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Fairy Godmothers Anonymous
by Beth Long
{As promised so long ago, this story is
dedicated to my family and my friends
(whether you are Nexus, AXSigma, Dragon, or
Other). Also to my favorite King of Angst
for reminding me who I really am. Here's to
hope, happiness, and the pursuit of the
elf.}
Zellie hesitantly stuck her head around the edge of
the door. "Excuse me, but... is this the Fairy
Godmothers Anonymous meeting?"
The group of ladies looked up from sipping their tea.
One, a tall gaunt woman, peered at her. "Child, if it
isn't, you've just revealed what you do for a living,
correct? Hardly anonymous, do you think?"
"Oh, Hilda, don't torture the poor thing," a tiny
elderly woman on her right twittered. "Come in, come
in, child. Are you a fairy godmother?" She turned to
the other women. "Aren't they starting them early now
a-days? In my day, you had to have at least two grey
hairs before you could become a fairy godmother-"
A younger-looking godmother with rhinestone glasses
rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, here we go
again. Bertha wanders down memory lane more times
than I've had pumpkin pies." She pulled up an empty
chair to the table. "Sit down, dear. How do you like
your tea?"
Zellie took her seat and placed her hands in her
lap. "Two sugars please." She looked at the women
seated around the table. "My name is Zellie." A
chorus of hellos greeted her. "Excuse me for asking,
but what do you do here exactly? I've..." She bowed
her head. "I've had a problem. And I was told to
come here."
"Well," replied the rhinestoned godmother while she
poured Zellie's tea into a dainty cup. "I'm Gamma.
This is Fairy Godmothers Anonymous. The first step to
help is to admit you have a problem."
"Clients!" most of the women at the table shouted.
The younger members giggled while the older
alternatively frowned or simply reached for a cookie
or cucumber sandwich from the silver trays on the
slightly battered community center table.
Hilda snorted. "Ungrateful retches. Do you know that
one of my girls actually abandoned her castle? She
left me a note: 'Hate the kitchen. Hate the prince.
Took the shoes. Ella' How crass!"
Gamma rolled her eyes again. "You were lucky. One of
mine wanted a dozen pairs of those shoes, in different
colors of course, once she became Queen. The kingdom
is still in debt to my subcontractor dwarves. Thank
goodness that it didn't have to come out of my pocket!"
Zellie sipped at her tea and placed the cup back in
its saucer. "But what do you do here?"
One of the younger godmothers, her hair up in an
elaborate hairstyle to show off pointed ears, nibbled
a bit on her cookie. "Trade horror stories,
network.? She shrugged slightly so as not to disturb
her locks. “Unwind... we take turns bringing tea or
cookies or such. Sometimes we play bridge or poker.
Watch out for Bertha though, I swear she's a card
shark!" Back in tune with the conversation, Bertha
beamed. "It's more of a support group," the young one
continued. "There's not a lot of help out there
for 'people in the wish-fulfillment industry.'"
Hilda frowned fiercely. "Most of what we hear is the
wants and complaints." She whined in a high-pitched
voice, "'I want this!'"
"And then later, we always hear, 'But that wasn't what
I wanted!'" Gamma returned. "Always asking for what
they want and not what they need. Asking for princes
when they've been a peasant all their life? Oh,
there's one for the nobles to snicker about behind
their backs and in the corners."
Bertha dunked a cookie in her tea. "But it does make
it easier to be paid if they are royalty," she
pondered. "I don't really like pumpkin, gives me
wind." She munched thoughtfully.
"So Zellie, what is the problem?" Hilda asked.
Zellie twisted her napkin in her hands. "Well, I
haven't been a fairy godmother for long. Only a few
clients so far but they've all been happy except for
the last one."
"Like who?" asked one of the quiet tiny women spaced
around the table.
Zellie named some of her clients. The few conventions
where she had marketed her Rose Bower
accessories, ‘entwining love and destiny for the loves
in your life.? The Arthurson engagement ceremony, the
Rumplekin 50th wedding anniversary, and her biggest
success, Dawn of Morning’s birthday extravaganza.
The other women oohed and awed encouragingly.
Murmurings of "A fantastic job, I heard" and "Our
Susan wanted roses just like that for her wedding..."
were heard around the room.
Gamma hmmed. "I've heard that all of them were very
well done. What's the problem?"
Zellie tore her napkin into tiny pieces and dropped
them into her lap. "My last one...a few days ago.
You know the castle in Lisle County?"
Bertha piped up, "Oh, yes, one of my grandmother's
girls was Queen there once. Nice tall towers,
especially the main one. One big room at the top,
immense windows going down to about a half of a foot
above the floor." She made a face. “Dreadfully
drafty. Don't know how the girls stood it."
Zellie sniffled, a single tear tracking down her
face. "Well, I thought it would be a nice place for
my new clients?daughter. Sleeping spell, rescue from
the prince, standard sweet-sixteen present. My
clients brought her there for a big birthday
celebration while I prepared the spell and the room.
The cue hit, the spell dropped, and they brought her
upstairs. We put her in the bed. She looked so
pretty and peaceful there." She sniffled some more, a
few extra tears starting their way down her face. "We
left the room then. Her nurse and a few of the
footmen were going to stay behind to wait for the
prince. I stayed the next couple of days just to make
sure the spell was secure and the roses were growing
nicely. And then..." She gulped and went silent,
staring down into her lap.
"And then what?" shouted Hilda as many of the women
sat on the edge of their seats.
Dropping her head into her hands and starting a new
flood of tears, Zellie wailed, "How was I to know that
she sleepwalked?"
THE END
Published by Fools Motley Magazine, 2003. All rights are property of the author. Copying and distribution of this work is prohibited. Webpage designed by Fools Motley Magazine based on templates from www.angelfire.com . Background and image provided by www.coolarchive.com . | 
