Free Fairy Circle by Johanna Frappier Page A

‘yip’ noise and turned to see who was there.
    It was a little, old woman. Her back was bent but there was a smile on her wrinkled-apple face. She pushed a can of tomato soup across the counter. “Ooo, hoo. Scared ya, didn’t I?”
    Saffron stared at the soup can and mumbled, “Yeah. No. It’s okay. One twenty five, please.” Where had this old biddy come from? Saffron didn’t hear the ting-a-ling. She was mad at herself for zoning out again.
    The ancient woman reached into a macramé purse.
    In the cooler, Coco was just reaching for the last can of whipped cream. She happened to look at Saffron at the register counter, and saw her talking to herself and reaching out as if to take money from someone. Coco pulled her chin back into her neck and squinted, her hand stalled in mid-grab. She continued to watch as Saffron appeared to be making a transaction by taking money that wasn’t there and giving nothing back to a person that wasn’t there.
    Coco shrugged. Saffron must be practicing. She came out of the cooler, her eyes on Saffron the entire walk back to the counter. “Whataya doin? Practicin’?”
    Saffron had no idea what Coco was talking about, so she did what she always did when she didn’t want to continue a conversation - she agreed with a nod and a deer-in-the-headlights stare. Saffron never heard the old lady leave.

Chapter 6

    W hen Saffron woke up the next morning, rain was pummeling the window. She’d had another dream, but this time it was different. Strange, because the dream took place in her room, not some obscure land in some far-distant time, and strange because she was herself in the dream and she was dressed and she wasn’t having sex, watching someone having sex, or anticipating having sex.
    She dreamed she opened her eyes, looked at the clock - the red digital display read 3:32am - and watched as an elderly, black couple strolled across her floor and straight out through the opposite wall. He was talking about the stock market crash. He was dressed in a pressed suit and derby and she in a flower-patterned, shin-length dress and straw hat. Saffron had blinked twice, then rolled over. The next thing she knew she was awake and remembering.
    She got up and took a shower. It was her habit to dry her body with the shower curtain still closed, wrap her hair in one towel, and wrap her body in another before she opened the curtain to step out. She told herself she did this to preserve the shower steam and keep herself warm while she was drying.
    She opened the curtain. There was a little boy standing before the toilet, dropping in pennies. She screamed and slipped to the tub floor. Slowly, she raised her head and peeked over the edge. He looked at her, then vanished.
    Saffron heard Audrey come running and throw the door open. “What? What?” Audrey looked haggard and frantic.
    “ Nothing.” Saffron ground through clenched teeth. “Mom, I’m naked.”
    “ And underneath my Muumuu I am too, so what?” Audrey shot back and slammed the door.
    Saffron didn’t move. She bit her bottom lip. I’m really not the kind of girl that could handle this, she thought as she swallowed repeatedly at the walnut-sized lump in her throat. The air changed suddenly and she froze as she sat in the tub in her wet towel. Static zapped her tongue when the little boy walked through the bathroom door, straight at her, and through her. This time she held the scream in with both hands.

    ***

    One day passed, and two more. There were ghosts everywhere. Gremlins or some little monsters just like them in the trash, gnomes in the garden, elves in the woods, pixies in the treetops. Whenever Saffron saw something otherworldly, she ignored it by letting her hair fall over her eyes. She’d scrunch her head up into her shoulders like a turtle.
    Work became a little difficult because she was never sure if a customer was dead or not unless Coco talked to him first. Still, at least twice, Saffron got caught up in the moment and