The Roselands

Chapter 11

"Wakey wakey!"

I heard a loud high pitched voice before suddenly, a small body landed on my chest, knocking the breath out of me. I lurched up, catapulting that body off and into the floor. I opened my eyes and shoved the sheet off my head, seeing tiny Ginger laying in the floor. She had landed on her tail and so she had a cushion for her fall, but she looked a bit bewildered, shaking her head and straightening her ears. I thought she was hurt, but she changed my mind when she giggled and jumped on me again, pulling my nose and snuggling into my neck. "Again!"

"She's a very playful morning person. Get used to it. She does it to all of us, but we aren't strong enough to throw her off like that."

I looked up and my heartbeat quickened when I saw Sprite in the doorway. Her shirt choice today was even shorter than the one from yesterday and only covered her breasts. Everything else was exposed. Her skirt was almost identical to yesterday's, but this one had a decorative stitching which went around the hem on the bottom.

As my gaze went down her legs, I spotted something else I hadn't noticed before. There was a beaded anklet which went around the ankle that didn't have the scar on it. It was made predominately of purple and blue beads, but there was a tiny amount of beads which were green and red. I cocked my head and smiled. "Where'd that anklet come from?"

She glanced down and tilted her foot, showing a silver moon charm on the side. "One time when I met my father, he brought me and my mother gifts and this was the gift he brought me. He was appalled by what my mother was doing to me, but my mother lied, claiming she'd stop right then if it disturbed him. She was a mean liar, but...I learned that my father was a compassionate man. I miss him and I wish I could meet him again."

I stood and Ginger retreated into the other room, giving us privacy. I stood and walked over, hugging her as she began to sniff. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and shook her head. "That's the only thing that makes me want to go back to the human world. I want to find him."

I held her tightly and then I heard something. I turned and saw the familiar red glow that I had recognized as Scarlet. Surprisingly, the glow was coming out of one of my shoes. I wouldn't have expected her to tolerate the smell. I took Sprite's hand and led her over, tapping the edge of my shoe. Scarlet's head popped out and she gave us a smile, flying up and out of the shoe to land in my hand. She smiled at Sprite and did a small curtsy. "Pleased to meet you. I have heard some of the Picklets talk of you. You are the friendly Sprite. Are you not?"

Sprite nodded, dumbfounded. She looked at me and laughed. "How did you get her to come here? Usually Picklets don't like leaving the forest."

I explained to her the concept of Picklets having certain masters and Sprite brightened up, smiling at Scarlet. "Can you help me find my Picklet? I'd love to have one."

Scarlet smiled and nodded. "As soon as your Picklet sees you, they will automatically remember your image and come to you. Let us go to the forest and see if we can find them."

I carried Scarlet in my hand as we climbed the path, coming to the glade where most of the Picklets could be found. Scarlet flew off my hand and then flew in circles around the forest, every so often diving towards the ground. When she stopped, hundreds of Picklets suddenly lifted from the surrounding trees and bushes, a multitude of bright colored lights like the stars of the sky.

Sprite stepped forward and from the multitude, a larger blue one lifted up from the crowd of lights. It flew close and did a circle around her head before lighting on her outstretched hand. I walked closer and peered over at the Picklet. It was a male, colored with a royal blue glow. He had dark brown hair and I couldn't quite tell if his eyes were blue or brown.

It smiled at her and its glow got brighter like Scarlet's did when she spoke loud. It did a small bow and then spoke with a voice you wouldn't expect to come from a creature that small. "I believe the Picklet you seek is me."

Sprite smiled and reached up to touch his wings. As she began to get to know her little servant, three other Picklets suddenly appeared from off to the side. They flew over to Scarlet and told her something in the quiet voices that were most common for them to speak with.

Scarlet flew over to me and lighted on the finger I presented as a perch. "Your mother has said yes to our proposal. She can come now if you wish."

Pure excitement danced up my spine and tingled through my limbs like pebbles falling down a cliff, hitting my nerves like sparks. I nodded ecstatically and Scarlet smiled, gesturing me and Sprite back to the edge of the woods. Scarlet gestured to her friends and they disappeared again. Only one moment passed before all the Picklets made the same tornado they had when they'd gone to find my mother. A flash of light had both me and Sprite wincing and averting our eyes, but when I looked back up, I didn't want to look away.

My mother stood there, clothed in clothes I had never seen her in. She had a very fine white blouse on and her light brown skirt was clean and elegantly ruffled. Her hair was pulled back in an attractive half up and half down ponytail and, surprisingly, three grayish hawk feathers were dangling from the back. She looked beautiful.

She gasped and rushed over, diving into my arms. I hugged her and kissed her head, holding her close. I heard Scarlet whiz past my ear and it caused me to turn. Scarlet sent me a quick smile and flew off into the woods, giving us some privacy.