. Vidia realized that there were numerous other variables to which she had never given due consideration. First, that garden fairies were experts on the thistles and could tell she was faking. Second, she never looked scared or anxious which was an easy give away. Third, that her approach to Tinker's Nook was the only way a thistle could get to Tink's cottage home and by itself was very suspicious. Fourth, that knocking Silvermist into the water would reveal how much control she actually had over the thistles. Fifth was taking revenge on Tinker Bell so soon after being assigned to capture the thistles. That was a connection that was far too easy to make. And lastly, that the thistles would panic after only a few seconds in the confined spaces of Tinker's Nook housing district.
That last one, the event that truly sparked her downfall, was what got her attention the most. There is an old fairy saying, "Fish don't know they are in water." It means that fairies, like fish, take their environment and how they live in it, for granted. Fairies unconsciously (or subconsciously if you prefer) make certain assumptions in their thinking and decision making. These assumptions are not intellectual, but implied and color their way of looking at the world. They don't even know they make them unless it is pointed out.
Vidia made this very mistake. She thought as fairies always think, in three dimensions. Because fairies can fly they think on three axes, the horizontal x and y axes and the vertical z axis. The problem was that thistles cannot fly and Vidia never made the complete intellectual leap to two dimensional movements in her planning. When formulating her scheme, Vidia contemplated several problems and worked out solutions to each of them. This included what to do if she lost control of the thistles. In the wide open spaces of Pixie Hollow she could let them run wild until she got control of them and then try again another day.
Yet when she laid out plans for where to go and what to do once inside Tinker's Nook she never once considered that she might lose control of the weeds in the Nook's confined spaces or that she would be confronted by immovable obstacles where ever she went. Vidia was so focused on how wonderful it would feel to successfully destroy Tinker Bell's home that she never gave it a second thought. Why? Because she unconsciously (or subconsciously) viewed the roots and walls the way a fairy would, not as a thistle would. She never considered them obstacles because she could fly over them like she always had. It was a safety valve in her thinking that had come back to haunt her.
Vidia berated herself for not giving forethought to these complications. With nothing else to occupy her attention it quickly became a sore spot for her and began to undermine her sense of superiority. If you're so great, Vidia, why didn't you think about all of this before hand?
In the final equation, though, Vidia sought what every fairy wanted: recognition, appreciation and acceptance for what she was, what she had to offer and what she could accomplish. Unfortunately, Vidia's egotism, antagonistic and often vindictive attitude, isolationism, hyper competitiveness and tendency to lash out kept her fellow fairies at arm's length where they could never get to know the real fairy underneath the bluster. Her belief that she was shunned by fairy society because they were jealous of her greatness prevented her from doing anything more than her assigned duties every season. Whereas Tinker Bell used her creative energies to design new contraptions that helped Pixie Hollow, Vidia would direct her creativity to finding new ways to denigrate the other fairies and talent guilds rather than help or improve her community.
Tinker Bell zoomed through Pixie Hollow trying to find her prey when she spotted Vidia's house in the Sour Plum Tree. That must be where she's hiding.
Tink dove towards the house and kicked open the door when she landed. Inside, however, she found no one. The tinker fairy was about to take off to keep looking, but just as she was about to leave her feet, Tinker Bell had a marvelous idea.
So, you destroyed my home, hmm? Fine, two can play at that game.
Queen Clarion listened to testimony after testimony from dozens of fairies and sparrow men across several different talents. The picture that came together was so disquieting it worried Clarion that Vidia may have reached a point of no return. She silently wondered if Vidia could even be saved.
Did I let you go too far? Did I fail you, my dear Vidia?
Ultimately the queen decided that no fairy was beyond saving and that she would give full and uncompromising effort to help the fast flyer see the errors of her ways. Clarion told herself that the only way she would fail is if she gave up.
When Vidia first ducked into the hawk shelter the pin points of light touched the dirt at the far end of the space. Now the points had crawled their way almost to the other side. The light had also changed color from bright yellow to an orangey hue. She had spent the entire day hiding inside. It explained why Vidia was so hungry and thirsty now. With no other recourse the fast flyer peaked out of the shelter and carefully looked around for even the slightest hint of Tinker Bell.
It was early afternoon and the fairies of the hollow had all gone to dinner. Vidia wanted desperately to eat, but Tinker Bell might be there waiting for her and she would certainly be seen by the entire populace of Pixie Hollow. So the fast flyer carefully made her way back to her house.
Wait, she might be there instead. Oh great, I'm stuck. Wherever I go she might be there waiting for me.
But Vidia had to go somewhere, so she flitted over to the dining hall and found it packed with fairies and sparrow man sitting down for their meal. She snuck in the back way and took some food and drink when no one was looking. She ate quickly while hiding in a nearby tree. From there Vidia slipped her way across Pixie Hollow to her home in the Sour Plum Tree. But when she got there, Vidia found Tinker Bell standing at the door. She appeared to be inspecting it before finally closing it.
What are you doing to my home you lousy tinker? She can't destroy it because it's inside a tree trunk so she must have left a trap inside for me, probably at the door.
Vidia hid while trying to decide whether to go into her home or somewhere else. However, there was no other place where she could go. Vidia had made herself a pariah and had no friends she could call on to let her stay the night. Frustrated she flitted down to her home and tested the door. It moved slightly, but was blocked by something. Too smart for ya, Tinker Bell.
Instead she went in through the only window in her home. It faced the East so the early morning sunlight would wake her up every morning. She flitted around to the window, opened it and carefully lowered herself into her home. Vidia was careful to watch for Tinker Bell so she never looked inside her house before entering.
When Vidia set her feet on the floor she thought she felt something brush against her leg. When she looked down she saw Cheese the mouse. What in the name of the Second Star are you doing here?
Vidia then saw Cheddar, another mouse, as well as Jack, and his best friend Monty, and also Camembert, Romano, Mascarpone, Wensleydale and Roquefort. In fact she saw all of the cart-pulling mice.
AAAAHHH! They're all stuffed into my home! This is what she was doing while I've been hiding? I could have been anywhere and never been seen by her. That blasted Tinker Bell was here desecrating my home with these filthy, stinking mice!
"CHEESE," Vidia screamed. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! ALL OF YOU! GET OUT!"
When the fast flyer started screaming the mice were startled and were incited to run around her home and scratch and tear up things.
"No! No! Stop it, all of you. Ahhh! Cheddar, got off of my bed! You, not my furniture! Jack, my ceiling fan is not a snack! Roquefort, you can't eat that, those are my clothes! Monty no that's not a…, you can't pee there! NO! OUT! OUT! OUT, BEFORE I SIC THE HAWK ON EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! GET OUT!"
She tried to open the door to remove them, but every time she did the scurrying, frightened mice would push up against her and the door causing it close once more. Again and again she tried, but she simply could not evacuate the mice. The more she screamed at them the more alarmed they became and the more they tore up the inside of her home.
Vidia flitted above the fray and started pounding on the door and the walls screaming out that accursed name: "TINKER BELL! TINKER BELL, YOU COME BACK HERE AND GET THESE MICE OUT OF MY HOME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! TINKER BELL?! I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID TINKER FAIRY! TINKER BELL!"
Note: All the names for the mice I used are actually names of different cheeses. Seemed fitting.
Next Chapter: Queen Clarion lays down the law.
Thank you all for reading and please keep reviewing. It is the only way I can get better as a writer. And it encourages me to write more stories (the Second Star help us).