Fairytale

Date/Timing: 18 October 1992
Setting: Hospital; Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
.
Logan Patrick Jones, snugged in a crib, wails, like he has nearly nonstop since he first saw daylight two hours and nineteen minutes ago.
He's been so upset, in fact, the staff moved him away from Kathleen so she could get some rest and Michael volunteered to take Jackson home for a nap.
"That is one unhappy baby," remarks the nurse. "I've never seen anything like him. Rocking, food, more blankets, less blankets, Mum, Dad, Nanny. Nothing works."
Holly hums and fiddles with her bracelet; the /click-click doing its job of helping her think.
The nurse tut-tuts at Logan, disappointed.
"I don't suppose you have a rocking bassinet we could borrow, do you, dear?"
"I doubt it, but I'll take a look in storage."
"Thank you."
The nurse bustles out.
Holly sighs, scoots her chair closer to the crib.
Logan hiccups, resumes crying.
"You poor thing," coos Nanny, "thrown into this big, bright, cold place full of loud noises where everyone's manhandling you and generally making nuisances of themselves."
No change in volume.
"So you don't like touching, ay? Let's hope Nursey can find that rocker for you. The motion should help a little bit."
A snuffly sound and Logan picks up where he left off.
The nurse pads back in with a contraption which looks like a miniature porch swing, settles it on the empty bed. "It's a small miracle, but we still had it in the closet."
"Thank you so much. I think this will do wonders for his attitude."
"Fingers crossed." She smiles and leaves.
"I'm going to have to pick you up, love, but it'll only be for a moment." She slides her hands under Logan's tiny body—
He /screams.
—eases him into the swing, sets it gently rocking.
A full two seconds of confused silence.
Crying resumes.
"Hmm … how about a story? A fairy story, maybe? A fairy story which might be true?"
Logan stutters, sobs.
"Well, this story's been in our family for /ages and it may even be true. /My nanny insisted it was, at least."
No change.
"It goes like this: long, long ago, before there were cars and airplanes and machines that go 'beep', there were two young brothers who kept a small farm together. It wasn't much of a farm, barely enough to keep them and their wives fed, but it was theirs and they loved it more than anything except their wives and each other."
Logan whimpers and snuffles.
"One day, the younger brother got very, very sick. He was /so sick, he lay down for a nap and wouldn't wake up. His wife and his brother and his brother's wife were scared. Without the him to work the farm, they would probably starve over the winter or have to sell the farm to buy food."
Logan wibbles.
"The older brother made a decision. He would save his brother and the farm and their family. He went to a secret spot in the middle of the forest just over the hill from their farm: a little circle of grass surrounded by /enormous trees. The place scared him, but he was determined."
Logan sighs.
"The brother said certain old words, /so old no one could remember what they meant. There was a poof and the brother was face-to-face with an actual /god. Not the sort of god you hear about in church, mind, but a green god like they used to worship before there were churches."
Logan rocks with the swing, quiet.
"This particular god was very cheeky and loved to make mischief for people and other gods, so it offered the older brother a trade. The god said it would save the younger brother /if the older brother gave the god permission to make their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren its agents. They'd live long lives, /but they'd love to make the sort of trouble the god liked to cause."
Logan grumps.
"The older brother agreed and the god kept its promise and the younger brother got better a couple of days later. The other farmers in the village called it a miracle, but everyone soon forgot about it and went back to being poor farmers. Eventually, the older brother had a son of his own and this boy was the envy of the village: smart, strong, handsome.  But—"
Logan squirms.
"/But that boy loved to make trouble and he made so /much of it the people in charge got absolutely sick and /tired of dealing with him. They put him on a big ship and sent him halfway around the world so he could make his mischief somewhere they weren't."
Logan yawns hugely.
"Do you know where they sent him, love?"
Logan sighs.
"He landed /right /here, if you'd believe it—" Holly smiles at her now sleeping grandson. "—and we Eadys've been making trouble in this town ever since."
Category:Ficlet
Category:Port Macquarie (setting)
Category:Nanny
Category:Nanny's POV
Category:Nanny (ficlet)
Category:Logan
Category:Logan (ficlet)
Category:Kathleen (mention)
Category:Michael (mention)
Category:Jackson (mention)
Category:Upset (mention)
Category:Ficlets with images