Fairytale Ending

Is it possible to chip a tooth from chattering them too hard? I really don’t need dental problems right now on top of everything.

But I’m getting warmer now, thankfully. Which is kind of weird since it doesn’t look like the sun is coming up anytime soon but who am I to complain? It’s not like I know what time it is anyway, since my phone died hours ago. For all I know, it could be right before dawn warms the park and clouds are just making it look darker.

I really do feel warm now. I guess all that shivering actually did do me some good after all, rather than just give me muscle aches. The wind’s still strong as ever, but the bite isn’t hurting like it did before. It’s actually not so bad.

“How could you do this to us?!”

My eyes snap open. I hadn’t even noticed that they shut. “Mom?” I call, my voice ripped away by the wind.

There’s no one around. But whispers are filling the air around me, just the slightest bit too faint for me to hear over the wind.

“Hello?”

“I RAISED YOU TO BE A MAN!”

With a scream, I fall back against the bench, searching frantically for my father’s face amongst the faintly glittering scenery around me. Where is he? I know I just heard him!

“You can come back when you’re ready to be our son.”

“Mom?!” I call again, reaching as the front door begins to close in my face. It seems to stretch further and further away the harder I try to stop it from shutting. Have my arms always been this short? Suddenly I’m falling, watching my parents close the blinds above me.

“We don’t have a place for freaks at our table.”

“No,” I whimper, the sting peppering my chest. “Please…”

“Hey! Don’ ya go fallin’ asleep there!”

My neck cracks as a hand roughly shakes my shoulder. “Ugh,” I groan. Grogginess does its best to shut my eyes again, but whoever this is won’t hear of it.

“Helloooooooooooo, don’ ya know it’s a terrible idea ta nap in this kinda cold?”

Finally, I manage to peer through my gluey lashes to the owner of the voice. All I can make out in the dark is an outline with spiky hair.

“There ya are! Nice ta see yanot dead, at the very least. What kinda idjit wears nothin’ but a hoodie in negative degree weather, hmmmm?”

I can’t do more than moan in response. Somehow my tongue has fastened to the roof of my mouth. When did that happen?

“Listen here, I ain’t lettin’ ya sleep ya way inta oblivion, so ya mighta well open them eyes.”

Though I try to trudge through the muddiness to find features on their face, it’s no use. After a while of this, they seem to grow impatient. Which, in my opinion, is rather rude. They were the ones who came up to me, after all.

They sigh, a drawn out sound that flutters my eyelashes. With a mild start, I realize I can’t feel any other part of my face. When did that happen?

“Ok,” I hear them mutter, “I know this isn’ how we planned tonight ta go, but we can’ just leave her.”

I squint harder at them, trying to turn the one person into two. Who are they talking to?

“Hey, I know I’m not supposed ta… well, tha’s just not fair and ya know it… could ya just trust me for once? I can handle maself.”

“Who…” I try to say, but the word comes out in a moan worthy of Frankenstein’s monster. The movie version, obviously. I forget my train of thought as the warmth I’ve been feeling suddenly grows a little too much. “Ugh,” I grumble, pawing at the zipper of my sweatshirt. This has to come off, I’m sweating. When did it get so hot?

“Ok, yeah, I’m helpin’ her. Look a’ her, Pim! Ya wanna watch as she strips and dies in the snow?” They catch me, though I didn’t realize I was falling. “Yes, I’m well aware we don’ actually have ta watch, but I’m not jus’ gonna walk away… Am not! Shut up!”

A hand grips under my chin, forcing me to look up as the other wipes a thumb down my forehead. A trail of wet follows it to my lips.

“Gross!” I cry, pushing them away. Then I blink, my mind fully clear. “What… I’m fine now?”

“Indeed ya are!” I don’t need light to know there’s a huge grin on their face. “I took care a tha frostbite for ya too, since tha woulda left some itchy scars and no one wants ta deal with tha, yaknow?”

I stare at them again, my eyes focusing just the slightest bit so I can make out two mischievous green eyes. “Uh… than—”

“DON’!”

Flinching back, I cry, “Sorry, sorry!”

“No, I… I’m sorry, I didn’ mean ta yell,” they tell me, slowly taking my hands and lowering them from my face. “But don’ thank me, ok? If ya do, ya owe me.”

I stare at their outline, waiting for them to go on. “So will there be an explanation?” When they only look at me, I throw my hands in the air. “Fine, whatever. I’m dreaming right? Or maybe I’m still dying from the cold…” My heart thuds at those words. “Oh…”

The stranger catches me as I fall forward again. “Hey, hey, ya alright lassie, take a breath…”

“Why?” I laugh, the sound echoing from what feels like a bottomless pit in my gut. “I’m dying. I’m literally dying. Fuck. Fuck!” The laughter pours out of me, sounding more like shattering glass.

“Please listen ta me, lassie―”

“Y’know what’s funny?” My voice cracks painfully. Tears drip into my mouth. When did I start crying? “All those times I went to bed wishing I could just never wake up and yet here I am, about to do just that and yet I don’t want to die! Fuck!” I look up at them, clutching at their shirt. “Why don’t I want to die?”

Ever so gently, they detach my fingers, stilling the trembling with a firm press between their palms. Two tiny jewels the same color as their eyes glint at me from their shoulder. “Trust me,” they murmur, “ya’re far from The Great After. I promise ya.”

“Ha!” I begin to retort, but the jewels blinking stall my sarcasm.

Seeing my shock, the stranger follows my eyes to the tiny creature holding tight to their curls. “Ah!” they smile. “Ya’ve noticed Pim! They’re ma spirit guide.”

“Your what?” I ask, dazedly. They look like how a tiny sprite from a fairytale might, with twigs and bark making up most of their body. What looks like tiny water droplets somehow sparkle along their torso, like the stars beginning to peek through the clouds.

“Ma spirit guide. They help me manifes’ in the human realm.”

The world is starting to spin. I really am dead, aren’t I? Does the afterlife have fairies?

“Hey, take it easy.”

I can barely hear them as I begin to slump over. Strong arms guide me to sit back against the bench.

“I don’t want to be dead,” I whisper, more tears leaking down my cheeks.

The warm hands squeeze mine again. “Ya still amongst the living, little one,” the stranger murmurs. “As am I, and Pim along with me. The mythical creatures of ya fairytales never died off, but rather found new ways to survive.” They tilt my chin to have me look at them. “Same as ya will find a new way ta survive.”

“How?” I don’t recognize the desperate child’s voice that comes from my mouth.

“Tha’s not for me ta tell ya, lassie. But everyone with a will ta live finds a way. And since ya survived a night cold enough to send a polar bear runnin’ to hibernate, I’m willin’ ta bet ya got plenty o’ that.”

I look away, studying the streaks of light beginning to paint the sky in the distance, trying not to let them see how little I believe them. The options for me to survive on my own… well, they’re not good. Maybe they should have just left me on the bench…

“Hey.”

I look back into their eyes, searching for an answer better than the ones floating in my head. The idea that pops into my head tumbles from my mouth before I can fully process it. “My name’s Jason.”

“Eh?”

“My name. Now you own my soul right? Isn’t that how fairies work? Now you’ll take me with you back to your realm?”

Slowly, they begin to shake their head. I crumble forward, a sob escaping me. “I really would have been better off not waking up, huh?” I try to laugh. “What am I gonna do?”

They let me cry for a moment. I hear them whispering to Pim, but it’s all I can do to keep myself from breaking into a million pieces.

“Hey, lassie,” they finally murmur, kneeling in front of me. “How’s bout we strike a deal?”

“I thought you just said no,” I hiccup, wiping at my nose.

“I don’ want ya soul, or ta take anything at all from ya, to be truthful. But I do need something from ya in order ta help ya.”

“What?”

They stroke their chin, eyes unfocusing as they ponder. With a snap of their fingers, they say, “Aha! Tell me ya most secret dream. Somethin’ ya would ne’er tell another.”

A blush immediately heats my cheeks. “Really?”

“Yes! Secrets are powerful things.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I whisper, “Well… I’ve always wanted to be a model. I want to wear pretty clothes and be pampered and have people take beautiful pictures of me.” I laugh, genuinely this time. “I know it’s pretty dumb, but I’ve always wanted to be beautiful like that.”

When they don’t answer, I look up to see them smiling gently. “For the record,” they say, handing me a small black notebook, “I do believe ya ta be very beautiful. Write ya name in this in the light of dawn and bury it beneath tha’ tree there.”

I take it, flipping it open to find a single pressed leaf in place of a page. “But why…”

“Just trust me. T’will bring ya luck.” They stand, brushing themself off. “It has been an honor, young lass.” And with a bow, they begin to walk away.

“Wait!” I cry. “I told you my name. Why aren’t I bound to you?”

They look at me over their shoulder, eyes twinkling. “Well, Jason isn’ truly ya name, now is it lassie?”

Before I can reply, they spread wings and suddenly, I’m alone.

Seeing the sun about to rise over the treetops, I rush to the tree they had indicated. By some miracle, there’s a pen in my pocket. I grab it, putting it to the page with shaking fingers, then freeze.

What is my name?

Tears plop into the book. I don’t know. I don’t know! I’ve never been able to decide.

Looking up in despair as the rays stretch further across the sky, a whisper from deep in my brain echoes softly. I hesitate for only a moment, then scrawl the name quickly and tear at the frozen ground to make a hole big enough to plant the small book.

Sitting back on my heels, I wait. No amazing feeling fills me. I don’t feel any different at all, actually.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes. Hasn’t it been dead for hours?

I don’t recognize the number when I pull it out, but I answer anyway. “Hello?”

“Hello, am I speaking with Julia Brown?”

“...yes, you are.”

“Hello, Julia, I regret to inform you that your great-aunt Ruby has passed. However, she’s left you a sizable sum in her will. Are you free anytime this week to discuss…