Karsten W. N. Kurze

Pretty in a Jar (Part I)

Lloyd gazed through the glass and was met with a similarly curious look from the tiny figure on the inside. 'Pretty,' he commented rather flatly and put the jar down on the table. 'How did you catch her?'

'I didn't,' answered Alvin. 'I caught her mother. Found her on my windowsill about a year ago and put a bucket over her. Furious little bitch. Kept figh-' he let out a huge, slimy cough. He leaned on the mantelpiece, trying to catch his breath. It was clear that he was dying. And, as had always been typical of the old fool, he didn't care to conceal it. If he was suffering, the world could damn well do its share by noticing it and pitying him.

'Go easy on yourself,' Lloyd said, 'don't tear yourself up for hunter's jargon.'

'That's not -' After his lungs had settled down, he started again: 'Listen, kid! That bitch tried to just break clear through the side of the bucket for two days. Couldn't quiet her down until she got tired by herself. Then I put her in that jar. She died there, giving birth to her.'

Lloyd nodded and bowed down to peer into the jar again. The fairy inside had sat down and was clutching her legs, the little knees pressed against her breasts. She didn't look back this time, but seemed sunk in her own thoughts.

'And why?' asked Lloyd.

'Why I locked her in?' Alvin's voice was raspy again, but he held his throat under control for the moment. 'Dunno. Really don't. Guess I just couldn't resist an opportunity to catch one of 'em alive. And once I had done so, it would have been real stupid to let her go, you see?' He made an unpleasant noise that sounded as if the noise alone could turn a man's spinal cord into whipped cheese. Alvin moved to an old armchair in a corner of the basement. He sat down heavily, coughing one more time, as dust flew up from the seat.

The younger man raised his head. 'Turn on the light, will you? I can hardly see her face.'

Looking around, Alvin lit a small flame in the palm of his hand to get a vague idea of where the light switch should be and, locating it on the far wall near the door, pressed it telekinetically. He was exhausted from moving too much and his throat felt as if it was laced with sandpaper. He savoured that feeling - it might kill him in the end, maybe soon, but he'd defy the limitations of the disease yet.

'So, what do you say?' he finally asked. 'You take her?'

Lloyd was still peering into the jar, looking at the tiny face, which looked back at him, then avoided his gaze, trying to see? what? He couldn't decide what it was, but he was sure it wasn't there and that fact disturbed him. 'I dunno,' he muttered. 'Why don't we just set her free?'

'And have the whole of their fucking committee up my ass as soon as she talks to anyone about where she comes from? Forget it.'

'Yeah, I see.' Lloyd could very well imagine what a judge would say to this. 'So? She does speak, doesn't she? She hasn't said a word, yet.'

'I don't know, she just doesn't like talking. But she does. I watched a lot of TV down here with her listening, so she's fluent. Why don't you just tell her to open her mouth?' Alvin shuffled in his seat, as he felt another cough coming up. This would be a big one.

Lloyd now looked hard at the little figure inside the glass, who was trying not to let him see her face. 'So you can talk, huh?' he asked.

The fairy turned his back on him.

He considered what to say. Finally he offered: 'How do you feel?' She looked up at him in a sudden movement. Her expression was one of surprise. She regarded his face for a while, apparently studying his features.

'Could you set me down?' she then said in a small, barely audible voice, that reminded Lloyd of very fine glass. 'I don't like all this motion. Set me down, please.'

Lloyd nodded and put the jar down on the table.

As the older man started belching out slime again, Lloyd finally turned around. 'Yeah, okay. I think I'll take her. It's a bad idea, really, but as long as you're still alive, I'll take her.'

Alvin started smiling, bearing teeth yellow with nicotine. 'I knew I could count on you, boy! Will you take her home right away?'

'Think I should? Yeah, I guess I will. Why not?'

'Well, you've just got yourself a new house-guest, then.'

They didn't notice the fairy in the jar, who had now stood up and was attentively watching the two men talking about how to best treat her, what to feed her and where to put her glass, all as if she wasn't there. She was used to that, still it somehow disappointed her now. It hadn't bothered her before, but - that other man? He had asked her how she felt. And it didn't sound like it did when Alvin said it before turning away and not looking at her anymore. Alvin says 'How do you feel?', it's something he says. The other man had asked her.

Lloyd and Alvin didn't waste much more time. The jar with the fairy inside was pushed into a black duffel bag Alvin had produced from somewhere. Lloyd carefully carried it to his car and made a little effort to somehow secure the bag, so it wouldn't shake around too much during the ride. He placed it on the passenger's seat and fixed the seatbelt tightly around it.

Just as he was about to start the engine, he thought of something and asked the duffel bag besides him: 'Did you ever ride in a car before?'

There was no sound from the bag and immediately Lloyd became worried. He undid the seatbelt and got the jar out of the bag carefully, but not without a bit of shaking. The fairy looked at him with a rebuking glance after she had caught her balance again.

'Are you all right in there?' Lloyd wanted to know. He really did, the fairy noticed with something like surprised satisfaction.

'I don't bleed,' she conceded after a long pause. Then she started looking around curiously. 'Is this a car?'

'Ah,' Lloyd sighed. 'You just answered my other question. Okay, I heard of people, when they ride in a car for the first time it makes them sick, so you better get ready for the trip. There's gonna be some? some movement which I don't think you are used to. Mind you, I've never heard anything about how your kind reacts to this sort of thing.'

The fairy listened to all that but was still looking around in excitement. The world outside was pitch black, except for some streetlights and the lights from Alvin's house, which, for the first time, she saw from the outside. 'I'll be fine,' she muttered. 'One way or another. I'll be fine.'

Lloyd looked at her running around excitedly inside the glass. She beat her wings a bit, which she hadn't done all evening. 'Are you sure you won't puke or something?'

'Oh,' she said dismissingly. 'If I throw up I'll be back to feeling fine after such a short time. The smell goes away quite fast, too, you know?'

Lloyd stared at her in disbelief. The little figure inside the glass turned around and around, trying to take in all that was around her, presenting her small, naked body rather generously, Lloyd thought. But she had probably never possessed any clothes, so what did she know?

'I'm sorry, but is there a season out there?' she asked pointing out the windscreen.

Lloyd strapped her back into the seat next to him, leaving the duffel bag off this time. 'As seasons go,' he said, 'this is one of the worst falls I've seen in a while. We're gonna have a lot to talk about, I can tell.' With this, he started the engine and drove off.

- to be continued -