A Fairy's Tale

~A Human Bean~

When I came to, there were a dozen faces hovering over me, one which almost made me vomit. I gagged instead.

"Parsleytwig, how are you feeling?" he asked, and I held up a hand to either stop him or slap him. Possibly both. "You fell down the chimney and fainted."

You should have left me there.

"Lira," I said his name for the first time in a decade. My voice came out cold and unforgiving because that's exactly how I felt about him. "I'm fine."

The other fairies exchanged glances, obviously aware of the tension but not the miserable history between us. At the sight of the squad, I felt a little relief because at least I wasn't alone. I never once stopped to think that the other tooth fairies were also trapped here. I'd only been in a hurry to get home without worrying about anyone besides myself. I guess that was pretty awful of me.

"Captain," some of the fairies saluted me. It was enough to lift the corner of my lip into a smile, and I waved my hand dismissively.

"No need for formalities. Besides, I'm not the captain of the tooth fairies, anymore. He is." I nearly spat the last part. How the higher-ups had made the decision to let Lira fill my shoes once I left to teach in Rubius Academy surprised me. For the record, I had way smaller feet but I bet Lira still struggled to fill my tiny shoes.

"We've been trapped in the human world for the past three days ever since the portal broke," one of the fairies briefed me.

Lira handed me a canteen filled with honeysuckle nectar, one of my favorite drinks after green tea. The nectar was packed with just the right nutrients to energize fairies and give them a little lift under their wings. I could use some right about now, even if it was from him.

"It's been a while," he tried again, but I completely ignored him.

"Is this everyone? Is anyone's branch bangle working?" I started with the most important questions.

The group of fairies nodded to the first question and shook their heads vigorously to the second. Which meant just like me, they were stuck.

"It's a coincidence meeting you here," Lira said. "We came here because this house is the highest point in the town since it sits on a hill. You can see everything from here, so we've been keeping an eye on the portal. We also keep checking the branch bangles to see if there's any satellite connection. Everything shut off when the portal closed during the storm."

"Any injuries?" I questioned.

A younger fairy stepped forward, her arm grazed by what looked like the thorny bush. Another guy limped forward, his ankle ugly shades of purple and blue.

"You didn't treat them?" I looked at Lira in shock. "It's been three days! What have you even been doing?" I walked towards him, jabbing him with each question. Tears burned in his blue eyes.

"Look, it was really hectic–"

"There are no excuses. You don't deserve to be captain," I hissed.

It hurts, doesn't it? Hearing your own words?

Lira used the palm of his hands to rub the tears from his eyes. "It does hurt," he whispered softly, reading my mind. It was just loud enough for me to hear.

"Good," I murmured back. I know I should have been the bigger person, but I still held onto these bitter feelings from all those years ago. I remembered the pain that had burned into me like the sun's harsh rays. I could feel my wings overheating and my skin starting to prickle and turn as red as a poppy plant.