Farrah in Fairyland (24 page)

A startled
Farrah jumped backward nearly knocking over the large pot, which
teetered back and forth before returning to its original spot.

“Sorry,
Farrah. It is my timepiece, one of my oldest inventions. I haven’t
quite perfected it yet. It is telling me however, that it is time
for your first mission. Here take the scroll and tuck it up into
your sleeve,” requested Picolotto as he rolled it up carefully and
handed it to Farrah.

Farrah took
the scroll and began to sway back and forth nervously.

“Don’t be
worried, my dear, after all, you were born to do this. Oh, and if
you get stuck, just look at the back of the scroll.”

Farrah walked
with determination back through the forest. Shadows were playing
tricks on her, crafting what looked to be Cornuto Creatures in the
trees. Farrah jumped nervously through the forest, trying hard not
to let any of the hanging branches touch her.

The sunlight
that had been hidden by the thick foliage of the trees crept up on
Farrah as she stepped beyond the clearing and approached Bella. She
was taking a drink from a puddle of water and didn’t notice Farrah
at first.

Suddenly, it
hit Farrah like a prize fighter going for the knockout blow. She
was on her own. All of Fairyland was relying on her and there was
no room for error. The only problem was that at that moment, Farrah
had absolutely no idea where to begin. Her mind was blank. Farrah
was becoming lost in the emptiness of her mind when something
rumbled in her purse, which she had slung over her shoulder.

Startled,
Farrah dropped it to the ground. Afraid, she thought about leaving
the purse when she heard a muffled voice. Curious, she bent down
and put her ear up against the buckle. She listened carefully for a
sound. She heard nothing for several minutes. With her neck
strained, she gave up.

Farrah
unlatched the buckle carefully and looked inside. It was the Veddo
and it was vibrating. This caused her to drop the purse once again.
While the purse remained open on the ground, the voice, now
perfectly audible was heard.

“Farrah, what
are you waiting for?”

Farrah took a
deep breath and reached into the purse picking up the Veddo. She
held it gingerly up to her face, but it was neither her reflection
nor a destination on earth that she saw. Picolotto’s ugly little
head was staring back at her.

“What is
taking you so long?”

Not quite sure
if Picolotto would be able to hear what she was saying, Farrah
spoke into the handle.

“What do you
mean, Picolotto?”

“I thought by
now you would have discovered the destination of your first mission
by using your Veddo. Or if you truly were unsure of what to do, I
thought you would have taken my advice and would look at the back
of the scroll.”

Farrah felt a
little embarrassed. She didn’t know how to respond to Picolotto.
Instead, she internally began to scold herself for being so
stupid.

“Go on then,
take out the scroll and look at the back.”

Farrah took
the scroll out carefully from her pocket. She handled it delicately
as she unfurled it, much like a pyrotechnic handling an explosive.
With the scroll unfurled, she flipped it over. She placed her purse
at the top and her knee at the bottom to keep it flat.

At the top of
the scroll was a title marked clearly with bold lettering.

UIF HPMEFO
SVMFT

Farrah took a
moment to translate the Bellasimitrian code, when she deciphered
it, she shouted out excitedly.

THE GOLDEN
RULES

“Go ahead and
read the first one,” requested Picolotto from the Veddo, which had
been set down on the ground next to the scroll.

Farrah cleared
her throat and scanned the first rule. She was beginning to get the
hang of the Bellasimitrian language and read the rule much quicker
this time.

“Rule Number
One, your Veddo is the most important tool a Tooth Fairy has. A
Tooth Fairy begins all missions by looking into the Veddo. It is
within the eye of the Veddo that your destination will be revealed.
Furthermore, if you are unsure, or if you are in trouble at any
time, look to the Veddo for guidance.”

Farrah looked
back at the Veddo after reading the first rule. Picolotto had
returned to eating his Forko creature soups, his mouth splattered
with the brown goop.

“Well, what do
you think?” asked Picolotto as he munched on something crunchy.

“I feel
stupid.”

“Don’t feel
bad, my dear, you have to remember that you have had very little
training. As you know, Tooth Fairies usually go through five years
of schooling and extensive training before they take part in their
first mission. Have you ever heard of the story of Principessa
Emeralda’s first time?”

Principessa
Emeralda was Farrah’s idol. She was considered to be the most
famous and most talented Tooth Fairy to have ever lived. Not only
did she convince over 2500 human boys and girls about Fairyland,
granting them entrance into the wonderful land, she was also the
fastest navigator, able to complete 150 missions in a single
night.

“What happened
to Emeralda?” Farrah asked anxiously as she rolled up the scroll
carefully and placed it in her purse.

“Well, to make
a long story short, Principessa Emeralda made the mistake of trying
to use her Veddo while flying. Not paying attention to her flight
path, she looked up and nearly rammed into another fairy on a
Volare. Although Emeralda was able to avoid a collision, she
dropped her Veddo through the clouds and into the Atlantic Ocean.
For the rest of the night, Emeralda swam around in the ocean trying
to look for the Veddo. This was to no avail however. Needless to
say, she was unable to complete a single mission that night. Making
things worse, she had to beg the King for a new Veddo the next day.
Emeralda became the laughing stock of Fairyland.

Many fairies,
including the King thought that Emeralda would never make it.
Fortunately, Principessa Emeralda used this as motivation. She went
on to complete over 80 missions the next night and went on to break
the record for most missions in one week with 982.”

“Wow, I never
knew that,” responded Farrah in awe, with her mouth opened
widely.

“You see,
Farrah, even the best of them stumble. Oh, and don’t worry about
those incredible numbers that Principessa Emeralda accomplished.
982 is unheard of, and will never be matched.”

“Yeah, I know,
Picolotto, right now I just want to get complete one mission,”
explained Farrah as she looked at the ground, not feeling very
confident.

“Farrah, I
think I have something that will cheer you up. Take a look inside
your purse.”

Without
hesitation, Farrah rummaged around in her purse. At first pass, she
felt nothing unusual. On her second go around, she came across a
small pouch, no bigger than a marble.

“What is it?”
Farrah asked, feeling a surge of energy once again.

“Go on and
open it.”

Farrah
carefully pulled the felt tie that was keeping the pouch closed and
looked inside. Instantly, Farrah realized that it was Pixie dust,
but it was unlike any dust that she had ever seen before. It was
sparkly white, as if tiny crystals had been ground up into the
finest salt.

“
What
you are holding is Octo Dust. It is the purest and rarest Pixie
Dust ever created. It is made from the teeth of the
8
^th
child born by a mother of
octuplets. Since this is such a rare occurrence on earth, this Octo
Dust, is extremely hard to come buy. What you have in your hand is
Fairyland’s entire stash. It has been protected by us Bellasimita
for over 150 years.”

“Why are you
giving this to me?” Farrah asked as she closed up the pouch,
feeling unworthy of laying her eyes on it.

“
It was
decided long ago that only a Tuttatti Fairy should have it –
only
she
would be
able to handle its power.”

Farrah hadn’t
yet become comfortable with the notion of being a Tuttatti and
began to blush.

“Thank you so
much, Picolotto. I don’t know how I can ever repay you?”

“Just go out
there and kick some serious butt! Oh, and be careful with the Octo
Dust. It is one thousand times more powerful than regular Molar
dust.”

“I will,
Picolotto.”

Much like a
magician vanishing behind an artificial smoke cloud, Picolotto
disappeared before Farrah’s eyes. Farrah carefully placed the pouch
back into her purse and picked up the Veddo once again. She stared
intently at its blackness.

Farrah stared
deeply into the Veddo, it was reminiscent of a fisherman that
stared into the lake waiting for a hooked fish. Her restlessness
became unbearable as nothing appeared in the Veddo. Shaking the
Veddo impatiently, Farrah then wiped the glass with her sleeve to
make sure that it was spotless – still nothing. Although she had
resisted the temptation up to that point, she now felt it time to
peek at the scroll. As she started to unfurl the scroll however, an
image finally appeared in the Veddo.

At first, it
was hard to make out. It started out like a spec of dust and then
grew larger. As it grew to the full size of the mirror, Farrah had
no trouble distinguishing what it was - the Eiffel Tower.

“FRANCE!”
Farrah shouted animatedly, bouncing up and down with
excitement.

Acknowledging
that Farrah had indeed come up with the right answer, the image of
the Eiffel Tower vanished and was replaced with a street name.

“R-U-E--
E-X-T-R-O-D-I-N-A-I-R-E”

“Rue
Extraordinaire!” Farrah repeated to herself. She was having a hard
time keeping her composure.

Once again,
the image vanished and was replaced by three numbers,

6-5-8
.

“My first
mission must be at 658, Rue Extraordinaire in Paris, France.”

Confident that
she had deciphered the Veddo correctly, Farrah hopped onto Bella’s
back. Bella had been waiting patiently on the ground, but she
hopped up quickly as Farrah approached.

The next part
was easy for Farrah. Navigation was something that she had picked
up quickly, despite her lack of wings. No matter, Bella seemed to
relish the opportunity of a real adventure and who could blame her.
Most of her days were rather dull, taking Farrah back and forth to
Giuseppi’s house. With one sprinkle of Molar dust on Bella’s nose,
they ploughed their way through the clouds.

Starlight
illuminated Bella’s back as the clouds dispersed out in front of
Bella. In no time, Farrah spotted where she wanted to land and
instructed Bella to do so. She would use the same technique as she
did during the talent contest. It was called Dentra - the process
of sinking into the ground.

A dash of
Molar dust onto the ground and Farrah would disappear into the
earth. The hardest part was picking the perfect spot, which was
easy to misjudge with Fairyland in continuous motion. A few meters
off and a fairy could wind up in an ocean, or even worse, submerged
deep inside an active volcano.

Farrah had
learned to use her surroundings as clues. She would peer down
through the clouds to look for landmarks on earth. Of course, the
Eiffel Tower and the Pyramids were easier to spot than some other
smaller landmarks such as Stonehenge. From here, Farrah would have
to rely on her memory. Her mental map of the earth would play a key
role in locating the exact spot where she would use Dentra.

“Here’s the
spot, Bella,” Farrah explained as she dropped a pinch of Molar dust
before she mounted her back once again. Luckily, Farrah had spent
much time on creating mental images of some of her most favourite
places on earth. France was near the top of her list, along with
Italy and Australia.

“On the count
of three, I want you to jump straight up into the air, and don’t
flap your wings! Got it?”

Bella nodded
her large head, unfortunately, her mouth was open and the slobber
that coated her tongue flew into Farrah’s face.

“Thanks,
Bella.” Farrah said sarcastically, as she wiped the slobber from
her face with her hand.

“Okay, One,
Two, Three!”

Bella did
exactly as she was told. Once she reached about 20 feet into the
air, she abruptly stopped flapping her wings. The two dropped like
an icicle falling from the shingles of a house in winter. Bella
closed her eyes as they rushed to the ground. Farrah, however,
continued to watch as Bella’s large frame sunk neatly into the
earth. It reminded Farrah of how her mother would test a blackberry
and tuna pie, by sticking her finger into the centre to ensure it
was fully cooked.

Farrah watched
as the road bellow came into sight.

“Okay, Bella
bring her down nice and easy.”

Clop! Farrah’s
hooves hit the paved street ever so gently. They had landed
directly beside a street sign. Farrah looked up at the sign; her
eyes took moment to adjust as she was momentarily blinded by the
streetlight overhead.

“Rue
Extraordinaire. Perfect!” Farrah thought, before she had a chance
to look around. When she did look at her surroundings, Farrah
became depressed. The street was completely destroyed. Houses lay
in a crumbled mess along the street. Large trees had split into
pieces and the entire area was covered by thick ash. It looked like
a bomb had been dropped on that very spot.

Farrah looked
across the street to the house marked 658. Miraculously it looked
to be untouched. It was a small house with a red door and a one-car
garage. Smoke was coming from the chimney and all of the drapes
were shut, masking the windows. This was much to the relief of
Farrah who was worried about being spotted.