Fanny couldn’t believe her luck, as she struggled beneath the heavy pillow, pushing her way back from the grasping hand that had almost wrapped itself around her tiny body. The hand patted the mattress, moving back and forth until it found its prize, a shinny, silver dollar! Clutching its reward, the hand retreated and Fanny could hear the boy’s voice as he leaped from his bed.
“Mom! MOM! The tooth fairy came! Look what she left me!”
Fanny breathed a sigh of relief, sinking back into the fluffy pillow. What, in the name of cotton candy, was this kid doing awake anyway? As if she didn’t know. Slipping out from under the pillow, Fanny headed to the window, looking for her trainee. She had an earful she had to say to him, leaving her stranded in the danger zone, while he flew away to safety.
“Oh there you are Fanny. That was a close one, wasn’t it?”
Closing her eyes, Fanny counted to ten, and then turned towards the pile of toys the voice had come from. “It was only close Zip, because you woke the child up.”
“It wasn’t my fault Fanny! He had a fairy trap set up!”
Fanny prayed for patience, then continued her lecture. “They all have fairy traps. Every child wants to catch the tooth fairy. That’s no excuse for clumsiness!”
“I’m sorry Fanny,” Zip said, hanging his head. “I’ll do better at the next house.”
Fanny sighed. That was the same thing he had said at the last house, and the house before that, and the house before that. He’d been saying it all night long, with no hope in sight of it ever being true. Why did she have to be the one to get Zip as her Fairy In Training? He was the clumsiest F.I.T in the history of F.I.T’s. Even worse than Wiz and she had been pretty bad.
Fanny heard the sound of the boy’s feet heading back to his room. Judging by how fast they were moving, he must have realized he hadn’t checked his trap and was hurrying to see if he’d caught a fairy. Grabbing Zip’s arm, Fanny slipped under the crack in the window, pulling him behind.
“Try to keep up Zip,” Fanny said, her wings moving faster than usual. “We are way behind schedule; we have to step it up if we are going to finish by morning.”
The next house had a cat. Fanny told Zip not to land anywhere the cat could reach him. Granted, cats could jump, but they couldn’t fly. Fanny didn’t see any way that Zip could mess that up. Unfortunately for Zip, he couldn’t see any way not to mess it up. Fanny had just finished placing the silver dollar under Rylie’s pillow and had retrieved the tooth, when she heard Zip’s cries for help.
Peanuts and popcorn, he was annoying! Crawling out from under the pillow, Fanny looked around. Zip was nowhere to be seen and neither was the cat. She had told that bumbler to stay behind her. It should have been a simple job. They had flown into the room, staying close to the ceiling. That high up, the cat might never even see them. They had landed on the light shade, hanging in the middle of the room. Fanny surveyed the bed and the cat was still sleeping. From there it should have been as simple as snowflakes. All Zip had to do was follow her down to the bed and under the pillow. What could have gone wrong?
“FANNY, HELP!”
Zip’s voice was coming from under the bed. Cautiously, Fanny climbed towards the floor, hanging onto the bedspread as she stuck her head under the frame to take a look at the situation.
PIXISTICKS! The cat had Zip cornered between the wall and the leg of the bed! Fanny shook her head. Only Zip could turn a simple tooth exchange into a cat-astrophy. She chuckled at her joke, then realized there was no one there to share it with. She could rescue Zip, and then tell it to him, but considering he was the butt of the joke, he probably wouldn’t laugh.
Fanny looked at her tooth watch. Time was running out and she still had two more kids to go. She could leave him. He was safe, as long as he stayed behind the leg post. The cat would give up eventually and she’d get done a lot faster without Zip tagging along. Sighing, Fanny dismissed that idea. He was still her F.I.T and no matter what, she was responsible for him. What if her Training Fairy had given up on her? Fanny’s face turned red as she remembered some of the bumblers she had made.
Fanny let go of the bedspread and flew up to the ceiling. She looked around the room for anything she could use to distract the cat. Gerbils! Not real ones, but toy gerbils that ran around the room, bumping into things and making chirpy, gerbely noises. It was risky and might wake up the girl, but Fanny didn’t see any other way.
Flying down to the floor, Fanny landed on the back of one of the toys, looking for a way to turn it on. A quick examination revealed a pressure button on its back. Fanny pressed down with both hands, putting all her strength into it. The toy came to life, chattering loudly and knocking Fanny off its back as it began to move across the floor. Fanny flew back to the light shade and waited for the cat to come investigate.
It didn’t take long. The gerbil toy was making all kinds of noise, beeping and whistling and making all kinds of whirring sounds. Cotton Candy! That thing was going to wake the whole house!
Keeping her eye on the bed, Fanny saw the cat’s nose peep into view as he inspected the new threat to his girl’s safety. Flying straight down towards the corner of the bed, Fanny dove under, hoping Zip was already on his way out. He wasn’t. Zip was still behind the leg of the bed, his eyes closed tightly. He hadn’t even realized the cat was gone. Well he wouldn’t be gone much longer if they didn’t hurry. Looking over her shoulder, Fanny saw that the cat had already lost interest in the toy and had turned back towards them.
Fanny grabbed hold of Zip, who screamed in terror, before realizing it was Fanny and not the cat, pulling him out from his hiding spot. Holding tight, she pulled him towards the edge of the bed, flying as fast as her wings would flutter. The cat poised, ready to pounce. Just as he leaped towards them, Fanny and Zip cleared the bed and flew straight for the light. Landing on the shade, Fanny turned towards Zip, ready to give him a tongue lashing, but seeing the fear in his eyes, she paused. Had it really been that long since she’d been an F.I.T, that she’d forgotten how scary it could be learning something new?
“I’m sorry Fanny,” Zip said. “I fell off the bed. I’ll do better at the next house.”
“I’m sure you will,” Fanny said, “and if not, then the house after that. It will get easier. Just please Zip, try not to get cornered by anymore cats. Peanuts and popcorn, I don’t think my heart can take another cat-astrophy!”
Zip chuckled, relieved that Fanny didn’t seem angry. “I don’t think mine can either,” he said.
“Let’s get out of here,” Fanny said, flying towards the window, while making sure she stayed out of the cat’s reach. “Someone is coming.”
The two fairies slipped under the window just as Rylie’s step-dad entered the room. He looked around; sure he had heard a noise in there. Max was on the windowsill, looking outside. He meowed, looking at Jeff, then back towards the window.
“It must have been the cat,” he muttered. As he turned to leave the room he stepped on one of Rylie’s toys, nearly falling as he did. Beep beep. What was this thing doing, running around?
“Jeff?” Rylie asked, sitting up and looking at her step-dad, confused.
“Go back to sleep Rylie,” Jeff said, picking the toy up and turning it off.
Rylie lay back down and slipped her hand under the pillow. Her fingers touched something hard and cold. Pulling it out, she looked at the round object in her hand, a silver dollar.
“Look Jeff! The tooth fairy was here!”
Outside, Fanny Nightsky and Zip Moonfall hurried onto the next house. It had been an eventful night. Thank Sweetness it was nearly over.
No comments:
Post a Comment