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Cue epic orchestral music.
A majestic kingdom basked over a dense and inhospitable tangle of brush. The kingdom’s palace was colossal with many towers and halls topped with blue, green, and pink pastel bulb roofs. A light snow kissed the hand of a small peasant girl almost with the promise of more.
ADAPTED FROM THE AURORA AWARD WINNING MUSICAL.
“We can do this Dawn. Together,” a triangle faced woman with rosy cheeks said, reaching her hand out to Dawn. Dawn, a woman with dirty cheeks and a peasant look about her, took the other woman’s hand and they ran through the streets filled with labourers.
DIRECTED BY BEHOLDER WINNING DIRECTOR JEREMI STEINER.
A man wearing a regal uniform with his chest puffed like a pigeon and a grey moustache yelled, “It must come to an end!” He spoke to a large parliament of black and white figures who responded in “hurrah”.
DISCOVER A FILM FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING.
“This way!” A man pointed in a candlelit sewer tunnel with the light burning into his retina. They hurried along with sacks of bread for hungry children.
KERRY VON TAYLOR. The rosy cheeked woman came into view holding a sword.
MERIAM AYA. Dawn was running through the dense forest at night with fear in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder.
PATRICK HIDENBURG. ASUNA MATSUSHITA. CHRIS MORGAN. NATASHA SHEPHERD. ROHAN BABU.
The music stops and you hear a pin drop.
Dawn stopped when she came to a clearing in the forest where the moonlight shone on her face. Then a skeletal hand put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up.
THE FAIRY’S SPOON in cinemas near you.
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“I hope that is educational,” Mama said from a glance as she drove onwards with Milly in the passenger seat. Milly had watched the trailer for a film for The Fairy’s Spoon which came out eight years ago. She had seen some of these actors before but didn’t know their names. She realised why Mrs Carruthers had asked her to search it up. It must be this year's school musical. Milly could tell that Mrs Carruthers was dying to tell her something. Could it be? Milly shot a message to Angela. She would know.
Mama got a call from work as soon as they entered the hospital doors. She mouthed the words, “five minutes” and motioned for Milly to go on without her. It was always working with Mama. Not even Mom being sick would stop her from the endless work. Milly sighed and went up to the ward.
Mom looked peaceful. She was hooked up to a bunch of machines and with needles in her hands. She looked older. The skin on her face was dry from lack of moisturising. Milly sat beside her as she slept. She took her hand and it was warm. Mom. What would I do without you?
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They agreed to meet in the pocket at lunch. Milly and Zahra had spent many lunches here hiding from high school society. They were usually five feet apart, but now there was a force pulling them closer. Milly was afraid of what would happen on impact.
Zahra wore a short orange sweater that Milly recognised - the material looked a bit fluffy. Milly wore her mom’s white cardigan and hugged her sleeve.
“Crazy isn’t it?” Zahra said, looking up at the sky.
“What do you mean?” Milly said.
Zahra looked back at Milly, “I don’t know… I mean us.”
“Yeah…” Milly said. She wanted to say that she liked Zahra, but years of bullying held her back.
“Why did you bully me, and now you like me?” Milly said.
Zahra looked away for a moment and then met her eyes, “I’ve hated you for so long that I forgot why I did, and now I was just running through the motions… just trying to catch laughs.
“And it was not just you. I bullied everyone. Everyone sees me as this queen bee bitch. I don’t want that anymore. When Grandma died, I knew she expected more of me…”
Zahra wanted to change. Milly was right. She didn’t want to be a bully anymore. But it didn’t make sense why she liked Milly. Milly was a weird aggro loser. Well… not so much since she made friends: Stevie, Viraj, Angela, Jojo… it was her circle of peace.
“I like you Zahra,” Milly said, “but I’m a loser…”
Zahra half smiled at the confession, but a feather of fear was in her eyes too, and she interrupted.
“Yeah you are a loser, but so I’m I for missing out on being your friend. I’m sorry… for all of it. Can we start over?” Zahra said.
Milly eased a bit. Zahra was sincere; she spoke from the heart, and for that moment Milly stopped questioning why things were happening and just took Zahra’s hand in hers.
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“Let go of me you toilet witch!” Ham cursed Milly.
Milly had been cursed indeed with the task of watching over Ham Minerty, the seven-year-old son of Dr Minerty who was the partner of Mama at the March Labs. There had been an emergency meeting on Saturday morning; they were going to see Mom at the hospital afterwards.
Deep down, she hated the labs; it was the sterile whiteness of it and the smell of alcohol sanitiser, not to mention those bloody goggles.
“I’m not a toilet witch, you butthead,” Milly said to Ham.
Ham was small and wiry with olive skin and small brown eyes like an otter. He hadn’t remembered tripping her up at the diner a few weeks ago nor calling her ‘curly’. He hadn’t remembered Milly at all.
Milly could hear Mama shouting from within the office - “what the hell!” and “they can’t screw us like this!”
Mama had become all soggy-faced since Mom got sick. Milly knew that she would get slapped if she disturbed Mama now. She wanted to leave the labs. Mom needed her. She had brought some Vaseline for her dry face.
Ham was climbing a bookshelf and it nearly tumbled over, but Milly caught it at the last minute and got a splinter in her finger.
“You butthead! Stop messing around,” Milly said.
“I don’t listen to hags like you. You are U-G-L-Y. Ugly hag poop…” Ham said with a snicker.
Before Milly had the chance to grab him, he ran down the corridor and around the corner.
“Wait -“ Milly said. Dammit.
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Milly had pulled the splinter out with her teeth and it stung. There was a sour metallic taste of blood in her mouth which Milly found pleasant. She ran down the dark early morning corridors of the March Labs looking for Ham. The cleaners had left their mark the evening before with a pleasant lemon scent and spotless carpets. There were portraits of evidently famous scientists but Milly had never heard of them. Then she saw Ham - he was eating candy out of a purse in someone’s cubicle.
“What are you doing?!” Milly said, pulling his collar.
“Let go of me!” He growled.
Someone was talking on the phone behind a printer on the floor. They seemed stressed. Milly and Ham became silent.
“Damn this OBG-2 project… I will personally sell you our research if you can get me an inside at Saunders. Damn Clarice is such a bitch to work with. No. I am alone.”
Milly turned the corner to sneak a look at the jackass who called Mama a bitch. It was a bean shaped man with pasty white skin and stubble. Milly had recognised him as Mama’s research assistant. CRUNCH… Ham had bit into a large wafer. The man looked up and saw Milly’s hair and cut the call. He tried to hide against the wall like he was not there - but Milly could hear his shallow breaths.
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