Kessie's Short Stories

Fae and Fast Food

Originally written 3/24/2022

Shiloh was taking too long. Liddel impatiently tapped her fingers against the armrest of her wheelchair. Her other hand was cupping her chin- not that she wanted to watch those humans go about their day. She wanted to be home (or what constituted as home nowadays) and soak in the silence. Being out disturbed her. There was always so much going on; movement, sounds, and sights. Did the people of this world not know how overwhelming it all was? What ignorant creatures. How utterly complacent.

A small adjustment of her head, and Liddel growled in finding that her hair had got caught in some bolt again. She needed to get it cut- maybe dyed too. The hip length gray hair was just a reminder of her cursed state. Of how her own mother never cared about her. All of this could have been avoided if the fairy queen had spoken up when...

"Thank you for waiting," Shiloh said to her, his voice exceedingly charming, as he approached her again. In his hand was a rather flimsy looking paper bag, with an even more atrocious yellow emblem on the side. Did he spend all this time looking for that?

"As if I had a choice." she shot back. "You put blocks in the front and back of both rear wheels."

At this, he looked a bit confused.

"Did I?" he wondered. "How cruel. Let's remove them, shall we?"

Giving her a charming grin, he placed the paper bag in her lap (whatever was inside was hot- almost too hot to keep there) before bending down at the back wheels. He made sure to remove each wooden block with care. Liddel waited until he removed the last one to take the wheel handles and force the wheelchair back as fast as she should. Shiloh was able to avoid having his fingers run over, but she did manage to knick the side of his foot. A small grunt escaped his lips, otherwise he didn't say a word.

Shiloh stood back up and adjusted himself before taking the paper bag off of Liddel's lap. Liddel was already trying to leave the area as he ruffled through its contents. She stopped when she realized he wasn't following.

"I'm leaving." she announced. Shiloh didn't seem to acknowledge her. Instead, he sat down on a nearby park bench. Making sure he was comfortable, Shiloh then pulled out the bag's contents. It was a small rectangular box with even more of that hideous logo- this time with some purple accents.

"What is that?" Liddel questioned, moving closer to her caretaker. It was more out of annoyance than any genuine curiosity.

"I believe the humans call it 'fast food.'" Shiloh mused. He opened up the top half of the container to reveal 10 brown-ish food things. The shapes resembled each other enough, and yet, not at all. "Chicken nuggets are considered the pinnacle of such types. Burgers as well. Try one. I also brought some local condiments to help them taste better."

"I doubt that." Liddel once more opposed. Shiloh pretended not to notice that she got even closer now. Ah yes, he knew the signs of when the fallen fairy princess was curious. He knew she wouldn't stay away for long. When he presented the fast food nugget to her, she took it with extreme hostility. Her initial bite was just as venomous. After that, her chewing slowed slightly.

There was a grin on Shiloh's face when he presented her with another. She looked at it, then at him with utter contempt. Instead Liddel reached for the container itself. She ate each chicken nugget with an acute familiarity now. No one would have suspected that it was her first time eating one. Shiloh didn't remark on the occasion (there would be time for it later), instead he pulled out a wrapped hamburger and set about eating his own lunch.

He knew she'd get the hang of living this new life eventually. For now, they could only take it a day at a time.