The Little Fairy

Sarah had thrown her entire wardrobe on the bed when I got out of the shower the next morning. She was standing in the middle of the room just staring at the pile, a stressed look on her face. She was in just her underwear; I tried to hide my gaze from looking at her, but she was just standing there, uncaring.

"I seriously don't know what to wear right now." She put her hands on her hips and looked at me quickly so her blonde hair tossed effortlessly over her shoulder.

It was about 4 in the morning and we had to get to the Lincoln Memorial at 6. I looked down at the 2 options she laid out in front of her. A navy blue pencil peplum dress that hugged her thin frame and gave her the appearance of more curves than she had, or a white silk top with a black pencil skirt.

"How about you wear the dress and I wear the skirt?" I walked over to the dresser to find some underwear to put on for myself. I opened the drawer to see that Sarah had only packed thongs or G strings to give our outfits a smoother appearance on our skin.

"But I do kind of really want to wear the skirt." She folded her arms under her breasts, making them perk up. I bit my lip and turned back around, muttering to myself and slipping the underwear over my legs and settling them on my hips.

"Why can't we both wear a similar outfit?" I noticed when I walked over that she set out a few outfit choices for me as well, both similar to what she had picked out for herself, except my blouse was a salmon pink and my dress a deep emerald.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, picking up her blouse and looking at me excitedly. "That is such a good idea!" She grabbed some hosiery and skipped to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

I followed her in, watching how she applied her makeup, and tried to copy her as much as I could. I didn't particularly like wearing makeup, I could feel it clogging my pores, but Sarah said it was important that I wear it today.

Don was downstairs ordering breakfast when we emerged from our bedroom. He was wearing grey slacks and a matching vest with a crisp white collared long-sleeve shirt underneath. His hair was cut nicely and his beard had been trimmed and groomed neatly.

"Good morning ladies." Don smiled as he saw us, standing up and smoothing out his slacks when he did.

"Good morning dad." Sarah gave him a cheek kiss, opening up her compact to check her foundation after.

"Good morning Don, you look great." I double-checked the tucking of my blouse, making sure it was all even.

"So do you, are you excited for today?"

"Nervous, but I know today is going to be great." I smiled, picking up my parka from the back of the couch.

"Food should be there when we get there." He slung his puffer jacket over himself and led us out the doorway.

"Did you make sure we got everything?" Sarah asked as we entered the lobby of the hotel.

I looked through the bags, seeing the flash drive, laptop, paper notes, perfume, deodorant, and makeup for touch-ups. "Yup, looks like I have everything."

Sarah nodded, happy with the answer, and climbed into the cab that she had called while we were finishing up our hair.

Abraham Lincoln was looming over us as we walked up the grand steps. He looked over the lawn what seemed disapprovingly. I shrunk into myself, wrapping my arms around me to shield myself from his gaze.

The next couple of hours was painstakingly boring, going over small little details that I knew were important but didn't seem so. There was a camera facing the crowd, thousands of people already littered the lawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial with many more filing in from the parking lot. I couldn't think straight, my mind was buzzing with every possible scenario that could go wrong.

Sarah stood leaning against the wall, watching me pace like I always did before a show. It seemed to be our routine. "You'd think by now you'd be okay with being in front of a crowd. You're a natural at it." She shrugged, taking a sip of her water.

"You know, I think the same thing and then I get backstage and my mind starts racing." I started to run my hands through my hair but stopped remembering how long Sarah took to style it.

"Everything will be just fine!" She lifted herself off the wall and walked over to me, putting her hands on my shoulders for reassurance. Her touch always seemed to calm me down some, but today was completely different. My mind wouldn't settle.

"I just have this feeling in my gut that I just can't get rid of and I don't know how to explain it." I held my hand to my stomach, the pain was starting to feel overwhelming.

"You say that every time." Sarah rolled her eyes and led me toward the stage with the event staff.

"I'm serious this time, Sarah." I stopped in my tracks and faced her, glaring at her with pure tenacity.

She ignored me and started to lead me toward the stage again since the event staff was waving us on fiercely. I stood at the door, sweat finally making its way down my forehead. I dabbed at it with a napkin that was given to me and clutched onto my water bottle. I wish I had the plastic one right now just to hear the crackling sound.

The announcer began his speech and then introduced me to the crowd after a few minutes. My heart started racing as I made my way out onto the steps.