Nightingale

Chapter 14

It was dark now, but the evening air was dry. Fable quickly flew away from Mr Hudson's house and landed in an empty meadow nearby. She knew this field well, and often came to this quiet place whenever she felt upset or alone. It was only a five minute walk from her cottage, and few people ever ventured into it because there was a common misconception it was private land. Fable loved how tranquil this made it – plus, she could easily transform in the long grass without ever being seen. She patted the back pocket of her trousers, and found that her phone had been transported with her and was working just fine.

She then collapsed into the soft ground, allowing her body to become fully submerged in the sea of grass. She laid completely still for some minutes, just watching the stars in the sky, and not worrying about how many bugs might be crawling beneath her. Fable could hear all sorts of strange nocturnal sounds. A tawny owl hooted loudly in an oak tree nearby. She didn't even want to look at it. She imagined seeing Old Mother Faun's black eyes shining at her through the wrinkly, old tree bark, and considered how she might well be dragged off to the 'Faery Kingdom' at this rate...

She was failing miserably at winning Mr Hudson's heart. It was almost like all their encounters so far meant nothing – and all because he liked this goody-goody nobody called Maria. Fable had to destroy her, and she had to do it fast. They were meeting tomorrow night for a date. She could not let that happen.

Fable unlocked her phone; the bright blue light illuminating her face unnaturally in the darkness. She opened up Google Maps and typed in Maria's address. "Perfect." she said, through gritted teeth. The street-view showed a pokey, little terraced house in the more populated side of town - and it had lots of windows for her to try and break into. She started to skip through the field, humming a familiar tune, and then suddenly metamorphosed into the harmless little bird everybody loved...

From the outside, Maria's house was just like the image she'd seen online; the only difference was that she could easily see through the window into her bedroom. Stupid Maria hadn't closed the blinds, and the light was switched on. Anybody could be looking in. Fable was perched on the top of a street light opposite, and was glaring at the oblivious Maria, who was typing away on a silver laptop. She was wearing a cheap looking robe and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. Fable scoffed. She couldn't believe this was the lady of his dreams. She decided to wait there all night and through to the morning. It was necessary to wait. She needed Maria out of the house in order to exact her revenge...

Eventually, the morning did come, and people were starting to leave their houses and go about their weekend routines. It was a nice, sunny day, and it seemed Maria was an avid jogger. She had the full gear on: a sports vest, tight leggings, a sweatband, running shoes, and headphones blasting music into her ears. She came bouncing out of her house, fresh-faced and jolly. She was attractive, but in a basic, boring kind of way. From the looks of her, Fable guessed Maria probably spent at least thirty minutes jogging everyday, and this should give her enough time...

As soon as Maria had turned the street corner, Fable started to scope the place out. There was nothing available at the front, so she went to try the back. There she discovered the upstairs bathroom window, which was nicely propped open for her to squeeze in. Fable flapped down onto a crowded vanity unit, and knocked over several bottles as she did so. It felt good to make a mess of this tidy little home...

She then transformed back into a human, smiling corruptly in the mirror. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. It wasn't like her at all. She felt so rebellious and powerful; never had she broken into somebody's home before, or vandalised a thing! It was necessary. Fable slid a draw open under the bathroom sink, inspected its contents, and then emptied it out onto the floor: plasters, tampons, nail cutters, scissors...Everything. She then took a bottle of black hair-dye from a shower-rack, and squeezed it out all over the white towels and bathmat. "At least it has a pattern now." laughed Fable, who was already moving onto the bedroom.

White cushions. White bedding. White curtains. Could this woman be more boring? Fable smashed a vase of flowers onto the floor; the water seeped out, leaving a dark spot where it soaked the grey carpet. So she does wear make-up sometimes, sniffed Fable, who was now rushing towards a set of draws which had a bunch of palettes on top of it. She smashed her fingers into the powders, causing them to crack, and then released their colourful dust all over the bedding. This was the most liberating fun she'd had in years! She took an expensive red lipstick from a bag, and then wrote in big letters on the mirror 'LEAVE MY MAN ALONE' 'DON'T SPEAK TO HIM AGAIN, OR ELSE!'.

She felt like a lunatic, and she loved it! If this didn't scare Maria, she didn't know what would. Fable didn't know how much time she had left to escape, so finished off by emptying all of Maria's clothes out of the draws and throwing them down the stairs. She sent a quick message to Mr Hudson from Maria's laptop saying: 'Date's off. Don't speak to me again.' and then deleted their contact... Feeling somewhat satisfied and all the merrier for trashing this woman's home, Fable changed back into a nightingale, and  calmly flew home...