Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 298

This week's picture prompt was taken by Shihya Kowatari, a Japanese photographer. Shihya Kowatari is a Japanese photographer who captured the leaves and flowers under the lights of different colors. She has some incredible pictures, so worth checking out. 

A dark little fairy tale.

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Fairy Wings

Iolanthe caressedthe delicate leaf-shaped wing, its fine gossamer structure silky under herfingers. She couldn’t believe they were finally hers. She would at last be ableto fulfil her true fairy potential. She trembled at the anticipation of havingthem fitted, but first she washed the blood off the tips; if they saw that theymight be alerted to the fact she hadn’t come into possession of them legitimately.Some things were worth more than morality – at least she thought so.

If you wanted to be accepted in life youhad to be prepared to cut corners, and on occasion take risks. Those mightinclude cutting another life down and risking your own, but to finally be ableto become one of them, it was all that mattered.

She went over to the full length mirror andturned her back to it. Her own mangled stumps had kept her grounded. Acongenital defect they said, because her mother shouldn’t have fallen in lovewith her uncle.

Io didn’t care. He’d been a good father untilthey’d hanged him for treason to the Queen. Iolanthe didn’t consider her a trueQueen. She’d been self appointed and used brute force with some of her sycophanticfollowers to become their ruler. She wasn’t loved she was tolerated. Everyoneknew it, but her father had been the only one stupid enough to say it.

But none of that mattered now. Once Io hadher wings she would be away from all this. She’d heard about another collectivein woods to the south and that was where she was going. Her escape plan was inplace. Everything was moving along as it should. As long as the surgery wentwell, it was full wings to the wind.

A knock at the door told her they were here.She dried off the wings, let them in and they set about preparing her and theroom for the operation. She thought she’d be too excited to fall asleep, butthe hypnosis spell worked within seconds, and the next thing she knew she waswaking up in a darkened room, her back killing her.

Iolanthe’s head was fuzzy but she was surethis wasn’t her chamber. And when she tried to move she couldn’t finding herhands and feet strapped down. Was this to protect her new wings? But no matter howmuch she tried she couldn’t feel any motion from her back, just pain. Even herold twisted nubs used to move a little bit.

Then she heard a door open and a lamp waslit, and she saw she was in an empty cell, laid out on a cot.

“Ah, you are awake, good. We will keep youhere for the time being, until we deem it safe to move you,” the nurse said,checking her wounds.

“Where am I? I can’t feel my new wings.”

“That’s because you don’t have any.”

“What?”

“Only donated wings can be refitted. Stolenwings have a fail safe that can’t be unlocked. You should have known that. The doctorsrealised as soon as they attempted it. You are no better than human now – even lessthan, because you’re a murderer. Once they recover the body they will disposeof you along with it.”

Io felt tears fill her eyes. If she couldn’tfly they may as well dispose of her too, there was no point in living otherwise.