Now You See It

Now You See It

Jeanine sat straight up in bed, seeing yet not believing the shimmering blue image of a fairy with a sky-blue short pinafore dress and an oversized wand with a star at the end. She was sure of one thing; she was not alone. A shimmering blue glow surrounded what would come to be called her princess fairy with an angelic face. Looking from the crown of daisies on top to the powder blue ballet slippers down low, she was a fantastic being to behold. Jeanine detected the faintest apricot fragrance.

“Hello? Who are you?” A swoosh of air, a flutter of wings, a pause at the window sill. The Princess Fairy, moments before, drawing her awake from a deep sleep, disappeared in an instant. She could not attest to what she saw being real or a dream. She worked long hours, exhausted most of the time to the point of daydreaming while awake. A blue light appeared left behind for a nanosecond, then nothing but an empty windowsill.

“What the ___?” She had to tell Claire, her best friend since second grade. She was paralyzed to do any one thing at that moment. Rubbing her eyes she turned toward the window, grabbed her cell, and pressed 1 to speed dial Claire.

“Jeanie, do you know what time it is?”

“Claire! Claire! It was a blue fairy! Wings! Can you imagine? I could not even believe my eyes. Can you believe it?” Not giving time for a response, Claire continued, “Can you come over?”

“Be right there. Don’t move. Don’t do a thing until I get there. Five minutes, hon.” And she was off. Knowing Claire she would shave at least a minute off her ETA.
She dressed, brushed her hair, and slowed her breathing. In through the nose, hold it, out through the mouth. And repeat. Oh, crazy woman! Look at yourself! Out of your ever-loving mind to think a fairy was present in this room.

“Was the fairy real, my imagination, or both? One thought at a time, Jean,” she whispered to Harry, the reigning king feline of the house. Harry turned his head, stuck his nose up high, sniffed, and concluded any risk to his body evaporate out the bedroom window. It did not faze him whether the blue being was imagined or not. His fur mom calmed him, stroking his back and gently smoothly the hair under his chin. She quietly whispered all would be back to normal in a short while. Harry moved on to the next priority of his day. Breakfast and his morning nap. He stood up without effort, stretched, and began licking his front paws while waiting for the familiar sound of the electric can opener preparing his morning meal.

She heard the Corvette’s engine before she saw it. Jeanine admired the ‘vette at Clancy’s Chevrolet, washed and ready while Claire negotiated the deal two decades aga. The iconic car was her ride to work. Once again, her best friend was living a dream life. As time marched on, she and Claire made many memories, forever etched in their tablet of life.

She had to do something about that loud engine, she thought. No matter how often she brought it up, Claire took no action. If she wakes up Miss Mina, across the street, things could turn ugly. She ran downstairs to let Claire in through the back door.
The last thing she remembered was reaching for the doorknob.

She brushed against it and immediately felt the familiar electric pulsing wave crossing from consciousness to unconsciousness, falling backward directly to the floor. Thick green carpeting softened the blow to her shoulders and neck.

Shaking her head did not help after she was conscious. The blue shimmer of the fairy memory triggered her post-traumatic stress disorder which was improving but still an issue from the day of the ambush to her medical discharge. She had some hardware in her head and the memory of bombs bursting in the air was always there, barely beneath the surface. Keeping it at bay was tenuous at best. It was the myriad ways a human being could be sliced, diced, and unceremoniously blown into smithereens, piece by piece, or in one vast implosion that haunted her dreams

While knocked out from not quite reaching the doorknob, Janine was back at Memorial Field for the coming home festivities. The field was across the street from her grade school where she worked as the school nurse until retiring. She loved the students with a fair share of ‘regulars’ for whom she dispensed asthma and other medications each day. That routine grounded her for the occasional falls from the jungle gym breaking open a head leaving blood to be mopped up, and other such grade school mishaps.


There were some kids who would benefit more from a specialist for chronic illnesses. More and more, there were not enough therapists and psychiatrists. Her intervention amounted to a generic email to the parents. Not much, but a place to start.


She could what she thought she saw. What was this? Her two enlistment years were a bad spot, then why could she see a petite being, not human, not beast flitting around her bedroom in the middle of the night when she was most vulnerable? A fairy, she thought. The fantasy played out for known believers. She was slow to accept she believed.


Claire used her emergency key and let herself in when she saw her friend almost there, then disappeared from view.


“There is a message in this event for you, hon. It has to be tied to your decision to get married. If we can figure out what that is, we can move forward doing whatever it takes to understand and act.” Claire suggested, “Let’s get ourselves an attitude adjustment. Jump in my car and I’ll drive us down to Culver’s for omelets and hot coffee. That will cure what ails you.”


1,018 words
Prompt: Combine:
National PTSD Awareness Day
Drive Your Corvette To Work Day
Flowers In Your Hair Day
Decide to Be Married Day International Fairy Day
Week 4 "Weird & Wonky World Writing Challenge"