Farrah in Fairyland (33 page)

Bruce had
tears in his eyes as he walked to Farrah and hugged her waist.
Grabbing Bruce by the hand, Farrah walked away from the hole
slowly, knowing that she was leaving her friend behind forever.
With the Star of Fantaseea glowing brightly in her pocket, they
were both lifted off the ground and away from Bella’s lifeless
body.

Chapter 51
: Blah!

The pain that
Farrah felt in her heart for her lost friend was unbearable. She
remained in her bed for two weeks, wondering how she would go on
without Bella. Although Farrah’s parents had left her alone to
grieve her loss, Crystaline was becoming worried, as Farrah had not
eaten much over that time. Taking a deep breath, Farrah’s mom
pushed the door open to her daughter’s room.

She held in
her hands a tray of Cactus Tulip muffins and a tall glass of Melo
Juice, Farrah’s favourite fruity drink that she placed carefully at
the foot of the bed. Although Farrah’s eyes remained closed as she
lay on her side at the edge of her bed, Crystaline was determined
to get her daughter up. Walking to the head of the bed, she
sprinkled some Baker’s Dust onto her nose. As Farrah breathed in,
it was as if she had inhaled a hundred hot peppers. She awoke in a
startle, sneezing uncontrollably. When the sneezing finally
subsided, she sat up in the bed to face her mother.

“Mom, what the
heck did you do that for?”

“I’m sorry,
Farrah, but you are withering away to nothing – I’m worried about
you,” replied Crystaline as she sat next to her daughter.

“I’m okay,
Mom, you don’t have to worry.”

“Oh really?
You haven’t gotten out of bed for two weeks. Even the Queen is
concerned.”

“She is?”
Farrah asked as she stood up to her feet. It was the first time she
had done so in days and for a moment, she felt woozy. Taking a
minute to wait for the room to stop spinning, Farrah walked over to
the mirror. Horrified by the dishevelled state of her hair, she
quickly grabbed a comb from on top of her dresser and started to
comb it.

“Yes, she’s
called at least twenty times,” continued Crystaline as she walked
up behind Farrah and adjusted the collar of her pyjamas.

Farrah
continued to straighten up as she looked at the mirror. Although
reluctant to bring up the subject that she was thinking of, she
knew that she had waited long enough. Taking a deep breath, she
turned to face her mother.

“Mom, you know
that you and Dad are descended from humans, right?”

Crystaline
grabbed Farrah’s hand affectionately before she spoke.

“Yeah, we
know?” Crystaline replied. Her answer surprised Farrah. Crystaline
continued as Farrah took a seat in the chair next to her desk.

“Farrah, most
of us Ordinaria fairies have always known.”

“But I thought
that a human’s memory is erased when they make the voyage to
Fairyland?”

“That’s true,
Farrah, but I guess there is a part of our past that remains in our
hearts,” replied Crystaline as she placed a hand over her heart as
she continued to speak.

“Most
Ordinaria have come to terms with our past.”

“How could
you, with those twigs for wings that you were given,” remarked
Farrah heatedly as she got up to her feet.

Farrah’s
mother continued to sit on the bed as she looked up calmly at her
daughter.

“Farrah, not
all of us are given smaller wings.”

“What are you
talking about?” asked a perplexed Farrah as she stared into her
mother’s eyes.

“Look at
Samantha’s parents; they have some of the most beautiful wings I
have ever seen.”

“Wait, you
knew that the Scarcity’s were descended from earth?” Farrah asked,
much calmer as she sat next to her mother once again.

“Like I said,
Farrah, most of us know.”

“But how is
that possible, Mom?”

“It’s simple,
Farrah. It all comes down to nature. Tall fairies can have short
children, and short parents can have children that grow up to be
seven feet tall?”

“Yeah, but
that’s different-”

“No, Farrah,
it is exactly the same,” interrupted Farrah’s mother, “Just like
brown-haired, brown-eyed fairies can have children that have violet
eyes.”

Farrah smiled
as she realized that her mother was talking about her, the only
Fancycracker with violet eyes. She was about to ask another
question when the doorbell rang. After a few seconds, Couraggio's
voice called up to them.

“Crystaline,
is Farrah up? She has company!”

Farrah turned
around to look at her mother.

“Who do you
think it is?” She asked.

“Why don’t you
go downstairs and find out?”

Farrah hugged
her mom and whispered into her ear.

“I love you,
Mom.”

Farrah
shuffled down the stairs carefully, holding onto the railing with
her right hand, not wanting to jostle her bandaged left arm.
Thankfully, the pain had subsided, but she was still too nervous to
remove the bandage to look at the wound. When she got to the bottom
of the stairs, she was surprised to see that the entire living room
was filled with fairies.

“Oh, Farrah,
good, you’re up. As you can see, your friends are here.”

“I can see
that,” responded Farrah as she scanned the room. Although she did
not recognize most of the fairies standing before her, she knew
that they were all Tooth Fairies by the pouches of Molar Dust that
dangled off their waists.

One of the
shorter fairies standing in the front row approached Farrah
cautiously.

“Hi, Farrah,
I’m Penelope Strands. I’m one of the newly appointed Tooth Fairies.
I had been in my first year at the Academy when the Queen declared
the state of emergency.”

“Hi Penelope,”
greeted Farrah as she shook her hand.

“We are all so
happy to see that you are feeling better. We need your help,” said
Penelope in an overly perky voice.

“You do?”
Farrah asked, bewildered.

“Yes, we do.
We need you to continue to lead the charge in our mission to
repopulate Fairyland.”

Farrah took a
seat on the sofa behind her. She sighed deeply before she spoke,
not knowing how she wanted to phrase her next words. Deciding to be
gentle, she spoke.

“Listen, I’m
happy that you have taken up the mission in my absence, but I’m
afraid that despite our efforts, we are destined to fail.”

Another,
larger fairy took a seat next to Farrah on the sofa. He removed his
hat and placed it next to him before he spoke.

“Farrah, you
have no idea how much you have inspired all of us. We found out the
success you were having and we decided to approach the Queen. We
asked her permission to focus on Operation Fight for Farrah.”

“Operation
what?” Farrah asked, as she turned her body to look at the tall
fairy next to her.

“Oh sorry,
Operation Fight for Farrah was the name that we gave the mission,”
said Penelope with a big smile on her face. “Our group’s sole
purpose has been the repopulation of Fairyland. The Queen didn’t
hesitate to grant us permission, after all, without fairies,
Fairyland would be nothing.”

Farrah stood
up excitedly.

“So how many
humans have made the journey?”

“3,634 and
counting,” reported the tall Fairy proudly.

Farrah clasped
her hands, “Wow, that’s amazing!”

“Yes, it is,
but we figure that we’ll need to convince another 2,500 humans to
relocate to Fairyland, if we truly want to rebuild our land and
make it better than ever,” added Penelope as she stared with envy
into Farrah’s eyes.

Farrah
nodded.

“Okay, what do
you want me to do?”

“We want you
to take over Operation Fight for Farrah. After all, you are the
most talented fairy that Fairyland has ever seen. With you at the
helm, we can refocus our efforts on the collection of children’s
teeth. Our supply of Pixie Dust has dwindled to dangerously low
amounts,” said the tall fairy without hesitation.

Farrah started
to blush; she did not take to compliments well. This changed when
Penelope added, “We figure it should only take you a week to
convince 2,500 humans.”

“A week!”
Farrah Shouted with slight exasperation.

“I’ve been out
of commission for two weeks. It will probably take me a couple of
days to get back into the swing of things, then there is the fact
that I don’t have Bella to come along with me on the voyages, I -
”

“She’ll do it,
no problem,” interrupted Farrah’s father.

Farrah stopped
in mid-sentence. Looking at her father seemed to calm her.

Farrah nodded
at Penelope. After a quick goodbye and a few high-fives from some
of the Tooth Fairies, they quickly scooted out the front door.
Couraggio joined his daughter on the couch where she had taken a
seat.

“Dad, do you
really think I can convince that many humans in a week?” Farrah
asked nervously, as she stared out the window at two Farfallo
creatures that were floating hand in hand along the sidewalk in
front of the house.

“Farrah I’m
beginning to wonder if there is anything you can’t do.”

Chapter 52
: “I’m Back Baby!”

It was an
awkward feeling for Farrah to be voyaging down to earth without
Bella. She had always thought of her as being more of a friend than
a Volare. During those especially trying voyages, like the
windstorm that they staved off in the Sahara Desert a few months
back, she was always grateful not to be going through those trying
times alone. Thankfully, the Star of Fantaseea had allowed her to
pick up right where she had left off. With her newfound flying
ability, which did not require the use of her wings, she was still
able to travel without fear of anything that nature had to throw at
her.

As the week
wore on, Farrah was beginning to feel like her old self. That
allowed her to complete the mission with ease – only taking five
days to complete her goal of 2,500 humans. However, for good
measure Farrah continued the mission for the last 2 days bringing
her grand total to 3600 humans. Although Fairyland had been at the
brink of extinction, with the help of Farrah and a determined group
of Tooth Fairies, they had fought back to become stronger than
ever.

The separation
between the Superiora and the Ordinaria had also started to fade.
Even Samantha had begun to change her thinking. Sure, it took a
while for her to come to terms with the fact that her father was
once human, but she knew that her father’s love conquered all. As
for Farrah and Samantha’s relationship, although the two fairies
would never become good friends, a mutual respect grew between
them.

Farrah stood
before her full-length mirror reluctantly placing earrings into her
ears. She was wearing her fancy gown that was handstitched by her
mother in preparation of a celebration being that evening. The
Queen as a thank you to all the fairies that had saved Fairyland
had organized it.

“Are you
ready, Farrah?” asked her mom as she popped her head into her
room.

“Yeah, I guess
so,” she replied, but not before taking a seat on her bed. Sensing
that something was wrong, Crystaline took a seat beside her
daughter.

“What’s up, my
dear?”

“I don’t know,
Mom. I guess I just feel a little weird about this whole
celebration.”

“But, Farrah,
you will be receiving the most prestigious awards ever given to a
Fairy. You have to be proud of that?”

Farrah looked
at the floor as she tried to find the words to express what she was
feeling.

“That’s just
it mom, Fairyland has suffered so much. There has been such
tremendous loss and destruction, how can I think about awards and
celebrations at this time?”

Farrah’s
mother leaned in and squeezed her tightly before she spoke.

“Farrah, at
times, severe devastation must be experienced before greatness can
be achieved.”

Farrah looked
into her mother’s eyes not understanding what she was saying.

“You see,
Farrah, we will never forget the suffering. However, the goodness
that has come out of all the fairies banding together is priceless.
We have rebuilt our land better than ever. Hatred among fairies is
disappearing. As for what we will achieve going forward, the sky is
the limit.”

Farrah’s mom
lifted her daughter’s chin with her thumb.

“Farrah, if
not for you, the transformation of our land would have never
happened.”

Taking a
moment to digest what her mother had said Farrah then hugged her
without saying a word. Crystaline hugged her back, both of them
with tears in their eyes. Seconds later, Mr. Fancycracker walked
into the room all dressed in his fancy tuxedo.

“What’s the
matter you two, this is supposed to be a joyous occasion.”

Farrah wiped
the tears form her eyes and thrust herself into her father’s
arms.

“What was that
for?” He asked.

Farrah looked
up at her father without releasing her grip around his waist.

“I’m just
grateful to have such a wonderful Dad,” she said.

*****

Farrah leaned
forward as the Queen placed the golden-winged medal around her
neck. She shook the Queen’s hand and then took a moment to look at
the cheering crowd. It was strange to see that Giuseppi was sitting
next to Samantha, both applauding and cheering loudly as they
stared at Farrah on the stage. No longer were there two separate
sections for the Superiora and Ordinaria, something that Farrah
thought she would never see in her lifetime.

Everyone had
shown up for the celebration, including Picolotto, who was poking
his head out from one of the back rows. Farrah gave a quick wave to
which he jumped up and down grasping his heart as if stricken by a
cupid’s arrow. Farrah’s father then preceded to high-five him over
and over again with Crystaline looking on adoringly at her
daughter.