FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #2

All the trouble began when my grandfather died and my grandmother - my father's mother - came to live with us.  I was ten then, and aside from seeing Grandmom a few times a year on holidays, I didn't know her all that well.

At the time my sister Sophie and I had bedrooms across from each other at the far end of the upstairs hallway.  When Grandmom arrived Sophie and I were forced to share a room.  Mom and Dad didn't want Grandmom to have to go up and down the stairs to get to her room, but at the time there weren't any other options.

Sophie was eight, and although we were close, the idea of sharing a room was not high on my list.  Sophie had recently developed a habit of following me everywhere that had become increasingly annoying.  However no one ever asked me what I thought, and on that Sunday in October when Grandmom arrived, Sophie's bed was next to mine.

 

The morning that Grandmom arrived Sophie and I were lying on the floor watching cartoons.  I realize now that it was a tough time for Grandmom with Grandpop's death and that she was feeling ill herself, but standing in the doorway next to my Dad, all I could think about was how tiny and old she seemed.  She didn't talk much those first few days.

 

Adjusting to sharing a room with Sophie was not as bad as I thought it would be.  We would stay up talking, late into the night, and Sophie was a great listener.  She had lots of questions and I, in my big brother role, had lots of answers.  Our late night sessions would only be interrupted by the slow creaking of the upstairs steps as my father would lead Grandmom to bed.

We would watch in darkness as the hallway light from under our bedroom door would become broken by their passing footsteps.  We would then listen as Dad would wish Grandmom goodnight and make his way back down the hall to my parent's room.  It was after this exchange, in those first few nights, that Sophie and I would be begin to discuss Grandmom.  We didn’t know much about Grandmom back then, and the little we did know left a lot to our imaginations.

 

It was during one of our imagination sessions that we heard the door from across the hall slowly squeak open.  At first it was hardly noticeable, but Sophie stopped what she was saying.  I followed her glance to the doorway.  We then heard the faint creaking of the hallway floor.

Sophie looked at me, and I held my breath.  Then we heard it again, another soft creaking.  Sophie hid under the sheets.  I looked back at the door and saw the knob begin to turn.

Our bedroom door opened slowly, then in a burst.  My heart jumped and I too hid under the sheets.  For the next few moments the silence was only interrupted by my breathing.

 

After some time I pulled out my head from under the sheets.  My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and in the doorway I could make out the figure of Grandmom.  She was standing there in a white gown looking directly at me.

‘Grandmom?’ my voice escaped in whisper.  She didn’t move.

‘Grandmom?’ I asked again, in a louder voice.  Again, nothing.

Then with a start she came towards me.  Her white gown floated behind her as the light and shadows from our bedroom window distorted her features.  She sat down at the foot of my bed and placed an icy hand on my exposed leg.  I could now see Sophie’s head peering from under her sheets.

‘Come here and sit with me Sophie,’ Grandmom finally whispered, ‘I want to tell you and Michael a story.’

 

‘When I was little girl,’ she began, ‘I had a brother a few years older than me, like Michael is to you Sophie.  We grew up in the country on a farm.  This farm was surrounded by woods on all sides, and my brother and I liked to take walks in those woods.’

Grandmom had this way of talking, slowly and with intense concentration, and all you could do was listen.  Sophie sat with me at the head of the bed as we listened to Grandmom’s story.

‘We would take afternoon walks in these woods and we would play games.  Our favorite game to play was hide-and-go seek.  My brother would hide as I would count to ten and then go find him.’

‘One afternoon we were playing this game and I could not find my brother anywhere.  I searched his favorite hiding spot for what seemed like hours, but he was nowhere to be found.  That particular afternoon was cold and I was tired and I began to cry out his name.  Michael! I shouted.’

‘You see Michael, he had the same name as you.’

‘Michael! I shouted, but he did not come.  I wandered around the woods for hours that afternoon and was near tears.  It was getting dark and I was about to give up hope.’

‘It was when I decided to walk home that I heard him.  It was Michael and he was shouting out for me!  It took a while, but I eventually saw him lying by a great big tree.’

 

‘I ran to him and found that he had fallen.  He must have been running and had tripped over one of the big roots of the big tree.  I could tell by his face that he was hurt, though I don’t think he wanted me to know that.’

‘I looked at his leg and saw some scraps and bruises, but otherwise nothing serious.  I helped him up and leaned him against the big tree.’

‘As he stood, leaning against the big tree, cleaning himself up, I noticed a shiny object hanging from a branch.  I left Michael and went to the branch and saw that it was necklace.  The necklace was long and metal, and at the end of the it was a medallion shaped like a fairy.’

‘At first I thought I imagined it, but then Michael came up next to me and saw the same thing.  The necklace was hanging just out of my reach, so Michael helped to boost me up to reach it.  After a few tries I was able to grab it and pull it out the branch.’

‘Michael and I held the necklace up to the light and we saw that the medallion was in fact a fairy, a little fairy with wings.  I told Michael that it was mine because I had seen it first, but he didn’t mind.  He was a few years older than me, like I said, and he didn’t want a fairy necklace.  So I put it on.’

 

‘We began to leave when all of a sudden we heard this great buzzing.  Michael was a head of me and turned back to see what it was.  He suddenly froze.’

‘Don’t move he screamed, and I could tell by his voice he was serious.  I stood perfectly still as the buzzing grew louder and louder.  Whatever it was, it was over my left shoulder.  I turned to look, but he shouted not to move!’

‘It was then that this thing flew right between us.  It moved in quick and jerky motions and I couldn’t tell what it was, but then it stopped and began to float.’

‘The buzzing sound quieted and I could make out its features.  It had tiny hands and feet and wings.'

'It was a fairy, the same one from the medallion!  And it was looking right at me!’

‘Michael took a step toward it but it shot away.  He stopped moving.  The fairy then came back, floating right in front of me.  I told Michael not to worry, that it was alright, that I was alright.’

‘I then reached out my right hand very slowly, with my palm up for the fairy to land inside.  I held my arm out nice and straight, shaking from the excitement.  The fairy lingered for a moment and then came near.  It had a tiny beautiful face and sparkled in the evening light.’

‘I smiled at it and it seemed to smile back.  The fairy floated ever closer to my extended hand and then it BIT ME!’

 

‘I felt it before I knew what happened - a red-hot shooting pain in my finger!  I yelled out in horror.  Before I could react Michael ran up it swatted it away!’

‘I couldn’t see anything through the tears, but Michael grabbed my hand and dragged me home.  I cried the whole way.’

 

‘When we got home Michael helped my bandage my finger.  He then made me promise to never tell anyone what happened.  He said that no grown up would believe us.  I was scared and hurt and I finally agreed.’

‘And we never told anyone.’

 

 

Sophie and I sat there in silence.  We didn’t know what to think.

‘Grandmom, is that true, did a fairy really bite you?’ Sophie finally asked.

‘It is dear,’ Grandmom answered.

She then reached into the top of her white gown and pulled out a necklace.  It was long and medal and at it’s end was a medallion.

She held it out to us in the palm of her right and it sparkled in the moonlight.  The medallion was a fairy.  She then closed her hand into a fist around the medallion and I could see the missing top of her middle finger.

 

 

Later that night I couldn’t sleep.  When I closed my eyes all I saw were fairies, hundreds of them buzzing around above my head. I snuck out of bed and went to the bathroom for a drink of water.  I didn’t want to wake anyone so I kept the lights off.  When I turned to leave the fairy was standing right in front of me.  I screamed.

 

 

When I came to I was in the hospital.  I didn't remember anything but was told later that it was my sister in the doorway behind me, and when I turned to run I banged my head hard against the bathroom door.  There was a lot of blood, but in the end only a few stitches.

 

Now when I think about Grandmom and her story, I find myself rubbing my fingers over my eyebrow where those stitches left their faint mark.

back to Contest #2