Electra E




I was walking along the table, trying to take the whole of the sorting in. We didn’t have enough sylphs on hand to sort all the piles, but I was comfortable with that. We had people that Conrad and I could trust, and they understood what we wanted.

As the backlog was starting to look more like a rational amount of paperwork, I saw that Denise started sorting the sorted piles.

She sat on categories side of the table and spoke with the sylphs at each category, deciding if there were sufficient numbers to split off a sub- or sub-sub-category.

I walked over quietly to stand by her elbow as she, Pipkin and Amelia discussed Rescues. Pipkin thought there were very different stories of people who were in immediate danger following their sylphing. She suggested Rescues from animals; Rescues from machinery; Rescues from weather; Rescues from grabby little red headed brats that went to the same kindergarten (something of a key issue for Pipkin, I gathered); and Rescued from starving.

Denise shook her head. “See, if we make seven or eleven different subsubs, then Electra’s going to want to interview at least one person from each subsub.” I had to smile at how quickly they’d developed their own jargon for the sorting.

She went on. “But then, the viewer at home is just going to see ‘rescued.’ And they’re going to roll their eyes at ‘Oh, God ANOTHER rescued-by-a-giant story. What’s the threat this week? A fox, a pet snake, a chainsaw, landing a plane, sun stroke, sleet, Tommy Jerkwad?’ They’ll be less interested in the sylph’s story.” Couldn’t argue with that. We had to be interesting, first and foremost, in order to sell any specific message we wanted to.

“So what would you suggest?” Amelia asked.

“Well, there’s like three things.” She held up a finger. “There’s the immediate danger exactly because you sylphed.”

Another finger: “Then there’s more of a long-term danger. The guy in the warehouse, for example. No direct threats, but no food, no way to contact anyone, and no one knew where he was.”

And the third finger: “And there are the people whose life sucked when they were human, but actually improved by their shrinking.”

“Oh!” I exclaimed. That one struck me right between the eyes. Everyone turned to look at me.

“Someone you know, Electra?” Amelia asked with a knowing smile.

“Um, this sylph, Princess… I heard that she really adapted well to her new life after… After.” No need to explain where I would stand, I thought. I can’t interview myself.

At eleven o’clock, Conrad called a halt. “Okay, we’re well past halfway done, and we have all of tomorrow to finish. I and Electra-“

“Electra and I!” I shouted.

“You’re Electra!” Conrad pointed out. “YOU would not be You and You!” Ass, I thought with a smile. “Anyway, WE would like to thank everyone who’s helped so far, it’s just been amazing. If it was up to me, I’d still be waiting for Electra to solve the problem.”

Everyone clapped or cheered. He went on. “I want to invite everyone to the bar down the street for a nightcap.” Looks passed between people and their sylphs. “I’m buying,” he finished. Several people cheered.

“I was going to invite everyone in to my place,” I said. Then I looked up at the nearest giant, which was Nolan. “Well, not EVERYONE.”

“So, humans go drink, sylphs go… Whatever she has planned?” Denise suggested.

Stacks were carefully placed, clips were applied liberally, and plates and cups were carted off to the kitchen or scullery or wherever they go.

I opened the front door to the set and invited people inside. They waved to their giants and filed past me.

Delli and Cher went straight to the fridge and started handing out drinking bulbs of ice water.

Annie appeared to designate herself as Kerri’s drink caddy, holding two bulbs as the artist knuckled over to a sofa. I noticed that no one tried or offered to lift her. She seemed quite content.

The window was set to the Boise River and some admired the view. Everyone started to find seats or places to stand in the living room.

“Oh, I was going to take everyone up to the conversation pit in the loft,” I said.

We filed up the stairs, everyone admiring the details. “This is weird,” Amelia said.

“Weird?” Pet asked.

“Well, it’s not like being in my carrier, or someone else’s. This is… This is like being invited into someone’s HOME.”

Others made sounds of agreement.

“Thanks,” I said.

The pit was designed for lounging. Throw pillows and bean-bag chairs were everywhere, and the carpeting was extra-soft if you just want to throw yourself down on the ground.

Conrad did pretty good, for an idiot. Which is unfair. He can’t do math in his head, but he understands people far in advance of his years.

People spread out and relaxed. I mean, really relaxed. It’s something special, seeing a sylph that’s found an environment they know they can completely drop their guard in.

I’m sure part of it was that we were in the Center, and part was that the giants had gone away, but dammit, it felt good to be the hostess where eight of my friends were that comfortable.

“OH!” It struck me that I was the hostess. “Snacks!” I said. “We have a whole pantry of snacks! I’ll get some-“

Cher and Delli ran to stand at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, a united barricade. What the Hell? I wondered. Gosh, I’ve become such a potty mouth since sylphing. At least in my head.

I blame Conrad, you know. The fucking idiot. Tee-hee.

Anyway, I gestured for them to move out of the way. “You’re the hostess,” Delli said.

“We’re your staff,” Cher pointed out.

“You stay here and make people comfortable. It’s your job and your honor.”

“And you’re good at it.”

“We’ll get the snacks.”

“If you’re really my staff,” I said, “I could order you to sit down and relax while I get the chips and crunch and pops.”

“She must be really tired,” Cher said to Delli. “I can’t understand a word she said.”

“Something about laying down, I think,” Delli said. “She usually enunciates so well, too.”

“All right, all right,” I surrendered. I turned and ostentatiously walked to the other end of the loft.

“You aren’t thinking of jumping over the rail, are you?” Pet asked. “Because that would be a really sneaking thing to do-“

“Sneaky, Pet,” Butters said gently.

“A sneaky thing to do, I mean, after two of your friends won the argument, then you go and cheat, just to win the fight? Plus it would look like you were abandoning your guests just to be the one who chose the snacks.”

“It’s really easy to underestimate you, isn’t it, Pet?” I asked as I gave up and sat down on a cushion.

“You have NO idea,” Annie said.



-----
Index

113. Kerri E

107. Blank