finding the way

[msmortal]

She's a four-year-old girl, and people (especially her Dad) insist she's a boy.

Not that she isn't sometimes. She is. But not today! Today she's a girl. And Dad keeps saying that's not true, that God made her body perfect and she shouldn't second-guess God's plan for her. God made her a boy, so she's supposed to be a boy. And on the one hand that kinda makes sense. God doesn't make mistakes, right? So if she were really a girl sometimes, then she'd... what? Her body would change, she guesses. But on the other hand, she knows she's a girl. She's a girl with a peepee, that's obvious. She'd prefer not having a peepee when she's a girl, but it's not the worst thing ever. And if God doesn't make mistakes, God also didn't make her feel like a girl sometimes on accident, right? It must be part of His (because God is always a He, even though God made everyone, boys and girls, in His image, he's always a He, Dad says) plan.

She tells Dad that, today, and Dad gets angry, and yells at her, and she doesn't know why he's yelling. It makes sense to her! But he won't explain why she's wrong, he's just yelling, Dad's so mean, she hates him, and she's not crying, shut up, you're crying!

And now Mum's coming and she's talking to Dad, and that usually makes Dad stop yelling and go away but he won't stop now and Sadde's angry and afraid and hurt and she's running away. A part of her thinks that it doesn't make much sense to run away, the park is pretty open and she can't really hide anywhere, and she'll have to go back because she'll get hungry (not now, though, she just ate a sandwich).

So she runs until she finds some bushes where she can hide, and she hides there, and she doesn't cry, and she spends a long time not crying. Mum and Dad don't come after her, though, and after she's done not crying she doesn't wipe her eyes and her nose, and she comes out the other way of the bushes she was hiding in.

And she's pretty sure that's not the park.

Comments

[peterxy]

That completely breaks her stride. "What?" she asks, bewildered.

[mrmortal]

"Not really fire. Hydrogen. It's a tiny tiny element, the smallest of them all, and there's nu... nu..."

[mothermortal]

"...nuclear fusion?" she guesses.

[mrmortal]

"That! There's nuclear fusion going on all the time, and the hydrogen gets... like all together with other hydrogens and becomes all sorts of other elements!"

[peterxy]

The fairy's interested despite herself, but hides it and says, "You're just making that up."

[mrmortal]

"I'm not!" he insists. "I saw it in a book! There was even a picture!"

[peterxy]

"Books can lie to you," the fairy says, now completely failing to conceal her interest. The other fairies seem - surprised and quite interested by this turn of events. "And besides, what good would a picture of the sun do you? It's just a circle of light."

[mrmortal]

"No, it's not, but that's not in your books, is it?"

[peterxy]

She furrows her brows and opens her mouth-

[mothermortal]

"But it is in ours."

[peterxy]

She closes her mouth and cocks her head.

[mothermortal]

"And I'm sure we could reach an arrangement about that. We don't have books about magic, you don't have books about physics, so we'll trade."

[peterxy]

"Sorcery doesn't work in the mortal world," she says. "What would you even want it for?"

[mothermortal]

She shrugs.

[peterxy]

She starts circling them, weighing them with more seriousness and interest than before. "But why settle for only one thing? You could have it all. You could have your books there, and our books here, and you could be with us. All I would need is your name." She flies closer to Laura and holds her chin. "You're young, but I could keep you that way forever. I could make you look however you want."

[mothermortal]

"You must not want it very much," she says softly, "if you're willing to risk not getting it like that. You do not, of course, believe your orders would survive our trip back to the mortal world, and then, we'll have very little incentive to come back here, won't we?"

[mrmortal]

And Sadde will just stand there looking cute and proud of his Mum.

[peterxy]

The fairy regards Laura coolly and doesn't say anything.

[mothermortal]

"In any case, I thank you very much for your offers of hospitality, but my son and I should return."

And without waiting for a response, she turns around and starts walking away, without looking over her shoulder, trying to exude a confidence she's not feeling.

[peterxy]

The fairies will observe this in silence.

[mothermortal]

Laura won't look over her shoulder until they have reached the thicket, and then she will see they have not been followed and sag a bit.

[mrmortal]

"...Mum?"

[mothermortal]

She kneels by him and hugs him. "I will never," she promises, "let you get anywhere near them again."

[mrmortal]

He hugs her back, bewildered. "But... how am I gonna get books...?"

[mothermortal]

"I will get them for you," she promises.