Disclaimer: The Simpsons is the work of Matt Groening.

Summary : Homer and tinkering had never been good friends. [Writing Month Challenge 2020 – Day 23]

Author's note : English isn't my first language, I'm french. I like to think I'm good in this language and I do use Grammarly to help me with some more corrections. However, if you spot any mistake or weird sentences, feel free to let me know! I'd love to have your input so I can improve even more!

This story is part of the second edition of the writing month challenge from TheWritter1996: Write a one-shot per day and share it for an entire month. For more challenge, I decided to go one different fandom per day.

A fairy's house and a screw in a foot

"Steady... Steady... D'oh!"

Bart had a frank burst of laughter while his father was whimpering in pain. Indeed, the quite clumsy family man had wanted to make Lisa happy by building, then installing in the tree in their backyard, a fairy's house. This was quite the british fantasy. The british people did have that custom of leaving between a tree's branches, a small decorated house, about the size of a bird's house. Legend said that it attracted a pixie who would settle in. Lisa's heart had melted because of the story's sweetness and had asked her father if he could hang it in their tree once she would have built it.

"Come on, Honey! You know that your daddy is a handyman! He's gonna build a mansion for Tinkerbell!" Homer had told her enthusiastically

"How sweet! I have an idea! Homer, Lisa, what if you two build one and both would be neighbours?" Marge had suggested. "Then, there would be two fairies at the Simpsons' house!"

Homer's fairy house didn't look like a palace at all, it was crooked and not screwed right. However, Lisa loved it. Because, despite all of its imperfections, she could see all the hard work Homer had put in it. He had used the colours she liked, he had tried to write "Welcome" on the front as if he had wanted the pixie to come quicker...

And then, wanting to screw other things, he had put a screw into his foot, only God knew how!

"Hello, neighborino!" Flanders exclaimed while he passed his head over the adjoining fence of the two houses. "Homer, you're bleeding!"

"No, it's tomato juice!" Homer grumbled

"Are you okay?"

"I have a screw in my foot, why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Oh, well then."

Ned didn't insist but he had the delicacy to warn Marge who sighed. Yet another trip to the hospital. When Homer came back home a few hours later Ned was there as he had proposed to watch over the kids, his own sons had joined him.

"Stay with us for dinner Ned!" Marge said

Homer had the surprise of his life when he was his fairy's house. The planks were straight, the screw perfectly hammered, the colours not bleeding as much, the writing neat, it simply was just like he had pictured it. He knew that, while his head showed him ideas, his two left hands prevented him in reproducing them.

"Dad, Mister Flanders helped me finishing your house!" Lisa smiled

"Oh, there wasn't much more to work on!" The man lied

It was one the Lord would forgive him, it was to help his friend Homer.

"Your base was steady and the carpentry well done! There were just a few screws to change but they were crooked to start with. As for the colours, they only needed a second coat!"

"You're a very bad liar, Flanders." Homer retorted, drying the tear in the corner of his eye. "But you're the best neighbour any man could ask for."

Ned Flanders only had a benevolent smile for a reply while Homer, taking Lisa on his shoulders, helped her installing the small fairies' houses, before thinking it could be really nice to make a Christian version for his own boys.

The End