68. A Crush

Very early one late February morning, almost at dawn, the Leafies were confering among themselves on a tree near an entrance to Minced Forest. 

Frankie was sentinel that day and Vinny was telling his fellows what he had learned about Binky’s plans to redecorate his office. He had good news and bad news.

“And the good news is he won’t try to chop down our forest to line his office walls with wooden panels or make himself more shelves and closets. It turned out the only thing Binky had to remove from his office to make it a pleasant place was himself.”

“Hear, hear!” clapped the Leafies.

“You could tell that was what the Feng Shui fairies were thinking,” proceeded Vinny, “but they were diplomatic and told Binky there was nothing wrong with his office except his hoarding ways. They suggested he find one of those containers where paper to be recycled is deposited and dump all the documents he has accumulated there and never hoard any more.”

“So the Feng Shui Fairies turned out to be sensible people after all,” said Malcolfus.

“Since Binky only understands what he wants to, what he made out of this was that he has to be modern and make use of new technologies. And the bad news is that for telling him what everyone constantly tells him for free, the Chinese fairies have charged thousands of fairypence.”

                                                 

“Fairypence don’t exist,” insisted Leopold, most reactionary of the conservative Leafies. “They are a project of Binky’s that will never come to be.”

“Unfortunately, that is not exactly so,” said Frankie. “Though most fairies will have nothing to do with fairypence, the shadier fairies like the idea of fairy money and are already accepting it.”

“Those people are on their way to the dark side. They will be evil witches in no time and covet mortal money,” said Malcolfus. “That’s what the times are coming to.”

“Wisteria Tai tai, however, said her grandfather, Master Foo Ling, is conservative and would rather have fairy favors than fairypence,” said Vinny.

“Fairy favors are tried and true, not an experiment like fairypence,” nodded Leopold approvingly.

“So now we have no idea what these people will ask the Prime Minister for, nor when they will ask for it,” said Magnus.

“Just as it should be,” said Leopold, almost aggressively.

“I hope they won’t ask for something impossible or otherwise make payment difficult,” said Magnus, undaunted. “It could ruin us.”

                                           

“That’s the worst thing about trading fairy favors,” pronounced Malcolfus. “You don’t always know what you will be asked for in exchange of a favor or when it will be asked of you. Oh, well, as Señora Estrella says, let the sun rise where it pleases.Tai tai is Wisteria’s last name?”

“No,” said Vinny. “Tai tai means something like madam. Only they say it behind and not before the lady’s name. And,” he continued, “after discussing the bill, Binky and the Chinese fairies went off to have a business lunch at The Poultice.”

“What is this Poultice place?”

“It’s a poshy restaurant frequented by those of us who act like humans. At first I was shocked by what I saw and heard there, but after a while I got hungry and concentrated on the food being served. It began to look very appetizing to me and now I think that eating there has to be some kind of an important experience. If I win the lottery with the little clover on it, I might reserve a table and try the tasting menu.”

The little clover lottery, as Vinny called it, was a game organized by mortals. Vinny had found a ticket a human had dropped in the forest and was obsessed with it. He did not know how the game was played, but he kept the ticket as a treasure in case it should be worth something, though the date on it showed the ticket had expired.

  

 “Look at him!” cried Leopold angrily. “Even observing power play corrupts!”

                    

“Bah!” said Frankie, the morning’s sentinel. “He’ll never win the little clover lottery. Look! Here comes Titania’s boy.”  

                    

               

I was indeed strolling through the forest on my way to Alpin’s house.

“I like that lad,” I heard Leopold say. “He does no harm to the plants or animals in our forest.”

“Well, he looks sad today,” said Malcolfus.

“It’s probably because soon he’ll be plagued by his allergy. To think we are the ones that make him, of all people, suffer,” said Magnus.

“No, we don’t,” protested Vinny.“It’s the junk humans put in the environment all mixed up with the lack of love between us. We’re not the bad guys.”

                       

“Hey, kid!” cried Vinny. “What’s the matter with you?” And when I was slow to answer he whispered, “Is he a sleepwalker?”

This didn’t surprise me, for in truth I was moving with my eyes almost shut.

“Oh, hi!” I said, coming out of my reverie and glancing up at the trees. “Good morning to you all, sirs. No, there’s nothing wrong...with me.”

“He even calls us sirs,” whispered Leopold. The Leafies can be dangerous, but are rarely treated with respect even by those suffering from their most bitter and effective hostility.

“What’s that you are hiding?” asked Vinny, pointing at a red, heart-shaped object I held against my breast.

                            

“I’m not hiding anything. I’m clutching something against my broken heart,” I replied. “This is nothing but a Valentine card I didn’t dare send because I know my love is impossible.”

“May we ask who it was for?” said Vinny.

“Well, for someone older than I am and very much in love with someone else. I know very well that she’s not interested in me. But she’s always been very kind to me and I like her a lot, so I thought that maybe it wouldn’t matter if I told her how I felt about her. But then I didn’t dare because she is the mother of a friend of mine and maybe he wouldn’t understand I don’t mean to get anything by it, so why risk trouble?”

“Oh, my!” said Malcolfus. “This lad is saying he has a crush on the demon bride! Well, of course you do! It’s impossible to be with her and not have one. All of us are in love with her at times. Nobody can help it. She’s fatally attractive.”

“You’ve noticed how wonderful she is?” I asked, glad to be able to speak about her. “Since everyone is always insulting her and calling her a wicked witch, I thought I was the only one who had noticed how kind she can be. She is the only person who reads my poems and makes comments about them, which is how I know she really reads them. And whenever she bakes a cake she always keeps the piece that is decorated the prettiest for me, which is no mean feat considering how fast Alpin gobbles everything up.”

“Yes,” said Malcolfus, “that lady is enchanting when she is in a good mood and you won’t find a male that won’t say that. She can make us happy very easily when she wants to, but she’s a very difficult person to make happy herself. You could have given her the valentine. She would have found it touching. But I think you should find yourself a new love, one more fit for you, like we all have.”

I had never thought of looking for someone to love. I thought love just happened. But the advice Malcolfus had given me seemed to make sense.

“Maybe I should begin to look for someone this very morning. But I promised Alpin I would visit him today. Well, perhaps he will help me find what I’m looking for.”