An Ultra Violent Fairy Tale by Pete Bertino - HTML preview

38 AN ULTRA VIOLENT FAIRY TALE

“No, I’m not sure who did. I’m not sure even where the books came from, I mean some I brought with me but most of these I found here.”

Besides the 3X5 was a slightly larger framed picture with white borders that did not looked older. It was a snapshot taken at the corner of a very long street lined with row homes, though no people were in the snapshot, there were auto carriages parked in front of some houses. Written on the bottom border was: 2700 block Sydenham st, South Philly. Glitterbelle noticed the resemblance to the homes in the picture to these.

“Where is this, South Philly? Is it a village or an old kingdom?”

“I don’t know, I never heard of the place. Maybe whoever built these houses came from there. All I did was convert most of these places to run on the same power as the lights on the road. I taught Nelly and her brother everything I know about electronics, Sandy is awesome with engines and taught me everything she knows about auto carriages and Eliza taught us everything she knows about cooking, farming, making clothes, making medicine for people and animals.”

Glitterbelle was hard to impress and usually unmoved by the hands of normal people. However this place had a glow about it which the fairy didn’t quit understand, it was visible and she was afraid her eyes were playing tricks but they were not. The glow reminded her in a small way of lust, but this was not primal or hungry like lust. It was warm but not hot, its hand was not groping but simply out and open.

This hand would not strike or push or take, it would just stay open like a flower basking in the sun. It would only move if you asked it to and it would be gentle when it did. The glow was so strange she shuddered for a moment wondering if she wasn’t bewitching herself.

“You, OK?” asked Kickswitch.

“Yes.”

Kickswitch felt compelled to ask again but she knew better than to annoy a fairy. Before anything else could be said, Eliza announced dinner was ready. Eliza took the mammoth pot filled with chicken stew on a stout little table on the kitchen. The stew was filled with generous portions of chicken and vegetables.

Eliza explained that the four houses on the left had been converted into a indoor farm using the pig Fat Man, glass from solar panels and magical armaments they had found in the old castles abandoned 39 AN ULTRA VIOLENT FAIRY TALE

castles to produce electricity without the gas well. The heat some of these killing weapons made were now used to create light and moisture for crops to feed the hungry, Eliza said proudly.

Glitterbelle however heard hardly any of what was said. She hadn’t eaten in weeks and though she’d never starve to death, she was famished none the less. She ate bowl after bowl of stew and drank two bottles of wine.

“She’ll eat us out of house and home.” Lenny said though he was being sarcastic.

“Hush, we have plenty.” said Kickswitch who watched in wonder at how much the fairy ate.

Eventually she became full and signified that after finishing off her third bottle of wine with a loud belch. The others smiled but didn’t laugh.

“Good wine, what kind is it?”

“Well I have a hard time growing enough grapes for wine so I added some Darkleberries.” said Eliza.

She grunted then yawned with sound that was like a snarl but not very threatening, so Kickswitch led her upstairs to a bedroom that was cozy and warm. Before Kickswitch could inform the fairy about being able to take a hot shower, she was laying on the bed fast asleep. Knowing fairies can sleep for many days Kickswitch turned off the light and shut the door. Although it was always night in this land, the moon still waxed and waned, when Glitterbelle woke again the moon was three quarters full.

In the time she slept, news trickled through about the prison break though it was far from where they were. But on the road people felt uneasy even this far away, in the sky a dragon with glowing night eyes coasted the clouds, searching but no one knew who or what it searched for. More people were walking on the road than usual, some toting suitcases others pushing wheel barrows filled with belongings heading for the more civilized part of the world where there was actual day light.

Normally Kickswitch would ignore such strange goings on but the following night she asked Sandy to go to the town of Iron Hills to charge the extra auto carriage batteries, used for their artificial sun, which took a few days and told her to keep an ear out for news. Sandy heard only that Neon City had troops in its limits, some said just a platoon, others in the bar said an entire brigade with cannons were currently quartered in the city and taking whatever they wanted. Some city dwellers were leaving, afraid a dragon would come and destroy the city once the soldiers were finished looting, according to a drunk playing an arcade cabinet called Mnemonic The Wretchhog.