A Pixie Called Pudding (Book 1) Read online

A Pixie Called Pudding

  Copyright © 2011 Travis Flynn. All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A Pixie Called Pudding

  By

  Travis Flynn

  Chapter 1

   

  For a young pixie named Pudding, today was the big day. This was the day she was born for, no doubt about it. As she looked around, she took note of the fact that there was no cheering crowd, nor fanfare of any kind. The event hadn’t been turned into a tremendous spectacle and even the reporters hadn’t bothered to show up. A bright smile crossed her face. This was the way it was meant to be; just a wide open beach, a couple of good friends, and one long shot idea. Yes sir, this was the big day.

  By human standards, it was late May, on a Saturday in 900 B.C. Somewhere near the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, Pudding was sitting on a beach, enjoying the sunrise and the salty air with her friends Nemesis, Jinx, and Fidget. With the exception of Nemesis, who wears a near constant scowl on her pointy face, these pixies looked every bit the energetic, cheery beings that they are often described as.

  The early light of dawn had just lit up a row of puffy clouds like a great fire burning across the sky, but Pudding’s deep violet eyes had already found something more exciting to stare at. Out on the sun soaked horizon, dark outlines of sea birds swooped in wide circles over pixie fishing boats. Pudding couldn’t help but watch the way they soared around in such a carefree way. She admired freedom like that.

  She continued to watch them until they disappeared from her view. Absentmindedly twisting a long lock of her curly blonde hair between her thin fingers, she said in a small, sweet voice, “You know, I wouldn’t mind trying to fly someday.”

  Jinx nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind trying rye either. I don’t know if it’s as good as wheat bread, but hey, you know me; where food is concerned, I’m up for anything.” He gave his notably plump belly a quick pat and then laughed one of those laughs that can be heard for a hundred feet in every direction. Nemesis gave this same belly a quick look and then turned away disgusted.

  “Jinx,” said Pudding cheerfully, as she beamed a smile at him.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “I said fly, not rye.”

  “Oh….”

  Pudding once again indulged in her fantasy of flying for a few moments. Her friends took advantage of her daydream to sneak in a few worried glances amongst themselves. Their cause for concern was a short distance away. Across from where they were seated on the beach, a dock had been built of pearly white timber. At the end of this dock, a giant brass colored object that looked like a slightly sleeker version of a tin can was floating half in and half out of the water. There was a glass window where the front should have been, and a giant propeller stuck out of the rear. A hatch on its topside was invitingly left open, which is what worried three of the four friends.

  Jinx gave his slick black hair an extra hard slicking back, hoping that the movement would draw attention away from his mismatched sky blue and aquamarine eyes, which quickly switched their view from his worried friends, to the floating contraption, to the pixie girl lost in thought, and then once more to the contraption. With an air of apprehension, but trying to be as delicate as possible, Jinx said, “Flying sounds great and all, but I think we need to survive this invention first, Pudding.”

  “I could have put it better, of course, but still, I agree with Jumbo. Oh, oh, excuse me, I mean Jinx,” said Nemesis fluffing her auburn hair back into its fancy position and resituating her extravagant white dress every time the breeze picked up. If she had bothered to look at Jinx, she would have noticed his chubby face turn slightly red, but her beady little silver eyes never lost track of the brass object. “This thing,” she said, flicking her hand toward it while rolling her eyes, “this submarine, I think you called it. It makes me nervous. Ugh, I’m getting sand on my sandals and my dress is a mess. The things I endure for you people.…”

  “Why would you wear a dress for this?” asked Jinx. “You look like you should be at a school dance or something.”

  Nemesis scowled at him. “If you knew anything about looking good, you wouldn’t have to ask. Besides, we’re here to make history, and I certainly don’t want to be remembered in blue jeans and t-shirts like you three.”

  “You’re right, Nemesis,” said Jinx enthusiastically, “how dare we look like normal, sane pixies? We should be more appropriately attired! I’ll be right back.” Jinx waved his hand and shouted, “Teleport!” disappearing in a brief flash of light.

  Nemesis turned her eyes upon the sand where Jinx had just been seated, looking at it as though his mere presence tainted it. “I don’t know why you have to spend time around such lame people, Pudding.”

  Surprised, Pudding turned toward Nemesis, searching the pixie’s face for some indication that that comment was just a joke. Unfortunately, Nemesis had never looked more serious. “They aren’t lame,” she replied. “I saw both of them run two miles during the physical exams last week.”

  Pudding and Fidget both broke into laughter. Nemesis stared at Pudding dully.

  Fidget, who was seated on Pudding’s immediate right, said in a deep, though surprisingly timid voice, “I don’t think she knows the real meaning of the word lame, Pudding.” Fidget is something of an oddity among pixies, with his intensely orange eyes, buzzed brown hair, and lack of a sweet, song like voice.

  “Oh! The word lame actually means….”

  “I know what it means, Pudding,” shouted Nemesis, “and you know what I meant by it.” She stopped to once again fluff up her hair. “I believe Jumbo threw up after that run you mentioned … but that doesn’t surprise me; he and Fidget probably looked at each other’s ugly faces near the finish line.”

  “I find them both very handsome,” said Pudding sincerely.

  Fidget turned away, trying to hide his now cherry red cheeks.

  Nemesis made a gagging sound. “Well, I know I want to puke every time I see either of them.”

  “Hey!” shouted Fidget, still facing away from everyone.

  “Goodness me,” droned Nemesis, pretending to be shocked. “Are you still sitting there? I thought you would have teleported to help Jumbo. I didn’t know he could put clothes on without supervision.”

  “I manage just fine,” said Jinx who had just reappeared. Pudding and Fidget took one look at Jinx and then started laughing again. Nemesis had a very sour look about her as she gave Jinx a quick up and down glance. She was too stunned to even say a single word. She simply folded her arms and stared forward blankly.

  Jinx had returned fully dressed as a pirate. He even brought a fake parrot and a small black flag with a white skull and crossbones symbol prominently displayed. He put the parrot on his shoulder and then tied the flag to a long stick that he jammed into the sand near Nemesis.

  “Ahoy, Pudding,” said Jinx, “ready to embark at your command.”

  “I hope we don’t all drown,” said Nemesis. “I don’t want to be entombed at the bottom of the ocean with this idiot.”

  Jinx smiled, but offered no reply.

  Before Pudding could respond to her friend’s lack of confidence, Fidget quickly said, “I believe in you, Pudding.”

  As soon as he had spoken, Pudding grabbed a hold of him with one arm and smiled brightly at him. He swallowed hard when he saw in her big purple eyes, his own eyes reflecting like two small suns.

  “You see,” said Pudding happily, drawing Fidget into a hug, “I don’t make Fidget nervous.”

  “Hahaaaa,” he laughed, in a tone that was
close to a squeal. “You —” he was taking short irregular breaths. “You — nervous —” his face was glowing more than the sun drenched clouds. “You don’t make, nervous me.”

  Fidget let out another squealing laugh. “I — mean — you — don’t —” The hug was nearly complete. “You — don’t —” Pudding’s curly blonde hair was close to his face as he took in a deep breath “— smell — so good.”

  Pudding’s charming smile darkened, but only slightly. Fidget began sweating and shaking. “I mean, um, you don’t make me nervous, and you smell good; like lilacs.”

  “Lilacs! That’s me you twitchy little doofus,” shrieked Nemesis, folding her arms even tighter and pouting at the idea that someone could fail to notice something about her and even more disturbed that that something could be mistaken for Pudding’s something. “Pudding probably doesn’t even use perfume,” she said sulkily.

  “Sure I do,” said Pudding as she released Fidget, who instantly scooted out of her reach. When he had attained a safe distance, he leaned forward to get a good look at Nemesis; his eyes narrowed, and he looked like he was about to shout something, so Pudding intervened by saying, “Now, now, no fighting.”

  Fidget reluctantly obeyed, but still muttered, “You’re lucky,” just loud enough for Nemesis to hear it.

  “I’m lucky? I’m lucky? What are you going to do, insult me with that pea brain of yours? Or maybe you’ll attack me with your twiggy little arms? To think, a stick figure thinks I’m threatened by him. I could get any of those stupid boys that are interested in me to beat you up in a heartbeat, stick figure.”

  “Stick figure! I may be small but I’m fast, I’d mow your boyfriends down like a stick figure tornado.”

  “Stick figure tornado!” said Jinx with a laugh. “That’s awesome. You should be a super hero or something, Fidget.”

  “And you Jumbo, can be his dim wit side kick, but the only evil you two could hope to conquer is a jelly donut gone wrong. A super hero,” said Nemesis doubtfully, “do you think.…”

  “Stop!” shouted Pudding in a forceful manner not typical of her usual personality. “We don’t need to ruin this perfect day.”

  “What’s so perfect about it?” asked Nemesis, as she kicked sand at a crab wandering its way along the beach.

  “Come on!” replied Pudding, waving her arms at nothing in particular. “The weather is nice, my friends are here, the pre-test was passed with flying colors, something is attacking the submarine … something is attacking the submarine!”

  In fact a pair of giant tentacles had come out of the water and wrapped around the forward section of the sub; they were furiously pulling at it in an attempt to rip it to shreds. Pudding jumped up and dashed toward the water, but Jinx, despite his relative girth, caught up to her, and grabbing hold of her arm firmly, stopped her in her tracks.

  Jinx had the advantage of both weight and a good two inches of height, but it was still hard for him to keep Pudding from marching forward. “What are you doing?” she yelled, as she tried to break free of his grip.

  “What are you doing?” asked Jinx calmly. “Look at the size of those tentacles; you can’t just run up and poke at it, I mean it might … wow.…”

  Angered by the resilience of the submarine, the creature surfaced completely, revealing six more fearsome tentacles and one massive mouth connected to an even more massive head. Four pairs of yellow eyes took note of the pixies and then settled glaringly on the submarine. With a ferocious roar, it rushed forward and chomped down on the forward section of the sub. Row after row of razor sharp teeth impacted the enchanted alloy of Pudding’s latest invention. At first there was hope, but her heart eventually sank as a loud crack sounded out; the window had given way under the beast’s assault, but the rest of the submarine, for the moment at least, was putting up a good fight.

  That fight would soon be over however; the submarine reverberated like a drum as the creature started to bite with all its might, release, and then bite down again, over and over. Making little progress, it completely released the sub, swam a short distance away, and then with a few strong strokes, crashed into it. With a tremendous twist, the submarine obliterated the beautiful dock, rolled partly onto the beach, and was soon to be in the clasp of the sea creature’s slimy tentacles once again.

  “I have to do something before it grabs it again,” said Pudding, desperately. She reached down, grabbed a bunch of sand, and clutched it tight. “Sting!” she shouted. Every bit of sand, down to the smallest pebble, gave a brilliant glow for a brief moment and then rushed at the creature’s head, impacting just as it raised its tentacles out of the water.

  The tentacles froze in midair. The roaring stopped. The water became calm. The pixies held their breath, and then watched in terror as four of the creature’s eight eyes ever so slowly turned their gaze upon them.

  The creature gave only the slightest hiss as a warning before furiously flailing all eight tentacles at Pudding, Jinx, and Fidget. Nemesis remained far enough back to avoid any threat or provide any help. Pudding held her ground, stopping tentacle after tentacle in midair with only a slight movement of her hand; Jinx and Fidget, though not as talented in the use of magic as Pudding, were also holding their own, but it was clear that they couldn’t keep it up for long.

  “Nemesis!” screamed Pudding, barely managing to hold back three tentacles simultaneously, “Grab my sword, and hit this thing. It’s in the toolbox.”

  “Your sword! Why do you have a sword? What kind of girl are you?”

  “Just do it. Quick, while it’s distracted.”

  With a scowl, Nemesis ran her eyes along the beach. “What toolbox?”

  “In the sub.”

  Muttering mean sentiments under her breath, Nemesis quickly unstrapped her sandals, in order to avoid getting even more sand on them, and then dashed toward the sub. She found it on its side, and so, was able to crawl inside, locate the toolbox, grab the sword, and get out with relative ease. When she got back to the scene of the battle, Jinx was missing but a scream could be made out every few seconds; he had been entangled in a tentacle and was now being dunked in and out of the water at regular intervals. After a few more seconds, he disappeared under the water completely.

  Nemesis let her grip slacken as she approached the creature. Her courage failing her, she tossed the sword toward Pudding and then ran back to a safe spot on the beach. Pudding made a desperate scramble to get to the sword, pulling it up just in time to see Fidget get smacked right in the stomach by one of the powerful tentacles. He flew through the air, landing with a plop in the sand about twenty feet from where he started.

  The fast rising sun reflected hard on the sword as Pudding raised it in front of her. The glimmer caught the creature’s attention. Once again it froze in place, now considering Pudding with all eight of its eyes. With a quick motion it threw Jinx out of the water. He landed next to Pudding, gasping for breath. With one last mighty roar, the creature released a stream of thick black ink from its mouth that completely covered Jinx and Pudding from head to toe. It then reached once more for the submarine.

  “If it wants the sub, there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Fidget, as he stumbled toward his drenched friends.

  Pudding wrung her hands in frustration, but Fidget was right. The creature did want the sub, too. After a few more seconds of struggling to smash the invention to bits, it gave up. Instead, as a consolation prize, it decided to wrap two more tentacles around the vessel and haul it to the bottom of the ocean.

  Nemesis and Fidget joined Pudding and Jinx at the water’s edge. “Wow, look at that thing sink!” said Fidget.

  “Oh, how terrible,” said Nemesis in a tone that no one would have believed. “It was probably going to sink anyway,” she added casually, and with a smile that she couldn’t conceal, despite her best efforts.

  Pudding ignored her jealous friend, as she normally did, and continued to watch in vain as the vessel sank.  In the span of thirty seconds it w
as gone, leaving behind nothing but the occasional rising air bubble.

  “Wow, did that ever sink fast,” said Fidget, passing a hand over his forehead. He then edged up close to Jinx and whispered, “Can you believe how fast that sank?”

  Jinx looked at Fidget oddly for a second or two before replying, “Shouldn’t you be focused on something else, given the circumstances?” It was now Fidget’s turn to look confused. “Fine, fine, I’ll answer your question. No, I don’t know of any fast bank. The tellers at all the banks are slow here. You have to wait forever to get a simple withdrawal done and don’t even get me started on….”

  “No,” said Fidget cutting off Jinx before he could go into a long winded story about banking. He leaned in closer and pronounced as clearly as possible, “what I asked was, should it, you know, should it have sunk that fast?”

  “Oh, that question makes more sense,” said Jinx.

  “Well, should it have?”

   Jinx shrugged his shoulders as a reply, then turning to Pudding and out of genuine sympathy for his friend’s misfortune simply said, “I’m sorry, Pudding.”

  “It’s okay,” she replied.

  Nemesis let out a long, wicked laugh. “No it’s not, now we’ll never be able to see what’s under the ocean.”

  “Sure we will,” replied Pudding.

  “How do you figure?” asked Nemesis doubtfully.

  “I built two.”

  Nemesis pouted deeply.

  Tomorrow would be the day that a pixie named Pudding was waiting for all her life.