I woke up at 3:30 this morning, to the sound of Minx shrieking her head off.
I didn’t even know she was back — she’d been gone for a few days already, on one of those mysterious expeditions she wouldn’t tell me about.
As soon as I heard the screaming, I raced to the living room and looked for her. All of a sudden, everything fell deathly silent. I glanced around, my heart racing. I couldn’t see much so I flicked the light on. And I immediately found out what was happening.
The top of Cleopatra’s tank was open. Inside, an unconscious Minx was stuck in the web, her hand holding a tiny spear. And next to her, Cleopatra was covering her in more webbing.
I reacted before I even thought about what I was doing. I raced over to the tank, put my hand in, and grabed Minx. The spider backed away when my hand approached, and for a moment I was worried she’d jump to bite my hand or something, but she just watched. I yanked Minx out and put the top back on the tank. I secured it in place and put a heavy book on top just to be safe.
Minx was unconscious. I couldn’t find a bite, so I think she just fainted from fright. Poor little thing. Lying there, all white and helpless, I felt a moment of pity and sympathy for her.
Then I remember what she (and her ilk) had put me and my friends through, and I was tempted to wring her neck. But I’m no killer, so I just let her be. I took her little spear, threw it in the garbage, and went back to bed.
—–
I woke again around dawn, only to find Minx’s face an inch away from mine, staring at me as I woke up. Her expression was… unusual. It was… adoring.
“Minx! What do you want?”
As I sat up, she fluttered in front of my face.
“You saved me! You saved me! The evil spider was going to eat me, and you saved me!”
I scratched my head.
“I don’t think that’s quite what happened… You were going after her, weren’t you? Well, I just didn’t want her to eat you — you probably taste horrible, on account that faeries are all dark and twisted on the inside!”
To my surprise, Minx laughed.
“Oh, you’re so funny! But none of that matters, now — you SAVED ME!”
She fluttered next to my ear.
“And now,” she said, “you get a nice reward.”
She whispered something in my ear. It was some kind of long word, and with every syllable, I felt increasingly dizzy. Then I fainted.
When I woke up, Minx was gone again.
–Jaycee
Next update: Wednesday
4 thoughts on “Minx vs Cleopatra”
Alaska Close
Uh-oh? Maybe. I suppose with a faerie reward it’s not exactly a black cloud of doom, is it? More like a chance of doom showers with sunny breaks.
Gallstone
Oh, fragments! o_o What the deuce is a faerie’s idea of a ‘nice reward’? And how much of a klutz is Minx, to fly into a spider’s web when attacking with a spear?
Jaycee… Points for chivalry, my good man. Points for chivalry. I doubt Cleopatra is going to be very happy with you for a while, though.
This story reminds me of one of your earliest, in which you told us faeries have to hide from cats and other predators. I’d quite forgotten… I suppose magic counts for nothing if your opponent has superior strength, speed and reflexes, hmm?
Gallstone
Here’s a message for Minx. If my guess is correct, you are following Jaycee’s internet traffic, even if he doesn’t know it. Your verminous pal Attitude certainly did — she even glommed an idea for a curse from one of the people who respond to Jaycee’s updates.
I have a question for you: how long has it been since that stinkgnat Attitude contacted you? She’s vanished, hasn’t she?
anasazi
dude,you are soooooooooooooooooooooo screwed.the “reward” could be that you can turn on any woman you wnat with just an hello.or that your old flames suddenly contact you with babymaking on the mind. man you are in real deep.