Chapter 20: Close Encounters

Once the last kid left for the day, Sofia busied herself with closing down her room for the evening. The last of the toys strewn about the room were tidied up and a few pieces of furniture straightened before she finally took out the trash and headed for the door.

She was just about to leave when she noticed something by the counter. Upon closer inspection, it was a little fairy, its diminutive form fluttering about. Judging by the blue color of its wings, she suspected that this was the same butterfly that had pestered her for a cookie only yesterday. And from its ineffectual attempts to open the little bag of graham crackers that had been the afternoon’s snack, it was quite clear what it wanted.

Sofia sighed. Honestly. How is it still here? And aren't butterflies supposed to be short-lived, anyway?

Taking a closer look caused her brow to furrow. Actually, it wasn't just the fairy's wings that looked familiar. Hadn't she seen that face and dress before…?

Glancing toward the circle time rug confirmed her suspicions. This fairy was the same “Alexis” that she'd seen sitting on the mushroom all day. Its little blue toadstool stood empty as the fluttering thing struggled with the crackers. At least, that's what it looked like.

Just to be certain, Sofia crossed over to the mushroom and reached out a hand to feel it. The surface was smooth and hard. There were no protrusions or any other details to suggest that a plastic butterfly usually sat atop it.

Just like with Koko. If my brain is just rationalizing inconsistencies away, then it's doing a really good job at it.

There should have been something. Some evidence that the mushroom had been swapped or that the butterfly was removable. Yet none was forthcoming. She even tried to remember if she'd seen the butterfly on its usual stand yesterday during the cookie incident, but it was no use. She couldn't recall having looked.

Suddenly, a flash of blue filled her vision. The annoyed face of the little fairy interspersed itself between Sofia and the mushroom. Releasing her grip on its smooth top, Sofia stepped back. “Sorry, sorry. I was just looking.”

The pixie huffed, looking over her mushroom and brushing it off as it silently gave her the stink eye. It waited until Sofia turned away to dart back toward the counter and continue its futile efforts.

After watching with amusement for a minute, Sofia started forward. It clearly wasn't getting anywhere without her, and Sofia couldn't bring herself to ignore the poor thing. The fact that she actually had to see its expression of sheer frustration just made it even more pitiable.

Stepping toward the counter, Sofia opened the little bag with ease and pulled out a cracker. The fairy fluttered into the air with obvious excitement. Little sparkles of glittering dust rained down from its wings and trailed behind it as it darted around to observe.

Sofia shook her head in amusement and snapped a piece off the cracker. An entire one would be larger than the butterfly-turned-fairy itself, after all. Setting the piece of cracker on a little napkin, she backed away.

The fairy dive bombed the cracker eagerly, grabbing at it with tiny hands. It broke an even tinier piece off the edge before sitting cross-legged atop the cracker. Its expression turned to one of sheer satisfaction as it munched away.

Smiling, Sofia hefted the room’s trash bag and headed out. No one had complained about her leaving the butterfly a treat last time. So it was probably fine to do it again. At least for today.

***

Sofia slid into her car with a grateful sigh. After what felt like a particularly long and exhausting day, she was more than ready to finally go home and rest. Rest and recover from her first week at the daycare.

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I can't believe it's only been a week. It feels like it's been so much longer.

When she looked back at the individual days, of course, she could put things into proper perspective. But overall? It felt like at least a month had flown by. Far too much had happened in these few days.

Sofia shook her head and started up her car. She didn't want to think about it right now. It was Friday, which meant she had an entire weekend ahead of her to do just that. For now, she just wanted to get home.

The old beater thudded to life, the sound completely incongruous with the peaceful forest clearing. Squirrels and birds fled as the rumbling vehicle headed away from the daycare and toward the road beyond.

The trees enveloped her as she drove, their boughs arching overhead to block the late-afternoon sun and shroud the route in shadows. Sofia spared a few curious glances toward her surroundings to search out any other oddities worth noting. However, she didn't look too hard. Her eyes needed to stay on the road.

Actually, if I really am seeing things, then I really shouldn't be driving, should I? Though I don't have much of a choice…

Maybe she could call and pester her mom to pick her up, but she really didn't want to. The very thought made her feel as though she were back in elementary school again, which wasn’t particularly empowering. Especially not when she was already feeling the slight strain on her independence from moving back into her mom's house.

I'll just be extra careful. I didn't run into trouble last time, so I'm sure I can manage it again.

Her attention refocused on the road ahead of her, eyes scanning for anything and everything that could give her trouble. Hopefully it would be enough. In theory, the influence she was under could hide things from her altogether. But it hadn't seemed to be the case so far. She had to trust it would stay that way.

Her laser focus allowed her to catch the flash of movement before it left the treeline. Sofia’s foot slammed on the brakes before she even registered what it was. Her tires squealed in protest, and she lurched forward as the car came to a sudden stop.

A figure darted into the road ahead of her, stopping right in front of her car. It had the legs, ears, and antlers of a deer, as well as cloven hooves where its feet should have been. The rest of its body, however, was that of a bare-chested man with wild brown hair and sun-kissed skin. A little tail twitched behind him as he stood there.

Sofia glared at the satyr standing in the road. She might have honestly called him attractive if she weren’t so incredibly annoyed. There was no way to tell if this was the same deer that she’d almost crashed into days before, but she somehow had the feeling that it was.

Her grip on the wheel slowly relaxed. At least there was a small silver lining to this situation. She was incredibly confident that there was an actual deer underneath this illusion. After all, no one but a deer would be stupid enough to jump in front of a moving car like that.

The “satyr” threw its hands up in the air in a gesture of annoyance, as though it jumping out and nearly getting flattened was somehow her fault. She ignored it. After a few moments of waiting, it seemed to roll its eyes and move off to the side.

Eyeing the satyr and treeline with suspicion, Sofia started forward again—slowly. The satyr thought better of jumping in front of her vehicle a second time, however, and soon she was cruising down the road once more. The suicidal deer-man watched her go, and an occasional glance in her rearview mirror showed him disappear into the forest.

Sofia shook her head. Two near-misses in one week… This road was more treacherous than she’d expected. The fact that she had yet to see a wreck by the side of the road honestly surprised her.

I’ll have to be careful. The last thing I want is to shell out money for repairs—or worse, a new car altogether.

The sedan continued chugging toward town. Nothing else attempted to splatter itself against her windshield, thankfully. Even the jackalopes she spotted out of the corner of her eye had more sense than that. And soon enough, she emerged from the shady forest and into the late-afternoon sunlight.

After meandering through the intersections and stoplights of her hometown, Sofia finally arrived at her mom’s house. Heading inside, she noted that her mom appeared to be out. Likely, she was at the store or tending to her garden in the back.

That’s just fine. I’m pretty tired, anyway. I think I’ll take a quick nap before dinner…

Sofia tried to ignore the odd glows that now hovered around some of the artifacts and art pieces that cluttered the house as she climbed the stairs to her room. Setting her belongings on her desk, she flung herself onto her bed with a huge sigh. This job certainly was turning out to be more than she’d bargained for. Much more.

I hope things settle down soon. Otherwise, I don’t know how I’m going to keep up…

She let her eyes drift closed as she lay sprawled across the mattress. In moments, she was asleep.