I see him shift out of the corner of my eye. “No.” I moan my heartache in silence. “Since you told me that none of you were
charged with a crime, I’ve actually taken various routes through the prison out of curiosity, but I’ve never seen anyone.”“We work
sunrise to sunset, so they’d be in the cave during that time.”“I’m here before sunrise.”
My surprise actually stops me in my tracks. “Really? Finley requires you work that early?”“No.” He must take my lack of movement
as exhaustion because he takes a few steps towards me and leans his back against the wall, arms still crossed, blocking any
advancement I could make. “But these days I find it hard to sleep well.”“Me too.” I decide to sit and give my legs the break they
deserve, suddenly feeling very tired. “If you’re flying over, you won’t see them. The pit we’re kept in is glamoured.”“A glamour within
a glamour? That’s weird.” He joins me on the floor, keeping his eyes forward like me.“Not if you don’t realize your prison is a
glamour to begin with. For the longest time I thought the desolate wasteland was real. Like a fire had taken it at one time and the
forest never recovered.”“I suppose that makes sense.” Jack removes a roll of bread from his satchel and hands it to me. His sister
must really love bread to make it fresh every day. “How’d you figure out it was a glamour?”“The ripples in the barrier,” I say between
nibbles. “Once I saw them in the illusion covering our pit, I began to wonder if the edge of our so-called wasteland had one too. It
didn’t make sense to see life flourishing across the canyon and nothing where we were. No birds, no plants. Not even the wind
broke through. It just didn’t make sense.”“There were ripples? The mushroom powder in the dust should’ve prevented that. I mean,
that’s what it’s used for. Illusions.”“Oh, my Mother Nature,” I mumble, bending my head and banging my free palm against my
forehead. “No. They didn’t.”“What?”
I smear my hand down over my face, burying myself behind it, shaking my head. They were using our own mushroom powder
against us! Jack’s right. Quality pixie dust with hallucinogenic mushrooms would never expose the weaknesses of the illusion. But
because they use the mushroom powder we make, whose quality we never give a crap about, the pixie dust isn’t top notch. That’s
why I could see the magical ripple! The magic’s flawed!
I burst into a fit of giggles, and the release feels so good.“What?” Jack inquires again.“Nothing, sorry,” I say, waving him off. “Private
thought.”
It’s not that part of me doesn’t trust Jack enough to be honest, but something inside me tells me it’s best to keep this to myself. It’s
not my secret to share. It belongs to all us pixies. And should it ever get out, they’ll be the ones to bear the punishment, and I won’t
be responsible for that. Besides, making the faeries awful mushroom powder is our one enjoyment in this crappy world. Our one
way to get back at them for unlawfully imprisoning us.
And it serves them right. I hope every spell they perform blows up in their faces.
Jack looks like he’s going to push me for an answer, so I quickly pop out, “I was only asking ‘cause I feel bad for leaving Willow to
take care of everyone without me. Like I’ve abandoned them or something. I guess I just wanted to know that they’re doing okay
without me.”
His arms relax to his sides. I pick at the roll, popping little pieces into my mouth. The yeast isn’t as strong in this batch, so I’m left to
chew on tasteless calories.“I’m sure they’re fine, Rosalie. If Willow’s anything like you, she’ll move forward no matter what happens.”“
Yeah,” I mumble, chewing another piece of bread. I know he’s probably right, but I’m left to wonder how long Willow will hold out
hope that I’ll one day return. I hope she knows I’ll fight until my dying breath.“So what about the males? Juniper told me that there are
male pixies mining diamonds somewhere.”
Jack nods his head. “I’m surprised she knew that. They used to be kept within the same glamour, but I think about ten years ago they
minimized this glamour and made a new one for the males. But to answer your question, I don’t know. I’ve never gone into that one.”“
Why’d they separate us?”“I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine.”
I sigh quietly. I have every intention of freeing them as well, but they’ll be the hardest of all, seeing as how I have no idea where they
are or what their glamour will entail. I only hope the males are holding up better than the females.
Sitting with my head lying atop my knees, I rock my body gently forwards and backwards. I’m hoping the motion will ease the
cramping in my lower abdomen, but nothing seems to be calming my intestines, which seem to be mad at me for introducing too
much food too soon. Oh well. I’ll take this discomfort over the starvation pains any day.
I hear the echoes of Jack’s whistles as he makes his way down the cave passage. When I told him what was hurting me earlier, he’d
set off, simply stating that he’d be back. Please let him have something to ease my pain. But as he descends, all I see is a bucket,
similar to the one he fills with water for me.
My forehead furrows in confusion. “What’s this for?” I ask as he sets it down beside me and sits across the hole.“So you can…you
know…go.”“That’s what you went to get for me?” I immediately feel guilty about snapping at him. It’s just…that wasn’t what I was
looking forward to. I was hoping for some concoction of herbs to drink that would relieve my pain. Not…a bucket.“Well, you can’t
dirty your water bucket and no way do I want you to keep going on the floor. Especially now that you’re eating so much.”
Groaning, I bury my eyes in my knees and for once welcome the darkness. “Mother Nature, this is so humiliating! How could my life
possibly get any worse?”“You could be naked.”
My head rises far enough for my eyes to shoot him an evil glare. He cocks his eyebrows suggestively.“What?” he tries to ask
innocently. “You asked how your life could be worse. Being naked would definitely make life worse.”
I want to tell him where he can shove his idea of nudity – Mother Nature, this pain is making me moody! – but decide my best course
of action is to change what he’s thinking altogether, because me being naked is not something I want him focusing on. Especially
since my clothes are wearing pretty thin these days. “So why haven’t you told me anything about your family?”
He cocks a half-smile, and the flame catches the glint in his cool green eyes. “Why haven’t you ever asked me before?”
Because I didn’t need you distracted then… “Sorry, but family isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I meet new fae. Where I
grew up, we don’t have families.”
His smile fades. “What?”
I shrug nonchalantly. “The eggs in our Hollow are collectively raised by the town, not individuals. I suppose some parents may be
able to figure out which child is theirs, but anyone born within the same three months are given the same season as their birthday. I
was given autumn. And our names come a little later, so no pixie can really be identified.”“That’s…well, I’d say awful, since it’s so
different than what we do here, but I guess to each his own. If it works, it works.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Who says it works? I felt protected growing up, but never really loved. How can you when there’s no one
that really takes an interest in your well-being? They just show you the ropes and send you on your way.”
He smiles sweetly. “I don’t know, Rosalie. You seem like you turned out okay to me. You’re strong. You care about the well-being of
others. You seem to fear very little. And you refuse to roll over.”“Exactly which one of those traits got my village to come look for me?
” I ask dryly.
His gaze averts to the flame and for a moment he’s quiet. “I have a mother and a father, and my little sister, Starla.”
Good. He doesn’t want to continue that other conversation any more than I do.“A mighty fine cook. How old is she?”“Thirteen. So
you can see why she’s a pain.”
I chuckle. “I really wouldn’t know. I never considered any of the younger pixlings a sibling, so I was never really bothered by them
growing up.”
He nods in agreement. “She’s not really that bad. She’s just reaching that age where she questions everything you’re doing. Where
are you going? Why? What are you going to do there? Who’s going to be there? Why do you hang out with them anyway? Does
mother know you’re going? It’s like a freakin’ inquisition.”“Sounds like she’s really interested in her big brother.”“More like my
parents baited her to do their dirty work. They don’t trust me to stay out of trouble these days.”
My mind immediately recalls the conversation Jack had with Finley right here in this hole, and why he was here to begin with. “So
what exactly did you do to get stuck watching me? Something you and your friend did?”“It was just a prank,” he tries to explain
seriously, but fails, a smile creeping across his face. “More my friend’s doing than mine.”
Being a pixie, the fae best known for screwing with others, I don’t buy that. “Uh-huh. Sure. It’s always someone else’s idea.”“No,
really. I played a part but it was all his doing.” I cock my eyebrows, glaring until he decides to defend himself. “Look, I’ll tell you, but I
probably don’t come off too good in this, even though I didn’t do it.”“Uh-huh.”“It was stupid, really. This faerie Aliza has been chasing
down my best mate Bastian for awhile now. Literally. Everywhere we go, she’s right behind us, to the point we can’t shake her. And
Bastian can’t stand her. He’s told her he’s not interested and to just flit off, but she won’t.”“Sounds desperate.”“It is. Sorry, but guys
typically don’t like faeries that are that easy. We want to be the ones chasing. It’s instinctive. Don’t get me wrong, Aliza’s pretty
enough, but she’s not something Bastian wants to bother with. She’s annoyed him too much at this point.”“So what exactly did you
do to her? ‘Cause I can tell this is the part that got you into trouble.”“Well…” he drags out, “one day we came across this bee hive in
the forest.”“Oh, no.” I moan and bury my eyes behind my hands as if the shame were my own.“Yeah. We smoked the bees out and
took the hive. The next time Aliza chased us down, we took off to where we stashed it. I stood out in the open and Bastian hid up
above. When Aliza stopped to talk to me, Bastian poured the honey all over her wings so she couldn’t take flight again. She had to
walk home that day, and it wasn’t a short walk.”“Mother Nature. Jack! That’s horrible!”“It’s not like it did permanent damage,” he
defends. “All she had to do was wash it off.” He points his finger at me, adding, “And it has kept her from following us again.”
I shake my head. “That poor faerie.”“Poor is something she’s not. In fact, that’s why we got into trouble. She’s the daughter of one of
our elders.”“Brilliant, Jack. Brilliant,” I chastise. “So if you’re here with me, what’s Bastian’s punishment?”“He got manure duty for
three months. He has to go out into the forest and collect a certain amount of feces each day to make the fertilizer with.”
My nose crinkles. “Ooh. Yuck.” Typically the male pixies in our Hollow dealt with that, but there were times I flew through the nearby
meadow and caught a whiff. “I suppose pixie-sitting me is better than that?”
Jack chuckles. “Yeah. I was mad at first, but when I heard what Bastian got, I got over it.”“So what about you, Jack?” I ask
suggestively, crossing my arms and eying him playfully. “Got any faeries in mind for courting?”“Courting!” he bellows, practically
spitting across the hole. “Are you crazy? There are very few I’d even consider dating at this point.”“Down boy,” I ease, holding my
hands up in surrender. I certainly don’t want him bursting that blood vessel currently pulsating on his forehead. “Got it. You’re not
ready to court. But what exactly is dating?”“What’s dating?” he asks incredulously. “Seriously? Don’t you pixies date?”“Maybe. What
is it?”“It comes before courting. You go out with a few different faeries, or in your case pixies, before deciding which one you want to
court. You know, try them on for size and see if you’re right for each other. Don’t you pixies do that?”
I shake my head. “No. We just court.”“Dear, Mother Nature. Can you break off the courtship if one of you wants out?”“Huh. I don’t
know. I’ve never noticed it happening before, but I suppose someone would have at some point.”“So…were you…uh…being
courted back home?”
My lips curl in one direction, laughing internally over his awkwardness. “No. Guess I haven’t found a pixie that gets my wings
fluttering either.”
There’s a quiet hmm coming off his throat, then we sit in silence for a few minutes. I don’t mind the silence really. Just his presence
is comforting. It keeps me from going all crazy down here. But the longer I sit in silence, the more I realize my intestines are still mad
at me. The internal twisting is painful. My knees shoot upward and I keel over to bury my face in my legs, gently rocking.
Metal scrapes across the rock, nearing my body, and I know it’s that dreadful bucket Jack brought me. As I twist my head sideways
to glare up at him, he says, “Let me know when you’re done with that.” At least he’s not mocking me, or flashing me any type of
embarrassing facial expressions. But the humiliation of my predicament overwhelms my emotions. I cringe and bury my head once
more, digging my hands roughly through my oil-soaked hair. I can’t believe this is really happening to me.“Try not to think about it,”
he says softly. I hear him brush the dirt off his pants. “Trust me. I’m not going to take the time to study it before I dump it.”
I raise my right hand and give him a thumbs up, but refuse to look at him as he departs. On the comforting side, he kindly refrains
from laughing at my expense. Can’t say the male pixies in my Hollow could have done that.
Jack descends within a warm, luminous light. I like seeing him this way. Something about the flame’s glow against his skin is
alluring, easy on the eyes. He flutters his wings as he lands and sets the lantern down. How I wish I can have that lantern during the
night. No one ever comes by, at least not to my awareness. I just hate being alone down here, and that light could offer a little
comfort during those cold, dark hours.“Good morning, Rosalie.” He points to the bucket off to the side. “Are you done with that?”
I nod my head, averting my eyes from his gaze, the shame overwhelming. It wasn’t easy going in that bucket, or comfortable by any
means, but I suppose it’ll be even more humiliating if Jack saw it on the floor.“Good,” he says, moving to pick it up by the handle.
“Because we need it for something else today.”
He’s already flying up before I get off, “For what?”“You’ll see,” he teases, disappearing from sight. I can’t say I’d be excited over
anything having to do with the very bucket I’m forced to defecate in. He returns a few minutes later, bucket in one hand, and a bag
made of tightly woven straw that’s tied with rope in the other. The bucket, I notice, is filled with nothing but water. I look to him
curiously, and he replies, “Don’t worry. I washed it out several times. It’s clean.”“O-kay…” I draw out. “But what are we going to use it
for?”
He unties the rope and opens the bag, pulling out two miniature lemons already halved, and a tin container. He unscrews the lid and
passes it over. The substance inside is amber in color, and thick and gooey.
I gasp, and feel my eye muscles stretch wide. Honey! “I get to wash my hair?” I ask excitedly, practically bobbing up and down right
where I sit.
He chuckles at my excitement.“Thank you, Mother Nature!” I scream.“Mother Nature? Thank me. I’m the one sneaking this stuff in
here, not her.”“And I appreciate that beyond words, but Mother Nature’s the one that made the lemons and honey to begin with.”“Too
right. But I hope some of the credit goes to me.”“Oh, it does.” I’m still bouncing up and down with excitement, my smile spreading
wide. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted something besides water to clean my hair with.”“Uh, yeah I do.
Don’t forget, I get to see that mop on your head daily. I ain’t going to lie, Rosalie. It’s disgusting.”
Air bursts through my closed lips so fast they pop outward and vibrate. “You try going weeks without washing your hair.”“No,” he
says, huffing, a hint of laughter underlining his word. “So how do you feel about lying across my legs for a bit?”
My body snaps. Eye muscles pinching, I look at him questioningly. “You want me to what?”
My look must be really entertaining, because Jack breaks out in laughter. “It’s just…your hair is really disgusting. We’re going to
have to soak it for awhile. And the only way you’re going to be able to do that without killing your neck is to get a little higher off the
ground. So…I’m suggesting that you lie across my legs to do that.”
My lips press tight. Lie on his legs? On my back? That would be…awkward, to say the least. “Tell you what. Let me try it on my own
first.” There’s just something too vulnerable about doing it the way he suggests.“O-kay.” He says it like he knows my way will fail.
He cups the halves in his hands one at a time and squeezes the juice into the bucket, as I allow the honey to drip. I then dip the tin
container into the water and use my fingers to loosen what honey is still clinging. Since my hand is already submerged, I swirl the
water, mixing the juice and honey. The lemon burns my recent scratches.“Have fun breaking your neck,” he teases.
I glare playfully as I sit on my knees before the bucket. “I think you’re just using this as an excuse to get me in your lap.” I don’t wait to
see if my words shock him. I bend over and dip my hair into the water, rotating my head until most of my roots are submerged.
Ahhhhh… The relief is immediate, the lemon stinging the bare skin on my forehead. If I’m lucky enough, the lemon juice will break off
the oil on my hair, and eventually my scalp will tingle too.
I won’t lie. Bending over like this with my knees digging into the rocks isn’t exactly comfortable. Needing a distraction, I ask the
suddenly quiet Jack, “So…is your mother a healer or something?”“Yeah. And my father’s in the court system. They’re both
prominent in the community, so they’ve got some mighty high expectations of me. They want me to follow in my father’s footsteps,
but to be honest, his life doesn’t appeal to me much.”“Well, what does appeal to you?” I ask, swaying my head and hair sideways,
elongating my neck each time to loosen the muscles that are trying hard to tense up.“I don’t know. Something that’ll let me venture
into the forest each day. Get away from the city and the politics.”“Do you mean village?”“Yeah. We consider our society a city. You
pixies broke off into segregated villages. We faeries mostly live together in one place, and we call it a city.”“Sounds really big
compared to my quaint little Hollow.”“Rosalie, you’re little Hollow is looking more and more like the way to go with each passing day.
“So what about you? What do you want to do?”“Same. Anything in the forest is good with me. But we don’t really get to pick our
skills in my Hollow. Everyone does something different each month. For those that become really spectacular at something, like
making medicinal ointments like your mother, the elders will decide if that’s all you’ll do from then on out. Otherwise, you just stay in
the rotation like the rest of us, working on everything.”“Well that’s cool. Sort of. I guess the only bad thing would be if the elders
decide you should do something you’re not in love with, no matter how good you may be at it.”“Well, you can ask. The elders do
respect our wishes. Some pixies flat out ask if they can do a certain type of work. Sometimes the elders say yes, sometimes no. But
if it’s something you really want, you should go for it.”“I like your Hollow. You guys get to experience everything to figure out what you
like. Here, you’re just expected to choose a field and be good at it. It sucks.”
My shoulders and neck are beginning to burn, even with me constantly trying to stretch the muscles out. But I will say that the lemon
water infused with honey is therapeutic, and soothes my aches a bit with each inhalation. Aroma therapy at its best.“Ahhh….”
Chuckling, Jack asks, “Your neck hurting yet?”“Yes. But it’s just nice to smell something for once, you know? It takes something
sharp like lemons to pierce my senses. Most of what I eat is completely tasteless. Although I think it’s been getting a little better
lately. Maybe it’s a malnourishment thing. Maybe once my body gets back in order, I’ll be able to smell and taste the subtle flavors
again.”“I wish you were a faerie, Rosalie,” Jack says out of nowhere.
He says it with kindness, but my neck locks with apprehension anyway. “Is there something wrong with my being a pixie?”“No. Not at
all. It’s just…you would have been fun to hang out with…outside this place. Especially since you seem to like hanging out in nature,
outside of your society. None of the females here know how to build a tree house, and most would probably find hanging out in one
pretty revolting, too used to the glitz and glamour of the city.”
He had gotten a kick out of it when I told him about my tree house. “Can’t say it’s structurally sound ‘cause it sways a little when it’s
really windy, but yeah, I built it myself. I’m sure you’d laugh if you saw it in all its rickety glory.”“No, I wouldn’t.” Jack’s fingers suddenly
begin massaging my neck. I didn’t even hear him approach. At first, I’m completely wound tight by his touch, but once the kneading
relieves the ache in my muscles, the tension resides. There’s something satisfying about his touch, and I’m not sure what that
means. I like the way his fingers move rhythmically across my skin, tickling me from the inside-out, even way down in my tummy. And
I like that it’s his fingers doing this to me.
But that’s crazy! He’s a faerie. I’m a pixie. Our species don’t intermingle anymore. Even if I can get the hell out of here, we can never
even be friends. So I sort of wish we could be the same species too. Because he’s right. If we had been born the same, I think we
could have been really good friends, just hanging out in the forest having fun.
I’m left to ponder that sad realization quietly, but enjoy every second Jack’s willing to massage and ease my discomfort. I laugh
internally, and I’m glad the smile spreading across my face is hidden. Maybe laying across his lap wouldn’t be such a bad idea after
all…
Eventually his hands move to my hair, rubbing my oily roots in a circular motion. He detangles my long strands by stroking his fingers
through it repeatedly. After what I’m sure is at least half an hour, he says, “I think that’ll do it. At least as clean as it’s going to get with
this wash.”
My body twists so I’m sitting on my bum, and my head rotates so my hair trails along my back, water flowing down my body in
several streams. I moan, the stiff pain in my back, shoulders and neck really hitting me now that I’m moving. Jack squeezes the
excess water from my hair and fingers through it, separating most of the tangles. I never felt my scalp tingle, so I’m guessing my
roots are still pretty dirty, but as I reach up to stroke my hair, I can tell it feels cleaner than the last time I touched it wet. My hand
accidentally grazes over Jack’s, and he yanks it from my hair fast. Weird…
I twist my hair and use the length to secure it in a loose bun on the back of my head. Jack’s hands resurface on my shoulders. There’
s a slight hesitation, but soon he begins kneading my muscles once more. No one’s ever rubbed my shoulders and neck before…
and I’ve got to say, it feels really good. My neck gently sways in every direction, trying to elongate the muscles he’s kindly stretching
out for me. I give in to the relaxation and lean back on my hands. When I do, my arm gently brushes his leg, and I can tell he’s sitting
directly behind me on his knees. I let loose a long sigh, which practically comes off as an embarrassing moan.
Suddenly, Jack abandons my shoulders and jumps to his feet. He almost seems uncomfortable, rocking back and forth on his feet,
looking at everything in the hole but me. “Are you okay?” I ask. I sure am after that rubdown, still feeling all dazed and tingly inside.
“Do us both a favor,” he says, his voice shaking a little. “If Finley shows up, drench your hair with water and tip over the bucket. That
way your hair will still look all oily and it’ll look like I threw the bucket at you.”
With that, he takes off, rocketing straight up and out of sight before I can even figure out what the heck just happened.“Jack?” I call.
No answer.
Did I do something wrong? I’m not exactly cultured in the ways of faeries, so I’m not sure if what’s appropriate for my species would
be appropriate for his. Did I do something offensive?
In his haste to leave, Jack left the lantern behind, so I can only assume he’ll come back some time later today. After all, his shift
pixie-sitting me just started.
I don’t know when I fell asleep, or for how long, but when I awake, there’s food and a fresh bucket of water. Also, the lemon-honey
water has been dumped, leaving the bucket available for its original purpose. The lantern’s still here, barely illuminating a weak
glow, close to burning off the remaining oil. I don’t have much time until it’s completely dark again.“Jack?” Still no answer.
Once Jack left, and the wonderful feelings he’d embedded dissipated, I came to my senses and realized why he bailed. How, oh
how, could I have been so stupid as to moan in front of him? No wonder he flew out of here. He departed so fast I’m surprised there
wasn’t a supersonic boom upon takeoff. Here he was, doing a nice thing by massaging my cramped-up muscles, and I allowed
myself to overindulge in the feeling and actually moan over it! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Now he’ll never come back and let me apologize.
And why the heck did I moan anyway? Sure, it was nice to have his fingers massaging my muscles, caressing my skin. No, not
caressing! Mother Nature, Rosalie! If he meant the movement to be caressing, he wouldn’t have fled from you like you were a flippin’
swarm of bees!
The last of the oil burns off and my prison slowly fades to black. Too bad my humiliation can’t fade with it.
I’ve been in darkness for several hours now…I think. Usually I’m only in darkness during the night, not during the daytime. Finally, a
glow creeps toward me, the lantern’s flickering light licking its way down the rocky walls. I keep my gaze set to the floor, even after
Jack’s feet make contact. I’ve gone over in my head a hundred different ways to apologize, but now that he’s here before me, I’m
too cowardly to face him.“Sorry I left you in the darkness. I thought there was more oil than that.”
If he hadn’t said that with a softened voice, I’m not sure I could’ve found the courage to look up and say, “It’s alright.” It was my own
fault, after all, him running out of here like that.
We stare solemnly for a moment, neither of us sure what to say. Once again he’s creating a stir of feelings within, but this time it
involves a sickening twist in my gut. He trades out the filled lantern for the dried out one. I’m afraid he’ll disappear again, so I blurt
out, “I’m sorry.”“For what?”
Mother Nature, please don’t make admit the details. “’Cause I made you leave. And then made you disappear all day.”“Yeah…
about that. I just…didn’t feel well. I really just needed to get some fresh air.”
I huff, and in my mind I bitterly reply, well, that must be nice. My huff speaks louder than words, and he replies, “Rosalie, don’t be like
that. You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did I. This whole…situation…it’s just really screwed up.”
Got that right. This flippin’ faerie is making me feel all sorts of weird things. It’s awkward. And worse, I know I’ve made him
uncomfortable. It’s not right for me to like his touch. Not a faerie’s. Maybe that’s why he ran…because he could tell what I was
feeling. I didn’t mean it really. It just happened. Maybe I got excited over realizing how we both prefer nature to our societies. You
know, finally finding someone that appreciates my way of life.
He sighs deeply. “Tell you what. I don’t think either one of us wants to have this conversation. Why don’t we just say goodnight and
start over again tomorrow?”
I nod in agreement, too chicken to look up. Oh, why did I have to be so obvious earlier? Even if I did have a moment of weakness
and enjoy his hands on my skin – which I did – I never should have allowed my body language to show it. Now I fear he’ll avoid me…
because I’m the pixie that likes to be touched by a faerie.
Today comes too soon. I welcomed sleep last night, although my dreams teased me with several scenarios of me being free and
having Jack in my life in some form or another – even one where we were more than friends. In that world, it didn’t feel wrong, wasn’t
wrong. I’m not one to dwell on such dreams, but I wish the real world can be that easy. Then I won’t have to chastise myself for
feeling an interest here or there for Jack. Because it wouldn’t be forbidden.
Come to think of it, I wonder what happened between our species that made them officially segregate. I believe we always lived
separately, but what was the final nail in the coffin that drove us apart indefinitely? And why do the fae frown upon intermingling? Is it
really that bad for Jack and me to be friends? Maybe they’re afraid of creating a new fae species. But faeries and pixies are so
much alike already. What would it matter if a couple were to join and create a new fae? The only differences will probably be the
blending of heights and skin tones. Right?
Regardless, I’m not in my dream world. Technically, I’m not even in the real world right now, lost in a dark, dank hole where no one
will ever find me. And I’m pretty sure Finley has no intention of ever letting me out again, not even to work the line with the other
stolen pixies.
I’m still a little ashamed when Jack descends my hole today, and I’m trying to force my eyes upward so I can determine his
demeanor.“Hey,” he says softly.“Hey,” I reply, my eyes finally lifting north. Great. He seems as uncomfortable as I am. This is going to
be a fun day.“So what would you like to do today?”
I huff. As if. “How’s canopy diving sound to you?”
He smiles and places the lantern down in the center, sitting opposite of me on the floor. “Sounds cool. You ever done it before?”
“What do you think?”“Well, I already know you’re pretty fearless. And I’m willing to bet you like to feel a good rush. So, yeah, I think
you’ve been canopy diving before.”
I nod in approval. “I also love diving off waterfalls.”“Doesn’t that get your wings wet?”“A little. So long as you don’t dive too close to
the water, your wings will shake it off.”
He huffs, but I think he’s really impressed by that. I’m guessing he’s never thought to try it before, afraid the water would impair his
ability to fly.
I close my eyes and mentally recall the day I was stolen, diving from my tree house, remembering the unbreakable smile across my
face. “The rush of wind upon your face, the adrenaline rushing through your body…it’s like nothing else. I love that feeling.” The smile
that crept across my face begins to fade as I realize I’ll probably never get to feel it again. “Jack?” I ask gently, my eyes still closed
and my head resting back against the wall.“Yeah?”“Promise me I’ll get to dive again before I die.”“You’re not going to die, Rosalie.
Not here. That I can promise you.”
I shake my head in amusement. If only Jack could determine my fate.“You do realize Finley has no intention of ever letting me go,
right? Even if I was broken. He’d never risk me telling the other pixies that the world they’re kept in is all an illusion.”
Since my eyes are closed, I’m unsure of his reaction, and because silence is all that follows. After awhile, a melodic tune begins
soothing the air around us. It’s the first time he’s ever played his harmonica down here, at least for me directly. It’s louder now that he
’s close, our small accommodations amplifying his notes, and I love the way the sound vibrations tickle the hairs in my ears. I’m
pretty sure I’m still smiling when his music finally sings me to sleep.
Today is a good day. Jack and I are both cheery, the awkwardness seemingly fading between us. We’ve been careful not to make
physical contact, even accidentally. I’ve spent the past several days trying to walk the diameter of my rocky hole to strengthen what
little muscle I have in my legs. I don’t really see a difference, but I can feel it. Now that I’m getting plenty of food and water courtesy of
Jack, my body’s not attacking what’s left of my muscle for nourishment. With each day I’m able to add several more laps. The soles
of my feet have healed and are thickening daily, so unless I step on a particularly sharp peak, it doesn’t hurt to walk over the rocks
anymore.
Jack plays his harmonica a lot. I welcome the sound when it fills the silence, since neither of us feels obligated to converse
constantly. He’s actually pretty good at it, and his song choices are endless. The music is pacifying, and something about it makes
me feel completely at ease. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but it’s almost like the music bewitches me, luring me into a sound sleep.
Hmm…I wonder. Maybe he thinks as long I’m asleep, I won’t be able to develop deeper emotions for him. But unbeknownst to him,
he plays the male lead in my dreams, as well as in my reality, so even sleeping won’t remove him from my thoughts.
I awake when Jack begins his descent, the sound of him clearing his throat snapping me out of my slumber. The strap of his satchel
is taut and firmly stretches across his chest, the bag’s contents overflowing and bulging through the sturdy material. Today he’s
wearing a black shirt and thin, loose pants with multiple pockets down the legs – I wonder why he didn’t stuff anything in those. His
smile is warm and instigates mine. His hair is growing longer, the dark brown curls becoming heavy, stretching out into waves,
making it easier to tuck behind his ears.“Morning, Rosalie.” He touches down softly, sets the lantern on the floor and steadies the
satchel as he lifts the strap off his body. I don’t know why, but it still surprises me that he seems happy to see me each day. It’s kind
of nice seeing a friendly smile in this prison.“Morning, Jack. What exactly are you packing in there anyway?”“Well, first off…” He digs
through the bag and pulls out a canteen for me. “Your breakfast. Strawberries and banana and cream.”
My eyes pop and my mouth waters before I can even reach for it. “Wow. Do I have your sister to thank for this again?”“Nope. Me.”
His eyes light up and he flashes me an excited smile. Digging through his bag, he removes two tin capsules. They’re similar to the
one the honey was in, but smaller, just like the ones Poppy and I keep by our wash stands. “This you owe my sister for, because I
swiped it from her room.”