Sunday, July 29, 2007

Entry #28

Faery Rings and Broken Dreams
by Jaye Wells


I grew up in a faery forest near a stream. My childhood was typical—playing "hide and go faery" with my friends and riding lightning bugs for amusement.

Eventually, I grew bored with forest life. Despite their misgivings, Ma and Pa sent me off to the city with a little money and a warning to avoid stray cats.

The city is a hard place for a young faery. I had my fair share of run-ins with territorial faeries, who didn't appreciate me poaching on the city's few green spaces. Left with no options, I took to living in anemic monkey grass bordering a parking lot.

A faery who called himself "Manroot" eventually took me under his wing. I was too naïve to know the name alone should have scared me off.

Manroot introduced me to the "medicinal" uses of plants. Cannabis, shrooms and poppies became cash crops. We sold our wares in flowerboxes, the faery slums.

Opium became my mistress. I ended up turning tricks to get high, which led to faery porn. Manroot got rich, but all I got a bad case of the weevils in my undercarriage.

After Manroot moved on to younger flesh, my parents got worried and traveled to the city to find me. They found me stoned out of my gourd in a discarded fern by a dumpster.

I'm not proud of the things I've done. Every day, I sit on a rock in the forest clearing, hoping the sun will wash away my sins.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's amazing, isn't it, how many different ideas were inspired by the same picture? I think this is very intriguing. I think you should do more - a novel, or a collection of short pieces. Create a whole faery world, but, as this is, unlike the usual faery world. A distinctive voice

The Anti-Wife said...

I like it! Manroot - great name.

Chris Eldin said...

A dysfunctional faery world. I'm not into fantasy, but that sounds fun! Nice vignette.

Hoodie said...

Just goes to show you that even fairy tales aren't all Fairy Tales, are they?

I'm a huge fan of mixing the fantastic and the mundane. Kudos.

SzélsőFa said...

one would have never thought of fairies doing such nasty things - it surprised me.
I liked the name of Manroot, too. Is it to suggest that all evil that destroy the fairies comes from man?

Jaye Wells said...

Thanks for your nice comments.

Manroot is a flowering plant in the gourd family. However, it's also another term for male anatomy. Those two things combined made it the perfect name for a drug-dealing pimp faery. That's about as deep as the meaning goes.

Bernita said...

Flower boxes as fairy slums...delicious, Jaye.

Anonymous said...

I loved this! I also agree that I would like this story to be expanded. Wonderfully imaginative. Great job.

Anonymous said...

Both definitions of manroot came immediately to mind, so I was able to enjoy that sublety on the first read. The discarded fern is a hoot... thanks for such an entertaining read.

Beth said...

"bad case of the weevils"

H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Reminds me of Dave Barry and I love him. If Dave Barry and fantasy collided. =)

Anonymous said...

Really creative vision. It's cool to see mythical creatures shown in an unexpected light.

Unknown said...

Great fantasy and imagination - I'm reminded of Holly Black's work ;-)

Jeff said...

Good story, Jaye. I like this line in particular:

playing "hide and go faery" with my friends and riding lightning bugs for amusement."

apprentice said...

Even more attitude than Tinkerbell, a nice fun read , thanks.

AngelConradie said...

wonderful! fantabulous!

Anonymous said...

"I got a bad case of the weevils in my undercarriage" - I loved this line.

Very funny and nice work.

Anonymous said...

You're so silly Jaye - your work is a nice counterbalance to all the darkness Jasons' contests often pull from the writers!

Anthony Rapino said...

Still laughing because of this one!

Oh lordy. Just a classic story of a young country faery trying to make her way in the big city.

Great stuff.

Anonymous said...

Jaye,

congratulations on your win. I liked your story very much. More, please.

Jaye Wells said...

Thanks everyone. I'm already toying with the idea of expanding this. The book I'm finishing now is from another of Jason's contest, so this place is fertile ground for me.

Anonymous said...

My favorite part is the array of the city plants which show her downfall. Faery porn...I can't even imagine, lol. Excellent ideas here.

High marks!

Congratulations on the Honorable Mention! Well deserved.