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‘Just Don’t Call Me Tinkerbell!"
David could feel eyes boring into the back of his head the minute the door opened. He turned, meeting those eyes. They belonged to a small, delicate woman with the longest, blondest hair he had ever seen and bright blue eyes that never-the-less had a mysterious glow to them. She was a breath-taking sight, especially in a London bar in the middle of the afternoon.
David held his breath as she approached him, and sat on the next stall. He blinked, running a hand through his thick, and at the moment, very unkempt, short brown hair, and wondered whether despair and drink was making him hallucinate.
He quickly looked around, wondering whether any of the other five or so men sitting in the bar had noticed her entrance. But, if they had, now that she was making her way towards him, they had settled back down to their own drinks and problems. While they were obviously in not dissimilar circumstances to David, they were avoiding any kind of contact with each other and with David; depression not liking company when it can wallow in self-pity instead. So, David was the only person to watch her bypass the other sorry souls, giving them a small, sad smile, as she neared the actual bar, and David. The place was one of those trendy, new bars, all sharp, clean surfaces, lots of mirrors, and designer beers. It looked rather cold and empty at the moment, it’s neon lighting shinning half-heartedly in the daylight, miserable and rather a let-down, rather than the bright, comforting friendly place it was in the evenings. It suited David’s mood.
"What does a fairy have to do to get a drink around here?" he thought he heard the woman ask as she settled on the stool next to him.
"S-Sorry?" David stuttered, still trying not to stare at her.
She turned to him, an impish grin on her face.
"I said, David, aren’t you going to buy me a drink?"
"How…how do you know my name?"
"Not important", she dismissed.
"I’ll have a white wine", she continued, pointedly.
"Oh. Right", he replied, shaking his head. He ordered her drink.
"Ok, now we can get down to business…" she began, once she had started her wine.
"I’m sorry, but, who the Hell are you?"
She interrupted him before he could launch into a barrage of confused questions.
"Well, not Tinkerbell, that’s for sure", she replied.
"Huh?" David replied.
"My name. It is not Tinkerbell. In case you thought it was. I hate that!"
"Why…why would it be Tinkerbell?"
"Isn’t that what you folks always think we’re called?" She paused, then continued, as if suddenly realising something.
"Oh, right, I get it. You’re a non-believer".
"A what…?" he asked.
"You do not believe. Do you?" she replied, spelling it out.
"In what? UFOs? Little Green Men?"
"No, silly. Fairies!" she grinned.
"Fairies! Er, no! No such thing".
"Wrong!" she smirked, "You’re talking to one".
"You’re a fairy?! Yeah, right. Next you’re be telling me that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real as well!"
"And why not? Why do you think that you never see either of them – it’s because you don’t believe! Well, it’s time you started. I’m here to help you."
Startled at being shouted at by this strange woman, all David could ask was, "You’re here to help me? How? Why?"
" ‘Cos that’s my job. I’m a fairy…"
"Oh yeah. So, you’re a fairy. Aren’t you a little tall for that?"
She glared at him.
"I chose this form!"
"Uh-huh. And, er, you’ll, what, cast some magic spell and make my life brilliant?"
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, of course not."
This time it was David’s turn to grin.
"Ha, thought not!"
"No, silly. That’s witches. Fairies help make sure the world is turning as it should. Fate and destiny and all that. Oh, and the occasional wish-granting".
"So, let me see your wings", David tried, still not believing this conversation.
"Sorry, they’re at the cleaners!" she retorted, smug again, flicking her hair.
"Ok, so say this is all true, where do I fit in?" David asked, curious about this girl despite himself. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed at her for winding him up, or get down on his knees and beg for her help. It was an amusing story, anyway.
"David Saunders, do you, or do you not need some help at the moment?"
"Well…", he replied, remembering his sad predicament. His life had gone steadily downhill since returning home last Friday and finding his wife in bed with another man – apparently Mike, who Amy worked with. At present he had no wife, no home, no job (bloody redundancies), and was slowly wearing out his welcome at his friend Ian’s place.
"Yes, you do. You see, very recently, your life has completely veered off course. I’ve been sent here by the powers that be to fix that", she told him, almost sympathetically.
"You can just…just fix my life", he asked, in amazement, wishing he could believe it was true.
She nodded, smiling at him. A real smile this time, and David had to admit there was something almost ‘otherworldly’ about her.
"Believe it, David. I’m here to make things right again."
"Like magic", he whispered.
"No, not like magic, like a fairy tale."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. It’s all real. Cinderella – her fairy Godmother made sure she met her destiny – her prince. Sleeping Beauty – fairies gave the princess good luck charms. That’s a job for the younger, less experienced fairies…"
David didn’t know what to say. She smiled at him, wondering if he was starting to believe. It was amazing how quickly people did, when they really wanted to. Something left over from the fairy-tales of their childhood, she guessed, when they all wanted to either be the prince or marry him. Of course, she knew it wasn’t really that easy, but sometimes it was nice to be able to help a little, to give them a way to their happy ending.
"So, now what?" David asked.
"Nothing. You just let me do all the work. All you have to do is believe. Oh, and promise to give your first-born son to me when he’s a year old…" she stated solemnly.
"What?!"
"Only kidding! I don’t need him until he’s five years old…"
David just shook his head in bewilderment. Just when he thought he had a grasp on who this mysterious woman was, she managed to completely confuse him again. Now she was just laughing at him, enjoying his confusion. She obviously had a strange sense of humour. Well, she wasn’t the one whose life had been completely turned upside-down over the past two days, was she?! He gave her his sternest look, but she just laughed harder. He sighed, ignoring her, and turned back to the bar. Better to drown his sorrows. At least he knew what to expect from beer.
After five minutes, she reappeared at his side.
"David?"
"Go away. If you’re just going to laugh at me, and rub my nose in how awful my life is at this precise moment, I’d rather you left me alone. I was even beginning to believe you..." He stated stiffly, turning away from her. How could he have been so desperate to repair his life that he had latched onto such an incredible story? But, it wasn’t his fault that Amy had left him, that now had no job or home, was it?! And, what man in his right mind wouldn’t want some way of fixing that?
The mysterious women silently rebated herself for her stupidity, reaching to touch David softly on the arm.
"David, I’m sorry. Really, I didn’t mean it. It was only a joke. Please trust me. I’m not giving up and going away. I am here to help you…"
He gave her a look that was close to despair.
"Can I really trust you? You built up my hopes, made me believe in you, and then you just laughed in my face".
She smiled sadly at him, realising that this was actually about more than just her, although of course her actions had not helped.
"Yes, you can trust me. Just believe. Please…" she replied softly.
"I…I don’t know. I want to…"
"Look I’m sorry I laughed. It was stupid of me. It was just a joke."
"I suppose…" he replied, still unable to explain the attraction this woman held. Despite his despair, he wanted to believe that there was something special about her. That she could perform miracles…
"Look, I’ll show you", she declared. She went over to the back door of the bar. He shrugged and followed her.
"Here is your future", she stated. A tiny hole appeared in the door, a scene manifesting itself through it. He could see a street, and a man begging. Suddenly a woman and a ten-year-old child passed by, and the man started yelling at her to stop and help him, that it was all her fault that he had turned to drink and ended up like this. Looking closer, David was shocked to see that the woman was Amy, and that the beggar was himself. He turned away from the scene.
"No…" he murmured, shaken.
"There’s more". He shook his head not wanting to hear.
"The boy is your son. He will be born in eight and a half months time. She doesn’t know it yet. When Mike finds out that Jon is not his, he blames the boy, and in the end moves out. Amy blames you, and although she delights in telling you all this, she refuses to let you see your son and never tells Jon the truth."
"No! You have to help me".
"I will, I promise. You just have to believe, and strive to lead a good life, helping others in turn whenever possible. Do right by your wife and son."
David nodded eagerly. Would it really happen?!
"I will send you back a week before she wants you to leave. Show her how much you care about her. Don’t give her any reason to leave you".
She smiled, knowing he really believed this time. In her and in himself. He wanted this so badly it would have to work.
"Will I remember this?" he suddenly thought.
She shook her head.
"This never happened", she replied.
"Goodbye, David, and good luck", she called.
She smiled to herself as she sent David back, the confused, slightly scared look still in his eyes. It was hard work making people believe in this age of science and technology, but sometimes the right person came along. It was worth the wait to be able to help people. To still be able to give people a simple fairy tale.