Chapter VI: The River Pixie
The woman insists that we sit down. I look over to her and notice something...odd. She has butterfly wings, and I don't mean she is one of those people that collect butterflies and hang them on their walls. No, the wings are attached to her, like she can fly any second now.
We sit at a table, and the woman sits across from us with her arms crossed.
"So,"she turns to me,"He said he was trying to get you home, where are you from?"she asks.
"Oh goodness, this is hard to explain...I...am not from this planet."
"Really? What planet?" She asks.
"Earth,"I reply.
She turns to Dex,"Where are you from?"
"Oh I live...lived here in the forest of Apeirodasos," He answers.
"Actually, I think I've seen you before,"she says to Dex.
"You have?," Dex asks looking bewildered.
The woman hesitates for a second," On second thought, no I haven't."
She turns to me and looks at me like she is trying to figure something out. Her face brightens and she says," Oh my gosh! You're a human!"
"What's a human?"Dex asks. Dex isn't human? Maybe he is and xantronachians have a different word for it...if that's so, then why did she say "human"?
"Look at your friend! She's a human! You know! From our story books in the fantasy genre!" She says.
"I don't...read many books..."Dex says.
"Human! Tell me! How did you get your hair color like that? I heard of a human's hair being brown, blonde, black, and red, but not purple!" She asks.
"Oh, hair dye, naturally my hair is blonde. How did you get your hair blue?"I ask.
"I'm a river pixie, I was born like that," she replies," Tell me what are your names?"
"I am Patchouli, but you can call me Patch."
"My Name is Dexter, but you can call me Dex."
"Let me introduce myself, I am Pyoco," the woman says, "I notice you have a little something lodged in your back there. You need some assistance?"
Oh my goodness, I completely forgot about that! "You have first aid?"
"No, I have something far better." She does something extremely weird to my back that is really hard to explain so let's just say she removes the shards and tends the wound with some medicinal herbs. It stung a little, but it was worth it.
Pyoco notices that Dex is sweating an awful lot. "Dex, are you alright? You're drenched in sweat! Do you need a refreshment?"
Dex quickly wipes his forehead and looks at his finger. He has a look in his eyes...panic. "Um...no! Nono, i don't need anything...um...do you have a restroom?"
"Uh, yeah! Down the hall, to the left," She replies.
"Thank you!" He gets up and quickly struts to the bathroom. We hear the door lock.
"Is he your boyfriend?"Pyoco asks.
"What! No! Why did you even ask?" I defend.
"River pixies have this...instinct...that tells us who will be a thing."
"Like a ship?"
"Sorta...but it's like a sense. You two are making it flare like crazy. Something tells me that you two have...a future."
"That's crazy! I don't even know the guy! I just met him a day ago!"
"But he referred to you as his friend earlier. And love is strange anyways! Maybe once you actually get to know him, you might have feelings for him."
"...I guess you're right...but I have absolutely no interest in him."
"For now."
"But—"
"Shhhh," she puts her index finger to my lips "Just wait and see,"she winks.
Ummmmm...this is making me extremely uncomfortable. Quick! Change the topic! "Uuummm...Hey! Dex has been in the restroom for quite a while. Do you think he's alright?" I ask.
"He's probably just taking a shit."
"You sure?"
"You wanna go check on him?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Pyoco and I walk down the hall and to the door on the left. I listen in through the door, all I hear is silence and heavy breathing.
"Dex! You okay in there?" I shout.
"I'm good! I might be another minute." He shouts, kinda muffled a little bit.
"Okay!" I turn to Pyoco and whisper "Yeah, he's just taking a shit."
"Oh! Patch! You down for a morning bath?"Pyoco suggests. When even was the last time I took a bath?
"Yes, that would be nice!" I say.
Pyoco runs and grabs two towels, she heads for the door that leads outside. Which confuses me.
"Pyoco, where are you going?"I ask her.
"To the creek of course"she answers.
"Don't you have like a bathroom, or something?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Cuz who needs a bathroom when I have a creek next to my house? And plus, plumbing is expensive!"
"But you have a toilet."
"It's more like an outhouse, but you get the idea. Now come on before the morning is gone!"
" Ok! I'm coming."
We go around the house, and Pyoco starts stripping. I feel kinda uncomfortable stripping out in the open.
Pyoco gives me kind of a sarcastic look and says, "Patch, you're fine! We are in a forest! The worst thing that's gonna see ya naked is a Ures (you-ress)."
I shrug my shoulders and strip. Then I jump into the creek. The water is nice and cool. Pyoco dips her leg into the creek...oh my god I just realized something!
"Wait! Pyoco, won't your wings get wet?" I shout.
"Yeah? I don't care," she replies.
"But then you won't be able to fly until they dry."
"That's fine, I prefer to walk anyways. And plus, a pixie's gotta bathe sometime."
"Good point."
Pyoco gets the rest of the way in and asks "Water feel good?"
"Yeah,"I reply,"No soap?"
"What! Are you crazy? That'll kill the flache (flaw shay)!"
"Oh no! I didn't even think about that!"
"Just sit in the water and relax, the water will get it."
We sit and relax for a few minutes then I feel something tugging at my toes. It doesn't bother me enough to pull my feet away, but I just look down to see little fish nibbling at my feet. I look to Pyoco as if my eyes are asking for an explanation.
"Oh, the flache will eat the dead skin off of you after a while," Pyoco says.
"Ah, I gotcha," I reply. I kinda paddle over to her and stroke her wing.
"Uh...Patch what are you doing?"She asks.
"Do you feel that?"I wonder.
"Of course I do."
"Okay, I'll stop now, I was just wondering if your wings can feel anything."
"Duh! Didn't they teach you that in—oh, I forgot you're not from here." Pyoco contradicts herself.
"I'm ready to get out now,"I tell Pyoco. I step out of the creek, grab a towel, dry off, and cover myself so I can go in.
"Wait!"Pyoco is halfway out of the creek, "You need clothes!"
"Oh, snap! You're right!" I wait fo Pyoco.
Pyoco catches up to me and we enter the hut. Pyoco leads me to her room, she tells me to close my eyes so I do. I hear a door open. I assume it's the door to her wardrobe. I hear the clothes hangers smacking against eachother.
"Ah, let's see," She kinda whispers.
"Can I open my eyes now?" I ask.
"Not just yet,"she says, "Ooo! This looks nice. Okay, open!"
I open my eyes to see Pyoco holding up a cute pastel blue dress with a knee-skirt.
"Oh my gosh! It's so cute! Do you have that in purple?" As if you can't tell by now, I love the color purple.
Pyoco digs in her wardrobe a little bit and pulls out another dress. "I have it in lavender."
"I like that one better."
She hands it to me and says,"Go ahead! Try it on!"
I enter the garment. Wow! It is extremely convenient that Pyoco and I have the same size. I just notice the cute little ribbon on the back of the dress.
"Girl, I have so much clothes, you can just keep that one," Pyoco says.
"Really?" I exclaim.
"Yeah, why do you think my wardrobe is so big?"
