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It Wasn't Meant To Turn Out Like This
Home Sick
Mayza frowned at the spoon, one of the many human inventions that somehow snuck its way into the fairy settlement, as she twisted the metal handle using her fairy magic. She unraveled the handle of the spoon before allowing the utensil to fall back down onto the paper plate, another human invention used on the settlement merely for convenience. The spoon bounced once it impacted the tough, poorly made human food, and Mayza fought the urge to bang her forehead several times against the table.
“Fuck this place,” Mayza grumbled to Bella, a fairy with whom she had become good friends, in rusty English.
“Please, Mayza, no English,” one of the older fairies said in the native tongue of the fairies as he passed by.
“Sorry, sir, but ‘fuck’ doesn’t translate into our language,” Mayza answered back in the fairy language of hums, trills, and clicks. The older fairy frowned but moved on, obviously more than a little confused by Mayza’s attempt to translate the human cuss word.
“What’s wrong, Mayza?” Bella asked kindly, giving up on eating her food as well. After several attempts at cutting the brown slab on her plate that was meant to be pork, Bella had given up on supper as well.
“Look at this place,” Mayza complained, still speaking her native tongue. She motioned around the mess hall, allowing Bella to take in all the human inventions that had infiltrated the only-fairy settlement. “I have nothing against the humans, nothing at all, but this is a fairy settlement, for Heaven’s sake! What are we doing eating from paper plates with spoons? And the food—not only is it not traditional fairy recipes, but it’s very poorly made human food! I cook human food better than this!”
“I’ve explained this to you before,” Bella said patiently. “The materials needed to make everything exactly like it is in our homeland don’t exist on Earth. It’s impossible for anything to be exactly the same.”
“Yes, I understand that perfectly,” Mayza answered. “But we could at least try to make our utensils and food from things that exist here! What’s maddening is that none of the head fairies in this settlement are even trying to make it the same as back home! I know it can never be the same, but surely there’s something on this fucking planet that is similar to things on our planet!”
“Mayza, if the set-up of this settlement angers you so, why don’t you just go back to California? It sounds like you were happier there anyway,” Bella said logically. Mayza sighed, slumping back in her seat, and stared at her paper plate on the table without really looking.
When Mayza first laid eyes on the settlement, she thought it was a novel idea. She thought it would be just what she needed, being surrounded by her own kind living in her own little cutout of her homeland. The settlement would be a glorious home away from home, and she had been excited.
She had quickly realized that the settlement wasn’t all she’d been hoping for. The materials needed to build the huts exactly as they were in the fairy dimension didn’t exist anywhere on Earth. The same went along with the food—which, Mayza had been dismayed to find out, meant that the fairies didn’t even attempt to make anything from their homeland, instead making human food. On the surface, the settlement seemed perfect, but really, nothing could ever be the same. The animals weren’t the same, the trees weren’t the same, and just the overall environment was completely different from her familiar home. The settlement was nothing but an imitation of home, and it only made her heart ache worse to return back to her own dimension.
As for being around her own kind, Mayza quickly learned that most, if not all, of the fairies living in the settlement were bitter and grumpy. Mayza could not blame them—most of the fairies had been freed only once their owners deemed them no longer useful. Being owned by the Haner family soon sounded more and more fortunate as Mayza heard horror stories about cruel, heartless, and abusive owners from the other fairies. Bella seemed to be the only other nice fairy in the settlement; she, like Mayza, had been treated as an equal by her owners.
“I think I’d like to return to California,” Mayza announced suddenly in English. “I feel so home sick for it, even if it is my second home. It’s at least familiar and friendly. Here, all I can ever hope to receive is a cold reception.”
Bella simply smiled. “Just follow your heart, Mayza. It knows its way.”
Mayza sat up, going over the options in her head. Even if she left the settlement, how would she return to California? She remembered suddenly the plastic card Senior had handed to her the morning her plane left. He had explained it was a bank card; he had set up an account for her and put a thousand dollars or so into it just in case the settlement didn’t work out and Mayza wanted to go somewhere else. He had never assumed it would help her return to her second home.
“I’m going,” Mayza said, launching to her feet. “I’m going back.” She leaned down and hugged Bella quickly. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Bella called as Mayza turned and quickly exited the mess hall to go pack.
“Fuck this place,” Mayza grumbled to Bella, a fairy with whom she had become good friends, in rusty English.
“Please, Mayza, no English,” one of the older fairies said in the native tongue of the fairies as he passed by.
“Sorry, sir, but ‘fuck’ doesn’t translate into our language,” Mayza answered back in the fairy language of hums, trills, and clicks. The older fairy frowned but moved on, obviously more than a little confused by Mayza’s attempt to translate the human cuss word.
“What’s wrong, Mayza?” Bella asked kindly, giving up on eating her food as well. After several attempts at cutting the brown slab on her plate that was meant to be pork, Bella had given up on supper as well.
“Look at this place,” Mayza complained, still speaking her native tongue. She motioned around the mess hall, allowing Bella to take in all the human inventions that had infiltrated the only-fairy settlement. “I have nothing against the humans, nothing at all, but this is a fairy settlement, for Heaven’s sake! What are we doing eating from paper plates with spoons? And the food—not only is it not traditional fairy recipes, but it’s very poorly made human food! I cook human food better than this!”
“I’ve explained this to you before,” Bella said patiently. “The materials needed to make everything exactly like it is in our homeland don’t exist on Earth. It’s impossible for anything to be exactly the same.”
“Yes, I understand that perfectly,” Mayza answered. “But we could at least try to make our utensils and food from things that exist here! What’s maddening is that none of the head fairies in this settlement are even trying to make it the same as back home! I know it can never be the same, but surely there’s something on this fucking planet that is similar to things on our planet!”
“Mayza, if the set-up of this settlement angers you so, why don’t you just go back to California? It sounds like you were happier there anyway,” Bella said logically. Mayza sighed, slumping back in her seat, and stared at her paper plate on the table without really looking.
When Mayza first laid eyes on the settlement, she thought it was a novel idea. She thought it would be just what she needed, being surrounded by her own kind living in her own little cutout of her homeland. The settlement would be a glorious home away from home, and she had been excited.
She had quickly realized that the settlement wasn’t all she’d been hoping for. The materials needed to build the huts exactly as they were in the fairy dimension didn’t exist anywhere on Earth. The same went along with the food—which, Mayza had been dismayed to find out, meant that the fairies didn’t even attempt to make anything from their homeland, instead making human food. On the surface, the settlement seemed perfect, but really, nothing could ever be the same. The animals weren’t the same, the trees weren’t the same, and just the overall environment was completely different from her familiar home. The settlement was nothing but an imitation of home, and it only made her heart ache worse to return back to her own dimension.
As for being around her own kind, Mayza quickly learned that most, if not all, of the fairies living in the settlement were bitter and grumpy. Mayza could not blame them—most of the fairies had been freed only once their owners deemed them no longer useful. Being owned by the Haner family soon sounded more and more fortunate as Mayza heard horror stories about cruel, heartless, and abusive owners from the other fairies. Bella seemed to be the only other nice fairy in the settlement; she, like Mayza, had been treated as an equal by her owners.
“I think I’d like to return to California,” Mayza announced suddenly in English. “I feel so home sick for it, even if it is my second home. It’s at least familiar and friendly. Here, all I can ever hope to receive is a cold reception.”
Bella simply smiled. “Just follow your heart, Mayza. It knows its way.”
Mayza sat up, going over the options in her head. Even if she left the settlement, how would she return to California? She remembered suddenly the plastic card Senior had handed to her the morning her plane left. He had explained it was a bank card; he had set up an account for her and put a thousand dollars or so into it just in case the settlement didn’t work out and Mayza wanted to go somewhere else. He had never assumed it would help her return to her second home.
“I’m going,” Mayza said, launching to her feet. “I’m going back.” She leaned down and hugged Bella quickly. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Bella called as Mayza turned and quickly exited the mess hall to go pack.
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Don't worry, Valium, this story is nowhere close to its finish.And thank you to everyone who helped me with my question about who owns Tuna Town! You guys are awesome!
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