The Fairy Godmother

Starting today I am going to be writing short stories to supplement my posting. I love storytelling and I don't feel like my life is interesting enough to make a post about every single day. But my imagination on the other hand, while being slightly out of practice, is way more interesting than my day-to-day life!

So please enjoy my first short story, which is from a writing exercise that I did previously in college.

Exercise Prompt: Pick a myth or folk tale and retell it in a contemporary or new perspective

A muffled pinging noise arose from somewhere inside Erin's pocket. Erin sighed and pulled out her wand, which was vibrating and pinging uncontrollably. She hated that awful high pitched noise. It meant there was another sad schmuck who needed her help.

Erin hadn't always been this bitter. When she first took on the role of Fairy Godmother she absolutely loved helping people with their problems. But after years of the same ungrateful people demanding her assistance with their unimportant problems, she now sees being a Fairy Godmother as just a way to pay the bills.

Her wand was still pinging and vibrating, so she put on a fake, bright smile and swished her wand through the air sharply.

A small woman appeared in front of her, holding a long scroll and looking at Erin over her glasses.

"You rang?" Erin said politely, her cheeks growing tired from feigning enthusiasm.

"You have another appointment." The woman replied, her eyes scanning over the words on her scroll.

"With who?" She had already had 8 appointments today, but she couldn't deny the extra money.

"Her name is... Cinderella? No, that can't be right. That's a terrible name." The woman said, glowering at her clipboard even harder. "No, that's right. Yeah, so Cinderella needs your help. She's having step-mom issues."

"I stopped doing hit jobs years ago." Erin's smile faded and was replaced with an angry glare.

"No, nothing like that. She just wants to go to some Ball."

Oh what a spoiled brat, Erin thought to herself. "Sounds easy enough I guess. I'll check it out."

She arrived at Cinderella's in the blink of an eye, one of the best parts of the job was the quick travel time.

"Hello dear, I am your Fairy Godmother!" She said with a flourish of her wand, putting on her most convincing show for Cinderella. The first rule Erin learned when becoming a Fairy Godmother was to never let the client know that you don't want to be there, it really ruins the experience and costs you a good performance review.

A beautiful young woman in a tattered dress looks up at Erin. She's curled up on a stone bench on the ground sobbing.

"Hello, Fairy Godmother," Cinderella says, sniffling.

"What happened here?"

"My step-sisters ruined my dress for the Ball tonight."

Erin picked up the fabric and began running it through her fingers.

"So your step-mother told them to tear apart your dress?" Cinderella nodded slightly, looking down at her dress.

"Well, it seems like we should get that fixed up then." Erin said with a small grin, bringing her wand to Cinderella's shoulder. Cinderella looked up with a sparkle in her eye. Erin felt bad for her, she seemed like a sweet and caring girl. She didn't know anything about the step-mother or step-sisters, but after so many years in this line of work, Erin had picked up a knack for reading people's personalities. She knew that Cinderella was genuine and that her step-mother was not kind to her.

As Erin pulled her wand down Cinderella's dress began to change. What was pink faded to a bright, almost sparkling white and her dress began to flare out around her waist and down to her ankles. A pair of glass slippers molded perfectly to her small feet. Erin was impressed with her design skills, she didn't think she'd ever created a dress this beautiful before.

"Oh, one more thing." Another flick of the wand, this time right on top of Cinderella's head. Her hair was pinned up in a soft bun and white pearls were placed neatly around it. Her face also began to flush as the makeup appeared bright and striking against her pale skin. She looked gorgeous. Erin was so impressed with herself that she couldn't help but let out a huge "AHA!" as the transformation completed.

"Stunning, just incredible really." She said, standing back and admiring her work. "I think you're ready for the ball."

"Really? Oh thank you so much, you are so kind!" Cinderella said, giving Erin a huge hug. "Oh but how will I get to the ball? I haven't got a horse!"

"Don't you worry," Erin said, and she hunted down a pumpkin and a few mice from the barn. "Here, they will be your horse and driver, and the pumpkin will be your carriage." Another swift flick of the wand and in front of them was a massive carriage with two white horses pulling the reigns. Cinderella dropped her jaw in amazement, that reaction never got old for Erin. As Cinderella climbed into the carriage Erin gave her a warm smile. "Do you have everything that you need, dear?"

"Oh more than I could have ever imagined. Thank you so much Fairy Godmother. You have been so wonderful to me, how can I ever repay you?"

"Don't worry about payment. This one is on the house." Erin couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She took this job thinking it was going to be another pompous rich girl begging for the spotlight at the ball or some non-sense like that. Instead she had met the sweetest girl who only wanted to do something fun for once in her life.

Erin fastened the silver lock on the carriage and gave the horses and light tap to start them moving. They began to pick up speed and Cinderella leaned out the window to wave goodbye.

"Thank you again, tonight is going to be magical!" She called out to Erin.

"Enjoy yourself, dear. You deserve it! Oh, and make sure to get back before midnight!" Erin shouted as the carriage raced out of sight.

"I'd hate to see what happens if she doesn't make it back before then..."