A Slice of Pie

Blueberry

"Why do people call them blueberries?"

I did not have to lift my gaze to know that a rat had made it into the bakery. "Because." I stated firmly, keeping my nose buried in my book.

The little girl with a bushel of hazel curls pressed her face into the glass case. Her golden eyes sparkled with hunger as she gazed at Granny Bett's daily special. "Why?"

"Just because." I flipped the page.

"They aren't even blue," she huffed, her breath fogging up the glass. "They're indigo."

I bit my lower lip at the triumphant word she sang out. "Are they now?"

"Yep!" she popped, her head bouncing two steps to the register where I sat reading - or where I tried to.

The girl grinned, baring all of her crooked teeth before darting at me with greedy hands. My book instinctively closed. I grabbed her not-so sneaky arm and pulled her quickly across the counter.

I leaned down so we were face to face. "What are you doing?"

The little orphan girl who was named, Rat, by her peers (creative, I know), stuck out her lower lip. Her round, golden eyes withered with a whimper. "You didn't use any magic."

My brow twitched.

This again?

Lifting my book higher, I huffed a laugh. I could feel my lips twist into a smile while my voice dropped low. "You wanna see magic?"

The question would have sent most people running from me with tears in their eyes. Hell, I know a few men in this town who have. But, Rat? She was different.

The orphan girl did not know fear. Nor was she aware of sarcasm. Instead, her eyes glistened with excitement. They shimmered like the rays of sunlight that I barely got to see in this sad prison of a town. Taking a deep breath, she put on her best serious expression.

She nodded firmly.

"You sure?" I pressed, wiggling my brow for extra effect.

She nodded twice.

"Really sure?"

She nodded three - no, six times.

"Then," I hissed, a crackle of a witch's laugh simmered in my throat. I raised my little book higher. "If you are really, really sure..."

Rat's feet were kicking with excitement now. It was cute and reminded me of when I used to be that way. Eyes glistening with utter confidence...A smile creeping into every moment...And, an irritatingly low sense of danger.

Thwack!

"OW! OW! OWWIE! OW!"

I huffed at the pitiful display. I didn't even hit her that hard. The book barely weighed five pounds. It didn't even have a hundred pages for Gods sake!

Yet, there Rat was. Rolling on the floor, cradling the back of her head with fox tears in her eyes. She whimpered and cried which of course summoned the Devil herself.

Granny Bett came tumbling out of the kitchen with a panicked expression. She had barely wiped the flour from her crescent frames before laying her withered green eyes on Rat.

"Oh, Mouse," she cried rushing around the counter. Though, even in her swift waddle, Granny Bett made sure to smack the back of my head for good measure. The attack was quick, firm, and much too heavy-handed for someone this town saw as a pitiful old granny.

Rat immediately sat up. Her arms swung open so Granny Bett could sweep her up into a gentle embrace. "G-Granny," she sobbed loudly, "Win-Winnie hit me!"