In this first-person narrative, our nameless protagonist experiences an existential crisis personified in the form of a little fairy. This hydrangea fairy appears each night as our narrator is ready to fall asleep and begins nattering incessantly. This disrupts any chance of a full night’s sleep. The consequences are dire; our narrator is visibly wrecked and disheveled.
But is it the lack of sleep to blame? “I don’t want to know any different,” says our narrator, “I want to return to the ease of not worrying.” What’s going on here? To answer this question, Carney walks us through an account of our protagonist’s recent experiences. There’s the mundanity of working at the factory, yes. That is part of the equation. However, we discover the catalyst came in the form of, “the letter I received was very official—it had a seal stamped into it and softly smudged typewriter print.” This letter was a death notification: Papa’s.
And, well, life is adroit at smacking this protagonist in the head with two-by-fours, as then a physical illness takes hold that leads to the inability to work—temporarily. A situation that later leads to a revelation, “…how eagerly they replaced you. They will replace you again and again. You’re just another body on the line.” Once you wake up, there’s no choice but to see everything anew, “…all of this is a monumental waste of time.” Perhaps there’s something more.
Carney is efficient at pulling the reader through a series of images within an increasingly tense scenario. The narrative’s pattern takes-on the same urgent “thump-thump” that is reiterated through the fairy’s actions, the factory machine belt, and the co-worker’s movements. Our narrator’s story and thoughts soon become melded as one, “I am useful, I have pride in my work. I do not fall behind.” And then we’re assessing our own value along with this character’s struggle, “I want to be useful again but it’s so hard with all the noise, with having to pay so much attention…” What will become of this person? Will there be a solution? Or did our writer have something else in mind? Read the story and just try to tear yourself away.
Source: Carney, Mialise. “The Hydrangea Fairy.” Alien Magazine, is. 5, September 2021, https://www.alienliterarymagazine.com/mialise-carney.
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