Fairy Girl | ✔️ 🥇 [2021 Ambys Winner]

Fairy Girl

Right there, under the bridge, was Tristan's sanctuary.

In that narrow dark tunnel lined with broken glass, which always reeked of curdled urine.

Tristan had sought refuge in it from important childhood battles, ever since he was a boy, swallowing tears and nursing his wounds.

He would come to the tunnel when he needed peace.

He wanted nothing more than to avoid his parents' quarrels, other people's hatred and prejudice, and that oh so deafening silence of the world.

Every afternoon, after class, his footsteps led him away from high school and into the tunnel.

It was the same this day.

Tristan slid next to the dirty wall, kneeling on the cold concrete.

He took out a notebook and a graphite pencil. He drew on and on, consumed by other, happier forms that he was now creating in a new, more beautiful dimension.

A hidden dimension, where he could live his very own version of "Once Upon a Time" fairy tale.

It wasn't long before Chewy stuck her pink-haired head out of the entrance to the tunnel, as she did every day.

"Hi, Tristan!" Chewy waved at him, a bit out of breath, rolling a piece of bubblegum around her mouth.

She always had gum on her. That got her the nickname "Chewy".

"Hi!" he replied with a nod, not looking up.

"What are you drawing?"

"A forest fairy."

"Oh yay, another one!" Chewy clapped her hands, sitting beside him.

Tristan frowned.

"I can't wait to see her fly again. You are drawing it for me, aren't you? Thank you! You know how much I like them."

"Have you brought angel dust?"

She shook her head.

"Nope. I'm short of money, and Bighead won't open up a tab."

"Shit.  I feel so fucked up today. I could have used some of it."

Chewy furrowed her brows.

"Yeah, I heard ... I think the entire street heard last night," she added, violating the unwritten, well-known "neighborhood knows nothing," rule.

She stretched out her thin fingers and touched the purple swelling on Tristan's chin with tenderness.

"Your brother beat ya up again?"

He nodded.

"Yesterday, I stood up to him for the first time, Chewy... I had to. I mean, what else could I have done? Couldn't just bloody let him stand there and watch him pummel mum!"

Chewy looked down, not knowing what to say, but kept her comforting hand on his cheek just in case.

"Life sucks," Tristan said, fisting tears out of his eyes. "But I'll be eighteen soon enough. Then I can leave. I swear to you. I can't take this anymore."

"Don't talk like that!" Chewy jabbed him in the ribs. "Without your drawings, without your magic, without ..." She swallowed. "I don't know what I'd do, Tristan. If you left ... My world'd burst like a bubble. No one's ever listened to me or understood me except for you."

"What color do you want it to be today?" Tristan beamed at her.

"Hmmm..." her almond-shaped eyes widened on a childlike face. "Pink!"