Farrah in Fairyland (4 page)

It was true
that Giuseppi desired to see first hand, one of the legendary
Scorpotoes of Fairyland ever since his uncle Phillipo had claimed
to have seen one on a fishing trip two years earlier. Scorpotoes
are said to have a similar body to that of a scorpion, but much,
much larger. They have a five-clawed tail and eight large feet with
immense toes that they use to crush its prey as they swoop down on
them. Although a Scorpotoe only has one eye, it is atop a large,
fleshy antenna that is able to bend and stretch in almost any
direction. It is said that if a Fairy is able to stare into the eye
of a Scorpotoe without flinching – they will inherit superfairy
strength.

Giuseppi
placed his hand over Farrah’s shoulder in an apologetic
gesture.

“That sure
would have been cool, Farrah, but next time, a little warning would
be nice.”

Giggling, the
two fairies started back to Giuseppi’s house. Bella frolicked on
the front lawn playfully. She was trying to chase a Gentlemen Bug,
which looks a little like a ladybug, but black instead of red and
much uglier - but very tasty. Having finally snagged a bug in her
mouth, Bella fluttered in Farrah’s direction, having heard her
call. Farrah hopped on her back and Giuseppi patted Bella’s large
head adoringly.

“Farrah, I
want to tell you that I think that you are the most talented fairy
that I know. I don’t care if you can’t fly. If there is anyone that
can pull this off, it will be you.”

“Thanks,
Giuseppi, I really appreciate that,” responded Farrah as she wiped
a tear and smiled back at him.

Giuseppi
turned around just before he walked into his house.

“Oh, I almost
forgot, how did you get your hands on that silver Pixie Dust?”

Farrah smiled
at her friend.

“Let’s just
say that it was the result of one of my spells that actually
worked.”

Impressed,
Giuseppi gave a little nod before he entered his house.

The sound of
her father’s voice woke Farrah from her sleep. It came from the
monitor of her computer - a spell that her father had mastered over
the years. He could now spy in on Farrah from any piece of
technology, a TV, cell phone…whatever. Oh, how Farrah hated that
her parents could hear and see everything that she was doing in her
room. This was especially embarrassing last fall when she and
Giuseppi were trying to form a Pixie duet. They sang and paraded
around the room like rock stars. This was much to the amusement of
her parents, who had been watching them the entire time.

“Farrah, I see
that you haven’t gotten ready for work yet.”

“I’m coming,
Dad,” responded Farrah, as she put on her work uniform, which
included a ridiculously tall chef’s hat.

Before she
headed downstairs, Farrah looked at herself in the mirror. The
yellow vest that she wore had two slits in the back for her wings,
which barely stuck out over her clothing. The chef’s hat was also a
size or two too big and it kept falling to her nose.

Well, there
was no stopping this day. It was inevitable. My career as a baker
has begun. I can’t believe that Samantha Scarcity gets to start her
career as a Fairy Godmother. Just because her mom had done some
work with Cinderella back in the 40’s, Samantha got her pick of
jobs. Of course, she was going to pick Fairy Godmother – the
cushiest job in all of Fairyland. All she will have to do is be a
guardian to a young fairy boy or girl and make sure that they stay
out of trouble and stuff. I guess she couldn’t handle a real job
like being a Tooth Fairy.

Farrah began to
daydream about what an exciting job it would be to become one of
Fairyland’s Tooth Fairies. She would often go to the training
grounds just beyond Mount Michelutz. Every summer, a three-week
training camp was held for the newest Tooth Fairies, and every
summer, Farrah would secretly hide up in the mountain to get a
glimpse.

She was
especially excited to witness the graduates receiving their Pixie
dust. This gold dust was literally flown in on the back of a giant
condor. Although Farrah didn’t quite know the origin of the gold
tooth fairy dust, legend has it that it was made from the teeth of
those children whose parents used to be fairies. For those fairies
that went to live down on Earth as humans, this gift would serve as
a reminder of where they had come from.

As the condor
carefully placed the pouches of dust into the hands of the newest
Tooth Fairies, they would each take a turn performing a spell. This
was done primarily to test out the Tooth Fairy dust for any
inconsistencies, and secondarily to show off their newly acquired
skills.

If ever given a
chance, summoning a large tidal wave would be Farrah’s first
choice. She would have the Dophines swim in complete unison while
doing a tornado swirl trick. A Dolphine was another creature that
Farrah adored. Much like a dolphin on earth, it was an aquatic
mammal that was sleek and very intelligent. They glow a translucent
greenish colour, which is a beautiful site to see if ever on a boat
in the middle of the Grosso Ocean, the body of water that encircles
Fairyland. Atop their heads is a mound of curly antennae that can
be used to transform into any object of their desire. Once, when
fishing with his dad during summer vacation, Giuseppi saw a
Dolphine whose antennae took the shape of a large mallet to smash a
Sun Crab.

Farrah, on the
other hand, was more impressed by the Dolphine language. It was
musical, like the woodwind section of an orchestra. More
importantly, the voice of a Dolphine is used as a defence mechanism
by the aquatic creature. A fairy that hears a Dolphine singing is
so entranced by the beautiful sound that they become under the
control of the Dolphine.

“Farrah! You’d
better get down here immediately, young fairy! Your list of
deliveries is waiting for you,” called out Farrah’s mother for a
third time.

Farrah
attempted to float down the stairs, flapping her tiny wings
feverishly. Unfortunately, she was only able to stay afloat for a
few seconds before she had to resort to a hop. As she entered the
large kitchen, the smell of tuna coconut cupcakes, and clam and
cheese croissants filled her nostrils. Her mother quickly handed
her the list of deliveries.

As Farrah tried
to walk away, Crystaline stopped her to adjust her chef’s hat and
then returned to kneading a ball of dough that was suspended a foot
off the kitchen counter. The perfect circle of dough would be used
for her famous radish rose bread, a true fairy favourite.

It was a funny
sight to see Farrah’s father chopping up a variety of strange
looking vegetables at the kitchen counter. He had performed the
Miomanno spell to give him three extra sets of hands, which he used
to dice a pink melon with the precision of a surgeon. Couraggio was
a master as a carver, and extremely quick. Always the showfairy,
his knife skills were a crowd pleaser at the Sun Dragon parade
after party.

Farrah looked
over the list. She was scheduled to go to Bridgehug, at the very
centre of Fairyland for the usual weekly-delivery of radish-rose
bread to some Grogres, which were the largest of the fairies. Often
called the construction workers of Fairyland, Grogres are able to
lift massive objects with their pinkie fingers. They also have no
use for tools, having the ability to hammer and saw with their
hands, using a simple Cunza spell.

Farrah
continued to look over the list. Cookies for the Jiokko Family, a
group of toddle fairies that made toys. Muffins for the Bevuto
Family, the Acqua Fairies that protected the Fairyland from the
Cortnuto – I will have to explain about these evil creatures a
little later. Lastly, she had to deliver an assortment of pastries
for the Fiores, a group of Arbero Fairies who helped to protect the
forest.

At the very
bottom of the list was a scheduled delivery that made Farrah gasp.
She would have to go to the Scarcity household to deliver some
pizzas.

I guess a
little more insight into the rivalry between Farrah and Samantha is
needed. Let’s begin with Samantha’s cunning ability to always get
under Farrah’s skin. Sure, there was the name-calling that annoyed
Farrah beyond no end. By her fourth year at the Academy, this had
been reduced to a look. Just as effective, Farrah often avoided eye
contact with Samantha, not wanting to subject herself to the
condescending stares. Even more annoying for Farrah was Samantha’s
ability to be at the right place at the right time. Or in Farrah’s
case, the wrong place at the wrong time.

While eating
lunch in the cafeteria one afternoon, Farrah accidentally spilled
her cocoa and broccoli milkshake all over herself. Of course,
Samantha had seen the whole thing and proceeded to tell the rest of
the students that Farrah had peed herself. These observed mishaps
continued over the five years at the Pixie Academy. Samantha was
there to witness a booger flying out of Farrah’s nose, toilet paper
stuck to the bottom of her foot and the day she accidentally tooted
in the library. Samantha took pleasure in all of Farrah’s mishaps
and as a result, Farrah harboured a deep resentment towards
Samantha.

“Farrah, you’d
better get a move on it. Our customers will be waiting for their
deliveries!” Crystaline effortlessly performed a quick spell to
package all of the baked goods neatly. The large trays of bread,
muffins and cookies were reduced down to dozens of tiny pink boxes.
Each had bows and looked like presents often given by humans during
Christmas.

Farrah grabbed
the stack of boxes and headed out the front door to the Volare port
without saying a word. Bella had heard Farrah coming and upon her
arrival, she jumped up and down ecstatically.

At least someone is happy,
Farrah thought to herself.

Farrah set the
boxes on the ground next to Bella and stroked her head. She purred
much like a cat does when its belly is rubbed. Digging her hand
into her pocket, Farrah took out her pouch of green Pixie dust. As
she held the dust in her palm, she thought for a moment how
wonderful it would be to hold the gold dust of a Tooth Fairy.
Instead, she sprinkled the dust onto the boxes. They flew in an
orderly formation into the saddlebags on Bella’s back.

With a tiny hop
and a frantic fluttering of her tiny wings, Farrah floated onto her
back. Bella scraped her back four legs on the ground, much like a
bull before it charges a matador. Within seconds, they were on
their way to the Jiokko house

As usual, it
was a wonderful summer day. The pinkish sun beat off Bella’s back.
It created a light formation on her translucent body, enhancing her
lavish colours. Farrah could see two young fairy boys down below.
They attempted to ride on the back of a Scquarmo in the lake.
Although Scquarmo are large creatures, they are extremely docile.
Their heads look much like those of a hippo, but their bodies look
more like a horse with webbed feet. Farrah chuckled as the Scquarmo
continuously kicked off the two boys, splashing them into the
citrus coloured river.

Off in the
distance, Farrah could see Mount Michelutz. This surprised her,
considering that the mountain was at the other end of the land just
yesterday. She made a mental note that tomorrow she would invite
Giuseppi for a picnic on the mountain.

It was strange
to fly past all of the fairy homes lining the Colomboo River. The
colours of the bright rooftops blurred, made it hard to distinguish
one from another. Although the roofs of the houses were made of
clay, the rest of the house was entirely of crystal. This meant
that anyone passing by could see directly inside any home; a
regulation set forth by the Fairy King. He thought it would reduce
crime if everyone could see what one another was doing at all
times. The residents of Fairyland, however, thought this was a
ridiculous rule since there was hardly a crime committed in
Fairyland.

The last
misdemeanour turned out to be a huge misunderstanding. Gustavo
Calcioro had been booked for trespassing late one summer night. In
the end, it was discovered that he had just been looking for his
pet Mannagio - a cross between a parrot and a dog.

Farrah also
hated that she had to dress up in her fancy clothing for
dinnertime. Crystaline often told her daughter, “You never know who
will be passing by our home during dinner.”

The airspace
above the houses was getting busier. Many other fairies were now on
their way to work. A Snoozel Fairy with his long trunk used as a
walking stick, zipped past Bella’s face. She pulled back for a
moment to avoid knocking into the speeding fairy. Off to Farrah’s
left was a group of elderly Fairies also riding Volares. Although
they were perfectly capable of flying, they took up riding Volares
as a hobby. They even gave themselves a gang a name – the Ageless
Angels. Farrah felt a little embarrassed when one of the Angels
shouted “nice ride” as they flew past.

As Bella
swooped above the construction sight, Farrah positioned the box
over the Grogres and then dropped it. At first, the box of radish
rose bread fell to the ground too quickly. Out of fear that it
would be squashed, Farrah performed an Aiutta spell to slow the
fall. The box started slowing until it floated like a feather down
to the ground.

It fell
at the feet of the largest Grogre, who quickly unwrapped the box
and took a bite out of one of the loaves of bread. He shot Farrah
an approving thumbs-up, which made her smile for a moment.
If all the
deliveries are going to be this easy, the rest of the day is going
to be a piece of cake,
thought Farrah.

This hope was
quashed when Bella went in for a landing at the Jiokko residence.
Farrah could see that the Jiokko family had assembled in the
kitchen and were about to sit down for breakfast. Toys littered the
entire house. Mr. Jiokko looked perturbed as he got up from the
table and looked at his watch. Farrah quickly jumped off Bella’s
back and flutter-hopped to the front door.