ONE
Duncan had been driving home from the factory
in the wee hours of the morning when he encountered a pixie. It smacked against
his windshield with a rather loud “THWAP!” as he idled at a stop light. The
pixie groaned as her form splayed almost comically across the glass. Duncan frowned and
observed the small creature with that perfect deadpan look only those tired to
the bones, yet not in a position to fall asleep, can master. He put the car in
park long enough to step out and scoop the small thing up, before depositing it
on the passenger seat. He then drove the rest of the way home, ignoring the
impulse to question his sanity. Such lines of inquisition could wait for a
better time, one when he wasn’t having to use most of his willpower to keep his
eyes open and on the road.
As he drove home, though, he stole
a couple glances at the thing he had rescued. It was the very image of a
classical pixie: a fully grown, beautiful woman only six inches tall, wearing a
simple green dress, with two sets of translucent, iridescent wings sprouting
from her back. Her long red hair came down to nearly her ankles, and her slim,
fit figure had a nice set of curves.
She did not awaken as Duncan pulled into the
driveway of his small, one-story home. He cupped her gently with one hand as he
went inside. Grabbing a clean hand towel, he set up a small “mattress” on the
kitchen counter, and lay her down atop it. Then he plopped down on the couch,
and turned on the TV. As the sights and sounds of late night programming lulled
him to sleep, he wondered if his little hallucination would still be there in
the morning.
He was assured of this when, eight
solid hours later, he awoke to a tapping on his cheek. With a snort, he blinked
awake and nearly leaped out of his skin as he saw the diminutive creature
hovering right above his face. Still half asleep, he swatted at it, thinking it
was some kind of large bug. She easily dodged his hand, floating up to the
ceiling.
“Hey!” she called down, in a voice
surprisingly normal sounding for one so tiny. “Careful!”
