From theDepartment of ‘Now You Knowthe Really Real Story’!

 

    I’m quite sure you’ve heard aboutthe ‘Fairy Godmother’ of Cinderella fame.

    I mean, who hasn’t wished, at somepoint, that they had a FGM (see above) who would swoop in and changeeverything?

    I know I have.

    Ahem . . .

    But do you know who the FGM reallywas? I mean in really real life?

    Well buckle up, Little Pup becausethis is the really real story . . .

    Most of the stories of the FGMstart, rightly, at the moment she appears to sweet little Cinderella in hermoment of utter despair.

    With me so far?

    Well now I need for you to comeback in time with me. A long way back. To when FGM was, herself, a young woman.

    And to do this, I will have to giveaway a secret.

    To be totally truthful, I told theperson who entrusted me with said secret that I was absolutely rotten atkeeping them.

    Secrets, I mean.

    And still she persisted.

    So it’s really not my fault.

    But I digress . . .

    FGM, or Merri as she was christenedat birth, was the youngest of twin daughters born to the king and queen ofClearwater Fall. The capitol of Fairyland. Or Fairydom. Or whatever you want tocall it.

    Yep. She’s a fairy princess.Surprised?

    Well, I was.

    Born just ten short minutes afterher sister Perri, Merri was destined to walk always in said sister’s shadow.

    But you know what? This neverbothered Merri. She was proud of her sister. When someone praised Perri, Merriwas no slouch in adding to it. And if anyone found fault with her, asoccasionally happens when one is in public life, Merri was fierce in herdefense.

    So the two sisters grew to happyyoung womanhood in the protected confines of Clearwater Fall, the city whichwas, itself nestled in the safe rolling hills of Fairyland. Or Fairydom. (Haveyou made up your mind yet which to call it? Well hurry up, would you? It takesa long time to write out both names . . .)

    Now, the two of them, though theywere indeed twin sisters, looked nothing at all alike. Where Perri was tall andslight with flowing blonde locks, Merri was shorter and more round, with thickbrown hair that would one day turn snowy white. (Think the FGM in the movies.They are surprisingly accurate!)

    But I am getting ahead of myself.

    Though Merri was, by nature, moreadventurous and energetic than her quiet, studious sister, they spent much oftheir time together, happily exploring the city and surrounding countryside, orexploring the libraries and surrounding educational systems.

    It made for an interesting life.

    On the day where it all started(think Cinderella, etc.) the two of them were in one of their favourite places.A bower deep in the Forest of Trees.

    You have to know that these people,though bright and cheerful and happy, really weren’t courageous or imaginativewhen naming distinctive features pertaining to their kingdom. Hence ClearwaterFall, where the clear water falls or the Forest of Trees. Which has a lot of…ahem…trees.

    Merri had just finished spinning atale for her much more romantic sister. A tale which involved, in no particularorder, a bevy of wood sprites, a dragon or two, a Prince, several frogs and atleast one mushroom. (And no, I’m not going to tell you that one.)

    The two of them were lost in theirown little worlds for a moment. Perri dreaming of her prince—or maybe hermushroom. And Merri thinking about the tools needed to fight a dragon. And/orthe aforementioned prince…or mushroom.

    The forest around them was, exceptfor the mad twittering of thousands of birds and bird-like creatures, quiet.

    That’s when they heard it—a manlyshout, followed by some equally manly splashing and what may have been a few derisive manly chuckles.

    Merri, paused in cleaning her nailsand turned her head toward the sounds. “Sounds like Gerrold has decided to tryfishing again.”

    Perri smiled. “After the last time?I don’t think so.”

    The manly splashing got louder andwas accompanied by several ‘glubs’ and at least one ‘help!’

    “Huh. Maybe we should dosomething?” Merri got to her feet.

    Perri waved a languid (real word)hand. “You go ahead. And tell Gerrold to use a fishing pole next time.”

    Merri laughed, then poking herhunting blade into its sheath, started off toward the sounds. She didn’t havefar to go. Just around some trees—and some more trees, she came upon the pond.And there, near the edge was a thoroughly soaked, entirely outraged, andsinking fast...man.

    Merri grabbed a stout length oftree branch and carried it over to the bank nearest the struggling man. “Here!”she shouted.

    The man looked at her, then at thebranch, held tantalizing close to him. Then he shook his head and sank beneaththe muddy water.

    “Oh, bother!” Merri muttered.Raising her voice, she shouted, “Perri! We’re going to need some help!” Thenshe dropped the branch and leaped into the water.

    I know you’re probably thinkingthat Perri, at last glimpse, looked rather lazy and ineffectual. But you haveto know that that girl can move. When properly motivated. And her sister’svoice, carrying just the right amount of ‘Yikes’ in it, could do it.

    Almost before you can blink, shewas standing on the bank exactly where Merri had been moments before, quicklymaking a study of the roiling water and surmising, correctly, where her sisterand whoever she was rescuing were.

    And what they, in all probability,needed.

    Uncoiling a length of rope she keptin her handy-dandy little hunting pack, she moved to the nearest strong-lookingsapling and, using a patented bowline (I knew you'd want to know) knot, quickly and efficiently tied itround.

    Then paying out the length of rope behind her, she made her way to thewater.

    Just as Merri emerged with a verysoggy and barely conscious manly-looking man.

    It was a simple procedure to tossthe end of the line to Merri, who slipped it under the man’s arms and tied ittightly. Then Perri began pulling in the cable while Merri kept the man on hisback and his head above water.

    In seconds, all three were safelyon dry-ish land.

    It was then Merri noticed what hadprobably contributed to the man’s inability to save himself.

    His hands were tied behind hisback.

    The man began to cough and hack andMerri rolled him on his side so he could (ugh) spit up some very nasty-lookingwater.

    As he did so, she took theopportunity to slash through his bindings, freeing his hands.

    Finally, he gasped and shudderedand rolled onto his back once more. Then he opened his eyes.

    Now you’re probably thinking that,if this story went according to other stories you’ve heard on stage or screen,the young man would immediately spot Merri, his rescuer, fall hopelessly inlove and…end of story.

    That’s not what happened.

    Oh, he spotted someone. And thewhole ‘falling-in-love’ scenario followed.

    Indeed.

    He looked up into thebluest, most amazing eyes he had ever seen.

    And said good-bye to his heartforever more.

    This is probably the place where Ipoint out that Merri’s eyes are hazel.

    I’m sure you’ve caught on.

    Yep. All of this happened to Perri.The one who never even got her feet wet.

    And to make the story even lesslikely by today’s story-telling standards, Merri was totally okay with it.

    By now, you’re likely wondering howon earth this manly young man ended up in the lake.

    Without his swimming costume.

    And in a vastly inconvenientposition to actually…you know…swim.

    Well, it turns out that he wasinduced into going on a hunt by some rather unsavoury ‘friends’ (I use thisword facetiously) who wanted, not his company or his hunting expertise, but hisfortune.

    Their idea, as closely as I canpiece it together, was to have him simply disappear.

    Which never happens if you’ve heardany of the stories told by thetravelling minstrels. I mean, am I right? The dead bodies always float to thesurface and are discovered. And the bad guys are then also discovered and cometo sticky ends.

    Truth.

    But in this story, the dead bodywasn’t quite dead enough to refrain from telling tales. The ‘friends’ werebrought up on charges and the whole thing just basically caused a nine-dayswonder.

    The sticky end happened too.

    And then the manly youngman, whose name was Peter—or Pete as his real friends called him—married Perriand all was well in the world.

    Oh. Something else you probablyneed to know. Fairies—really real fairies—can change their size. Yep. The truthis that, originally, they were quite normal sized. Human normal sized. But, asthe real humans and other creatures took over more and more of the surroundingcountryside, it became convenient for them to…shrink. Take up less space. Beless noticeable.

    So a fairy and a human (becausethat’s what Pete was) getting married was, not only possible, but entirely…erm…possible.

    And a year of wedded bliss later,they welcomed their firstborn daughter. Whom they immediately named Ella (Youcan see where this is going).

    Merri was asked to be the sweet little half-fairy,half-human girl’s godmother. Something she accepted with alacrity (also a realword meaning, roughly, eagerness).

    And that’s the true story of justwhere the FGM came from.

    The really real story.

    You’re welcome.

Welcome to Fly on the Wall!The once-a-month challenge to catch you up on what has been happening in the lives and/or imaginations of my amazing writing sisters and me! Did you enjoy this?Well, let the fun continue by visiting my sisters!You'll be glad you did!
Karen at Baking In A Tornado
Marcia at Menopausal Mother

 

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