Fanny Nightsky and The Fairy Trap

Fanny tapped her foot impatiently and stared through the bars of the small cage. Peanuts and popcorn, how could she be so careless as to get caught in fairy trap? Not that it was her fault. This was Wiz’s route. She could have warned her that the child in question had a… a bat for a pet. The creature was now staring at Fanny through the bars of the trap.

Fanny shuddered, remembering how the thing had dove at her as she flew across the room towards the sleeping girl. She’d never made it to the girl’s pillow to collect the tooth. And she’d lost the coin as well. She’d tried throwing it at the bat, but instead of hitting the intended target, the coin had landed somewhere on the ground. She hadn’t even come close to hitting the bat, who kept after her until she decided to dive low and hide under the bed. She hadn’t even noticed the cage, which was cleverly hidden beneath a blanket, until she’d flown into it.

Well, Fanny supposed as she glared at the bat, I guess it’s safer in here than it is out there. But I can’t stay here forever. I need to get out before the child wakes up.

She studied the trap. The door had shut behind her when she’d flown in, but the bars were made out of sticks and string. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get out. She sat down, folding her legs under her. It might take some time for the bat to leave, but this was the last child on her list, she had time to wait. Certainly it would give up after a while and look for an insect to eat.

“Fairies are not bugs,” she admonished the bat. “It’s not nice to chase them.”

“It’s not nice to chase bugs either, but that doesn’t stop Grizelda.”

Fanny jumped, startled to hear a voice near her ear. She looked up and shrieked, before realizing it was just a fly hanging from the top of the fairy trap. She could be forgiven for being startled though. The fly had two heads.

“I’m sorry,” one head said.

Then the other head spoke, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Pixiesticks! You have two heads.”

“Two heads are better than one,” the fly said, both heads speaking in unison.

“I’m Zig…”

“And I’m Zag.” Zag looked closely at Fanny. “You’re not Hildy’s usual tooth fairy.”

“No, I’m not. This was supposed to be my day off, but Wiz bent a wing and couldn’t fly.”

“She didn’t tell you about Grizelda?” Zig asked.

“Grizelda?”

“The bat,” Zag said. “She likes to chase you."

“But she’s cross eyed,” Zig said, interrupting Zag. “She only has a 50/50 chance of catching you.”

“Fifty, fifty?” Fanny was confused.

“Because she sees double,” Zag explained.

“And if she does catch you,” Zig said, “she usually lets you go.”

 “After that it’s easy.” Zag said.

“Why is that?” Fanny wondered.

“Because it’s your turn to tag her.” Zig said.

“Tag?” Fanny shouted. “That crazy bat was just trying to play tag?”

“Wiz really should have told you,” Zig said.

“She probably forgot,” Zag said. “She’s always been a bit flighty.”

“Well not anymore,” Zig said. “she bent her wing. No more flying.”

“So sad,” Zag said. “It’s going to be hard to train a new fairy.”

Fanny’s face turned red, realizing they thought she was an F.I.T. “This is not my first day,” she huffed, “and Wiz will be back on the job as soon as her wing mends.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Zig said.

“But we weren’t talking about you,” Zag clarified.

“You’ve gotten caught in Hildy’s trap,” Zig said.

“No one ever gets out of Hildy’s traps,” Zag sighed.

“Well cotton candy, it can’t be that hard,” Fanny scoffed. “It’s made of sticks and strings.”

She pulled on one of the strings to show how easy it would be to pull lose. Instead the sticks grew closer together and the string knotted tight.

“Peanuts and popcorn, what kind of fairy trap is this?”

“One made by Hildy,” Zig said.

“She’s a witch,” Zag said.

“Tut, tut,” Zig said. “She’s not a witch.”

“So right,” Zag said. “Witches have warts.”

 Then together they announced, “Hildy is a sorceress.”

“You two… um, you are the strangest fly I have ever met,” Fanny said.

“No, no,” Zig said, “two is correct.”

“Two minds, one body,” Zag said.

“The results of Hildy’s mis-magic.” Zig said.

“Do you remember what she was trying to do?” Zag asked.

“Stop us from arguing all the time,” Zig said.

“Look,” Fanny said, “Grizelda has left. I need to get out of here so I can find the silver dollar, swap it for Hildy’s tooth and then get out of here.”

“You can’t open the cage,” Zag said.

“It’s impervious to fairy magic.” Zig said.

“Well who can open it?” Fanny asked.

“Hildy,” Zag said, “and…”

“And…”Zig said.

“And who?” Fanny asked, trying not to yell.

Zig and Zag looked at each other and then answered, “Anyone but a fairy.”

Fanny turned red. “Can you open it?”

“Of course,” they both said.

“Then by all that is sweet and yummy, open it!”

“Do you think we should?” Zag asked?

“Hildy’s been trying to catch a fairy for a long time,” Zig said.

“No, she’s been trying to catch her fairy,” Zag said.

“And I am not her fairy,” Fanny said, rattling the trap. Above her she heard the bed creak and the little girl make sleepy sounds.

“Zigzag, quit your buzzing,” the little witch mumbled and then began to make soft snoring sounds.

“Pixiesticks, please let me out.”

Zig and Zag flew down and looked at the latch on the cage. They fluttered their wings and pushed up on the lock. The door swung open and Fanny flew out.

“Thank you, Zig, thank you Zag!”

Fanny felt a whoosh of air and ducked, narrowly being tagged by Grizelda.

“I don’t have time for games, you silly bat.” She flew into the air, scanning the room for the coin. She knew the general direction it had landed, but if it rolled, it could be anywhere. There! She saw something shiny on the ground by the dresser.

“Watch out for Warty,” Zig called after her as she flew off.

“Warty? Who’s Warty?”

Fanny didn’t hear Zag’s answer. Grizelda was flying straight for her and she dodged to the side to avoid her long wings.  She then dove straight down, arms stretched out to retrieve the coin. She was almost there when a long red tongue flipped its way towards her. Fanny squealed and summersaulted backwards.

“Peanuts and popcorn!” She hovered in the air, watching the tongue retreat into the mouth of a giant, wart covered bullfrog. “Ooooh, so that’s warty.”

The toad was sitting next to the dollar. There was no way Fanny could retrieve it and avoid him. She was trying to figure out what to do when she felt something brush against her. Grizelda! She’d forgotten all about that crazy bat. Grizelda began chirping wildly and flew off in the opposite direction.

“You’ve been tagged,” Zig said.

“It’s now you’re turn,” Zag said.

“I don’t want to play tag,” Fanny complained. “I want to collect Hildy’s tooth and go home. Peanuts, how does Wiz do this route? Every house I’ve been in tonight has been wacky.”

“Wiz plays tag,” Zig said.

“Yes,” Zag agreed.

“She’d fly around the room once,” Zig sighed, “let Grizelda tag her…”

“Trade the coin for the tooth and tag Grizelda on the way out,” Zag finished.

“And Warty?” Fanny asked?

Well, he likes to play tag too,” Zig said.

Fanny looked towards the corner of the room where Grizelda was hovering. Then she looked where Warty was sitting. The toad seemed to be grinning at her, daring her to come for the coin. And then she got an idea.

Fanny flew straight for Grizelda. The bat dodged her, but Fanny was prepared, coming up behind her and chasing the bat in the direction of Warty. The toads tongue shot out, heading straight for the bat. Grizelda backed up, but not fast enough, and Warty’s tongue moved, blocking her path.

While the toad was distracted, Fanny dove down, reaching for the coin. She had just plucked it from the ground when she heard Grizelda’s excited chitter. The bat had been tagged and was now coming for Fanny. The tooth fairy rose into the air and pretended to run, but was just slow enough for the bat to catch. She heard Zig and Zag cheering. Now it was her turn.

She flew to the bed. Hildy was beginning to stir. She sat up and looked around, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The game was waking her up!

Zig and Zag flew in front of Hildy’s face. She waved them away. “Zigzag, what are you doing?”

“Tag,” Zig said.

“You’re it,” Zag said.

While she was distracted by the fly, Fanny slipped under the pillow. She picked up the tooth and stuck it into her tooth pouch. Then she put the silver dollar in its place. She peaked out from under the pillow to make sure the coast was clear.

“Zigzag, it’s the middle of the night,” Hildy complained.

Fanny flew out from under the pillow and straight for the window. Behind her she heard Hildy. “Look Zigzag! The tooth fairy was here! I wonder if my trap worked.”

Fanny paused by the window to look back. Hildy was bent over, looking under the bed.

“Oh, it’s empty.” Hildy sighed and pulled the trap from under the bed. “It looks like it caught something though.” She wiped her fingers inside and then looked at her finger. Something shimmered on the end. “Fairy dust! It did work, but she got away.”

Hildy looked up at Zig and Zag and grinned. “But I bet I can make some powerful magic with the dust. Maybe even give you three heads.”

Fanny chuckled as Zig and Zag began begging her to try something else.

“A toad with two tongues,” Zig said.

“Maybe a bat with four wings,” Zag said.

Speaking of bats… Fanny saw Grizelda watching her. She flew over to the bat and tagged her on the wing.

“Your turn now,” Fanny said and then flew for the window and under the sill.

Hildy looked up from the fairy dust. Grizelda was flapping against the window pane, trying to get out. She frowned. “What is that crazy bat up to now?”

When Fanny arrived back to the Fairy Kingdom, she went and found Wiz.

“Oh there you are, Fanny,” Wiz said. “I forgot to tell you about Hildy’s house. Did everything go ok?”

“Everything went just fine,” Fanny said. “but I hope your wing gets better fast. Your route is just a little bit batty.”