My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending (10 page)

The hours crept by as I lay curled up in the corner of the cage, trying not to explode from impatience. Everyone around me was sleeping, including Anthony, whose snores were so loud that I'd never believe the saying “quiet as a mouse” again.

Eventually, I focused on a game in my mind that I hadn't let myself play in a while: what life will be like once I get my parents back.

I imagined finally bringing my parents home and the whole town having a welcome-back party for them. Then the three of us, plus Aunt Evie, would go play mini-golf. We'd have such a great time that my parents would decide to
buy
the mini-golf course so we could live there if we wanted. Then my parents would tell me that they would never leave me again, and that I could stop going to school so that I could spend more time with them. And then they'd say, “What do you think, Jenny? Jenny? Jenny!”

My eyes popped open. I must have finally dozed off.

“Jenny!” I realized Anthony was the one saying my name over and over.

“What?”

“Look!” He and Dr. Bradley were staring at the bars of the cage which were now glowing. This had to be a sign from Luken.

“It's time,” I said.

We waited. And waited some more. Just when I was starting to wonder if the glowing wasn't a sign after all, something in the air shifted and my ears popped. Then, the tops of all the golden cages started melting.

“He did it!” I jumped to my feet, ready to run the minute enough of the cage had melted. The other prisoners and I tried to protect ourselves as globs of hot metal dripped down on our furry bodies.

But as quickly as the bars had started melting, they stopped. The cages were still mostly intact, and the metal continued to glow red hot. I couldn't even touch the bars without risking getting burned.

“So much for that plan,” said Ilda, flopping back onto the floor of her cage.

I wasn't about to give up that easily. “Something must have gone wrong,” I said. “At least the cages are weaker now. That means we might be able to escape.”

Anthony stood next to me, peering up at the top of the cage that had melted all the way through. “If only we had some climbing gear so we could get up to the top,” he said. “Oh wait. We
did
have climbing gear, but
someone
made me get rid of it.”

Instead of pointing out that mice weren't exactly known for their rock-climbing skills, I ignored him and kept racking my brain for a plan. Finally, I wrapped the skirt of my poufy dress around my paws and pushed on one of the bars of my cage. The fabric let out a soft
hiss
, and I had to pull my paws away after a second. But where I'd touched it, the metal bar was now slightly dented.

“Look, everybody!” I cried. “The bars are still soft. We might be able to pry them apart! Just be careful. They're really hot.”

The cages around us erupted in a frenzy of activity as everyone grabbed pieces of clothing for protection and started tugging and pushing on the bars.

Anthony and I worked furiously to get the bars of our cage far enough apart that one of us could climb through. Finally, the opening was just wide enough for me.

“Go, find Luken and your parents,” said Dr. Bradley, coming to take my place. “Anthony and I will keep going.”

“I can't go yet. I need to help all the other animals escape!”

“Nonsense,” said Ilda, as she pulled on the bars of her own cage. “You must learn when to delegate tasks. Free your parents. We'll do the rest.”

“Go, Jenny-girl,” said Anthony. “We'll be fine.”

I nodded. “Okay, I'll find Luken, and then we'll come back for you guys.”

I scampered toward the door of the storage room, hoping to be able to push it open. But even if it had been unlocked, it was far too heavy for me to move. The only option was the gap under the door. It was thin—almost as narrow as the bars on the cage had been—but there was no choice. I had to get through.

I took a deep breath and then got on my belly. After shoving my nose and face under the door, I crawled and wriggled until it felt like I was being fed through a pasta-maker. Finally, I oozed out on the other side of the door like a layer of Play-Doh.

Without stopping to catch my breath, I dashed down the hall toward the door to the lab. When I got to the door, I found it unguarded this time. Luken must have convinced Karfum to help him distract the fairy guards somehow.

Once again, I had to squeeze under the door. This time I barely even noticed how uncomfortable it was. All I cared about was that my parents were waiting for me on the other side.

When I emerged inside the lab, I could feel the magic humming through the room. It was weaker than the last time I'd been here, but not by much.

As I sprinted down the corridor, I spotted someone sprawled on the floor right in front of my parents' cell. Oh no.

“Luken!” I cried.

“Luken!” I said, nipping at him with my teeth since my paws were far too small to shake him with. “Luken, wake up!”

He didn't look injured and he was still breathing, but he wouldn't open his eyes. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Maybe trying to go into so many people's dreams had been too much for him to handle.

My tiny mouse heart was beating so fast that I was afraid it might punch through my furry chest. I had to do something. When I glanced around, I realized that some of the prisoners in the cells were awake. They looked groggy and disoriented, like they had no idea where they were, but they were coming out of their comas.

Hesitantly, I peered into my parents' cell, and my heart went from beating too hard to not beating at all.

They were awake. Both of them. And they were staring back at me.

“Mom! Dad!” I cried. “Are you okay?”

They peered at me with confused eyes. Maybe they couldn't hear me through the glass. Or they couldn't figure out why a mouse was convinced they were its parents.

I tore my gaze away from them as Luken finally began to stir. His eyes opened slowly, and he looked down at me.

“Jenny,” he said. “I am sorry. I did what I could…”

“You did great,” I assured him. “I got out of my cage, and a bunch of the adventurers are waking up. My parents are awake!”

“It was not enough…”

“You gave us an opening. We'll figure out the rest.”

“What…what is happening to you?” he said, his eyes widening.

“What do you mean?” I realized that my voice didn't sound as squeaky as before. I glanced down and saw that my front paws were starting to look more and more like human hands. “I'm turning back!”

My body started growing faster and faster. I waited for the magic to return me to my normal form, but suddenly it stopped. I was horrified to realize that I still had a very long and very gross tail attached to my otherwise human body.

“What happened?” I said.

“Waking the adventurers must not have been enough,” said Luken as I helped him sit up. Tail or not, I was itching to go talk to my parents, but I wanted to stay with him to make sure he was okay.

“Go see them,” he said, as if he could read my mind. “I will be fine.”

“But—”

“Jenny, really.” He got to his feet, as if to prove just how fine he was. “I am all right. Tell me what I can do and then go to your parents.”

There was no arguing with Luken. He was as stubborn as I was.

“Fine,” I said. “Go back to the storage room and make sure everyone's out of their cages. I'll meet you there.”

Luken nodded and hurried away. He wasn't moving as gracefully as usual, but he seemed okay.

When he was gone, I rushed over to my parents' cell. I could feel the energy pulsing across the door, but it was much weaker now. As more and more adventurers woke up, the magic became less and less focused. Maybe once they were all out of their comas, the fairies would lose total control of the magic. Then we could leave Fairy Land without a problem. And my horrible extra appendage would disappear.

“Mom. Dad,” I said, going over to the glass. They turned to look at me, which meant they could hear me, after all. “I'm going to get you out, okay? But I need your help.”

They stared at me, still dazed.

“The cots,” I said, pointing to their narrow beds. “Can you push them into the door? If we can get it open a crack, I can pull it from the other side.”

My parents shared a glance and then nodded. They grabbed the beds, exchanged whispers, and then rammed the cots into the door at the same time. It didn't budge.

“I'm sorry,” my dad said, his voice muffled behind the glass. “We're very weak.”

I almost burst into tears on the spot. My dad's voice was exactly like I remembered it. It was him. It was really him!

But I couldn't lose it now. I had to get my parents out. “Try one more time,” I said.

My parents nodded. This time, they both grabbed on to one of the cots and pushed it together. They ran at the door and—
bang
! The cot slammed into the glass door and forced it open just enough for me to be able to grab on to it.

I whooped with excitement.

“Okay, hold on,” I told my parents. “I'm coming to get you!”

If I waited, maybe the magic would be weak enough that I wouldn't have to fight through any energy fields, but I wasn't going to risk waiting another second. Not when I had this chance to finally get to my parents.

“One, two, three,” I muttered. Then I grabbed the edge of the glass door and pulled as hard as I could. A wave of energy flowed through my body, but I barely noticed it. All I could think about was the fact that my parents were less than two feet away from me. No stupid door was going to stand in my way, no matter how much it tried to electrocute me.

With one last yank, the door flew open, and I was thrown backward. It took me a second to scramble to my feet, but then there was no stopping me.

“Mom! Dad!” I cried, rushing into the cell. I threw my arms around my parents, tears streaming down my face. I didn't care that I was sobbing. All I cared about was that I'd done it. I'd found them.

It took me a minute to realize that my parents weren't really hugging me back. Instead, they were peering back at me in total confusion.

“What's wrong?” I said. “Are you guys okay? Aren't you happy to see me?”

My parents looked at each other. Then they looked at me.

“I'm sorry,” my mom said, “but do we know you?”

“I'm Jenny, your daughter. You—you left me seven years ago, and I've been looking for you. I found you. I'm here. I look different now because I'm older, and I have a tail. The tail's only temporary, though. At least, I hope it is. But I'm your daughter. I'm Jenny.”

As I babbled on, I kept waiting for my parents to tell me they were joking, that they knew who I was after all. They only shook their heads sadly.

“We've been through quite an ordeal,” my dad said. “It must have affected our brains. To be honest, I don't remember much of anything.” He thought for a second. “In fact, I'm not sure I know my own name.”

My mother nodded. “Whatever the fairies did to us, it had an impact on our memories.”

My jaw started shaking like I'd been out in the freezing cold for too long. I couldn't believe it. My parents were talking like we were strangers. How could they not know me? I was their daughter!

“You remember the fairies, but you don't remember me?” I said, my voice quivering. Even my tail was shaking.

My mom gave me a sad smile. “I'm sure we will, in time. It's probably temporary.”

“Now, you said you're here to rescue us?” said my dad.

I took in a long breath. Right. The mission. My parents might not remember me, but it was still my job to get them out of here and home safely. I'd deal with the rest later.

“Okay,” I said, swallowing the tears in my throat. “We have to get the rest of these cells open, and then we need to find my friends.”

My parents nodded. Even though they were still obviously weak and disoriented, their adventurer instincts must have kicked in because they got to work right away. Together, we went through the lab and freed the rest of the prisoners. Luckily, the magic was fading fast, so most of the cell doors were barely electrified anymore.

“Bless you,” an older woman about Dr. Bradley's age said when I let her out of her cell. “I thought I would be trapped in those horrid dreams forever.” Then she surprised me by pulling me into a warm hug. I couldn't help wishing that my parents had hugged me like that when I'd found them.

No. I wouldn't think about that now.
Focus
on
the
mission, Jenny
, I told myself.
Get
everyone
home.

When the last of the prisoners in the lab were free, I realized everyone was looking to me for instructions. Most of the prisoners were adventurers, but they were all still dazed and weak. It was up to me to figure out what to do.

First off, I had to get back to the storage room and meet up with Luken and the rest of my friends. Bringing all the adventurers with me wasn't the best idea, but I didn't know what else to do with them.

“Follow me,” I said, heading down the hallway. Behind me, a snake of people dressed in stiff hospital gowns followed. We would have made a pretty depressing parade.

We didn't see any sign of fairies or leprechaun guards. Something about this whole thing felt too easy, but I tried to shake that thought out of my head. I'd nearly burned and electrocuted myself; that wasn't exactly
easy
.

As we walked along the corridors, I noticed that the gray stone walls were starting to look faded. In a couple of spots, the walls had bright colors bleeding through.

“What's happening here?” one of the prisoners asked as the hallway we were trudging down started to morph into a hall of mirrors.

“I think the theme park is coming back now that the queen's magic is fading,” I said. I hoped that meant that one day the amusement park would come back completely, just like it had been before the queen took over the land.

When we got to the storage room, I couldn't help laughing at what I saw. Luken and Belthum were wrenching open the last of the cages while Anthony stood in the middle of the hallway entertaining people with some truly terrible juggling. Meanwhile, Dr. Bradley was making sure everyone was all right, and Ilda was putting everyone in orderly lines, probably the way she'd done back in her teaching days.

Like me, the creatures were mostly back to their usual forms, with some glaring exceptions. Anthony looked like an average gnome again except for the big, round ears on the top of his head; Ilda had a long snout and whiskers; and Dr. Bradley had an extra leg that made him look like a tripod.

When Dr. Bradley and Anthony spotted my parents, they both stopped what they were doing and rushed over.

“Finally!” Anthony said, throwing his arms around my mom and dad. “It's been way too long.”

Dr. Bradley was beaming. “It is so good to see you, my friends,” he said, once Anthony had released them.

My parents smiled weakly, obviously perplexed.

“They have amnesia,” I explained. “They don't remember anyone. Not even…” I cleared my throat. “Not even me.”

“Oh my,” said Dr. Bradley. “That is unfortunate.”

Anthony gave my elbow a sympathetic squeeze. “Their memories will come back. Magic messes with people, but usually they come out okay.”

My brain fixed on that word:
usually
. I didn't care what usually happened. I wanted my parents to be okay right now. But what could I do?

“All right,” I said. “Now that everyone's been freed, we have to find a way out of here.”

Just then, the door to the storage room crashed open all by itself, like it had been pushed by a huge gust of wind. Then a blinding glow filled the room, and the Queen Fairy appeared, shining just as brightly as she had before. And she wasn't alone. An entire army of fairies stood behind her.

We were trapped.