Book 3: Chapter 27 (1/2)

The sun shone overhead. Blue waves lapped at the golden shore. An elf wearing nothing but a few strips of cloth lay on a recliner, a glass of clear liquid in her hand with a metal straw leading towards her lips. Ice cubes clanked as she drank a sip and exhaled, leaning back and closing her eyes.

“You’re sunbathing? I thought you were like a fungus! Fungi don’t like well-lit places.”

Lindyss sighed as her eyes opened. A fairy was hovering in front of her face. “Be quiet or go away. Those are your only options.”

“How far away do I have to go?” Erin asked. “If I go a couple feet away, then can I shout at you? Is out of your smacking distance going away enough?” She flitted back and forth with her hands on her hips. “Well?”

Lindyss sighed again as she leaned over to the side and pulled a pair of earplugs out of the bag that was lying on the sand. She placed them into her ears and closed her eyes, readjusting her hair while leaning into the seat.

Erin’s wings stopped beating, but she stayed hovering in the air. “Oi. That’s rude. That’s rude. That’s very, very rude.” She flew up to Lindyss’ face. “Are you listening?” Her head craned forward to peer at Lindyss’ pointy ears. Her eyes narrowed as she inched forward, reaching out with her hands. Right when she was about to snatch away the earplugs, a hand connected with her face, knocking her down into the beach headfirst. Her wings flapped as she pulled her head out of the sand, spitting out bits of yellow. “You stupid potato! Fairies aren’t meant to be swatted!”

Lindyss’ eyes remained closed as she took a sip from her straw. She lowered her cup and wet her lips with her tongue. “Your size begs to differ.”

“You can hear me!” Erin shouted, shaking a fist at Lindyss from the ground. “And what do you mean by my size begs to differ!?”

“It means exactly what it sounds like,” Lindyss said. “If your body wasn’t so easy to swat, I wouldn’t swat you. But alas, it is, so swat, I must.”

“You’re a horrible person.”

“And you’re my friend; what does that say about you?”

Erin puffed her chest out. “That I’m a very tolerant indi…vi…dual…,” she said, her voice trailing off. Her eyes widened to a comical size, nearly falling out of her head. “I’m your what!? Say that again!”

Lindyss opened her eyes and sat up, frowning at the fairy with her brows furrowed. Her head tilted to the side. “What does that say about you?”

“No, no, no! Before that,” Erin said, her eyes glistening as she clasped her hands in front of her chest.

Lindyss’ expression darkened. “If you weren’t so easy to swat, I wouldn’t swat you?”

“After that!”

“I said something poetic about swatting.”

“After that too!”

“…I don’t remember.”

“You said I was your friend!” Erin said, soaring into the air above Lindyss’ head. A moment later, she dove straight down and landed in the cursed elf’s lap. “I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! You see me as a friend.” A wide smile split the fairy’s face as she bounced up and down, her wings fluttering. She giggled to herself and pressed her hands against her cheeks.