Sand Sharks And Storage Rooms

Pirate stops them right outside of the bouncer’s hearing. “Remember, in Faerie nothing is as it appears to be.”

Tinkletoes looks at the bouncer, a heavily muscled man in jeans, a t-shirt, and steel-toed boots. The bouncer doesn’t wear a name tag. His t-shirt simply reads, “Sandy.” He grins, showing his unusually large teeth. They gleam in the darkness. “Not what it seems. Yeah, sure. Got it.”

The threesome approach their new (coughs) friend who nods at the door next to him. He turns on a light and everyone enters. Sandy follows and closes the door behind him. “So what can I do for you gentlemen this evening.” The bouncer has strange eyes that go with his teeth. They are a silver blue glowing with iridescence, with empty pupils that appear to look through you. He takes a fine, white bone out of his jeans pocket and begins chewing on it as if it were a toothpick. Several moments pass. “Is someone gonna talk or would you like me to guess?”

“No. No. NO!” House says with emphasis. “There has to be a second floor or the design won’t work. My ceilings already have to be raised to accommodate Diomedes. It’s completely practical.”

The rest of the group look at each other. Damon picks up the eraser and begins to remove the second floor from the white board for the third time.

“My Lady, I may assure that I am a mature dragon. I have finished growing.”

“Duuude. She tried.” Ray says as he looks at the rest of the group.

“You said yourself that you don’t know what kind of dragon Furnatche is. Clearly he is not done growing.”

Ray, Diomedes,Peter, Paige, Dylan, and Damon all look at Furnatche who is wandering the bonus room in search of a treat.

“Duuude...she has a point.” Ray admits.

The group continues studying Furnatche. The dragon picks up a scent. He gives his head a quick shake and tendrils emerge from the circumference of the dragon’s nose. The tendrils expand leaving room for a brown nodule to emerge from their ends. As the tendrils swirl back and forth, the nodules open and close like tiny mouths taking in air. Furnatche smells something and it’s much more interesting than his usual cookie. He walks to the back door, begins scratching at it and whining. The knob turns and Writer Lady walks through it carrying both of the kittens. Dobby follows, with Carp and TP bringing up the rear. She stops, looks down at Furnatche, and smiles. “Hi Sweetie.” Writer Lady says as she sets both kittens on the floor and squats down to pet him. Furnatche thumps his tail happily in response.

“It’s about time.” Paige says, as the rest of the group eases past Writer Lady to enter the house. “She spent the entire time redesigning herself. Adding rooms, taking away rooms, whining about substandard windows, and old carpeting. Do you know how hard it is to deal with that?” Paige says as she points to House.

Writer Lady looks at Paige and stands, “Yes. I do. How long were we gone?”

“How long do you think you were gone?” Paige asks as she crosses her arms.

“A few days but it feels like months.”

Ray and Dylan look at each other and Ray grins. “It’s only been a couple of hours.”

“Really? Everyone is famished. I could really use a shower. There’s a lot going on. My sister should be arriving shortly. Let her in the moment she arrives and no one else. We have a bit of a situation.”

“A bit of a situation?” Paige asks.

“Yes...a little bit.”

“How much is a little bit?” The girl presses.

“It’s about five.” Writer Lady says, looking at the clock. “So...let me put it this way, rest up. It could be a very long night. I will share more after I get out of the shower, find a smoothie pitcher and an I.V.”

Writer Lady feels Paige’s glare as she leaves the room.

A closet door opens and Aunt Purdy backs out of it. “There were no cookies in there. What was that dragon thinking?” Aunt Purdy looks at Paige. “I know that face.” She crosses to Paige and hugs her. “I know Sweetie. It’s tough being so smart and mature for your age. You are trusted with grown-up responsibilities but have none of the fun.” Aunt Purdy looks at Peter and winks over the top of Paige’s head.

He nods and smiles, shaking his head. “Girls.” He mutters.

“I think that I have the right to know what’s going on.” Paige says.

Sandy uses the bone to dig into his gumline, he pulls something neon orange out of it, inspects it for a moment, and flicks it on to the floor. The foreign object disappears into the unknown the moment that it makes contact. “Who’s going to tell me what’s going on?”

“We’re looking for something.” Monitor Man offers, hoping that Pirate or Tinkletoes will take over.

“Something.” The bouncer repeats. “Anything specific?”

Pirate looks around the storage room. He searches around stacks of boxes and crates. Every few moments he stops and turns his head as if listening for something. “Excalibur.”

“I’m listening.” Sandy says.

“The Lady With The Long Golden Hair is in need of protection.”

“The Treimhse Ar Adoration?” The bouncer asks.

Pirate nods.

“We heard it’s real bad this year.” Sandy removes a smaller bit from his teeth, this one is green and furry. He flicks it away. “So you thought you’d come in, steal it, use it, and return it before anyone’s the wiser?”

“Something like that.” Tinkletoes says.

Monitor Man nods.

“Borrow.” Pirate says. “No one seems to understand the concept of the word ‘borrow’.”

“See this is Faerie and with all things Faerie come unexpected challenges...shall I say? Excalibur, she’s a fine sword and will likely protect your ladyship. It also is Excalibur. A legendary sword that radiates both magic and power. He who wields Excalibur rules all of the English empire. Access to that kind of power is a bitch to give up once you’ve had it at your disposal.” He looks through Pirate. “Are you the type of man who can give that power back? The type of man that will return it to its rightful home once the crisis is over?”

“I will.” Pirate responds, slowly as if he is beginning to get a clearer picture of the challenges that face him.

“We’ll make sure that he does.” Tinkletoes says.

Sandy looks around the room and studies the three men. “I like you. Excalibur was at The Oasis. She had to be moved.”

“Do you know where she is now?” Monitor Man asks.

“She’s out back.” Sandy says with a nod of his head.