Glitter | March Promptlies #1

This week is the beginning of March Promptlies, a writing linkup party hosted by Sarah! Each week will have a new prompt to use in crafting a flash fiction story, so I’m curious to see what the rest of the prompts are going to be...

I’m not sure I’ll be participating every week, but I had so much fun writing this week’s story and seeing what happened! It’s a bit different, sort of a quirky fantasy sort of story, but it was super fun and full of surprises during the writing process.

T H E   P R O M P T

“She showed up at his door, soaking wet, bruised, and covered in glitter.”

T H E   S T O R Y

 She showed up at his door, soaking wet, bruised, and covered in glitter. It would have been less alarming if he actually knew anything else about her, but these four facts came all at once as an introduction before she plowed past him to stand in the tiny excuse of a foyer.
    “Oh my…” Exasperation. Annoyance. At him?
    “Listen, I don’t know—”
    One glitter-speckled hand went up.
    He promptly stopped speaking.
    The girl stared at him, then marched into the living room like she lived there. And despite his confusion, he followed.
    There was the paused videogame on TV. The small collection of snacks in half-empty bags on the table. The jacket he needed to toss in the laundry before he went to bed…
    “I’m not normally this messy. But it’s my day off and I’ve had this cold, so—”
    A puff of glitter and smoke and she disappeared.
    He shrieked.
    “This isn’t happening. It’s not…no.” He darted into the kitchen and opened the cabinets and checked the side effects on the medicine box. Hallucinations of glittery, disappearing people didn’t make the list.
    Stuff like this didn’t happen to him.
    He peered into the living room. Maybe it really was his imagination. There was no sign of anyone in this apartment but himself. He could go back to his rainy evening of laziness and maybe fall asleep on the couch after finally beating that annoying level—
    Another puff of glittery smoke and the girl reappeared in the living room and dropped a stack of clothing on the couch. “With a bit of creativity we might be able find something. You can’t show up in your pajamas.”
    Disdain filled the look she gave the loose t-shirt and plaid pants.
    “Who—who are you?”
    “What? Oh, dear.” She laughed, the sound as sparkly as her clothing and skin. “Silly me, I thought you would have guessed. I’m your fairy godmother.”
    Something in the back of his mind rallied at this revelation. “So you’re…”
    “Real? Of course we are.”
    “But why are you in my apartment? And how did you—”
    “Hey, I knocked. I’m not going to poof through someone’s front door uninvited, and I’ve got a bruise from tripping over your front step to prove it. But I’m here because you needed me. And also because I can’t exactly say no to an assignment. I’m still in training so I need this as much as you do—”
    Nothing he’d heard about fairy godmothers made the experience of meeting one seem quite so off-putting.
    She was sorting through the clothes again, tossing away the things that didn’t meet approval, and then she finally stopped. “Oh, this will do.”
    “No.” The sight of the garment bag floating beside her summoned the word before his thoughts caught up with him. “I’m not wearing that. It’s…I’m throwing it out.”
    “If you were going to throw it out, you would’ve already. You’ve moped around long enough. And besides, you can’t possibly sit at home when there’s a ball—”
    “I didn’t get an invitation.”
    “Everyone got one. I found yours in your sock drawer. That’s the thing with magical invitations. They sometimes get misplaced.”
    “But—”
    “I’m not writing a fairy tale and saying you have to fall in love with the first girl you dance with. I’m saying go have fun with your friends because you deserve to, stop moping about a cancelled wedding. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So you’re wearing this”—she gestured to the now open garment bag—“with some adjustments, of course. Though, by the time I’m done with you if you haven’t gotten a princess or two falling in love with you by night’s end…”
    He was blinking through a fog of glitter and wispy smoke and felt the fabric of his clothing change and suddenly he was wearing the tux, now accented with sapphire stitching that matched his silk shirt.
    “Beautiful!” Another flick of her wrist and the stack of clothing disappeared from the couch. “The colors look amazing with your eyes. So, I can work some magic on the car—”
    “What if I don’t want to go?”
    She smiled. “I hate ruining people’s plans, so if I’m wrong and you have a terrible time, you can come home and enjoy your game and I’ll even order you a pizza. But try something new. Maybe you’ll have fun.”

     Well, that did seem worth trying…and he wasn’t one to say no to free pizza.
     “Let’s say I’m wrong. How long’s all this going to last?”
    “Midnight’s the rule, no exceptions. So I guess you’d better get going.” And in another puff of shimmery smoke, she disappeared.

 

Are you participating in March Promptlies?