Delusional

Author: Damian
Word Count: 883
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Delusional

This story is published at AustralianReader (which was the Editor’s pick for March 2008).

Delusional belongs to the following groups:

Short stories - Spherical Scriptings and WMG

‘Oh God! What are the fairies doing now?!’
Bruce leant out of the window for a better view of his back yard, but quickly remembered the neighbours and withdrew. Jostled coffee splashed down his arm, the hot liquid soaking his white shirt sleeve.
‘Brilliant,’ he said with a sigh. Now he was going to be running for the bus. At least the neighbours hadn’t seen him this time. They had enough to talk about already!

He knew he was in trouble the day he started seeing fairies in the garden. Small, cute, butterfly wings – the whole deal. What would everyone think?! To discuss such a thing equalled a snug white jacket in a padded cell. Who employed people who saw fairies? Not the finance sector, that was for sure.

He ignored the merry laughter from underneath his treasured azalea bush and concentrated on his newspaper. Hmm, the Yen was falling again. That won’t be good for exports. Eventually, the hooting and jeering faded away and Bruce felt safely grounded in the real world. Clearly, stress was getting to him and inducing odd transient hallucinations. It couldn’t be anything other than that, and with a little relaxation he’d be fine.

The day was clear and warm, and Bruce hummed happily to himself as he stood on the crowded bus. The bright fluttering of dainty wings in a street tree caught his eye.
‘No, no, no! Not here as well!’
He had never seen them beyond his back yard before. Suddenly aware of people staring, he realised how he must look. After a quick wave to a pretend friend, he straightened and acted like nothing had happened. His fellow commuters gradually stopped regarding him warily and returned to their separate thoughts. Bruce rubbed his eyes and seriously considered seeing a psychiatrist. His stress medication was obviously not strong enough.

He tried hard to act normally. To act like he wasn’t seeing little apparitions in the shrubbery nearly all of the time. In desperation he had resorted to studying his workmates and consciously imitating their habits, as he was sure he was acting differently and needed to relearn how regular people behaved. He thought he was pulling it off, and no-one seemed suspicious of him so far. If anyone realised, he would be the local laughing stock and never get another consultancy. It helped that he had not actually seen anything odd while at work. This had become his refuge; his island of solid reality.

After a week of effort, he had nearly stopped itemising the different things that could be wrong with his brain. An increased dose of prescription medicine, burying himself in work, a new corporate wardrobe – these all helped him to focus. Avoiding his back yard and garden also helped.

The weekly finance meeting went well, Bruce thought. Only once did he have to stop himself drifting away, pondering his delusions. He silently reprimanded himself, and did not repeat the mistake. Despite the lapse he was still able to bluff his way back into the meeting. Synergistic intentions. Sizable shareholder profit. Increased market share and beat the competitors at all costs. Yes, he was doing alright; he belonged here. No-one in the room suspected a thing. These were his role models, and they could never imagine anything as frivolous as a fairy.

Bruce learnt to ignore the tricks his mind played on him. His will was stronger than that; he would not give in so easily. His was the road to corporate success. In defiance, he began to use his neglected yard again. Despite his lack of attention, the garden had never looked better. The fairies sat and waved at him, having tea parties in the leaves while Bruce sat in the morning sun with his paper and breakfast.
‘Fairies! What childish rubbish!’

The fairies looked at each other and tittered behind their hands. Honestly, the world had never been this much fun before! They had fled during an age of superstitious persecution, rather than wage a retaliatory war on humanity. The mortal world had not been a safe place for the fae.

The scientific revolution was the best thing that had happened since then, as far as the fairies were concerned. A golden age of technological enlightenment and scepticism had replaced the superstitious old ways. There were no longer any mysteries. The infinite workings of the world were understood, from tiny atomic particles to the ever expanding universe. The fairy exile could be lifted, and not a moment too soon. The natural world desperately needed tending. They had begun with Bruce’s back yard.

Janet from accounting haphazardly reapplied her lipstick; her thoughts focused on the old tree in her park that had spoken to her. Michael sat through the entire marketing briefing wondering whether he had really seen gnomes torment his cat, or if he was experiencing a psychotic episode. What would everyone think?!

The people mingled with the fairies throughout the city, yet not a word was spoken of it. Each person assumed the next did not see what they could. The ‘normal’ people did not want to be branded as crackpots, so continued with their daily routines, cautious not to appear out of the ordinary.

Constructive criticism welcome.

Danny

A cautionary tale of our time.
Well done.
Andrew Bosman

Ditto Danny! Good one Damian.
Damian

Thanks Danny and Andrew. My defence of the saying ‘off with the fairies’ LOL! Was meant to be all funny, but didn’t quite stay that way.
transmute

Hey Damian, I can imagine this as a film. I don’t think the idea of the imaginary world seeping slowly and quietly at a personal level into the everyday has really been explored.
Damian

Hmm, cool idea Chris! I hadn’t thought of this in any other format. One of my other stories here (A Mind With Wings) I can see it vividly. Shame I can’t illustrate :)
rawbun

I really should be doing my assignments but feeling emotionally down atm… being off with the faeries (or fairies?) sounds nice…
Damian

Hey rawbun, that’s no good. I hope a romp through RB picks you up :)
davecurtain

great little tale damian, liked it a lot
Damian

Thanks dave!
Robert Knapman

I knew I was onto a good thing with the first line. Now thats a good sign. What a hoot. And…I see your point…between you and me…I saw the kid next door fly over his roof last night.
Damian

Thanks Robert, glad the first line got you! Bet you wished you had your camera handy when you were watching the kid next door LOL!
Robert Knapman

No one would be believe me. They’d think it was photoshopped :)
mrana

I’m a huge fantasy buff Damian, so I thoroughly enjoyed your story … fantasy seeping into the cracks of reality - excellent idea! Oh yes and Neil Gaiman is cool … Will have a looksee at the rest of your stuff as soon as I have the time. I have a few stories I wrote years back but would be too embarrassed to allow them to see the light of day now! Thanks for the fun read.
Damian

Hi Mariana, thanks! I’m glad you liked it, and it’s good to hear from a fellow Neil Gaiman fan LOL!
You should definately dust off some of your stories and throw them up on RB!
lawrencew

Ta for the comment on whoosh..
Damian

No worries lawrencew, it’s a cool image :)
Michelle Rogers

I really enjoyed that, it had a good message, easy to read and entertaining!
Damian

Thanks Michelle, I’m happy you enjoyed it!
AnnieC

I thought this was really well written and entertaining. I especially liked the guy who had to put away his vision of gnomes tormenting his cat! More writing please!
Damian

Thanks Annie! I’ll certainly add more writing to RB :)
karolina

Damian, this is great! You’re a wonderful writer. More more more!
Damian

Thanks karolina :)
I’ll have to ration my time spend looking at others galleries and get in and finish editing a few of my stories I think!
Hippo

Great story Damian. I was only going to hop on, upload, and hop off tonight, but I’ve already been going for half an hour and haven’t dealt with any of my own stuff. I can really understand your last comment. I’ll have to read some more of your stuff. I’m a big fantasy fan too.
Damian

Thanks Hippo! Cool, another fantasy fan :)
If you can ever just hop on, upload, and hop you’re doing v.well LOL!
Damian

Dang, meant ‘and hop off’, but feel free to just hop :)
kseriphyn

:0) I see a fairy… hee hee. Seriously, really cool story and well written. Has a deeper meaning here.
Damian

Thanks kseriphyn, glad you liked it :)
Writing this story accidently tapped a few issues I didn’t mean to address, at a couple of levels, but I think most are camoflagued lol! The ‘safety in conformity’ one wouldn’t lie down though :)
Suzanne German

this reminded me of ‘twilight zone’ episode – where will it all go??
Damian

Thanks Suzanne, that’s an interesting idea. My ideal outcome, if this story were to continue, would be the people of the world realising there’s more important things than shareholder profit! That’d be nice in the real world too!
Dee Boylan

well done what a great story…funny and well written…are you good at everything????hehe
Damian

LOL, thanks artemis, I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m most definately not good at everything :)
Skitz

Damaian are you schitzohprenic or something? this is really good…......really good.
Damian

Haha – I don’t think so Skitz! Glad you liked it!
Suzanne German

i agree about there being mor important things in the world than share holder profit damien – absolutely! like peoples’ wellbeing – physically-emotionally-spiritually…..another good piece of writing!
Damian

Thanks Suzanne! Yep, definately things more important than profit margins!
kimbeaux1969

Great work….....you know, there are fairies here in my house hiding things from me, everyday.
You will hear me say, “now where did the fairies hid my keys today?” Then I hear them laugh and giggle.
My mind seems to on the same level is your’s,
Kimbo
Damian

Thanks Kimbo! Haha – you have to watch out for the tricky little beggers :)
Kath Cashion

Great story, Damian – had me chuckling.
Damian

Thanks a lot Kath, glad you liked it!
ChainmailChick

Wonderful story, and all too likely to be the reaction of people should it ever come to pass, lol.
Damian

Thanks Gayla, glad you liked it. And I agree with you, it probably would happen something like this lol!
JustPaula

The modern Fairytale …. this was a wonderful read.

I BELIEVE!!!!!
Damian

Thanks Paula, I’m glad you liked it :)
moniqueemajor

A modern twist on fantasy!
very clever i like it a lot!
:) Brilliant work!
Damian

Thanks Monique, glad you liked it :)
red addiction

I really liked it. You should write more about fairies. Something for kids.
Damian replied

Thanks Marlo, and that’s a good idea :)
Danny

What the….
how come someone who writes stories is here…?
congrats on the feature page
Damian replied

LOL, cheers Danny! Hey, this is my first featured writing, so I’m gonna soak it up :)
Ushna Sardar

great work Damian!
Damian replied

Thanks Ushna!
JenniferB

Great writing, but did a story about fucking faeries have to go and make it onto the Feature page? ;-)

hahaha, I stopped believing in faeries when they quit paying me more than ten cents a tooth… Santa’s a better myth to cash in one… To this very day I keep on telling people he’s the real deal. :-)

Find a bunch of faeries that’ll pay me a million bucks a tooth – and I’ll gladly go away with them.
Damian replied

Haha, thanks Jennifer! Of course a faerie story had to make it onto the featured page!! You’ve gone wrong aiming for the tooth faerie, the pov bugger! ;)
deb cole

This was good, but your story needs to go further than “Constructive Criticism Welcome”. I know that it has in the realm of my imagination…I could see Bruce developing a secret relationship with the tiny nymphs and maybe even using them to his advantage in some arcane way. Very well done, Damian! Give me more!
Damian replied

LOL, thanks dcole, and I hadn’t thought really of going anywhere else with this one, but I like your ideas :)
Shannyn

Magical… loved it!
Damian replied

Thanks Shannyn :)
Care

...and the emperor had new clothes….!

....brilliant story….especially near the end….!!
Damian replied

LOL, great observation Care, thanks :)
Tracey Mac

I feel better now…...
Excellent writing and good for the soul….on many levels…...
:)
Damian replied

Cool Trace, thanks so much :)
kimbeaux1969

Wow, you live in a good place in your head. I love that.
I believe, and guess what? It is.
kimbeaux
p.s. I wished my fairies would take care of my gard and make me a garden. They just enjoy amusing themselves by hiding my keys, etc. Then, they put them right back where they got them. I laugh with the with em, if I am not running late. Normal??? Normal is a personal thing.
Great story
Damian replied

Haha, thanks Kim :)
Watch out for those fairies!
fullcirclemand...

LOL!
Damian replied

Thanks Marg :)
Marilyn Baldey

I like the story and your writing style very much, it can be taken further. I think it’s worth it. To me it is a story of hope, and with all the misinformation going around at the moment, it migh help a few people to hear something positive from the elemental, natural world instead of the only focus being work, money and disease. The fairies can be real active heroes in the world.
Damian replied

Thanks Marilyn, I’m glad you liked it :)
I liked your view on the story too; it’s pretty much where I was trying to come from :)
Shoaib .

nice writing … like this story
0xheartx0

constructive criticism- well i love everything to do with fairy tales but hollywood has written it so no1 else seems to write their own version.
when i read yours it seems like a movie and a cheesy one at that so my advice is just write something else but if you really like fairy tales they must be unique even if following a certain formula – preferably not the movie kind :P = your trend