THE MOMENT
It was hard not to feel like everyone was laughing at him. Murray was not enjoying his day at the beach the way he planned. He was currently sitting on the hot sand, in the sun, and surrounded by a flock of seagulls that seemed interested in only him. There were no other people around the immediate area, just him and the gulls. From a distance, their echoing calls might have been mistaken for laughter, but up close, it was clear they were mocking him.
They had every reason to, given how his day had gone so far. He showed up at the beach ready to enjoy a relaxing day. He was prepared with a towel, cooler of drinks, and a patio umbrella for shade. The beach at Williams Hub was the hottest destination in the multiverse, and he had trouble finding a spot when he first arrived. He set himself up between a family of four, and some college girls taking in the sun. Then, the accidents started happening.
The college girls glared at him as they all suddenly decided to move somewhere else. His ice chest was apparently faulty, and started leaking ice cold water on them. He apologized, but it wasn't readily believed. He hated being thought of in a negative light, but he couldn't deny it was nice to have a bit more space.
A little later, he stood up to stretch and an unexpectedly powerful gust of wind picked his towel up and carried it to the family about to have their lunch. Wet towel and sand landed right on their pizza just as they opened the box. He had his wallet handy, and luckily he was able to reimburse them for the meal, plus extra for the inconvenience. They thanked him with stern looks, not entirely believing it was accidental, but took the money and left.
While he dealt with that, someone saw fit to just plain steal his umbrella. He didn't even see it carried off, it simply vanished. He actually screamed in frustration, which only prompted anyone nearby to move further away. But, at least it caught someone's attention. A girl named Jubilee rushed over when he screamed to ask if everything was alright.
He didn't know where to begin and told her all his troubles. She seemed polite, and genuinely empathetic to his situation. She even promised to bring him a new towel and umbrella before dashing off.
He didn't even want to acknowledge the seagulls once they started taking an interest in him. He waited for his towel and umbrella while more gulls appeared and started laughing at him. But, suddenly, they all left at once as if startled. He looked around to see Jubilee on her way back to him with a towel, umbrella, and a fairy friend for some reason.
"Murray, I got some great news for you," Jubilee giggled once they arrived. He accepted the umbrella and stabbed it into the sand while he listened.
"Thank you!" he was grateful just for the kindness already. "What's the news?"
"Your bad luck this morning wasn't bad luck, it was Faria messing with you, and she's promised to stop," Jubilee gestured at the fluttering fairy. Murray was mostly glad it would be over, but still thoroughly annoyed.
"What? Why me? I don't even know you!"
"It was a misunderstanding," Jubilee nodded. "Now she knows not to believe everything she reads."
"What?" Murray tilted his head, that was even less of an answer.
"I'm sorry Mr. Human," Faria shook her head. "I was trying to be a good fairy, and I read somewhere that it seems the Fae mess with people because they're lonely. That's what I was trying to do, and I won't bother you anymore," she said.
"You were bothering me because you were lonely?" he asked. Both Jubilee and Faria giggled at that and shook their heads.
"You came to the beach by yourself, so I thought you were lonely. According to the book, it was apparent that I needed to mess with you."