Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 8

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Snow White was despondent. She was certain the love of her life would be forever beyond her reach. She sat on a log contemplating the vial which Rumpelstiltskin had prepared for her. He said it would make her forget him entirely. But did she want to forget him as though he never existed?

Just then, a dove landed next to her. Attached to its leg was a note. Snow read the letter which was addressed to her. It was from Prince James. In it he declared his undying love for her. All he asked was that she arrive at the castle. If she did he would know she loved him to and he would leave everything to be with her.

Snow White had never been so happy.

~O~

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Mary Margaret drove out into the woods, the dove still in its cage. The road which took her to the bird's flock was gated off. She stopped her old Jeep Wagoneer and got out. The birds were chirping and trilling in the distance. The little dove's flock was nearby. She put up her hood and ventured into the forest. The storm was closing in faster than she had anticipated.

~O~

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Snow White had formulated a plan to infiltrate King George's castle. She dressed in a cloak and put up her hood. Snow pretended to be a servant for King Midas delivering flowers for the ceremony. Once inside via the servant's entrance Snow tossed aside her cloak and basket of flowers and went looking for Prince James. A castle guard found her first.

"I am a royal emissary," she declared as the guard tossed her into the dungeon and locking the door.

He read the note from James to Snow. "The king will know what to do with you," he said, taking the letter with him. Almost immediately Snow White began looking for a way to break out of the cell. The walls were cut from the cave walls. The door and bars were made forged from strong iron. She tried to break the lock with a stone, but that didn't work. She climbed up looking for a weak spot where the iron and stone met, but to no avail.

The short and stout man in the cell next to her said that it was hopeless. Snow would not hear any of that defeatism. She was determined to break free. Out there was a man she was meant to be with. A man she loved dearly and who loved her back.

"Love? It's not worth it," the stumpy looking man declared. He told her that he had fallen in love with a beautiful woman once. He wanted to marry her so he saved up for full year to buy a diamond from the mine where he worked. The foreman sold him the shiny gem, but it turned out to be stolen and he was blamed for it. Now he was rotting in jail. "All for love," he said with a bitter bile in his tone of voice.

Snow wouldn't give up. She had to get out. Love was worth it.

"Good luck with that," he replied.

The stout little man introduced himself as Grumpy. A dwarf. Snow offered her name and continued to look for some way to escape. He told her once again that there was no way out.

"I know a way out," a voice said to Grumpy from the shadows.

"Stealthy!"

Here was another dwarf. Stealthy had put the guards to sleep with a magic powder. He unlocked Grumpy's cell and set him free. Grumpy didn't care much about the girl in the adjacent cell. He was ready to leave her to her fate. Snow could have pleaded with him, or cursed him for leaving her behind, but her good heart wouldn't allow it. Instead she said, "Good luck finding your love." And she meant every word of it. Snow genuinely wanted this poor creatures to find true love and real happiness.

He didn't want to, but Grumpy turned around and set her free, as well. The group, now at three, skulked their way through the catacombs towards the exit. Snow wanted to take the stairs which would lead them to the castle walls. They simply had to climb over to their freedom. Stealthy replied that the courtyard was empty. They could simply walk out and not be seen. Grumpy decided to follow his friend, leaving the girl to find her own way out of the castle.

It was night outside. People were asleep and the courtyard, as Stealthy had said, was devoid of guards. Inside the castle courtyard merchants had set up booths to sell their wares, food stuffs and anything of value which could be offered to the visitors who would clog the square in the hours leading up to the ceremony.

Also there were to be entertainers, fire eaters, dancers, puppet shows and a myriad of other performers who had left their carriages in the yard as they slept. Nearby, the caravans of visiting dignitaries waited. The horses tied up for the night and asleep. The courtyard was silent, the shops were closed, booths were unattended and only a few torches and the moonlight lit up the yard. It was supposed to be an easy escape.

It was a trap. The instant Stealthy and Grumpy stepped out of the shadows the king and his men had the two dwarves surrounded. Stealthy tried to make a run for it, but took an arrow to the heart for his troubles. As his friend lay dead, Grumpy defied the king when George asked him where the girl was.

"What girl?" Grumpy spat.

"Kill him," King George ordered.

"Looking for me?"

George turned and saw Snow White standing next to a cart full of hay for the horses. She was holding a lit torch just over it. "Let him go or this place will burn," she demanded.

The castle was made of stone, but all the merchant shops, performer wagons and the caravans were highly flammable. If they burned King George would be publically humiliated in front of the many visiting crowned heads of state and dignitaries who would lose everything in the fire and it would prove that King George could not even secure his own castle from a single invader. His reputation would be in ruins and his kingdom would be the laughing stock of the surrounding realms.

Snow White announced she was willing to trade herself for the dwarf. It was more than a fair trade. Grumpy was allowed to leave. After Grumpy was safely gone from the castle, King George turned his attention to Snow White and said, "We have to talk."

~O~

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Mary Margaret was on foot. She was trying to find where the flock was located. She looked skyward trying to find where the flock was resting as the storm approached. Her next step sent her down into a ravine. She grabbed hold of a tree root, but was left dangling from the side. The root began to give way.

A hand reached down and grabbed her. It pulled her up to safety. It was David Nolan. He had followed her. He tried to talk her out of this but then the heavens opened and the rain poured down in buckets. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. She picked up the cage with the dove and followed David to a cabin. It was unoccupied so they let themselves in to get out of the rain. Night was falling, the temperature was dropping and both were soaking wet. David gathered wood and made a fire in the hearth to keep them warm.

~O~

Lightning flashed and lit up the night sky. It was as if a brilliant sun flashed each time bathing the darkened town in a harsh, fluorescent light. Thunder cracked and rumbled, shaking windows and frightening residents. The power had gone out all over Storybrooke. Residents were reduced to using flashlights and candles. At the Kensington residence Claire and her daughters ate an early dinner right before the power was lost. Inside the now darkened house they decided to retire a little early. Claire changed into gold colored satin pajamas while Tina and Valerie dressed in warmer flannel sleepwear. Tina's was in a green and black tartan while Valerie's was purple and black. With no electricity they were reduced to using flashlights and battery powered LED lanterns.

When lightning strikes at a distance the sound takes time to travel and the thunder is often a faint rumble. At closer distances that rumble is louder and stronger. When it gets much closer it often announces itself with a preamble. A loud crack just before a terrific crash of ear splitting sound.

This is what sent a frightened Tina into her sister's bedroom. Valerie's bed, however, was too small for a second person. "Hey, get out of my room," Vidia protested. Another bright flash, another crack followed immediately by the immersive thunder. Tina raced out of Valerie's room and into her mother's.

"Mom? Can I sleep with you tonight?" Tina pleaded from the doorway. She was sixteen, but the terrifying sounds still turned her into that same panicky little girl who used to dash into her parent's bed at the first loud crash of thunder and lightning all those years ago.

"Of course, dear," Claire replied. She pulled down the covers and invited her youngest to join her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Vidia asked stepping angrily into the master bedroom. "You come bursting into my room and try to sneak into my bed. Then you run out like a frightened dairy mouse."

"Aren't you scared?" Tina asked her older sister. The young blonde stood by Claire's bed, quivering a tad each time a distant flash lit up the windows of her mother's bedroom.

"No. It's rained and thundered in Pixie Hollow and I never got scared."

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!

As if on cue a blinding flash and monstrous explosion filled the room. When lightning strikes extremely close, there is no preamble. No crackling sound to announce itself. Instead, there is silence and then there is chaos.

This is what greeted the three women. It came from everywhere all at once and was so loud the entire house shook. It was instantaneous, and took them completely by surprise. Vidia and Tina practically leapt out of their skin from the sudden shock. They shrieked and launched themselves into Claire's bed where they curled up under the covers. Claire put her arms around her two girls and held them tight. The sound they heard was like a thousand giant explosions going off all at once right in their ears and never letting up. It relentlessly permeated their house for over a minute. It seemed more like an hour. No sound could be heard over the impervious din. Not the crying from Tina, or the screaming from Vidia who covered her ears.

It eventually dissipated to a cacophonous roar. Then a window shaking rumble. Then finally it was little more than distant noise until it was gone. Neither girl was willing to leave the room or the "safety" of Claire's bed. There they stayed through every flash of lightning and every report of thunder. Soon their fear brought them exhaustion. Their exhaustion brought them to sleep. Here they slept in the comforting embrace of their mother. A mother who, despite being just as frightened, smiled as she remembered both these girls doing the same thing when they were so much younger.

~O~

THE MAINLAND (The Late Victorian Era)

"Well?" Gliss asked Spike. "Can we go now?"

Spike peeked out of the attic window. Up in the sky the peregrine falcon was still circling, searching for fairies it knew were in abundance in the city below it.

"It's still there," she reported back.

"When is it going to leave us alone?"

"When it gets too hungry to wait any longer," Spike said, pretty much venturing a guess but proposing it as though it were factual information.

"So now what do we do?" Periwinkle asked her two friends.

"We're stuck here," Spike answered. "So let's make the best of things." She set out inside the house to look for food and water. There was plenty of both. The three little fairies stole down the stairs and into the kitchen. The room was chilled, but not very warm or very cold. They ate from the foods that were available which included fruits and hearty bread. They drank water except for Gliss who took some wine and wound up acting even sillier than normal because of it.

The house had been decorated for the holiday and the beautifully bold colors that Periwinkle admired so much were in abundance. There was a Christmas tree, holly strung above the hearth, wreaths on the door and garland strung from the ceiling. A set of figurines that were each about the size of a fairy were displayed on a small table next to the towering tree. Periwinkle landed by it to inspect this scene. There was a sheep and a donkey, three men in fancy dress of distant and exotic origin and in the center of it all was a depiction of a stable with a mother and father kneeling at the foot of a manger. Inside this manger was child. An infant with a yellowish/gold circle about its head. Above it was "hovering" another small figurine of an angel. Spike explained the significance of the scene laid out before them and its meaning to the humans. Based on the Nativity and the other religious iconography within the house, these people were quite devout in their beliefs.

Gliss animatedly flew into the room alerting her two friends that the people who lived here were awake and moving around upstairs. Furthermore, an older lady had just entered through the backdoor and was in the kitchen starting to cook. Spike directed all of them back to the attic. She herself went to the kitchen to spy on the older lady. She must have been a maid or servant, the winter fairy surmised.

When the human's back was turned Spike zipped into the room, grabbed a few grapes off the table and flew back up the stairs into the attic space with her two comrades. The grapes would sustain them throughout the day. Providing that the falcon remained above the city searching for food.

~O~

Periwinkle, who was more interested in the humans than either Gliss or Spike was watching from a small hole in the ceiling. The couple who lived here had stirred. The man was dressing while his wife sat in a rocking chair before the hearth. Embers glowed from the fire that had kept them warm throughout the night. He put a few more logs on the embers and soon they began to burn illuminating the room further with their firelight.

"Thank you, Martin," the woman said. The lady of the house had a plump belly. She was clearly expecting and soon. In the far corner of the bedroom was an empty bassinet or pram. The pram was decorated with red ribbon and a bow. A Christmas gift from someone to the couple. She absolutely adored the elegantly ornate infant bed.

"Anything for you, my dearest Elizabeth," Martin replied, adding a kiss to underscore his sentiment.

Moments later the older woman ascended the stairs with a tray of food in hand. She placed the try on table next to the woman so she could enjoy her breakfast. Periwinkle noticed that just about everything was done for the woman who was with child. Martin, the husband fawned over her every need. The older woman, Mrs. Perkins, was hired to help.

Martin left the room and reappeared moments late with his own tray. He sat next to his wife and they ate breakfast together. When they finished he left his bride in the capable hands of Mrs. Perkins. Watching from the attic window Periwinkle saw Martin flag down a horse drawn carriage taxi and go off to work.

Periwinkle returned to her little pinhole in the ceiling. "He's a good man," Mrs. Perkins informed her employer. "He loves you very much, takes good care of you and he's got a good bit of money, too, him being a natural philosopher and all."

"Oh, Mrs. Perkins," Elizabeth replied with a gentle laugh. "Haven't you heard? They call themselves scientists now."

Mrs. Perkins just rolled her eyes. She hated it when people changed the names of something. "Speaking of names, have you and Dr. Griffiths picked one out for the baby?"

"Yes," Elizabeth replied. "If it's a boy we will name him after his father. If it's a girl she'll be named after her mother."

"Oh, both good Christian names. Excellent choices," Mrs. Perkins enthused. "I do hope God blesses you with a strong and healthy baby."

"Thank you, Mrs. Perkins," Elizabeth replied. "Thank you very much."

~O~

Periwinkle continued to peek in on the goings on of the house. When Mrs. Perkins went off to clean the house, Elizabeth took to knitting and humming pleasant tunes. Spike said they were directed at the baby she carried inside her. Later, Elizabeth read from a book about what to expect as a new mother and later she and Mrs. Perkins had tea and giggled at the wickedly funny stories they told each other about their husbands. The little frost fairy was enraptured by these humans and their funny ways.

Later that evening Martin returned from his work and brought with him a gift from his colleagues. A blanket for the infant. Since no one knew what it was to be, one side was in pink and the other was in blue. "It's perfect," Elizabeth gushed. "Please thank them for me."

"I will, my love," Martin replied. He placed the warm blanket inside the bassinet then joined his beautiful, glowing bride at the hearth where they talked and shared about his day and hers. When night fell they went off to bed and doused the lights.

~O~

Outside, the peregrine falcon was no longer in the skies above London. A few winter scouts ventured out and sounded the all clear gathering their scattered numbers. Once again the talent guild overseers counted their numbers and made sure each fairy, by name, was present. When word reached Snowflake that everyone was safe she gave a wave of her hand and the entire contingent of winter fairies safely lit off for Never Land.

The part about how thunder sounds when lightning strikes very, very close is a real phenomenon. I've lived it. Twice. It's not fun.

Thank you for reading. Any and all feedback is always appreciated.