The curse

Starting stories entry 7/25

How was I supposed to know that Mom was trying to save me from myself? I mean, I didn’t know about the curse. Maybe if she had been honest and told me that if I cut my hair, I would turn into a parrot, I wouldn’t have done it. Maybe not. I have always been the kind of child who did the opposite of what I was told to do.

But seriously, what kind of fairy godmother places that kind of curse on a child? My mother might have pissed her off a bit by not inviting her the baby shower, still, a parrot? And to break the curse? How in the world was I supposed to find a soulmate, as a bird? At least I could talk.

My mother opened a coffeehouse and placed a perch next to the cash register for me to sit on and converse with the patrons. And I drew a lot of customers. I was famous! Channel Eight News even interviewed me. Of course, I talked about the curse. Men fell out of the woodwork, hoping to be my soulmate. Channel Eight promised to fund a big, beautiful wedding, should I locate my soulmate, or rather, he located me. My mother profited because she required every suitor to buy a coffee to talk to me.

Unfortunately, her coffee sucked. As the reality spread, and the fact that I could be a bit snarky to condescending men, my suitors fell off into a trickle. Until there was only one man. He wasn’t the most handsome or intelligent, but every day, twice a day, he choked down my mother’s coffee just to put a few good words in. The sweetest thing was that he didn’t actively try to woo me. He asked me how I was doing. And we would talk about our favorite things. We didn’t have many interests in common to start with. But the more we talked, the more each of us looked into the things the other liked.

One day he came in for his afternoon coffee with a devastated look on his face. “What is wrong, William?”

“My mother died! And now I must support myself since I haven’t married. I can’t touch any of my inheritance until I do. I have a low-paid volunteer job, but that won’t be enough to support myself. I don’t know what to do. I love helping the people at the center, but…” He began crying, “I can’t afford to visit you anymore. I have to save every penny to try and find a place to stay.”

Hearing this, my heart sank. He was the brightest part of my day. Not see him anymore? I flapped my way over to his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. The next thing I knew, I was falling heavily into his arms, with arms, not wings. Startled, he supported me. I was wearing a long white dress and had glass slippers on my feet. A veil hung down over my face. I was human again. I looked myself over. Apparently, my fairy godmother had decided to give me a hint at the next step when the curse was broken. William noted the dress and surprise faded from his face and was replaced with understanding.

The wedding was beautiful, a simple ceremony that afternoon at the justice of the peace. Happily ever after immediately commenced.

572 words

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Starting Stories

Starting Stories  (13+) A new contest I made. Using story starters to write stories. #2329470 by MayDay

New Prompt:
How was I supposed to know that mom was trying to..