Princess Flora

Are those wings? Emily thought as she spat out her mouthwash. Hold up…my eyes, look at my eyes! They’re pitch black; not a lick of color in them anymore!

“MOM!” Emily cried. She half expected her Mom to come barge in through the bathroom door, Emily stood there for a minute, waiting to hear footsteps from down the hall. The footsteps never came. “Mooooooom!” Emily groaned. Still no answer. Great, the one time I call for her, she doesn’t come. Just imagine if I slipped and fell in the tub!

Emily sighed and closed her mouthwash. This could not be happening to her. She placed her hands on the counter and stared at her new features. Eyes, as black as night, stared back at her, and wings that ran down the entirety of her back, glistened in the yellowish light.

“It doesn’t hurt at least… This has to be a dream, right?”

Emily raised her right hand, finger extended and trembling. She stared at it for a moment and thought if this was a smart thing to do and brought it towards her blackened eye.

“OW!” Emily cried, her eye closing from the pain. A tear welled up and streamed down her cheek. “Okay, Emily, they’re real alright. Just calm down. Calm down and-” A knock on the bathroom door.

“Emily! Breakfast! Hurry up sweetie!” It was Mom.

“Mom!” Emily tried to cry back, but there was no answer. “Great.”

Emily scurried out of the bathroom and down the hall towards the kitchen. Like any other ordinary morning, Emily’s Mom stirred the pan of scrambled eggs, potatoes and vegetables on the stove while she listened to the radio, humming along as always. She swayed her hips from side to side in her work clothes. Charcoal-colored skirt, inky blazer, and a dress shirt with a milky tint. Mom worked in marketing at some big firm, Emily wasn’t too informed on the details, all she knew was that Mom loved her job. She got to be creative, it paid well, and most importantly, it was dead simple.

“Mom!” she exclaimed, tugging at her oversized white t-shirt.

Mom lowered down the heat and turned to her daughter, blinked twice and grinned.

“Oh, Nice contacts,” Mom snickered.

“Nice contacts? That’s all you can say?” Emily mocked, stomping her foot. “Do these wings look man-made to you?” Emily’s clear, silky wings flapped in irritation as she stared down her mother for answers.

“Did they grow while you were sleeping?” Mom asked.

“How would I know that? I was sleeping.”

“Well, you sure didn’t have them last night. Does your back hurt, Emily?” Mom inquired.

“A little…Wait, why are you so calm about this?! I’m freaking out Mom! Aren’t you freaked out too?”

“Not really. Or rather, I should say, I knew this would happen, eventually,” Mom shrugged. “So, no. I’m not ‘Freaking out’ like you said.”

“Well okay, Mother dearest,” Emily snarled with her arms crossed. “Spill it.”

“Spill what?” Mom asked.

“You know! The wings! My eyes! What else?” Emily exclaimed.

“Okay, okay. Why don’t you take a deep breath first, alright? Let’s just sit down and eat before breakfast before it gets cold. I’ll explain what I can afterwards.” Mom encouraged, plating their food.

Mom retied her long, combed jet-black hair and started digging into her food, as if this was just another day in the Johnson household. Emily, on the other hand, was anything but hungry, dissecting her food with her hand on her chin, giving her mother the occasional glance. Her messy, long black hair drooped over her pale face, She felt like Sadako from The Ring. All gross and… Unnatural.

Burp!

Mom tapped her chest, satisfied. “Sorry, baby, I really needed that.” Mom sighed. Her food was gone just as soon as it was plated. “Those runs really tire me out, gotta stay in tip top shape though!”

“You went for your routine run this morning?” Emily murmured.

“Yup, another fifteen miles today, the weather was perfect, even stopped by Waves Subs and talked for a minute with Alice, she wants to-”

“Mom.”

“Alright, alright. Sorry.” Mom gushed. “So about those wings.”

“Wow! How nice of you to finally remember your darling sixteen year old daughter’s morning crisis,” Emily rolled her eyes. “I kept calling you in the bathroom! I was having an Emergency, and you weren’t there… I mean, I’m fine but- well, what if, I don’t know, I dropped my hair dryer in the sink and electrocuted myself? Or, slipped on the tile and broke my ankle?”

“Hey, I never said I was perfect, and besides, if you were in any real danger, I need you to trust me when I say, I’d drop everything and make sure you were okay. Okay Missy? I’m sorry I didn’t hear you over the radio, it doesn’t mean I don’t care.” She pointed her fork at Emily. “Okay?”

“Okay… Thanks, I guess.” Emily said.

“Right, so… About those wings. I’ve been waiting to tell you about, well, your father. “

“You never talk about Dad.”

“I know, but I think it’s important now that I tell you at least a little bit about him. The important bit. Your Dad was a fairy. ”

“Dad was a fairy!?”

“Crazy, right? He was amazing; there’s no man like him in the world, and when I became pregnant with you… Well, let’s just say you know how those things work by now right?” she chuckled. “You’re half fairy, half human Emily, and it seems you inherited his wings. Oh, you should have seen it. He had white wings that allowed him to transform into different things, so many different things, and when I met him, he was a cute little blond dweeb that struggled at simple things like getting froyo in a bowl at Yogurtland... Or even asking out a cute girl like me. But, you should have seen him, Emily. The things we fought, the things we did.” Mom sighed. “He was a beast in battle. Ah, good times–”

“F-F-Fought?! What do you mean fought?! I thought you were eighteen when you two got married!”

“Glad to see you remembered,” Mom clapped.

“Of course I would remember something like that,” Emily said. Clearly, it’s the one truth you’ve told me about him, it seems like. Emily thought. “...Do you have pictures? I don’t even know what he looks like. What about wedding photos?”

“It wasn’t… a traditional wedding. Not something you can really bring cameras to.”

“Why did you marry him so young, Mom? I mean, eighteen… Wow.”

“It’s because fairies can only live to the age of twenty one,” Mom reminisced. “We fought the good fight together, fell in love, and got married… Pretty soon I got pregnant with you, and when I had you at twenty… You were my last gift from him. Your Dad- I mean, Navi and I went on many adventures in the Fae realm when we were kids. So many sweet memories, I look at you and I’m reminded so much of how he used to be.”

“You knew Dad since you were a kid? How did you get to the realm of the-”

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“-Fae.” Emily finished.

Mom’s light blue iPhone alarm buzzed on the table like a bee. “I’m sorry sweetie, we’re gonna have to put a pin in this conversation until after school.” Mom smirked.

“Mom, I’m not going anywhere until we figure this whole fairy thing out.” Emily stated.

“I’m not saying I don’t agree with you, this whole ordeal is a bit concerning…I’ll admit. But you’re going to have to explain this to your darling boyfriend sooner or later. Isn’t he coming to walk you to school?” Mom teased.

“Crap.” She facepalmed.

Ding! Dong!

“Speak of the devil!” Mom said.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and Emily slipped into her room, gripping the door handle as if it could hold back everything closing in. Morning woes pounded against her chest, fueling the quiet torture of anxiety.

“Lady, do not open that door! I don’t want him to see me like this!”

“I’m opening it; you know how much I love that boy!”

“Not a care in the world… Sometimes I wonder if that woman is even my mother…” Emily said.

Outside, Jackie’s fair fingers combed back his short, dirty blonde hair while the other hand adjusted the collar of his brown graphic Jupiter shirt. A final glance checked the crow colored high-top Converse and caramel-shaded baggy pants; he wanted to be as presentable as possible for Emily and her Mother.

He was greeted by Mom, who wore a sly smirk as she looked up at his tall, burly figure.

“Good mornin’, Ms. Johnson, you look stunnin’ as always, is Emi up yet? Or do I need to drag her out of bed?” Jackie smiled. His voice had a light hint of a Brooklyn accent.

“Oh, you’re so sweet, Jackie,” she said, flushed. “And yes, she is up; just give her a few minutes to get ready. She had a fairly bad morning.”

Jackie looked at her, confused by her arbitrary pun but shook it off all the same as Ms. Johnson being her usual quirky self. “Awright, Okay, I’ll be waitin’ out here, then.”

Mom closed the blue-painted door and giggled. “He has no idea what’s coming.”