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Bella's Prejudice

A fairy and a dwarf troll, their long feud is ended.

By Nancy McLay Published 3 years ago 4 min read
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Bella's Prejudice
Photo by John Thomas on Unsplash

Bella was in her veterinary office in the large mushroom in the woods. She had a heavy workload. Flitting around, tending to her patients, she was grateful for her fairy wings. Many of the woodland creatures were getting injured while trying to escape the flames of the nearby forest fire.

Bella suspected that Shaktilar had deliberately set the fire. An old, dwarf troll, he was loudly outspoken. At the latest meeting of the Forest Dwellers’ Executive Council, Shaktilar had been vociferous regarding the influx of creatures into this part of the woods. Protective over the resources the forest provided, in these hard times, he was outraged. While being mindful of his opinions, the committee felt there were still plenty of resources available. Nothing needed to be done at this time.

Shaktilar claimed it was an accident. The fire he had started, to cook the vegetables grown in his garden, had simply gotten out of control. Normally he prepared his meals inside of his cave, but being a beautiful day, he wanted to roast his vegetables outside. The wind had come up unexpectedly, he said, and a spark ignited a dry tree near his cave. The surrounding forest quickly caught fire.

There was a sharp knock on the office door. Bella opened it. “Please help, Bella,” he implored. “Angelica is hurt badly.” It was Shaktilar. He was ordinarily an ugly, angry looking, little troll. He looked exceptionally distraught now. Angelica was the matriarch of the ladybug family that kept the aphids from devouring Shaktilar’s precious garden.

Bella’s and Shaktilar’s ancestors had been feuding forever already, but for no particular reason. She would put aside her personal feelings regarding Shaktilar though, to help Angelica. She motioned Shaktilar and Angelica inside. She flew quickly to grab her powerful magnifying glass, as Shaktilar gently set the small piece of bark that he brought Angelica in on, down on Bella’s examining table. Bella looked through her magnifying glass and could see that four of Angelica’s six legs were broken.

Bella asked Shaktilar, “How did this happen?” Shaktilar looked down, shuffling his big feet. He said that Angelica had been on duty at one of his cabbage plants, defending it from the aphids, when a branch from the burning tree broke off and fell into his garden, injuring Angelica.

Bella exclaimed, “Oh my, Angelica is fortunate, she could have been killed!” She assured Shaktilar that she would help Angelica. She directed him to go outside.

Bella sprinkled some fairy dust into a beaker and with an eyedropper added a few drops of distilled rainwater, forming a paste. She would need to set Angelica’s tiny legs and then she would paint the paste onto them. When the paste hardened it would form casts for Angelica’s legs, keeping them set in place while they healed. Bella offered Angelica a nibble of an aphid soaked in coca leaf juice to numb her pain before she started to set Angelica’s legs. Bella commended herself for having brought the coca leaves home from her trip to South America recently.

While Bella worked, painting the paste on Angelica’s legs, she mulled over what Shaktilar had said. Bella had prejudices against Shaktilar, she acknowledged, simply because he was a troll and she was taught to dislike trolls. He had always been so difficult to deal with though. It is easy to jump to conclusions about folks, especially when we are not fond of them to begin with, she reminded herself. One must be presumed innocent until they are proven to be guilty. There was no proof, yet, that Shaktilar had set the fire deliberately. She decided to later ask Angelica what she knew.

As the coca was absorbed by Angelica’s small, broken body, she felt a great deal of relief and fell asleep. Bella carried Angelica to the recovery area of the veterinary office and then flitted off. Again she gave thanks for her fairy wings as she tended to her patients.

Later, she went to check on Angelica. She had woken up, was comfortable and in good spirits. Angelica asked how long she had to stay at the veterinary office. Bella told her she could go home very soon but she would have to take life easy until her little legs healed. Angelica asked Bella if she could take some of the aphids with coca leaf juice home with her. Bella said she would give her one only. They were highly addictive. She told Angelica that eating lots of Shaktilar’s usual cabbage aphids would help Angelica heal quite quickly.

As Bella mentioned Shaktilar’s name she remembered that she wanted to discuss him with Angelica. She directly asked Angelica if she thought Shaktilar had set the forest on fire deliberately. Angelica did not believe that he had. Angelica said she thought he actually felt terrible about the fire. Also, he knew he had gotten carried away with voicing his opinions at the Forest Dwellers’ Executive Council meeting. He had mentioned it to her after the meeting.

Bella carefully picked up Angelica on the piece of bark. She would deliver Angelica back to Shaktilar at his cave. She arrived and was about to update him on Angelica’s condition, but he started to speak before she got the chance to. Carefully reaching for Angelica he said, “Bella, I want this animosity between us to stop. I don’t dislike you. I am in awe of what you do.” Bella was taken aback for a moment. She should have responded in kind, but she said, “Shaktilar, did you start the fire deliberately? I know you are upset with the recent growth of our community.” He looked her squarely in her eyes and responded, “No.” He had tears running down his cheeks. She moved towards him and gently wiped away his tears. Damn her ancestors! She hugged him tightly and said “I like you too Shaktilar!” Angelica, happy to be home, looked forward to her aphid soaked in coca leaf juice.

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About the Creator

Nancy McLay

I enjoy writing. I am an ESL tutor and I am currently taking college courses to obtain a degree in digital marketing and social media management.

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