The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Twenty-Six
Do Astronauts Believe in Fairies?
“What
the hell do you have in there, Barrie?” Mort demanded to
know.
Startled, Barrie quickly flattened his hand, the light
disappearing into the darkness of his pocket.
“Nothing.
Nothing that concerns you, my dear sir.” The Scottish writer
replied. “Please, continue what you were doing.”
Barrie
kept his hand over the pocket that was now moving, a high-pitched
sing-song sound emitting from within.
“Whatever you got in
there man, I do believe it is alive!” Duke sauntered over,
his
curiosity getting the best of him. “Let’s have a
look…come
on…quick as a bunny, show us!”
Barrie refused.
“All in
favor of checking out Barrie’s pocket, raise your
hand!” The gonzo
journalist began to take a count of hands.
But as he did,
Spencer brushed him aside and made his way to the center of the room.
He stopped almost face to face with Barrie, listening to the babble
that came from his coat pocket. The Astronaut’s eyes seem to
glaze
over as he nodded, as if silently answering the indecipherable noise.
Spencer shook his head as if clearing it, then looked Barrie
in the eye.
“She wants you to let her go.” He interpreted
the noise coming from his pocket.
Barrie puffed out his
chest, trying to look bigger, in his attempt to dare the astronaut to
make him release what was in his pocket.
“I think not!”
he snapped, stepping back from the Commander. “Besides, how
can you
know what I have in my pocket?”
“Emily told me.”
Spencer answered.
“Emily?” Barrie looked around. “There
is no Emily here. How could someone named Emily tell you what I have
in my pocket?”
Spencer pointed towards the radio. “She
communicates to me. She speaks to me everyday.” Static filled
the
radio speaker.
Suddenly the commander stopped and tilted his
head, listening to the radio.
“Don’t you hear her?
There…there she goes again.”
Spencer lowered his head
just slightly, keeping his eyes on Barrie. He nodded towards his
pocket. “Now let her go. She needs to be free. You cannot
keep her
in there forever.”
“No!” Barrie yelled. “I was told
we could bring one thing into The Room. This is what I brought. I
will not give her up! I created her…I can keep
her!”
The
high-pitched babbling began again.
Spencer shook his head
very, very slowly.
“She says you are wrong about her. You
did not create her.”
“I did, I did I tell you.” As if
to prove his point, Barrie thrust his hand down into the pocket, the
light extinguishing as he grabbed the pocket contents into his fist.
He brought it out. Then ever so slowly revealed what he hid
beneath his fingers, keeping his thumb pinned to it.
A tiny
little creature struggled within his grasp, a beautiful little fairy
in a forest green outfit, its wings beating as it tried to escape,
the whole time a pitiful cry emitting from it.
“See”
Barrie held it up for all to see, making a slow circle “The
most
magical thing on earth…a fairy…my fairy!
Tinkerbell!”
As
he came back around to face Spencer he found the astronaut’s
eyes
filled with anger as he shook his head.
“You are mistaken
Mr. Barrie. That fairy is not Tinkerbell. It is her sister,
Alice!”
“What!” Barrie exclaimed as he opened his hand to
see the
fairy better. Instantly, the imp flew straight upward, it’s
pixie
dust falling like a golden shower all over the Scotsman. Barrie felt
a sudden urge to fly, but shook it off.
“NO!” he tried to
grasp at her as she fled, but found he was too late. The fairy named
Alice was up among the rafters. But as they watched, a furry hand
reached out and snatched the flying creature mid-flight.
The
monkey had Alice in its grasp. It screeched down at the men in a
victory howl.
It mortified Barrie that he had lost the fairy.
It reminded Wood of the 1933 classic movie King Kong.
It
reminded Mort what a bunch of idiots they all were.
It
reminded Sparrow he needed to really catch that bloody monkey.