Chapter 3 ∣ Is That You, Fairy Godmother?

-Mavis 5 Years Old

I didn't like being grounded. It wasn't fun and while everyone else got to do whatever they wanted to do; I was stuck inside my room with just my toys. Boredom set in fast and I ended up just staring up at the ceiling of my room, counting all the different lines and designs. I could see outside my window that another day had passed by and I only had one more day to stay in here.

A knock came from the door and I said, "Come in."

Arlynn came through the door with my dinner, setting it down on the side table near my bed. I looked at her once and sat up while wrapping my arms around my knees. My face turned away from hers and I remained silent when she sighed, "I'm sorry Mavis, but you need to learn to listen and you only have one more day left and then you can go play outside."

I mumbled against my leg, "Yeah...only with supervision."

She sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my back. I wouldn't look at her, I knew I should have just listened and not talked back to my daddy, but I was just so upset after having a good afternoon with Zak and to have it end like that with my daddy yelling at him, I was just angry. She nudged me after a while and said, "You know," I lifted my chin and looked up to her, "I could talk to your dad and maybe we could ask him to take you to a park a little way down the street after tomorrow."

My eyes brightened and I smiled back, "Okay, that sounds like fun."

She nodded and then motioned to my dinner, "Why don't you eat up-" she stopped mid-sentence as I saw people walking down the hallway from the open door to my room. My daddy was leading them, followed by my grandma and grandpa. When my great grandpa stopped at the door, he caught sight of Arlynn.

"We need to move," my great grandpa said, motioning for her to follow with them.

She turned back to me and I asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's okay," she stood from the side of the bed and said, "eat up and get some sleep. We'll see you in the morning."

My great grandpa waited for Arlynn and when they moved closer to one another I heard him say, "...scouting party-" and just like that, they left me alone and closed the door behind me.

The smell of mac 'n cheese was just too overwhelming. I carefully grabbed the bowl and held it in my hands. Taking a few spoonful's, I enjoyed my dinner, finishing it rather quickly and setting the bowl back down. I sat with my legs hanging over the edge of the bed, looking all around the room before I sighed, "I'm so...bored!" I kicked the marble floor when I stood up and then a thought struck me, "...mostly everyone is leaving..."

"Hmm..." I walked toward the bedroom door, peering through the keyhole, and not seeing anyone coming down the hallway for a good ten minutes. When I decided that no one else would probably come this way for just a few minutes, I opened the door and slipped into the hallway. I glanced up and down the hallway before moving across to my daddy's room.

Twisting the door handle, I went right in and immediately skipped over to the bed before falling to my stomach on the floor. Lifting the covers, I saw the box was still where I left it near the head of the bed. After crawling under the bed and retrieving the box, I stood back up and sneaked out of my daddy's room before finding safety in my own. I closed the door behind me and walked over to my bookshelf.

Among the many princess fairy tale books, I set the box down and took the brass key from inside my jewelry box. Sliding the key into the lock, I lifted the lid and carefully unfolded the scarf to reveal the dark stone. I looked at it carefully for a moment, setting the key down next to the box and taking the stone into my hands. Staring at intently, I asked, "Why were you hiding under daddy's bed?"

The first time I found it, I thought it must be my birthday gift, but daddy never moved it from its spot. I wondered what it did beside making me see imaginary people. Walking toward my bed, I brought the stone with me, hopping onto the bed, and sitting cross-legged. I placed the stone on the covers in front of me, just watching it for anything out of the ordinary.

It ended with me just almost nodding off while sitting there until my eyelids fell shut for a moment. Blinking them open quickly, realizing that I'd almost fallen asleep, I sighed when the stone remained the same. Leaning forward, I poked it, moving it a little further away from me and giving it another moment to do something.

"Boring!" I groaned, hoping I might find some way to entertain myself, but it hadn't worked. In fact, I only succeeded in making myself sleepier. With a heavy sigh, I picked up the stone in my right hand and laid back. I brought the stone in front of my eyes, holding it between my fingers and tracing over the indents on the surface.

Slowly, I began to drift off again, my arms falling to my sides as I closed my eyelids.

Whispers are what I became aware of when I first thought it must be in my dreams. One person spoke to another, "She's very young."

"Is she hers?" The other asked, "She looks just like her," the voices carried on in the background, the noise growing in volume, and then falling back down. I rolled to my side, feeling the weight of the stone in my open right palm and I began to open my eyelids.

It was dark in the room and it took me a moment to adjust my eyes. There were two shadowy figures at first and then when I fully woke, only one was standing present in my room. My eyes traveled down to the foot of my bed, bolting upright when I saw that it was the same man from the day, I first found the stone.

He stared at me with curiosity, my fingers wrapping tightly around the stone as we looked at each other in silence. Finally, I said quietly, "Hello."

"Hey," the man responded a moment later, his eyes glanced around the room briefly before they landed back on me. He wore dark clothing, including a t-shirt and jeans, boots, and what looked to be a light jacket. His black hair fell over one of his gray eyes when he tilted his head to the side.

"My name is Mavis," I greeted him and shifted on my bed, extending my arm to shake his hand. The man looked at my hand and then back up at me, a friendly smile making its way onto his face.

He nodded his head politely and replied, "It's probably best if we don't shake," a frown appeared on my face and I lowered my arm, but he added, "I'm Scáth."

"Scáth," I repeated his name and then I said, "that's an odd name."

He chuckled and replied, "It means shadow."

Silence fell between us again. I sat up and folded my knees beneath me before I asked, "Are you, my fairy godmother?"

He laughed at this and he asked, "Do I look like a fairy?"

"Well...I don't know," I replied and furrowed my brows, "fairies are magical and they can take on any shape or form so...maybe?!" I exclaimed at the end with the hope that maybe he was here to make all my dreams come true and to escape the grounding I was in.

"Alright, you do have a point," he agreed with me. He walked around the room for a few minutes and when he finally stopped a few feet from the side of my bed he said, "No, unfortunately, I am not your fairy godmother."

I crossed my arms and pouted with disappointment. When I finally spoke, I asked, "Who are you and how did you get in my room?"

Scáth arched a brow and asked, "Why are you not afraid?"

He took another step closer and I remained where I was, playing with the stone in between my fingertips. I tilted my head back and forth, looking down at the stone and then back up at him and replied, "I don't know...should I be?"

He shook his head in response and peered at me with intense curiosity, "No, you don't need to be afraid. In regards to who I am...I could just be your imaginary friend and for how I came to be in your room..." his voice trailed off and he motioned to the stone in my hands, "you called me little one."

"I didn't do anything," I brought the stone up in front of my eyes, scratching my head with one of my hands and stated, "it's just a stone."

"It's more than a stone," he extended his hand, his palm facing flat upward. I reached out and dropped the stone into his palm and he quickly looked over it before he said, "It's a beacon."

I asked when he motioned for me to open my hands, dropping the stone back into them and taking a step back, "What's a beacon?"

"It will bring..." Scáth's voice trailed off again as if he were trying to figure out how to explain this to me. When he had figured it out, he said, "It will bring me here if you need an imaginary friend."

"You'll be my friend?" I asked with a small smile making its way onto my lips. I grinned when he nodded his response, but he took a few more steps away from me, heading toward the window in my bedroom.

He gazed out the window and up at the moon. Scáth stood still while he folded his arms across his chest, continuing his stare. While he stood there, I slipped off the bed and quietly walked toward where he was. When I came to stand next to him, I asked, "What are you doing?"

"It's...just very beautiful out," his voice held a distant note to it, and I was a little confused.

Instead, I brightened up with saying, "You should really see the full moon," he turned to glance down at me and I looked up at him, "it's so big and gorgeous from my bedroom window."

"I think I'd like that," Scáth replied with a small smile before he looked once more outside. When he had decided he'd stood there long enough, he let out a soft sigh before saying, "I should go," his eyes met with mine again and he nodded toward my bed, "and you should be asleep."

"Alright..." it finally wasn't boring and now I had to sleep. I smiled at him though and said, "It was nice to meet you Scáth."

I turned away from him and walked to my bookshelf, wrapping the stone up in the scarf and locking it safely away. Hiding the key once again, I noticed Scáth was still standing there as I got back into bed, pulling the covers up over me. I waved goodbye to him, yawning before I let my eyelids slowly close shut, sleep welcoming me.

He might not be a woman, but he's a beautiful fairy godmother.

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The True Born Huntress by K. A. Young.

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