Charmaine's caller ID appeared on my phone. "Hi," I said. "Hey, Dave. I hope I'm not calling at an inappropriate time," she apologized in advance. "Not at all." I was already curious what this call was about. "I'm so glad to hear that. Something's going wrong again in Fairy Land. Would you have time?" "I do. Where do I meet you?" She said she was coming over to pick me up because the entry was a bit complicated this time,...

"Do you remember Cinderella?" Charmaine asked. We were in her house again; she'd called and asked me to come over. It was still an odd thing to know the Fairy Queen was living in our modern world, in a small but mostly modern house, driving a car. "Ehm. I do." I recalled seeing her in a carriage when I was shagging Snow White, As she brought this up, I suspected something was going to happen again. It had to be, as she'd...

Somehow, Charmaine always seemed to know when I wasn't doing much. "Dave. Can you come over?" "To your place?" "Of course, dumb dumb." She hung up. It only took me twenty minutes to get to her tiny house at the edge of town. I never understood how she managed to get that place. Being a Fairy Queen probably had something to do with it. "Hey, I'm glad you could come so quickly. We have a bit of a situation again." She looke...

Sunshine sparkled over a fairytale sea. Sails of red, blue and yellow glided in serene dance, measured by the same gentle breeze that played over Lacie's dress as she reclined on her favourite grassy down. From its slope high over the water, she saw in the distance a large four-master on its way to fairyland. Or perhaps to return laden with perfumes from Siam, India and Persia. Might it bring a Persian girlfriend to be he...

The rumble snapped Fauna’s attention ― horse hooves pounding into hardened earth. She cautiously peered down from her cave; a cliffside hideaway perched more than ten meters above the forest floor.  A golden misty glow surrounded four horsemen who came to a halt directly below. Three had crossbows at the ready while the fourth lit their path with an oil lamp. The steeds, clad in royal garb, stamped and reared nervously in...

Surely love’s magic would rouse his children from their cursed sleep. But no princess had yet stirred Prince Fredrick. Likewise, no prince had awakened Princess Aurora. The king desperately needed a woke heir. Reluctantly, he turned to Prince Bryan and Princess Sappho. While passably royal, mystery shrouded their court. “Leave us,” they told the king. Fredrick and Aurora woke and smiled. When hands then touched Fredrick,...

The man staggered along the Grassmarket. The area below the Castle battlements was thronged with crowds on a rare sunny Saturday afternoon in Edinburgh. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. His hair was dishevelled, sticking up as if he’d stuck his finger in a plug socket. His face was flushed but it was his eyes you noticed. They were wild, staring. He scanned the ground, then the faces of people walking past. He stu...

Zee walked into the bar like she owned it. Like she owned it and wanted to burn it down. She strode over to the pretty, green-eyed bartender without acknowledging the five men gawking at her."Where is she?" Zee demanded."You know, if you gave me your cell phone number I could call you when she comes in," said the bartender. Zee usually liked the tease in her voice but tonight, she was too impatient."I've told you, Brandy;...