Fairy by Shane McKenzie Read Free Book Online

stood there in the driveway for a moment, stared at the upstairs window, stayed that way for a few minutes, not moving a muscle. He finally strode to the door and disappeared behind it.
    Cecilia reached over, lifted the lid just enough to get a peek. She saw a loop of umbilical cord, thick and purple and glistening, and one bloody foot. She slammed the lid shut, thrust her head backwards against the headrest. Her hand went to her belly—flat and lifeless—and she knew she had to do this.
    She would invite the fairy into her bedroom tonight.
    And then she could finally be the mother she always knew she could be.
    Cecilia hammered a nail outside of her bedroom window, hung the placenta from it, tying the cord into a small bow to hold it up. Dark blood dripped from the sac, leaving streaks down her siding like black tears.
    â€œCome and get it,” she said, then pulled herself back into the house, leaving the window open just a crack. The baby still sat in the cooler, and she decided she would put it under her pillow just before going to bed. She didn’t know if it was a requirement to actually lay her head on the pillow, or if she could use a different one, but she didn’t want to take any chances. Judy had mentioned that she had felt the baby under her head, so that’s what Cecilia would do, just the way she used to when she was a girl and lost a tooth. She remembered how excited she used to get, couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning and see how much money the fairy had left her.
    Her body shook and she paced the room. She had checked herself in the mirror probably a hundred times by now, but she strode to the bathroom again, inspected her reflection. The red-lace nightie she used to wear for Frank on special occasions was draped over her body; she always felt sexy in it, loved the way it accentuated her curves. She puckered her lips, covered in red, then checked her teeth one more time to make sure there weren’t any lipstick marks. Her finger- and toenails gleamed, freshly painted red to match her lips.
    Whoever this fairy was, she wanted to look good for him. She couldn’t help but imagine an angel. A fairy sounded too…girly, too pink. In her mind, she saw a muscular man, pecs rippling and bulging, wearing nothing but a loincloth. He would sweep into her room, great white wings like an eagle, and would float down on top of her, make love to her gently, lovingly. She would wrap her legs around his waist, run her fingers through his blond, feathery hair.
    He’ll take the baby…and…and he eats it. He eats it right then and there.
    The fantasy disintegrated and left Cecilia full of anxiety and confusion. She strode to the kitchen where she poured her third glass of wine. Skittles yelped from the backyard, scraping the glass of the sliding back door.
    â€œSorry, honey. Not tonight. Tonight Mama needs her privacy.”
    Skittles whined, left snotty streaks across the glass surface with her nose.
    A light rapping sound clicked from her bedroom, and she hurried down the hall, fixing her hair as she went. But it was just the window being swayed by the breeze.
    Relax, Cecilia. Just calm down.
    Besides, the baby was still in the cooler. Judy said he wouldn’t come unless the baby was under her pillow.
    She downed the rest of her wine, took a long, deep breath and plucked the cold, slippery fetus from the cooler. It looked like a big cherry gummy bear, and she cradled it as if it were her own child, mentally apologizing to it for using it in this way, for feeding it to…to the fairy.
    After gently laying the baby down on the bed, then lightly pressing her pillow over it, she laid her head on top and sighed. She could feel its tiny form under her, but she did her best to ignore it, tried to allow sleep to take her.
    Cecilia thought about her mother, how she would sit on the edge of Cecilia’s bed after she’d lost a tooth. “You have to go to sleep,”