Regular readers of this blog will remember that September 18 is a special days for faeries. All year ’round, they cause humans all sorts of trouble, but on that ONE day of the year, they have to be nice to us. Specifically, they have to do ONE thing that we would want them to do (so really, it’s not an all-day thing, it’s just one day to do that one thing).
In years past, that usually meant removing a curse I had or just leaving me alone for the day. Things have changed, however, since I’m now considered a faerie friend. (Note that it doesn’t make Attitude any less hostile to me, but at least she’s eased up on the curses.) So yesterday, both she and Minx had to find someone else to do a good deed for. Attitude went on her own while Minx tagged along with me, hoping I could suggest something. We walked around town for a bit, but it’s hard to find someone to help in a place you don’t know. Who needs what? I don’t know, I’m not a mind reader.
Then we chanced upon this girl who was sitting in front of a Tim Hortons (a donut & coffee shop, very popular up here in Canada), selling hand-drawn pictures she’d made. She was wrapped up in a big blanked to keep herself warm, a notepad in hand as she was doodling something. Her upturned hat (a “tuque,” as they call it here) sat on the ground next to her, with hardly any coins in it. I immediately had a thought and turned to Minx.
“You know, you should make her appear as the dream girl of any man who passes by, so they’re more inclined to give her some money.”
Minx hesitated, unsure whether she had the strength to do something like that. Changing someone’s entire appearance is a pretty big feat. So we switched it around a little: it wouldn’t be about actually changing her appearance, just making it a mental illusion in the head of the men who’d walk near her.
“Yeah,” Minx said with enthusiasm, “THAT I can do!”
She cast her magic at the begging girl and looked on, intrigued. Nothing happened. Still the same girl.
“Well?” I asked.
“It’s done,” Minx said with satisfaction. “You just can’t see it, dummy. My magic doesn’t affect you, you know that!”
Oh yeah. Too bad, I would have loved to see what that girl looked like now. And what my dream girl looked like, too. Oh well. It didn’t matter what I saw (or didn’t see), though, because other men around clearly saw something. Suddenly, they were falling over each other to drop money in her tuque or to talk to her or to purchase one of the pictures sprawled before her. The girl looked puzzled by the sudden attention, but was obviously grateful for all the money she was making.
So that was it for Minx and I. That good deed turned out pretty good, I think.
–Jaycee
“I’m doing it.”
4 thoughts on “Good Deed Day”
Gallstone
I think you mean “upturned hat“. 😉
And uh… did Minx turn the magic off at the end of the day, or will the illusion decay on its own? Because if it doesn’t… Yikes. o_o;
Feel free to call me glass-half-empty-guy again, but I can see so many ways this spell could have disastrous effects. ^^;
Jaycee
Minx’s illusions (weak as they are) don’t last very long, so I’m guessing this was done by day’s end, perhaps another day after that if she got it really right. I haven’t checked (it’s not like begging girls stay in one place all the time), but I’m sure she’s fine.
And yeah, you’re generally right, faerie curses have disastrous effects, but Minx is pretty junior and generally doesn’t cast overly complicated curses. Let’s just knock on wood and hope for the best, right?
–Jaycee
“I’m doing it.”
Lurker
September 19th you say?
I don’t remember anything especially good (in a faery style) happening to me that day, even though I spent it in a place traditionally associated with faeries.
Jaycee
September 18, actually. And it’s not because you’re near faeries on that day that they’ll do something to/for you. I guess you have to be particularly “lucky” for that to happen (there are a lot more people than faeries, and they rarely do more than one deed on that day).
–Jaycee
“I’m doing it.”