Monitor Man
crosses to Writer Lady. He gently takes her by the arm and guides
her away from the group.
“He’s right.”
She makes a face.
“I know.”
Monitor Man looks into Writer Lady’s eyes and says, “Would you
please return home with everyone else and look after things, as a
favor, to me?”
Writer Lady glares
at Tinkletoes and says, “He’s a pig.”
“He’s acting
like one,” Monitor Man looks in Tinkletoes’ direction,“but I
think that there’s a reason for it. I’m not sure what it is. I
hope there’s a reason for it.” He turns his gaze back to Writer
Lady and leans in to whisper, “Will you do it? For me?”
Writer Lady thinks
for a moment, her eyes light up, and a smile crosses her lips
disappearing nearly as quickly as it appeared. “Okay. Everyone is
tired.” She sighs. “I’ll do it for you.” She addresses the
entire group, “Okay everyone, let’s find the road. It’s time
to go home.”
Smudge Mal and
Spots Wash both start wiggling in protest.
“I want to do
guy things.” Spots Wash says.
“I want to play
with a big ass sword.” Smudge Mal announces.
“Smudge Mal!”
Writer Lady exclaims. “You’re supposed to be the good one.”
“Sor—ry.”
“You shouldn’t
impose those kinds of expectations on him Mom.” Dobby says. “It
can be frustrating.”
“Yeah!” TP
giggles, appearing next to Smudge Mal’s bright pink nose. “It’s
bad for his self-esteem!” The faerie giggles as he hides his
smile.
“Where have you
been?”
“Busy.” TP
says.
“We’ve been
lost in Faerie all this time, knowing nothing about the place, tired,
hungry, and all you can say is “busy?”
TP spins around,
changing into a zoot suit complete with hat and watch chain. “It’s
Faerie lady, if you want something then all you gotta do is ask.”
He says in his tough guy accent as he flips a coin.
“I knew that.”
Carp announces.
Writer Lady’s
glare shifts from TP to Carp. “That would have been a handy little piece of information to have wouldn't it?”
Carp pales
slightly and looks away.
The unlikely trio
watch as Writer Lady, Carp, Blackbuck the Antelope, three cats, two
unicorns, and a faerie find their way back into the rainforest.
Tinkletoes leans
over and whispers to Monitor Man, “When we take off for wherever
it is we’re going, keep an eye out for Writer Lady. That look she
gave you earlier, when she was bein’ all agreeable? I’ve seen it
before.”
“She has a few
tricks up her sleeves, does she?” Pirate asks.
“She’ll
surprise ya.”
“This isn’t so
bad.” Tinkletoes says as he enters The Sand Bar.
Pirate’s boots
slosh as he follows Tinkletoes in response. The privateer does not
look happy.
“I thought you’d
be happy.” Tinkletoes says. “You’re a pirate, this is the
ocean.”
“He probably
would be if you’d let us stop long enough to empty the desert sand
from our boots before we entered the water.”
“It’s all the
same, it’s sand. It was
only few inches of water. Quit yer whining. You’re actin’ like
a couple of girls.” Tinkletoes looks around the darkened room.
The self-proclaimed mercenary can make out the shapes of the tables
and chairs, the silhouettes of the patrons as they moved but nothing
more. Monitor Man and Pirate follow stopping on either side of him.
All three look around as they search for their contact. They all
hear the lining up of glasses
on the bar, the clinking of bottles as they are set down at the same
time.
“It
looks like the bartender is over there.” Tinkletoes says,
gesturing with a nod of his head.
A
light slowly brightens, illuminating the bartender and the bar as
well. A man stands at the bar slowing pouring sand into tall, narrow
glasses. He is a tall man, nearly as tall as Tinkletoes and nicely
muscled. He has pale skin, small warm brown eyes, and protruding
teeth that are offset by a deep glowing green mustache, and closely
trimmed goatee. His hair is bright blue. The color of the water the
men had just walked through with rainbow colored highlights spread
throughout. He’s
wearing a t-shirt that says, “Sandman” and a name tag that says,
“Paulie.”
“You
Paulie?” Tinkletoes calls as they approach the bar.
“Yeah.
Who wants to know?” He
asks as he slides the glasses that he has just filled down
the bar into the
unknown. The abrupt end of
the sound of glass sliding along the bar’s surface the only
indication that there is
anyone in the darkness to receive
it.
“We
do.” Monitor Man says. “We went to The Oasis and there was a
sign that said it was closed for maintenance if anyone needed further
assistance to come to The Sand Bar and ask for Paulie.”
Paulie
wipes off the bar and pulls out a small basket of snack crackers. He
starts eating them. “What
is it that you need exactly?” He asks between bites.
“We
were hoping to gain access to The
Oasis for a few minutes.” Monitor Man answers.
“Looking
for something?”
Monitor
Man looks at Tinkletoes and then answers. “This is Faerie. It’s
my first trip. I heard that The Oasis is where Faerie’s magical
core resides.” Monitor Man smiles, turning up the charm a notch or
two. “I was hoping to see some magic.”
“Magic?
This is Faerie. You’re surrounded by magic.”
Monitor
Man is not getting very far, Pirate
looks around the bar searching for another source of information.
His gaze stops by a door in a far corner. He studies the bouncer.
The bouncer studies him. They nod at each other. Pirate’s lips
turn up in a brief smile. The bouncer grins showing his massive
teeth. Pirate turns back and faces the bar, he reaches out and
places a hand on Monitor Man’s shoulder giving him a signal to stop
talking.
“Of
course he is.” Pirate agrees. “Thank you. We’ll be going now.
This way gentlemen.” The privateer says as he leads Tinkletoes
and Monitor Man into a storage room and a meeting with a sand shark.
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