SquidgeWorld Archive

A Fairy Tale
By PattRose

Detective Jim Ellison was not only lonely, but somewhat sad. He hadn't had a date in almost a year. He'd lost all his confidence when his wife had divorced him. Although to be honest, he knew why the marriage had failed. Jim Ellison liked men. It's just too bad he was a cop. He had few friends and the ones he did have teased him constantly about never dating. Jim wanted to save himself for that special person. Who that special person was, was not clear to even Jim.

Jim looked at the newspaper and saw the artsy-fartsy section with an article about a young man, who was an heir to a very rich man. His mother was having a ball for him in hopes to introduce him to Cascade finest. Then Jim saw the picture of her son and was instantly in love. He was gorgeous. He had long curly hair, bright blue eyes, a luscious mouth and a beautiful smile. Jim couldn't have asked for anyone more perfect. The ball was on Saturday night from 8:00 until her son called it off.

Jim went to get some coffee and looked at the picture from across the room and noticed that he looked just as good from there as he did when Jim was sitting at the table. There was something going on with his hearing and his eyes. Jim had no idea what it was, but it was driving him insane. Jim took a sip of his coffee and read the rest of the ad from across the room. The young man's name was Blair Sandburg and he seemed nice looking in the picture, but Jim figured he was probably an ass. Besides Jim didn't need a rich man. Jim had plenty of money himself. His father had died and left him a fortune. Why he continued being a cop was beyond Jim or anyone else that knew him. But for some reason, Jim felt at home when he was being a cop every day.

Jim walked over and took one last look at Blair Sandburg before he threw the paper away. He truly was a beautiful man. Jim wished things were different and he could meet him in a different way. Jim picked up the paper and put it in the recycle bin.

Now, it was time to shower and get ready for work. There was never a dull moment when it came to work.

When Jim came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, there was a woman standing there, dressed as a fairy godmother or something.

Jim pulled his towel tighter and asked, "What are you doing in my loft?"

"Jim Ellison, you're going to go to the ball."

Jim smiled and realized he was losing his mind. Of course he would the last one to know. "Go away, I don't want to go to the ball."

"You have to meet Blair Sandburg. It's fate. You can't fight fate, karma or kismet. There is no getting around it. You're going to the ball."

Jim looked at her and realized she looked lovely. Long blond hair, beautiful gown and even a gorgeous hat. The woman had it all. Jim had good taste in hallucinations. Jim realized he was going to have to check himself in to the mental ward as soon as possible.

"I'm not going, ma'am. Thank you for thinking of me, but I don't go to balls."

"Jim, this is fate."

"Fate, my ass. Get out of my loft. I'm not going to meet Blair Sandburg at any ball. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard of."

"Then I'll think up some other way for you to meet him. I'm not done with you yet, Jim Ellison. I'll be back," she said. Then she quickly disappeared.

Jim dialed his doctor's office and told them he needed to be seen right away.

They told him to come into the office in an hour.

So much for my job and life. They'll lock me up and throw away the key.

The fairy godmother appeared again and said, "Cancel that appointment. All you need is Blair Sandburg. He knows about your kind."

"My kind of what?" Jim asked.

"People with heightened senses. He has written two articles about it. Spend the day at the library and find out about him instead of working today."

Jim dialed the number to the doctor's office and canceled his appointment. Then he called work and said he was sick. Well, I am sick in the head. He had to get ready to go to the library. He was going to see if there truly was anything to what his hallucination had to say. He secretly hoped she was right. Jim didn't want to be insane. Jim went upstairs to get dressed and at 8:00 left to go to the library. He felt sort of stupid for listening to his fairy godmother, but at the same time, she seemed nice and caring.

When Jim got to the library, he checked out all articles written by one Blair Sandburg. There were two. They were both about people with heightened senses whom he called Sentinels. The article also said that these Sentinels had to have a Guide. I wonder where you find one of those.

Jim read for the rest of the day and learned a great deal about Sentinels. He felt like a new world would be opening up to him. He couldn't wait to actually talk to someone that knew something about this. But who would that be?

The fairy godmother showed up again and whispered, "Jim, go home and wait for my sign. When the time is right, you'll meet your Guide. Would you agree to that?"

Jim shook his head in the affirmative and got up to leave. He was going to go home and wait for his new Guide. Why do I feel like an idiot, then?

*

Jim sat and waited and waited and waited. But nothing happened. Then Jim realized that he had imagined all of it. No wonder she didn't come back. She was never there. It's a terrible feeling to realize that you're insane.

*

Blair Sandburg was looking at himself in the mirror and wondered if anyone else saw anything besides a nice looking dude. Blair wished he could find someone that was interested in the same things that he was interested in. What would be perfect is if he met a full blown Sentinel. But Blair knew that this was just a pipe dream. He had talked to people that had two heightened senses, but never all five. And Blair had been looking for a really long while. Okay, so he wasn't that old, but it seemed like a very long while.

Blair turned around and there was a woman standing in his room, wearing a dress like a princess or something. To say he was shocked was an understatement.

"Who are you and how did you get into my room?" Blair asked.

She smiled her best smile and said, "I'm a fairy godmother for someone and he wants to meet you. He won't go to the ball because he thinks it would be a waste of time. But you want to meet him. I can promise you that. It's fate. You two were meant to meet and move on from there. What do you think?"

"A fairy godmother? Please, get real. That's only in fairy tales and this isn't a fairy tale," Blair pointed out.

"Would you be interested in meeting this man if he had trouble with his senses?" she asked.

Blair's face lit right up. "He's a Sentinel?"

"That's your call, Blair. I can tell you where he is and have you go and meet him. But he thinks he's insane already. If you come and say that his godmother told you to come, he's going to think you're a hallucination, also. I'm warning you, he's going to fight you on this. His name is Jim Ellison."

"And what if I'm the one that's insane? I would go and look up Jim Ellison and they would have me committed for bothering him. Oh what the hell, give me his address," Blair said as he wrote it down as she told him.

She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared and now Blair needed to focus on how he looked. It was important that he look good, just in case he found out that he might Jim's Guide. God, I hope I'm not just dreaming this entire thing.

Blair looked in the mirror and smiled. He knew he looked good and his smile was better than it had been in years.

Blair went downstairs and got a driver to take him to Jim's address. Blair was a little surprised at the address when they arrived. It wasn't as fancy as Blair had hoped. Since when does it matter where you live or how you look? It doesn't, so move on, Sandburg.

Blair sat in the back of the limo thinking. He told his driver he needed some time. So the driver pulled out a book and began to read.

*

Jim saw a limo pulled up in front of his building and wondered who was in it. This really wasn't the neighborhood for a limo. Jim listened and could hear a spiked heartbeat. He heard two, but only one of them seemed to concern Jim. The driver's heartbeat was just that, a heartbeat. The one in the back seat was different and it made Jim's heart beat faster. Jim had a feeling that this was someone that was important to him. Why else would Jim be able to hear the person's heartbeat and make Jim's go faster too?

*

Blair finally got up the nerve to walk upstairs. Jim was going to think he was insane. Which I might be, listening to a woman in dress-up. Blair was walking slowly up the stairs in order to kill time and think of something sensible to say. He finally got up on the third floor and knocked on Jim's door.

Jim opened the door and stared at him. Jim asked, "Blair?"

Blair was a little confused. "You know me, Jim?"

"How do you know me?" Jim wondered.

"I know this is going to sound stupid, but a woman came to me today and told me about you. She was all dressed up like a fairy or something and she gave me your address and name."

"Was it a pink dress, blonde hair and a hat on top of her head?"

"Exactly. Jim, have you seen her too?"

"She's been hounding me all day long. She made me go and read your articles on Sentinels. By the way, I have five heightened senses," Jim said.

"Oh my God, she is a fairy godmother. She knew exactly what she was doing. How would you like to come and live with me in my house?"

"No thanks, I like it here. Not so big or flashy. And believe it or not, I have money," Jim pointed out.

"What about me moving here until you get your senses online?"

"I have a spare room, you could stay a week or two."

"I think we'll be able to get a lot done in that span of time. I think I should tell you that I find you attractive and I do like men. I just thought I would warn you."

"In that case, you can move into my bedroom because I find you attractive too. Maybe this is fate."

"She talked about fate a lot to me," Blair said.

"Same here. And now I'm a firm believer in both fairy's and fate."

"I have to call my mother. She's having some stupid ball at the end of the week, as if you could meet someone that you could fall for at a ball." Blair laughed and then Jim did too.

Jim handed the phone to Blair to call his mom. He called her and explained what happened. Well, except for the fairy godmother part. Naomi asked what Jim did for a living.

"Hey Jim, what do you do for a living?"

Jim smiled at Blair. "I'm a cop. A good cop."

"He's a cop, mom. Stop yelling, he's who I want to be with. I've found my Sentinel and hopefully I can be his Guide. Do you want me to be happy?"

She answered, "Of course I do."

"Then stick your nose out of it." Blair then hung up the phone.

Jim was snickering and said, "She wasn't done talking to you yet."

"Oh don't I know it. Would you like to help me get my things and move in?" Blair asked.

"I would love to, but first I want a kiss," Jim implored.

Blair couldn't turn him down for anything. Their first kiss was like getting set on fire. It started slow and escalated into a huge flame. Both of them were breathing hard when they pulled away from each other.

"Blair, you're my Guide."

"I am your Guide, my Sentinel."

And the two of them walked out the door, holding hands. They both knew they would live happily ever after. Or at least until Jim opened his mouth when he shouldn't.

The end