Fairytale

1. Vic Wants to Hear a Story

Fairytale ×

“Daddy.”

“Mmmm.”

“A-Are you up?”

“I am now. What's wrong, Hailey?”

His daughter waddles into the shadowy room just as he turns on the lamp on the nightstand table. Her hair is all messy and she has her teddy bear Vic underneath her arm.

“I-I can't sleep,” she mumbles timidly.

“Why not? Do you think that monster came back to your closet?”

“Huh? Uh, no Bob isn't back yet. I-I can't sleep `cause it's sooo dark, dad!”

“Well, would you like me to turn on your nightlight for you?” he asks kindly, smiling at her.

She had just said last week she's a “big girl now”, big girls didn't need nightlights.

Hailey blushes and nods a meek no.

“Would you like to leave the door open with the hallway light on?”

Again she nods a meek no.

“Well, why don't you tell dad what you want?” he suggests.

She smiles and takes a few steps closer.

“Vic is the one scared, mostly,” she says. She climbs onto her parent's bed with difficulty. It's so high up for such a short and small girl.

“I see,” he says, an amused smirk on his face.

“Yeah, you know how he is,” she says, sighing and rolling her eyes. “He's always scared, `specially of Bob. But even now that you've chased Bob away he's still always scared of somethin'!”

“You tell Vic there's nothing to be scared of.”

“Daddy, I know that and you know that, but Vic…he doesn't believe me!”

He chuckles and closes the book that's in his hands.

“Vic or you?” he says simply.

“Vic! Dad, I'm a big girl now, member?” she says, her chest swelling as she puts on a tough expression on her little face.

It makes him chuckle again and he nods.

“Of course. How could I have forgotten? Six already, you are a big girl now.”

She smiles, her two missing front teeth visible. She likes to think she's all grown up now. It makes her feel important; she still remembers when mum used to let her try on her clothes and jewelry. That was fun.

“Dad, Vic wants to know if you can tell him a story, y'know to help him get back to sleep,” she asks.

“All right. What would Vic like to hear?”

“A fairytale, dad, a fairytale!” She seems to decide this without even conferring with Vic.

“A fairytale? All right. What will it be? Some Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty or Snow White?”

“No, Vic wants to hear somethin' different, dad. I've - um - I mean Vic has heard those a zillion times `afore. Do you know a different one? Maybe somethin' with magic and cats and chocolate! Yeah, and a hero!”

“A hero?”

“Yeah. One that rescues his bride. Vic says so.” She smiles and holds the cuddly white teddy bear up.

He looks to Vic and stares at Vic's expressionless face for a moment, as if really expecting Vic to nod in agreement. He shakes his own head, concluding he's been spending a smidge too much time around Hailey and her toys.

“Okay, I think I have one in mind.”

“Wicked!”

He pats his knee and says, “C'mon over and we'll begin.”

She excitedly jumps off of the bed and hurries over, crawling into his lap, bringing Vic along.

He puts back on his reading glasses and looks behind him at the bookshelf. He searches for it and searches for it, his eyes scanning up and down each shelf. And then he spots it and he reaches for it, opening up the dusty thin book.

“Oooh, is that it?” Hailey asks with anticipation.

“Sure is.”

She hugs Vic to her and stares up at him with her big, round eyes. He stares into her eyes - her mothers eyes -, and he smiles as he looks down at the first page.

“Okay, well, the story begins on an ordinary - ”

“No, no, no dad!”

“What?”

“That's not a fairytale, daddy! Fairytales start with `once pun a time'!”

“Oh, right. Ahem, I'll start over.”

She smiles and waits patiently and he thinks she'll like this story.

“Once upon a time,” he begins quietly, “There lived an orphan by the name of…”

× × ×

A/N: Uh huh, I'm stopping there. Please review with feedback (it's much appreciated), and I will be sure to update with the first real chapter quite soon. =)

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