Myth or Mundane?
#3 of Transformation Stories
This was certainly one of the more interesting pieces I've done. I might be getting faster at putting these up. They're good for passing the time until I can stop being a deadbeat.
For the teen, it felt nice to be home after a long day of work. The fumes from the gasoline tended to bother him from time to time, and today he felt like he was about to pass out from overexposure. As he sat in his chair and played his video game, he wondered how long it would be before he started babbling like one of those crazy people in the asylums.
"Maybe I should ask the boss for some cashier work. Could use the experience, and I've always been good with numbers." He played the game for an hour before feeling a wave of tiredness hit him. As soon as he saved and turned it off, he heard a knock on his room door. He guessed it was his father telling him to stop playing the game.
"Jared, dinner's ready. I made spaghetti, with the sauce separate from the noodles. Come downstairs." That was indeed his father, but it was rare whenever he cooked for everyone; usually it was his mom who did that. His stomach grumbled as he inhaled the scent that finally wafted into his room. He stretched and headed to the dining room, where his mother, father, and little sister sat. A large, green bowl of spaghetti with garlic bread had been placed on the center of the table. He tried to hide the tiny bit of drool the flowed from his mouth as he took his seat, but his father was quick to spot it.
"Hard day at work, Jared?" He was a tall, lean man of average build and wore glasses to complement his business-like appearance. Jared had a similar, if slightly more muscular, appearance thanks to his work, though he never wore glasses like his sister did.
"Well, it was a little hard, but nothing I couldn't handle. What's the occasion?" Everyone knew that his father would rarely do this unless there was something important he wanted to announce. His mother was the one to grin, however.
"This might sound unbelievable, but your father and I got simultaneous promotions. Can you two believe it? It's a dream come true!" she shared excitedly.
"Soon we'll have enough money to go on a family vacation for once," his father added, just as happy as his mother.
"Really?" both children asked.
"The best part is that, as higher-ups, we won't have to work overtime, except every once in a while."
"Yay! I knew my wish would come true if I wished hard enough! I'm happy for you two!" his sister exclaimed. Jared couldn't help but scoff.
"Emily, it's great and all, but it's just a happy coincidence. Can we dig in?" No further words were exchanged as the family took the food and ate it after saying grace. Emily, however, looked at her brother as if curious as to what he meant.
One shower later, and Jared was back in his room, this time wearing a white shirt and blue sleeping pants. He stretched, climbed under the covers, and turned off the light, eager to get some well-deserved sleep. Five minutes after he closed his eyes, he heard someone knock on his door. Grumbling to himself, he walked across the carpeted floor and opened the door. On the other side stood his little sister. She was holding a glowing stick with a glowing star at the end-- a wand, to be precise.
"What is it, squirt? What's with that fake wand behind your back?"
"The name's Emily, mister," she pouted, "and I just wanna ask you a question."
"All right, shoot, and make it quick. I'm really tired."
"What did you mean earlier, big bro?" Emily tilted her head to the side in curiosity.
"What are you talking about?"
"What you said earlier. You said my wish was 'just a happy coincidence'. What do you mean?" She crossed her arms, frowning at him.
"Wishes don't come true just like that. It's just superstition." Inwardly, he shook his head at his little sister's naivête, though he reminded himself that she was young. "You have to actually work to make things happen. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you might not get what you want because of things beyond your control."
"And sometimes things happen with a little faith, like with you and Kelsey. What's your point?"
"Please. I just happened to get lucky her brother and father turned out not to be the overprotective type to me. Next you're gonna start telling me those children's fairy tales are real. I know you're only five years old, but it's probably better you start accepting that all that stuff is just fantasy." He closed the door and went back to his bed.
"How would you know if you haven't seen them?" He heard her walk away from the door and stared into the blackness of his room. The room suddenly lit up with a white light that quickly faded back into the darkness. In that moment he vaguely saw an image of a very small, human-like figure with two pairs of transparent wings. Jared rubbed his eyes before shrugging and going back to sleep.
Jared stretched and shook himself as he entered the gas station's store. He nodded at the clerk as he dropped a five-dollar bill, some candy, and a bag of chips on the counter. She nodded as she accepted the currency and gave him his change.
"Good thing we get discounts on some of this stuff," he reminded himself. He took a small cup of pineapple-flavored soda and took a seat. He sighed before taking a sip of it. "I'm just glad this night's over and I can go home."
"Too many rude customers?" the clerk asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe. Personally, I thought I'd have to break a few windows, if not a few arms, just to get that couple to stop screaming for their tire fix." She shook her head.
"A shame. Some people just aren't fit for the road."
"Yeah." He pulled out some candy from his bag and ate it. "Won't be long before I won't have to go back to school again, thank goodness."
"Just hang in there. I have faith you'll get through it." He munched on more of his candy as the clerk checked the cash register one more time before closing out. "After that, just hope you get a higher-paying career soon."
"With all the internships I did, that's just a matter of time. And if I don't get one," he shrugged, "it's because I'm too expensive for them."
"Oh, you never know. I'm not saying hope can make anything happen, but it's a big help in pointing people in the right direction." He took a long sip of his drink before speaking again.
"You know, you sound just like my sister, Emily. Last night she said that wishes come true if you 'wish hard enough' or something. It's just the usual fairy tale junk people her age have been told."
"Oh, I don't know. Sure, it sounds childish, but for every myth, there's a kernel of truth. Who's to say myths and legends don't exist?" The clerk shrugged as he looked at her. She put on her jacket and walked to the door. All of a sudden, he saw the lights shut off before turning back on.
"Huh?" He looked at the lights then at her, and nearly spit out his drink in shock. The clerk's ears suddenly elongated, sharpening at a point. He could swear he saw what looked to be butterfly wings sprout from her back and through her jacket.
"That was a slight error in the wiring. The electrician will have that fixed in the morning," she explained. "What I'm saying is that every story, even fairy tales, have a little bit of truth in them." Her entire form glimmered slightly as her voice subtly decreased in volume and her long hair began ungulating slowly.
"What the heck is this?" the teen asked. "Am I seeing things?" She merely smirked as she stepped outside and levitated.
"The important thing to remember is to keep an open mind about these sort of things. Of course, I don't blame you for not believing we exist -- not many get the chance to see us fairies, after all." He looked at his drink before deciding to pour the rest of it down the dispenser's drain. He then stepped into the bathroom to relieve himself.
"Maybe I'm just seeing things," Jared said to himself as he washed his hands and face. "The fumes must have gotten to me... Oh no! My car!" He just remembered he parked his car a few blocks from the gas station. There was a particular spot he parked it at that was illegal by 4:30 p.m. Drying himself off, he ran out of the station's store and dashed down the block. He groaned as he saw the familiar shape of a police officer placing yet another ticket on his small car. Oddly enough, there was no sign of her car nearby. She looked up from her work as she saw him.
"Hello again, young man." He mentally cursed, realizing that stopping for a snack had cost him a lot of time. "You know the rules."
"Look, I'm sorry I've overstayed my time here. Something happened back at the gas station and I needed to clear my head. Could you let me off, just this once?" he pleaded. The police officer looked at him for a moment.
"I don't believe you. You don't look all that committed to your words. How do I know you're not just someone hoping to get a free pass for running late?" Jared sighed as the officer crossed her arms.
"Well, okay, I am looking for a free pass," he admitted, "but you probably wouldn't believe what it was I saw. No, I'm not on any drugs, ma'am," he added as an afterthought.
"Try me. I've seen lots of things in my career." Jared noticed that she sounded a little too confident when she said that, but decided to explain himself anyway. When he was finished she looked unphased by it, surprising him immensely. "Is that all, dear?"
"Huh? What do you mean 'is that all'? People growing butterfly wings and flying aren't real in this world. Maybe the fumes from the gas station distracted me, but I know that I saw something out of this world." Why was she not regarding him as a complete nut job? He was expecting her to cuff him and take him in for drug abuse, but instead the officer chuckled.
"That's perfectly normal, Jared. That's just another citizen of this world. In fact, on behalf of everyone here, welcome. I won't give you a ticket this time. Just don't do it again." Before he could question how the police officer knew his name, she sprouted a pair of butterfly wings and flew off.
"Just... just what the heck is going on? And how did she know my name?"
As he entered his vehicle and drove to his girlfriend's house, sure that she had something to cure his apparent visual problems, the world around him began spinning, becoming nothing more than a blur. It stopped as soon as he found himself on a dirt road and got out of the car. He leaned on his vehicle and breathed deeply, now convinced he was on the verge of blacking out. "Ma-maybe Kelsey can tell me why everyone keeps looking like those fairies from the stories... Why does everything seem bigger all of a sudden?" He stumbled to the door and rang the bell.
"Be right there!" Jared heard her call. He began to panic as he heard her footsteps, thinking she would actually be one of them on the other side, but sighed in relief as he instead saw a human girl on the other side. No pointy ears, no butterfly wings, heck even her clothing -- a pair of black jeans with a white A-shirt -- seemed standard fare. She looked at him worriedly. "Jared, what's wrong?" She stepped aside to let him in. He took a seat on the loveseat.
"Oh, so I'm not going crazy after all. At least you're still you, Kelsey," he answered, leaving her confused. She joined him on the loveseat.
"Well, of course I'd be me. Who else could I be, silly?"
"I'm sorry. I've just been seeing... well, you'd probably think I let the gasoline get to me... again."
"Please, just tell me what's up. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing I won't accept. Believe me."
"...All right. When I was about to leave the gas station, the clerk suddenly sprouted what looked like monarch butterfly wings and flew away. I thought my soda and the fumes were making me hallucinate, but when I got to a police officer, the same thing happened, to the point that I've begin seeing little glowing specks around me. It's been happening to other people on my way over here, and I think I've even lost a few inches."
"...Hmm... well, all of that certainly sounds weird, but I believe you." Kelsey stood up and stood in front of the tv. To Jared's utter disbelief, his girlfriend's ears actually began to sharpen to a point. "As weird as it sounds, it's actually amazing. How does it feel knowing that fairies aren't just a myth?"
"Huh?" It was then that he took a closer look at Kelsey's house. It was actually a lot more organic in nature than he initially cared to notice, boasting a wooden, unrefined interior uncharacteristic of most homes. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he would swear he had actually entered a tree. It didn't help that he continued to feel like he was shrinking slightly. By the time he looked at his host once more, he saw that she had completely turned into a small fairy with a sky blue glow. Her skin had changed to a pink color. "I can't believe how natural your house looked all this time."
"Well, believe it, it's true. Jared, don't be afraid. You really have to calm down," she reassured him. "These things you've talked about and seen... they were meant to happen. Do you feel your mind expanding?"
"I... think so..." he said. The teen suddenly found himself stricken with curiosity. "What's it like being a fairy?" She smiled.
"It might be best if you learned for yourself." With that, she flew up to him and kissed him on his left cheek. Immediately a cold feeling coursed through him, and he felt like the room temperature had gone down drastically. He shivered as his skin color changed to indigo and his overall stature decreased significantly. In contrast to Kelsey's butterfly wings, he instead grew large dragonfly wings from his back and two antennae from the top of his head. He couldn't help but smile from how excited he felt once the cold feeling went away.
"Wow, this really is something! I feel... what's the word?"
"Ecstatic? Is that it, big bro?" He looked up, recognizing his sister's voice. Emily, now a fairy much like him, but brighter in color, flew into the home, trailing a sparkling mist behind her.
"Emily?"
"Do you believe wishes can come true if you wish hard enough now?" she asked him, coming closer. "You're a fairy now, and you said they didn't exist, but look at you now."
"...I... I still think they can come true through a lot of effort," he replied as he looked at his hands, "but... given what's happened... I think it wouldn't hurt to believe just a little bit." He smiled.
"Yay!" she cheered. Emily hugged her older brother, happy to finally see a happy smile on his face. "My other wish came true, too, and it was to see your happy side." The new fairy couldn't help but feel touched that his sister had been wanting to see this side of him for a long time. As they exited Kelsey's house to fly to their own home, he found himself thinking about his past experiences.
"Emily... I really haven't been a good older brother to you, have I? I haven't even tried to care about the things you do, and I wasn't a positive role model."
"Well, yeah. I just wanted to make you happy, and I'm glad that's finally happened."
"Well, you know what? From now on, I promise to make it up to you. You'll see!" Emily smiled at Jared as they flew into their home, confident he would keep true to his word now.