Farrah in Fairyland (23 page)

“Oh, Farrah,
Farrah…Farrah. I guess some people never learn. Do you really think
that the Queen is going to allow a criminal like you to be one of
her Tooth Fairies? Why don’t you just give it up? You are destined
to be a baker and nothing more. I guess you can’t complain too much
though, after all, it is better than being in prison.”

Just as Farrah
was about to respond, she heard her named called out by someone
near the front of the line. She stepped out of line for a moment to
get a better look. It was the Queen and she was waving her
over.

“Farrah, what
are you doing in the Tooth Fairy line?” asked the Queen-which
startled Farrah.

“Ciao,
Samantha,” Farrah said, feeling relieved as she pushed past her to
meet the Queen.

Farrah
approached the Queen. She had a big smile on her face as she
spoke.

“My Tuttatti
Fairy doesn’t have to wait in line. From now on, you are my main
fairy. Of all the fairies here, I am counting on you the most. I
didn’t want to tell you this before, out of fear that I would make
you nervous, but you, Farrah, are our only chance of restoring
Fairyland’s greatness.”

Farrah stood
dumbfounded before the Queen. She couldn’t believe that she would
finally have a chance to live her dream. Barely able to speak
because of all the excitement, Farrah was grateful that the Queen
was doing enough talking for the both of them.

“Farrah, we
must get started right away. While the other fairies will have to
go through days of training before going out into the field, my
plan is to have you start tonight,” explained the Queen as she
looked over the list for Tooth Fairy volunteers, not feeling very
confident considering that only 15 fairies had signed up.

The Queen
noticed that Farrah looked especially nervous. Anticipating this,
she had a plan. He rounded the corner almost at that exact moment,
flying ever so slowly toward the two fairies.

“My dear, I
believe you have already met Picolotto,” introduced the Queen just
as the Bellasimita touched down next to Farrah.

“I have my
Queen,” responded Farrah, sounding noticeably uncomforted by his
appearance.

“Picolotto
here has been assigned as your personal Bellasimita. He will assist
you on your missions for the first few times, until you feel
comfortable enough to complete them on your own.”

“My Queen…”
Farrah attempted to interject, but her attention was now directed
at a Superiora who had whispered something into her ear. It was
about a scuffle that had taken place at the back of the line for
Acqua Fairies. Without another word, the Queen was off to deal with
it.

Farrah felt
very uneasy standing next to Picolotto. Although she respected him,
she also feared that at some point he would turn on her and try to
take the Star of Fantaseea. He never hid the fact that he was taken
by the star. This combined with the sporadic nature of the
Bellasimita, made Farrah uneasy. Not wanting to turn it into an
awkward situation, Farrah decided to put aside her concerns and
embrace the partnership.

“Okay,
Picolotto, I guess it’s you and me,” said Farrah as she stuck out
her hand, which was grasped and shaken by Picolotto.

“Yup,
partners,” responded Picolotto, sporting a large grin and bowed,
giving a show of respect.

“Come, my
dear, we have much work to do if we want to be ready for tonight’s
mission,” explained Picolotto as he turned and gloated away from
Farrah.

Although
Farrah had a few questions, she decided instead to trust the
Bellasimita as she ran quickly to catch up to him. She remained
quiet until Picolotto led her into the thick brush of the
forest.

“Where are we
going?” She asked puzzled, having thought that they would be
heading in the direction to the Tooth Fairy training facility.

“To my cave,
of course,” replied Picolotto, not taking the time to turn to face
Farrah. Instead, he picked up his pace; having noticed that it was
already getting dark.

The two
fairies walked about 300 yards into the forest. Picolotto had taken
out his sword and used it to singe some hanging branches. He burned
a clear path for them to walk through. The chubby Bellasimita
hopped over a fallen log and disappeared over the side. Farrah
momentarily lost sight of him as she struggled to climb over the
large log. Thankfully, Farrah heard Picolotto’s voice before she
panicked.

“Come and help
me over here,” hollered Picolotto, just off to Farrah’s right.

Walking in the
direction of the voice, Picolotto was finally in plain sight. He
was removing some branches that lay precariously at the side of a
small hill. Farrah pitched in, removing some twigs. Once cleared,
it was revealed that it was not a hill at all, but a cave.
Picolotto ducked into the opening. With a wave of his sword, the
entire cave was illuminated.

Farrah
struggled to fit through the opening. It was only the size of a
beach ball with cobwebs hanging overhead. She decided to go in feet
first, a decision she quickly regretted as slimy mud and other
gooey substances trickled down her legs.

As her head
inched closer into the opening, she decided to hold her breath and
close her eyes. Wiggling through, she became stuck. Although she
couldn’t see the bottom half of her body, she could tell that her
leg had snagged onto something. With her body completely wedged,
Farrah screamed for help.

After the
third yell, she could feel hands that wrapped around both her
ankles. Having convinced herself that it was Picolotto, she closed
her eyes and allowed her body to be pulled through the tiny
entrance of the cave.

Farrah
opened her eyes slowly as she laid flat on the ground. Thankfully,
it
was
Picolotto,
who was now standing over her.

“Sorry about
the tight squeeze. We don’t get many non-Bellasimita in here.”

“That’s okay,”
responded Farrah, as she brushed off some dust from her
shoulders.

“Come this
way,” shouted Picolotto before he set off once again.

The cave was
wet and slippery. Farrah palmed the walls carefully as she followed
slowly behind Picolotto. Her foot was snagged a few times, on what
appeared to be the roots of some sort of plant. Kicking away,
Farrah attempted to hover. She flapped her wings, but as usual,
this was no help.

As Farrah
continued to walk cautiously through the cave, she inadvertently
stepped on something. A crack caused Farrah to stumble. Frozen, she
could feel the squishiness of the object beneath her feet. She had
stepped on a large pumpkin and she was having a hard time getting
it off her foot. After struggling for a number of minutes, she
actually contemplated using the Star of Fantaseea to zap it.
Deciding against this, she kicked at the wall of the cave,
exploding the pumpkin.

“It’s not too
much farther,” shouted Picolotto. He was so much further ahead
however that his voice was almost inaudible.

Farrah could
feel drops of water falling from the ceiling above. At first, they
fell sporadically, then with more frequency. Farrah was getting
soaked as she could hear the rush of a waterfall directly in front
of her. The water was rising so powerfully that it bounced off the
ground and ricocheted all about. Picolotto stood before the
waterfall, waiting for Farrah.

“Through
here.” He pointed with his sword at the falling water.

With that,
Picolotto disappeared into the waterfall. Reluctantly, Farrah stood
before the rushing water for a moment. Having waited long enough,
Picolotto poked his hand back through the water. He grabbed
Farrah’s hand and pulled her through.

Farrah shook
her head back and forth to get the water out of her hair. Once she
regained focus, she found herself in Picolotto’s den. It was quite
unspectacular to say the least. There was a large tree stump with a
tattered quilt atop. Farrah assumed that this was his bed. Torches
lined the walls of the den that Picolotto lit with his sword. At
the centre, was a large pot that sat amidst a fire pit made of
stone. Picolotto walked up to the pot and stuck his nose over the
top, taking a whiff.

“Hmmm, Forko
shell stew,” said Picolotto, licking his lips.

Forko
creatures were somewhat like turtles on earth. In actuality, they
look exactly like a turtle when their heads are tucked inside their
shells. When a Forko’s head does poke out, it is not a pretty
sight, as they have three grotesque heads. Worst of all, they look
much like overgrown maggots with eyes. Instead of arms and legs,
they have two sets of tentacles. They are lined with suckers that
it uses to trap its prey before they are sucked into their mouths
whole.

“Want a
taste?” offered Picolotto as he slurped from a wooden ladle.

“No thanks,”
Farrah said politely, trying to hide her disgust.

“Umh, you have
a nice place.” She changed the subject, looking at the floor. It
was lined with half eaten fruits and vegetables, some of which must
have been there for quite a while, as they were beginning to rot
and stink.

“Thanks,
Farrah, but I know that you are just being kind. No matter, this
will do.”

Picolotto
crouched down beside his tree-stump bed. There was a tiny crevice
at the side of the stump. Upon further inspection, Farrah could see
that there was something lodged in the hole. Picolotto used his
sword to pry it out. He held it in his hands and took a seat on the
ground next to the stump. He requested Farrah to join him.
Picolotto unfurled the large scroll ever so carefully, placing a
rock at both ends to keep it from curling.

“What is it?”
Farrah asked, as she looked at the strange markings that covered
the entire scroll.

“It’s the
secret Tooth Fairy code,” explained Picolotto as he ran his fingers
near the top of the scroll.

“This scroll
will be used as a map just in case you are having difficulty.”

“Oh, a map,
but I’m already pretty good at navigation?” responded Farrah,
sounding uninterested.

“It is not a
geographical map, but a map that outlines secret tricks used by all
Tooth Fairies to help them complete their missions. Look at this
section for example. I apologize that it is in Bellasimitrian.
Wanna know the trick to reading Bellasimitrian?” Asked Picolotto,
his eyes still glued to the scroll.

“Sure!”
Responded Farrah, getting a little excited.

“Bellasimitrian is derived from the human English language. The
letters of the Bellasimitrian Alphabet are the same as English,
except they are written upside down. See, for example this 6 is
actually a g. One more thing though, the letters in the
Bellasimitrian alphabet are shifted over by one spot. Therefore the
English A is actually B, B is actually written as a C, so on and so
forth.”

“What about
Z?”

“Ah, Z goes
back to the beginning and is written as A,” explained Picolotto, as
he pointed to the z on the page, which was the same right side up
as upside down.

It takes some
getting used to, but after a while, you’ll get the hang of it.

“Anyway, here
at the centre of the scroll is the trick which allows a Tooth Fairy
to appear in a human child’s home. One must remember however, that
a fairy’s powers are increased three fold when on earth.”

“They are,”
interrupted Farrah.

“Yes, my dear,
and don’t you forget this, it is very important. You don’t want to
be overusing your powers. I remember there was this one Tooth
Fairy, a young Fairy named Suella. On her first day, she tried to
use her Molar Dust to shine some light in front of a human’s home.
Before she knew it, the entire house was set ablaze. If it wasn’t
for my quick thinking, summoning a rain cloud, the entire house
would have burned to the ground.”

Picolotto
grabbed his sword to illuminate the scroll even further.

“See here, it
says to take out exactly one ounce of molar dust. Standing at the
back of the house, you are to sprinkle it on your foot. You must
count to fifty before you shake the dust off. That will teleport
you instantly into the closet of the human child’s bedroom.”

“Why in the
closet?” asked Farrah, as she tried to make out some of the
Bellasimitrian language within a circle at the centre of the
scroll.

“Good
question…it is against Fairy law to allow a human child to see a
fairy use his or her magic ability. This is why it is so difficult
to get humans to believe in Fairyland. If a fairy was permitted to
perform a trick every now and again, I’m sure that more would start
to believe in our land, fulfilling King Josiah’s decree.”

“But wouldn’t
that mean more humans coming to live here in Fairyland, which was
the initial purpose of Operation Repopulation?”

“Smart girl.
Yeah, you are right. Actually, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess
in the first place,” pondered Picolotto aloud as he dipped his
spoon back into the boiling pot of Forko creature soup.

“Picolotto,
what happens if a fairy does decide to perform magic in the
presence of a human?” Asked Farrah as she approached the
smouldering cauldron opposite to where Picolotto was standing.

“Ahh, I
thought you would ask that. I don’t want to get into it right now,
but I’ll say this – a curse like none imaginable will plague that
fairy for the rest of their life. I wouldn’t wish that on any
fairy.”

Before Farrah
was able to prod any further, she was interrupted by the sound of a
ringing bell. As the ringing intensified, Farrah realized that it
was coming from the unusual gadget that Picolotto wore on his
wrist. A bird-like creature popped out of the timepiece and began
to peck at Picolotto’s wrist.

“Yeow!”
shouted Picolotto as he shot up to his feet.