Needle in a Haystack

Sleep is Good

Emily leaned back against her day bed, staring at the sleeping pixie that had just devoured her dinner and couldn't bring herself to be mad at him. To her, he was inconsiderate and arrogant, but she must have seemed much the same from his perspective. She knew he was coming, but did not have refreshments ready. In hindsight, that was rather rude of her, as much as inviting a dignitary to your house without cleaning up.

'What kind of gifts do you think the Fay like?' she asked Ember.

'First born children,' Ember deadpanned.

'No but really,' she insisted. 'What kind of refreshments do you think Pippin had in mind?'

'Some old tales of the Fay feasting on milk and honey come to mind,' Ember mused. 'Though the pipsqueak really made short work of Mom's spaghetti, and an entire can of orange soda. So I guess the real question is: was he just that hungry or are pixies not as picky as they try to appear?'

Pippin shivered in his sleep, and Emily took pity on him. She covered him up with a clean tea towel, and made him a pillow out of cotton balls and an old silk jewel bag. As she rested his head on the makeshift pillow, he gave a great big snort, shivered, settling lower into the covers and smiled sweetly, before resuming his hearty snore. She left him to sleep and went to make another serving. This time she was determined to eat it.

When she returned to her room, after washing up, Pippin was gone. The plate was clean, and the tea towel was folded like a comforter with the "pillow" resting on top of an ornately scrawled note, with several scribbled through and crossed out lines on her notebook paper. It read: (* is crossed out).

Dear Lady,

Your generosity and innocence are (several lines crossed out and scribbled through text mentioning major organs) to be commended. If ever you need me, call my name on the East wind. I will come to your aid. *Especially if you have more of that spagety.* By the command of our Lady, I cannot come to you unbidden until you sign her contract. *Please, bid me come again soon.*

Yours,

Pippin *Longstockholm* Longstocking

She tried not to giggle, but a giggle turned into a guffaw, which turned into wheezing laughter for minutes. Her exhaustion and sudden relief at not having to worry about a pixie showing up at an inopportune time made her giddy. She decided to forego a shower in favor of brushing her teeth and braiding her hair. She had been fighting off sleep for hours before Pippin showed up, and it gave her two black eyes as proof. As she finished braiding her hair, she heard her mother getting up for work. She walked into the kitchen to tell her mother to have a good day and give her a hung goodbye.

"Hi, Mom," she croaked.

Anna dropped the coffee cup that she was pulling out of the cabinet and screamed bloody murder as it shattered on the linoleum floor. She leaned back against the counter, trying to get her heart rate to slow, before rounding on Emily.

"Just what do you think you're doing, young lady?" she shouted when she could breathe again. "You've missed the bus! Now I have to rush getting ready for work so I can drop you off."

And she ran back to her room as the coffee maker finished brewing with a stuttering hiss. Emily shook her head and gingerly stepped over the broken cup to make her mother a cup of coffee as amends for the misunderstanding. She scratched at her mother's door, coffee cup in hand.

"What," Anna shouted through the door.

Emily walked in instead of responding.

"Before you say anything else, I don't have class until tonight," Emily said, holding up the coffee cup like it was an Olympic torch.

"You don't?" Anna looked baffled for a moment, then, "They switched you to night classes to avoid a scandal," she sighed, all the tension leaving her body as her eyes closed. She slumped onto her bare mattress on the floor and flopped onto her back. Emily took her hand and hauled her back upright, waving the full cup under her nose to coax her eyes open. Anna's eyes fluttered open, and she gave her daughter a rueful smile, still seated on the mattress.

"Hey, who's the adult here," she said jokingly, but her smile turned sad and wistful. "I guess we both are now, hu?" She let the silence stretch for a moment, then reached for her daughter's hand. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I could have guessed they would put you in night classes, just to get you away from 'Poor Nicky'," she said, using her free hand to do air quotes. "Since I don't have to drop you off, I've got a few minutes. You wanna talk?"

Emily tried to think through the haze of fatigue about the things she wanted to tell her mother. She took the cup of coffee out of her hands, took a sip and handed it back. She stretched and shook like a dog expelling water, and was able to think only a little more clearly.

"I'm probably gonna crash hard in a minute, but when you have a minute, I have a contract that I'd like you to help me understand."

Anna chugged half of her coffee cup before asking, "What is this contract for, exactly?"

"It was a... kind of ah... job offer."

"What from the restaurant last night? Why didn't you say so! I wouldn't have been upset at all if you'd told me you were out looking for a job!" Anna crowed, raising her coffee cup like a bar fly raising a tall neck and dancing around the room.

"No, mom," Emily tried to cut off her mother's exuberance by talking over her. She could have made it to the Olympics in Jumping to Conclusions. "I went in there to get out of the heat, but it's owned by the Fay."

At the mention of the Fay, her mother froze in her tracks, hands still in the air and turned to her daughter. She straightened and brought the mug back to her lips, drained it, and headed back to the kitchen for a refill. Emily trialed behind her, looking around for the broom to sweep up the forgotten broken cup, but when they got to the kitchen, the cup was gone. The floor was clean.

"Awe, you didn't have to do that sweetie," Anna said, sweeping her hand around indicating the kitchen floor.

"I... your welcome," Emily said, sleep pulling at her conscious thoughts, making them sluggish. "I'm going to bed now," she mumbled, weaving on her feet, and stumbled to bed. As she drifted off, Ember chided her for not brushing her teeth again.

'It was only one tiny sip of coffee. Not worth it right now,' was her last thought before sleep finally claimed her.