"Thanks, Miranda, but it has been a long day. I just don't think I am up to it. Maybe some other time, " said Roxie.
Miranda shrugged. "Suit yourself. There will be plenty more opportunities in the future. As I said, there is not much else to do, " said Miranda, as she started to fly away.
"Wait! " said Roxie. "Where do we sleep?"
Miranda chuckled. "Wherever you like, silly. You don't have to worry about predators, or anything. We make sure that we are the only dangerous things living in this garden, " said Miranda, flashing her long needle-like teeth. "So you can just pull up a leaf and sleep anywhere. I'll find you in the morning, wherever you are. The garden isn't really that big." Miranda waved her hand, and disappeared over a small pile of dirt and joined the other fairies at the party.
Once Miranda was out of sight, Roxie began to look for a way out of the garden. The exit door was out of the question. Not only was it locked, but it was impossible to open now given her smaller size. She thought about looking for an exit in the ceiling, but she didn't want to get noticed by the other fairies flying above them. So she decided to fly to the edge of the garden, and look for some way to sneak through the wall.
It didn't take long for her to find an escape route - there was a small crack in the wall of the garden. It was a tiny hole and it would require some careful manipulation to fit even her tiny body through there. She wasn't even sure that it lead anywhere. She thought she saw a little light coming through from the other end of the tunnel, but she couldn't be sure. But Roxie decided she didn't have much to lose, and began to work her way into the hole.
It was difficult work. The tunnel seemed impossibly long, and equally small. Several times she had to squeeze and pull her tiny body through a narrow opening. It left her dirty, and she noticed that she left her own slightly shiny dust behind wherever she rubbed her body. Apparently she was now producing fairy dust, just like the fairies that had changed her.
She was about halfway through the gap, when she heard the alarm. It was a loud klaxon, almost as deafening as the moans of the plants in the garden. She saw red lights flashing in the garden. But up ahead she could see white fluorescent light pouring into the tunnel from an entrance on the opposite side. She began to double her pace, trying to make her way to freedom.
"Stop! Roxie, what are you doing?" shouted a voice from the hole leading to the garden. Roxie looked back, and saw Miranda staring into the hole. Several of the other fairies were gathered behind her. Roxie just redoubled her efforts, and continued to move towards the white light.
"Come back, Roxie. You'll never make it. Even if you get out there, you will never survive without your sisters. As a group, we are strong. But as an individual, we are just fragile prey for the monsters out there, " said Miranda. Roxie continued to flee, and Miranda began to get angry. "Even if you somehow evade all the predators, you will never escape the humans. They will never stop hunting you. And if you think we are cruel ......"
Roxie was almost there, almost out the other end of the tunnel.
"What do you hope to find out there, Roxie? You are one of us now. There is no going back. Do you think the humans will help you? You are no longer one of them, and you never will be again. The most you can hope for is to become their pet. Is that what you want, Roxie? To spend the rest of your life in a cage? As some kind of toy?" yelled Miranda.
Roxie was at the exit now, and spared one last glance back at Miranda. She was trying to follow Roxie into the tunnel, but her larger body made it more difficult for her to navigate the smaller space. Miranda gave up, and began to curse Roxie.
"I gave you a gift - spared your very life - and this is how you repay me? By insulting me and running away? Well, you'll be back. There is no other place for you. You'll see. And you'll be sorry. I promise you that, I'll make sure that you are sorry you ever even thought of leaving the garden, " said Miranda.
Roxie sighed. She had to try. If she never tried, she would always be filled with regret. And it was now or never.
"You'll be sorrreeey.......You'll be sorrreey....." taunted Miranda in a sing-song voice.
Roxie took a deep breath, and jumped out the small hole into the white fluorescent light.