Blossom Babe

Chapter Fifteen Chitterbugs

It took a few hours but Ealish finally managed to get to sleep. Her dreams were just flat-out static. Nothing to hear other than white noise. When she woke up,she was drenched in sweat and twisted in the silk handkerchief that she was given. Smoothing out the make-shift blanket,she sighed,"Well. I've had a worse night's sleep."

When she stood up and stretched,she noticed that she wasn't alone in the guest room. Three little children were seated around the bed and were staring at her. Two boys,one chubby with a little hat. Another being scrawny with a rather large dark green wooly sweater on. The little girl had this red and black dotted dress. Along with a little headband with pompoms on it.

They all stared at her with complete awe as Ealish tilted her head and said,"Oh hello..."

"You're Ealish Scarsberg...you look prettier than your picture.",the little girl said. She put her chin in her hands as she smiled at Ealish,who said,"Thank you. Who are you children?"

"I'm Chioma.",the little girl said. She held out her pinky for Ealish to shake,which she did politely. The boy in the large sweater said,"My name's Akamere."

"I'm Olayemi.",the kid in the hat said. He toyed with the bed's original blankets as he looked upon Ealish. Both boys grinning as she said,"It's nice to meet all three of you."

"Jaquelin said that you were taken by a big warty toad!",Chioma said. She scooted up the bed a bit more as Ealish said,"Well. I didn't escape a real toad. More a creepy man who much resembled a toad and smelled worse than one."

With that, she captured their attention as she told them about the man. Not too in vivid of detail as to avoid scaring them but enough to make it seem like a fairytale. All of the children then asked about what she'd been doing before hand. Each curious as to what brought her to the city. That she explained thoroughly, specifically the part of the fairy princess who took her on a flight. And how wonderful it was to fly with her. Chioma giggled as she asked,"Are you going to marry the fairy princess?"

"And live happily ever after?",Akamere asked. He grinned at her as she blushed tomato red. Her hands covered her face as Olayemi said,"She is! She's going to be marrying the fairy princess and live happily ever after as Queens!"

"No! Sweeties! We're not getting married. We barely know each other and we're friends.",Ealish said. Her hands waving in front of her as she said,"I don't even know if Asoka likes me like that."

"But why wouldn't she? You're wonderful!",Olayemi said. Clapping his hands,he said,"You'd be the perfect Queen for her!"

"Yeah. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get wings!",Akamere said. He gently tapped her back with a finger as she looked at her feet. Ealish let out a nervous giggle as she said,"I rather doubt that she'd want me as a Queen, guys. There are probably many other fairies in her kingdom that she would want."

"But she could have a superstar like you! Especially one as witty and resourceful one as you!",Chioma reminded. She giggled as she watched Ealish lay on her back with her hands on her face. Letting out a muffled cry as she said,"Oh come on! I'm not that great...I just ran away from a weirdo once. Honestly I'm not that brave."

They all giggled as she kept her hands over her face and let out low groans. A voice called out,"Okay kids. Leave Ealish alone. She probably wants some privacy now."

All of them look to see Jaquelin coming in with a small tub of water with towels,soap and other things. He sets it down on the nightstand as he said,"She would probably like a bath before she gets dressed. And I doubt she wants any of you children seeing her naked."

Shooing the children out of the bedroom,then quietly shut the door. With a shake of her head, she began taking off the extremely uncomfortable lacey dress. It was undeniably the prettiest dress she'd ever worn but she only wished to burn it. All it would remind her of from then on would be the case she was captured in.

Throwing the offending garment on to the floor as she said,"I do hope that he lets me burn that thing. I can't stand the sight of it."

(A bath and redressing later)

Ealish tightens her pants a little as she looks at herself in the mirror and sighed,"I'm so happy to be out of a dress. It was lovely but dear goodness was it tight."

A knock came to the door followed by Jaquelin asking,"My I come in now?"

"Yes. I'm dressed.",she called back to him. He comes in with the three children following in tow. Each of them holding large stuffed animals in their hands. Akamere said,"We're going to be going to this café soon. We're allowed to carry our toys there."

Olayemi hugs his teddy bear tight to his chest as he said,"Jaquelin told us that if we asked nicely, you might come with us."

"Yeah! Wanna come with us? Please?",Chioma begged. Holding her favorite dolly against her as she looked Ealish's eyes. Ealish said,"Well. Since you've asked so sweetly...sure. I'll go with."

"YAAAAAYYY!",the children yelled at the same time. Jaquelin smiled brightly as Ealish giggled at the sight of the children. She looked him in the eye as she asked,"Well. Where are we headed, Jaquelin?"

"The Beetle's Leg Cafe.",Jaquelin said. Making a face, Ealish asked,"Umm...is it a good place to go to?"

"Yes,it is. Why?",asked Chioma. Who looked like she couldn't think of a reason why the place wouldn't be considered good. Ealish gave a weak grin as she said,"Oh no reason."

"No reason at all."