Untitled

This is a separate project. This is the first meeting between an unknowing human and a faerie (a pixie). It is set in modern times.

“Pardon me… miss.”

The young woman gave no indication that she’d heard him, and continued to walk, nearing the street corner.  Eddus quickened his pace closing the space between them.  He caught up to her as she pressed the button for the crosswalk.

“Miss!”

She looked over her shoulder at him, and turned to face him, regarding him with a slight look of apprehension.  Eddus stopped a few paces away from her.  Neither said anything as they stood for a moment looking at one another.  The girl was at least a head shorter than Eddus, and very petite.  Her brown hair was tied neatly in a bun at the back of her neck, and her light colored eyes, wide set and almond-shaped, turned up at the end.  She could easily have been in, or perhaps just out of, her teens.

She smiled nervously as she studied Eddus’ face for a moment, and then started to turn away, looking toward the crosswalk.

“Wait…”  Eddus cautiously took a step toward her, “you… left your shoes in the theatre…”  He held up them for her to see, glancing from her to the shoes and back.

Looking down at her bare feet, the young woman burst into laughter, and turned again to face him.  Stepping forward, she took the flats from him.

“I can’t go anywhere…” she said, and then gave him a sidelong look.   “Did you follow me here from the theatre?”

“No… no!”  Eddus stepped backwards, putting his hands up in front of him.  He was suddenly aware of how strange it might look, a man approaching an obviously younger woman.  “I was at the pub…  I saw you walk by…”  He tilted his head back in the direction they’d come from.

“You saw me walk by the pub?”

“Shem’s place,” Eddus turned to point back up the street.  “About a block back.  Shem’s Tavern…”

“Yeah…  I got that, but why did you have my shoes at a pub?”  The young woman narrowed her eyes at him, tilting her head to one side.  She lifted her hand slightly, holding up the shoes.

Eddus felt his face warm as he realized how strange it must seem to the girl, that he’d not left the shoes at theatre, for her to collect later.

“I… I came out of the theatre in hope of finding you…” he stammered, glancing down and taking another step away from her.  “Then I… I…”

The girl broke into a smile, her eyes glinting mischievously, and she laughed again.  “Hey,” she said, “I’m f*****g with you…”

Eddus looked at her smiling playfully at him, and exhaled the breath he was holding, his heart pounding in his chest.  For a moment he had envisioned her making a scene, or perhaps calling to someone for help.   

“Right…  Well, ok then…” he gave her a sheepish smile, glancing away again.  “I… just wanted to get them back to you…”  He nodded.  “Have… have a good night,” he said turning to walk back toward the pub, eager to get as far from this awkward situation as he could, as soon as he could.

“What is your name?”

Eddus tensed as he stopped midstride.  Taking a deep breath, he turned around as she took a few steps toward him, coming to a stop just in front of him.  Looking up at him, she tilted her head to one side.  He could see that her eyes were a light brown, almost amber.  They momentarily seemed to glow in the light given off by the streetlamp overhead.  She looked amused as she studied his face.

“Eddus Brandt,” he said, not looking away from her eyes.

“Eddus Brandt…” the girl repeated softly.

“That’s me.”  He still felt the urge to get away, and back to his friends, but there was something about the way she way in which she said his name.  He couldn’t quite get himself to turn away from her.          

“Where are you going, Eddus Brandt?”

“I, uh… well, back to the pub… my friends are there.”

“And just leave a girl alone on a street corner at night…?”  She faked a pout.

Eddus felt his face warm again.  He glanced away, breaking her gaze.  Suddenly feeling uncomfortable with how close to one another they stood, he took a step backward.

“Oh… Right… Can I get you a cab?”

“You could…” the girl said, nodding her head, her eyes catching the light again as she stepped toward Eddus again, “or you could let me come with you…”  She gave him a smile.

“You… want to come to the pub…?”

The young woman laughed and slipped her arm into his, turning him in the direction of the pub, and they started walking slowly down the sidewalk.  “You’ve got to loosen up,” she said.  “Tell me about yourself, Eddus Brandt.”

“Ed…  Everyone calls me Ed.”

The girl stopped walking for a moment and looked up at him.

“Ed?”

“Yeah… it’s a… common mispronunciation, and I don’t really care enough to correct people anymore.”  Eddus smiled thinly, shaking his head.  “So that’s me.  A guy called Ed.  The bane of my existence…”   

“So, what else, Eddie?”

“No, no, please… not Eddie… just Ed.  I’m not a Jack Russell…”  Eddus glanced nervously at the people walking past them on the sidewalk.  “What is your name?”

“Guess.”

“You want me to guess your name?”

“Yes.”  The girl looked up at him, giving him a half-smile.

“I’m…  no good at guessing games.”

“Just guess…”

“I’m not going to guess your name,” Eddus said.  “I’ll get it wrong, anyway.”  He began to gently pull away from her, but she squeezed his arm, not releasing him.

“Ok then, what do I look like?”

“What?”

“Based on what I look like, what would you say my name is?”

“Well, that’s just another guessing game,” Eddus laughed.  “Just tell me your name.”

“Not until you tell me what you’d call me…  Who do I look like?”

“What’s your name?”

“You know, that’s what your friends are going to ask…”  She laughed.  “Better think of something to tell them, we’re almost at the pub.”

“Come on…”

“Come on yourself, Eddie.”  Looking up at Eddus, the girl stuck out her tongue at him and then laughed.

“Ok, fine, you look like…  I don’t know… maybe… Sarah…”

The girl quickly halted, turning to face him, with a shocked look.

“Do I really look like a Sarah?”

“I don’t know!”  Eddus shrugged.  “I’m sorry… I…”

“Are you psychic…?”

“What… no!”

“Well, then maybe you should play guessing games more often…”  She reached up and patted his cheek.

“Wait, really…?”  Eddus looked down at her in surprise.

“No…” she said, shaking her head, “I’m f*****g with you again, Eddie.”  The girl’s eyes danced and she grinned at him playfully.

“Please, don’t call me Eddie…”

“My name is Abbi,” she said, linking arms with him again.  “Now come on, your friends are waiting for you.”

 

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