Annie CXVI: Little Blue

(Chronological index: Ray College Junior)

Ray's AD&D crew was having an end-of-summer reunion and Annie wanted no part of it. Ray had apologized for how he'd treated her when she gamed with them, and she'd forgiven him.

But they were spending their reunion in a haunted house. She shuddered at the thought and pulled her blanket around close. Being shrunk to the size of an action figure was as much paranormal as she was willing to put up with in one lifetime.

She sat in the windowsill of her and Ray's room. The wire-wrapped 'beach' she'd sunned on from time to time. Right now she was watching the sunset. The clouds darkened and disappeared, while streetlights and fireflies came on.

There was a large cloud of the creatures around the trees beyond the swimming pool. She stared, almost in a trance. No thoughts, just floating on the aimless circling of mindless insects.

Kinda like some of the frat parties at Ray's college, she thought. She smiled then went back to staring.

Some distance behind her, she heard Mom and Dad's bedroom door shut. She was as alone as she was going to get tonight. And she tried to tell herself that was good.

Not five years back, some 'alone time' was hard to come by. Now, she spent about as much time alone in her cage as she spent with Ray.

And the quality of time spent with her Master had improved. He'd gotten past the action figure phase of their relationship, and the voice activated toy, and the pocket girlfriend.

They were, for lack of a better word, friends. He listened to her and even bounced ideas off of her. He still made sure she knew who was in charge, but it was a lot closer to friends than it was to come-sit-stay pet.

He'd even offered to take her to the allegedly haunted house. Left it entirely up to her.

"Please," she had said. "One creaky door and you'll be weeping on my shoulder, asking me to protect you from the scary ghosts."

"And... You have a problem with that?" he'd asked.

"Well, you have four friends going, I can't protect them all." She'd made shooing motions. "Besides, I have to get started on this cupcake." He'd saluted and left.

Most of the cupcake was now in her little fridge. It was calling to her, but only gently at this point. Soon, she'd have to respond.

But at this moment, she was noticing that one of the fireflies was blue.

"That's new," she said slowly. She'd grown up watching, catching and releasing the bugs. She'd argued with her fath- She'd been in arguments about whether they were green or yellow. But blue? Blue was right out. There were no sapphire lightning bugs.

She scooted a little closer to the wire, watching the bugs. Watching the blue one.

It spun and swooped and she realized it was faster than the others. And it flew in patterns. Not the languid zig-zag of every other firefly she'd ever seen.

And it was... "Beauiful," she breathed softly. And the light stopped.

It didn't go out, it just stopped moving. But fireflies don't hover. This one did, the moment she spoke. Like it had heard her.

She squinted, trying to see some sort of detail. The light got a bit brighter, but that was all.

And suddenly, she remembered a course she'd audited with Bren- With another sylph. If the bearing rate of a meteor is zero, if the path doesn't vary from side to side, then the meteor is coming straight at the observer.

There'd been an hour of discussion that included submarines and torpedoes, but she only remembered the meteor.

The blue light was still moving, but it was coming right at her.

"Oh..." she whispered. She stood and backed away from the wire mesh.

The light zoomed closer and closer, getting brighter and brighter and suddenly there was a woman outside the mesh.

She glowed with a blue aura. There was no visible light source, just a glow. Little glass-like wings flickered in the blue light as they pumped behind her.

Annie found herself stepping forward. "I was right," she said. "You are beautiful."

The woman smiled and flew in a loop, ending up hovering in the same spot. She had chiseled features and red hair and a rough-woven blouse/skirt and she smiled with sharp, golden fangs.

And she was about the size of Annie's two hands, fingers spread to tickle Ray.

She waved, beckoning Annie to come out and fly with her. Annie shook her head. The silent creature put her hands together to implore. "No," Annie said. "I can't fly."

The fairy pouted and adjusted her posture. Her wings flapped and she looked as if she was sitting, elbows on knees, hands cupping her chin. And she stared at Annie, waiting for one of them to think of a solution.

Annie laughed. "It would be fun to come out and play, Blue." She turned around and lifted her shirt. "But no one gave me wings. I can not fly with you."

She turned back around and adjusted her shirt. "Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming. I'd wake up JUST as I stepped off the roof and fell to my death."

Blue stuck her lip out in a clear, 'you're no fun' expression. Annie laughed again and Blue laughed, silent, but showing those disturbingly sharp teeth again.

"Shoo," Annie said. "Go have fun. It's lovely to watch you." Blue preened. "I'm stuck here. A pet. But a happy one, watching you."

Blue shook her head sadly, then turned and swooped down, out of sight. Annie dashed to the mesh and caught sight of the fairy (or whatever it was) zig-zagging across the lawn.

She was headed back for the trees when she seemed to notice the pool for the first time. The light circled the water, then crossed it. Her blue light illuminated the water. She dipped to touch the water and her light filled the pool.

Radiance sparkled back and forth, with the creature's wake warping it across the bottom branches of the trees.

Then she ran headfirst into the diving board. The light winked out and there was a splash.

"Blue?" Annie called. "BLUE? Y'allright?"

"Owfuckdamnshit!" a voice came from the darkness. High, fast and squeaky.

"Well, that covers it," Annie nodded appreciatively. There was some splashing coming from the pool. The light flickered a bit. Blue was moving towards a pool toy, a rubber duck bobbing in the water.

She didn't seem to be an accomplished swimmer, there was far too much splashing. And if she wasn't flying up out of the water...

"This is a job for water-sylph!" Annie muttered. She ran for the corner and dug up her excursion kit.

Minutes later, she'd exfiltrated her enclosure and secured her dental floss dispenser to the rivet at the top of the rain gutter.

A minute after that, she slid out of the gutter and started running towards the pool.

She kept an eye out for owls or cats, but mostly just ran to the rescue. The splashing continued, but lessened. Annie hoped that meant Blue had reached the float, not that she was tiring.

She finally reached the fence around the pool, ducked under it, and sped over the concrete.

The duck was tipped over on its side, a weak blue light blinking from the bill. Blue was holding on there, trying to kick her way up onto the head.

"Just hold on!" Annie shouted. Blue's head whipped around. The light dimmed as the fairy frowned. "I"ll be right there!"

The light returned with the sylph's promise, but she didn't smile. Annie shucked everything she was carrying and took off her clothes.

Then there was a running dive and she torpedoed over to the duck.

She came up to the duck's back and held onto the rubber head. The two looked in each other's eyes. "It'll be okay," Annie promised.

Blue rubbed her head, pouting. "Oh, yes, I heard. Ow, fuck, damn, shit. Very expressive. You swear very well, and I should know. I swear ALL the time."

Blue smiled in spite of her discomfort and fear. She turned a bit, showing her wings. They were covered with some sticky slime. It reminded Annie of Raymond's first model airplane. He'd sneezed while gluing the engine cowling and...

"What, Pixie Dust turns to snot in water?" she asked. Blue nodded her head mournfully.

"Okay. Well, let's get you to shore, then dry and wipe you off, okay?" She got the little woman to hold her shoulder while she righted the duck.

Then with a hand under the tiny butt, she heaved Blue up onto the duck's back. As long as Annie didn't try to climb up there, too, it shouldn't tip over under the load.

Then she started paddling the duck towards the side of the pool.

When she raised her head to check on her passenger, the light was improving. It got brighter and the flashes were lasting longer.

She'd dumped her clothes next to one of the sylph-sized ladders in the pool. She hung from that and offered a hand to the fairy.

Blue smiled and let Annie lift her up and carry her topside. "We'll get my shirt and wipe your wings off," Annie said. "And if you still can't get away, you can spend the day in my room."

The blue light blinked rapidly on and off. Annie paused just before climbing over the top of the ladder. "Is that enthusiasm or disagreement?"

Blue looked frustrated where she curled in Annie's elbow. She pointed.

"Yes," Annie misunderstood. "That's the direction of my room. Or..." She pulled herself up a rung. "That's where my knife is. Does the steel bother you? I'll just leave the knife here. Is that the problem?"

Blue pointed again, insistently. Annie got to the top of the ladder and looked along the fairy's direction.

A large cat was sniffing at Annie's clothes. It looked up at the blue light and licked its chops.

"Fuck."

"Owfuckdamnshit," Blue said, nodding.

"Okay," Annie said, thinking out loud while the cat considered her. "I can jump back in the pool. Kitty can't reach us, we can hang out."

Blue whimpered. Annie nodded. "Okay, fairies don't like water. I can understand. But it may be a matter of life or-"

"Ka CHEW!" Blue sneezed in an adorable but explosive sneeze. Annie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, maybe Kitty'll get bored and ramble off towards-" The cat's tail flicked and one paw moved slowly in the direction of the tiny women. It came down on the knife blade in its cardboard holster.

Something about the knife being under Kitty's control made Annie's blood race. She'd worked hard to smuggle that knife out of the junk drawer, up to the room, out to the sandbox. To fashion the holster. Hell, just getting duct tape off the roll without Raymond's help had been an exhausting day.

And all that effort to defend herself, all that work to arm herself for adventures on her own, all was hardly a bump under a cat's soft paw. She snapped.

"LISTEN you goddamned FUCKING feline! Get OFF my knife and away from my shit! I'm short but I'm wiry, stronger than I look and I am THROUGH taking SHIT off of anybody!"

"Mrrw?" the cat asked, surprised that something the size of a mouse could make such noise.

"I've been tiny for eight years, naked for most of it, frustrated for a lot of it and the last goddamned time I got laid it was as a DESSERT TOPPING! I'm not in the mood, and you would NOT LIKE my bitter, bitter flavor, or my high pitched screaming OR the fact that I'm going to pee in your throat on the way down!"

She realized that she'd taken a few steps towards the cat. She noticed, finally, that a terrified Blue was gripping her arm tightly, tiny nails pushed deeply into the skin. And recognized that she was holding her head at an uncomfortable angle, looking straight up at the eyes of the cat.

Kitty looked around the pool, a little embarrassed. Lights on the far end gave her an excuse to pretend she'd lost interest in the...whatever it was. She padded around the cement surface, silent as a dream.

Annie watched her go, then took a deep breath. "I probably only get one of those in a lifetime..." she said slowly. Then turned down to look at Blue. "Or you do?"

Blue's eyes were almost as wide as her entire face and her mouth gaped. The two stared at each other for a moment. Then Blue laughed. All the tension of the last ten minutes burst out of both of them. Annie guffawed until she was having difficulty breathing, laying on the piled clothing, rocking back and forth.

Blue lay on and off of Annie's shorts, pounding the ground with her fist. Her wings spasmed and flung thick goo back and forth.

Two cats started to howl, out in the alley. In moments Annie was up and dressed, knife at the ready. She paused long enough to slip Blue to her shoulder and took off running for the rain gutter.

--------

She slid the plastic bag back into the hole and shoved sand over it. Blue watched with interest.

"Okay, everything's back," Annie said. "Now, let's look at you." She had the fairy lay face-down on her lap and slowly, gently wiped the wings clean.

Blue sighed as if the attention was a deep massage. "Are you drooling on me?" Annie asked. "Because after all we've been through, that'd be kinda ungrateful on your part." Blue just giggled.

When she was all done, she leaned back a bit. "Okay, they're clean." Blue came up on her elbows and flapped her wings. They flickered, the glow started to rise again, but there was no flying.

One spot of light, like a single flake of glitter, popped into the air between her wings.

She frowned and beat her wings harder, maybe twice as fast as before. Three or four flakes appeared, swirling in the air through the currents the wings created.

Then she sagged. Annie stroked the back. "So, they're getting better, you're just tired. Or... Are you as hungry as I am?" She picked up her guest and started walking towards the icebox.

Worry for the sprite had prevented her from noticing how much of an appetite she'd worked up.

By the time she was on the right dresser, she was running. She yanked the fridge open and pulled out a Hershey's Kiss. Blue made a questioning sound.

"It's good. It's chocolate. Sugar? Understand sugar?" Blue looked at her trustingly. Annie broke off the tip and held it out. Blue tried a tiny bit. Little curls of chocolate were gouged out by her teeth...

Which Annie noticed were white and flat now. She didn't comment. Blue moved the chocolate back and forth in her mouth, trying to decide if it was worth it.

"Well, there's also a bit of spare rib left over from the barbecue." She reached into the box. Her hand was batted to the side by a little blue blur. The fairy yanked out the meat, a chunk bigger than she was.

Sauce splattered the dresser as the little beast tore into the flesh. Annie covered her face and scooted back. "Like that, huh?" she asked.

Blue paused to smile. The teeth were golden fangs once more. Annie tried to smile back.

She edged around the devouring beast and got a bulb of water out. She closed the box and retreated to an unspattered corner.

There she discovered that milk chocolate was good, with a tiny bit of sauce dabbed on it.

And she watched Blue's glow and glitter increase with each bite.

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She woke in the morning, crumpled aluminum her pillow. She sat up and looked around. She'd fallen asleep in the sandbox.

"Must have been when I dreamed up Blue," she muttered. She sniffed. "Nothing that pretty really exists in this world."

She felt thirsty, so she rolled to her feet to get a bulb. And felt pain.

There was a gash in the skin near her elbow. She looked close. It hadn't quite broken skin, but there were ten teeny, tiny half-moon shapes in her skin, all in a line, all bruised.

Right where Blue would have been holding-

"AW!" she complained. "That means she DID eat my rib!" She started running towards the ice box.

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