Vidia, Interrupted Ch. 9

~O~

"So what are we going to do?" Bobble asked Terence and the girls. With Fairy Mary's permission now secured, the plan to throw a Friendship Party for Tinker Bell was underway. When Clank and Bobble heard that Terence and the girls needed help they offered their services without a second thought. The pair visited Tinker Bell in the morning before their shifts began and saw just how demoralized she was. It broke their hearts to see her in such a bad way. Nothing they said or did seemed to help, so this Friendship Party they saw as the best way to make a difference.

"We are going to need colored lanterns," Terence said, reading from a list, "garland with streamers, garland with flowers, a banner with her name, table cloths with party trim, centerpieces for each table, cake and pastries, honeycombs, punch, plates, forks, cups, party hats...,"

"Isn't that a bit much for a little party?" Iridessa questioned.

"We're going to invite all of Tink's friends from the different guilds," Terence answered. "Plus the entire Tinker Talent Guild are going to attend. We are going to hold it in the wide open spaces of the quad in Tinker's Nook. And remember, Tink is pretty depressed, we're going to need to go all out."

"Wow, that's a lot of work for just the few of us," Fawn said.

"Oh, and we're going to need musicians," Terence added. "Music will make everything more festive."

"We're going to need more people to help us," Silvermist noted, sounding worried.

"Aye? Why not ask the other tinkers to lend a hand?" Clank suggested.

"Good thinking, Clankie," Bobble congratulated.

"Excellent idea," Iridessa beamed.

"I'll ask some in my guild to help out," Rosetta added.

"Bolt and Stone offered to help," Terence said. "But they can only be here for one evening."

"Well that should be enough," Rosetta said, cutting into the conversation. "It's not like were putting on a party for the whole mainland."

"Oh, I hope so," Iridessa remarked.

"Well, let's get cracking," Fawn cheered. "The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."

The small group set off. Rosetta crafted flowers of different colors and worked with Iridessa to twist stem twine into streamers from which would hang the flowers and the colored lanterns. Clank and Bobble starting building a large banner with Tinker Bell's name on it. They also designed some party favors and noisemakers to help add some flavor to the party. Silvermist fixed hats with reflective material and put together the centerpieces. Meanwhile, Terence worked with Fairy Mary to design the layout for all the party decorations. Over the next several days, as others arrived to help they hung the garlands and streamers, then the colored lanterns and even a tarp to hold all of the confetti they wanted to drop onto Tinker Bell when she arrived.

Terence even managed to persuade the baking talents to whip up cake, pastries, honeycombs and punch. Then he got the music talents to perform for the night. In exchange both wanted to have dust delivered to them first for a whole month. It took a bit of diplomacy, but he finally got them to agree to a nice compromise. Each talent would receive dust first and the other second for a whole week and then they would switch off. This would go on, back and forth, until both talents were first for the combined total of one month. Fairy Gary wouldn't like it very much if he found out, but it was the only to delegate the workload. The whole thing was quickly coming together with so many extra hands helping out.

"Tink is going to love this," Terence told himself. "She'll be the happiest fairy in Pixie Hollow for a whole season."

~O~

"I said what?" the Minister of Spring replied. Queen Clarion was speaking with the Minister of Spring privately. He seemed genuinely shocked and confused by the accusation.

"Did you tell Vidia that if she was such a great talent why had she not collected more pollen?"

"No, of course not," he said with an indignant tone. "I haven't spoken directly with Vidia in decades. If there is a problem I let her guild overseer deal with it."

The queen was not satisfied with this response. She remembered that, according to Vidia, it happened some time ago. So she questioned him again, asking her minister to remember back to when Vidia was still a new arrival. "Did you disparage her abilities?"

The Minister of Spring gave little consideration to this question. "No, I never did. Why would I?"

"Please think, Minister," the queen bade him.

For several moments he looked back into his memories, trying to separate all of the direct contact he ever had with Vidia, Pixie Hollow's most notorious fast flyer. "Let's see," he began. "I was there for parts of her training in the art of pollen collection. I had brief contact with her during your ceremonial review of her guild several seasons ago. She was present at the Happy Wings Flying Club for a celebration of her new speed record. That is all."

"You do not remember making any such comment to her? Any incident that might have elicited such a response? A confrontation, perhaps?"

"Confrontation? Hmm..., yes, I believe..."

"Yes, Minister?"

"I believe there was a confrontation between her and several garden fairies many years ago?"

~oOo~

Vidia had been collecting pollen for the mainland. She was dissatisfied with the state of the gardens that year. She complained that it made it difficult for her to collect sufficient pollen to meet her quotas. Her frustrations were directed at a pair garden fairies who were tasked with that flowerbed. Vidia lashed out at them for their lousy skills and poor workmanship.

"How am I supposed to collect pollen when you can't even grow a decent flower?" she screamed at the two helpless pixies in front of her. "Look at these sorry things. They look weak and pathetic, just like you!"

"Hey, you're a fast flyer not a garden fairy," one of them answered back hastily. "What do you know about growing flowers?"

"I've spent enough time collecting pollen from here to know what a good flower should look like. And these ugly specimens look nothing like what's grown here before. Maybe you should go back into training because neither of you have any idea what you're doing!"

One garden fairy started to weep, the other flitted up and looked as if she were sporting for a fight with the mean flyer.

"Maybe you should talk to the soil fairies for not giving us good soil," a voice came from the distance. "Or perhaps you should complain to the shadow fairies for casting long shadows from the trees that surround this flower bed."

The Minister of Spring approached and he was most displeased with what he had heard. He had decided to intervene before fisticuffs became the order of the day. He moved between Vidia and the two garden fairies, keeping the aggressive one at a distance to prevent a brawl.

"These flower beds look as good this year as they had in the past," he said to Vidia, who instantly became disinterested in this conversation. The Minister of Spring put his arm behind her as to guide her away from the others so he could speak with her privately. "You seem rather troubled today, is there a problem?"

"I'm 'troubled' because those two don't know how to grow a decent flower," she snapped.

"They have been tending to this flower bed for many decades, just as you have been collecting pollen from this bed for many years. There has never been a complaint before. What is distracting you?"

Vidia said nothing.

"My dear, you have always been most happy when using your talents,whether flying or collecting pollen. Today, you are not happy. Something is wrong, perhaps I can help. It is my duty to see to it that all of the fairies who are preparing for Spring are in the best of moods."

"Hmmph!" was all she was willing to offer.

~oOo~

"Well, that wasn't going well at all," Hyacinth told the queen. "So I tried another means to help Vidia."

~oOo~

"Perhaps some wing exercises, they always help me to calm down," he suggested to the angry flyer. "Now, try moving them up and around in a symmetrical motion. Breath in as you raise them up, then breathe out as you lower them. Let the anger flow through them and out into the air."

She just looked at him like he was a freak.

"Okay, perhaps you could try focusing better on your methods," he said. "Cleanse your mind of distractions and think about the wind that will collect the pollen. Then you can..."

"I know how to do my job!" she barked. "I'm the best there is at what I do, so I don't need a lecture from you or anyone else."

This far enough for the Minister of Spring. No longer was this about helping Vidia regain her calm. She was clearly feeling too superior for her own britches. So he cut her down.

"Well, if your so talented then why can't you collect more pollen?" he told her with directness. "There is nothing wrong with those flowers. So stop complaining and put your winds to good use. Stop blowing hot air out of your mouth and start blowing air with your wings. We have a season to bring to the mainland and I'm not letting anyone, not the least you, stop it from coming."

With that last comment, he left. In the distance the two garden fairies that Vidia had lashed with her tongue were snickering at the fast flyer's comeuppance.

~oOo~

"Well as you can see, I was at my wits end with her," Hyacinth told Clarion. "I tried to be as kindly and thoughtful as I could. But she was absolutely impossible that day. And every day since, it would seem."

The queen drew in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and then let it out in a deep sigh. It seemed that Vidia had lied through omission. By not conveying the full details of the incident she cast herself in the light of the victim when the truth was more...gray.

"Thank you, Minister," she told him. Hyacinth's initial approach to the situation was correct. He tried to calm her down and help her get through her agitated state. However, despite Vidia's attitude, his last remarks were unnecessary and cruel. Vidia was acting unusually haughty that day, but having an authority figure try to cut her down in such a unpleasant fashion was not the best solution.

"Minister, you cannot break arrogance with imperiousness. It never works," she scolded him. "Next time a fairy seems troubled and is unwilling to receive your help, release them from their duties and send them home or to me. Is that clear?"

"Yes, your highness," he replied with a respectful bow.

"Vidia believes you to be against her," she told him.

"Against her? How?"

"In her opinion you, and every other fairy in Pixie Hollow, has a vendetta against her," the queen said. "It seems she views life here very differently than we do. She must be handled with great care. Punishments are applied judiciously, insults must always be avoided. Particularly from a Minister of the Seasons. You do represent the crown. You speak for me in your actions and your words. Foul or fetid remarks should never be uttered by you or any other Minister for any reason. Is that clear?"

"Yes, your highness. It will never happen again."

"Good, then you may go."

Next for the queen was the Minister of Fall. She hoped it would be a less frustrating exchange.

Sorry this chapter took so long to post. The Mountain Cedar is getting ridiculous. Combine that with the Zyrtec and some days I can barely think. I said a few days ago that the level of Mountain Cedar had gotten incredibly high at over 12,000 parts per cubic meter (remember, 500 ppcm is considered HIGH). Well, it just set a new record. A few days ago it reached 31,400 parts per cubic meter. Then today it eclipsed 34,200 ppcm. My Kleenex bill is going through the roof.

I've been staying indoors like CommonSwift suggested, but it doesn't help very much. The home in which I live is an older construction and has no insulation or wind/vapor barriers in the walls. The window casements are empty to accommodate the counterweights from the old windows. So air moves in and out of the house very freely. When I do go out I immediately wash my clothes and rinse my face and hair when I come back inside to get rid of the pollen, but I'm still feeling crappy. Hopefully the worst will all be over by the end of January. I don't know how much longer I can endure this horrible feeling. Ugh. Wish me luck. And please review. Thanks.

ACHOO! *sniff* Sorry, didn't mean to sneeze all over your computer screens.