Had the weirdest and most random miniature adventure on Sunday. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it really happened. So, I dropped The Sister off for her play date, which is what I was calling it, but really it was a work thing, then I drove to the library to drop off some books in the return bins outside. As I was pulling in, I did notice someone, a skinny someone with long blue hair, their back to me, going through boxes of books in the loading bay. I noticed it, but barely, and didn't think much of it. I know, Suzie Citizen and 'but that's stealing!" and all, but if these books weren't already for the recycling center then that would still be the fate of most of them since our library is very choosy. Plus, I can always get on board with education. Besides, my mind was solely on returning books.
I'm idling at the return bin and flipping through the books to make sure there are no bookmarks left inside. I'd just thrust two into the bin mouth and was focusing on the last two. To say that I was prepared for anything would be the hugest overstatement of the century. I was not prepared for anything as when my mind is on a task, it's usually on just that one task. I'm hearing but not registering soft words being spoken, I turn and there's just someone's head at my car window a little behind me. I screamed absolute bloody murder; which made the person pull a confused face and made me feel silly. I've been known to have an overreaction like that, on occasion, but it's not often. I don't know why it happened on this particular day with this particular person and incident, but it did. I mean who is ever really ready for a stranger to be hovering behind their shoulder when they're sitting in their car? It could be because I also saw part of who they really were? In the split second it took me to realize that I wasn't about to be eaten, I laughed and patted my chest, "Oh man! I'm so sorry, but I was NOT expecting a person to be there when I turned around." Her face suggested that she found that reasonable. As she asked, in that barely audible whisper, for a cigarette I was busy trying to register what I was seeing. It was a girl yes, a thin black girl in a jumper. She was young, probably about college age in all visibility, but also, somehow not that young. The blue hair was one of those cheap costume wigs that had inadvertently slid back a bit from her hair line. Then for half a moment I saw it. Something watery and dark there, just behind her eyes, somewhere in her depths. A water thing, a water faerie of some kind; a Nixe or Nymph perhaps. Something in that flash of instant told me that the girl knew this was herself and also that she didn't quite know. I wasn't afraid of her, but there was some awe there. She wouldn't eat me... if I showed some respect. Like an alligator won't eat you if you respect its boundaries and don't mess about. Otherwise.... well, it's curtains! I finally managed to begin processing what I'd seen and realizing that yes I could give her a cigarette and did so. She said thank you while fighting the wind and strands of her wig to light it. Then she started with that whisper talking again about books and heavy and getting back to her house. Yeah... I could give her a lift if it wasn't too far out of my way, so I asked her if she lived far and if she wanted a ride. She accepted. I pulled back around to the loading dock to help her get the books. Two thoughts ran through my mind. While I don't consider it stealing, it would still, none-the-less, be considered theft, so I hoped there were no secret cameras around. Also, I said a small prayer to The Universe, just in case, that this errand wouldn't spell my demise. We loaded a few armfuls into the back of my car and she quickly tidied up the small mess she'd made going through things, which I noted in my mind and thought that was really nice, because most people in this town that go through things on loading docks leave it like a cyclone had just swept through. It didn't take long to get to her house at all and I would have passed it on my way towards home. We exchanged names on the way, at my initiation, which is something I don't do. But on this day, in this moment, I felt compelled to ask her name and freely give this Water Girl mine in return. I also asked her if she was from here, because her accent through the whispered talk was strange to me. She said she was. It was the truth. Must of been her Water Self I was also hearing. I'm not really a stranger to strange things, but they're also not something I encounter a lot. I certainly never offer them a ride or my name. But it was a pleasant five minutes spent with a Water Fae, who are never known for being nice to humans. But, then it's debatable that I'm 100% human either. I wasn't threatened either when she said that she might see me again at the library because she's always there. It's probably because she was genuionely thankful that I was so helpful and said I was "good people" in that Friend of Fae way, not the "you'll be a delicious entrée" sort of deal. Besides being elatedly weirded out by the entire affair, it's still a small but first-rate encounter to have under my belt of life so to speak, and am I also wondering if I will ever see her again and how that might go.
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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