The Ebony Secret

Alexis woke up with a smile on her face. It was very dark outside. Turning over in her bed, Alexis noticed that there must have been something underneath her pillow. She sat up, and felt around.

Her hand felt something sticky and she pulled it out from under the pillow. She switched on the small lamp on her bedside table. On her bed, there was a small, expertly crafted wood bowl. It was filled to the rim with milk, and honey was drizzled around it.

Groaning, but still smiling, she saw a small four leafed clover next to the bowl. She then picked up the bowl and examined it. On one of the sides, there was a little carving of a leprechaun.

Alexis' head clouded with annoyance and stress when she thought of what her parents would think of this whole thing. She makes up fables of little fairies, and then spills milk and honey all over her bed and pillow! Alexis imagined her parents saying to a personal therapist.

She put the bowl on her bedside table, and put her pillow back. Then she slumped back into her bed and forgot about it all before falling asleep once more.

~

Alexis woke up in the late morning. The clean, white sunlight was strewn throughout her room. She sat up, stretched and yawned, and got out of bed.

Noticing the small bowl she had found beneath her pillow last night on her bedside table, she was worried about how she would get her sheets clean. She saw a glass of water on her bedside table that hadn't been there when she had gone to sleep. Her parents must have put it there while she was sleeping.

She picked up the glass and went searching in her dresser to find an old shirt. She found one, pink and button-up with a collar. She poured a little bit of the water onto the shirt, and tried to scrub away the disgusting stickiness on her bed.

Before long, she had cleaned up all of the milk, but a bit of the honey was still crusted on her otherwise clean, white sheets. Groaning, she put her pillow on top of it and hoped no one would notice.

From her window, it appeared warm outside, so she slipped on a white sundress and went downstairs, closing her bedroom door behind her in case anyone went snooping around.

Tiptoeing quietly down the stairs, Alexis turned her head to see if her parents were in the kitchen. Relieved that they weren't, she got the cereal out of the cupboard. She then carefully opened the refrigerator and grabbed the cold, moist carton of milk.

While she was eating, she heard someone walk into the room. She pretended she didn't hear.

“Alexis, dear? I'm sorry about last night. The trauma of the other day must have gotten to your head.”

Alexis tried to nod and look reasonably sorry.

“You don't have any more school for a few weeks, until we get things sorted out. I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable with any new teachers.”

Alexis nodded again, and finished her bowl of cereal. She got up and rinsed it out in the sink, remembering the bowl of milk and honey that had attracted the leprechauns.

Her mother left the room, and Alexis got another bowl out of the cupboard. She tipped the heavy milk carton, and milk flowed into the bowl. She put the carton back in the refrigerator. Then, she got out the little plastic bear that held the golden, sweet honey and brought it over to the bowl. She pried the cap open, sticky with dried honey like her sheets now were, and squeezed it.

Slowly, thick honey came out of the nozzle. Alexis drizzled it in the bowl of milk, moving in a circular motion so that the honey went in a spiral and disappeared into the lake of milk. She then put the honey back in its place and carefully brought the full bowl upstairs.

In her room, Alexis opened up her window and put the bowl next to the windowsill. She didn't want to risk her parents seeing it, or worse, stepping in it, if she left it on the front step.

She went over to her bedside table and picked up the little carved bowl. Why would Seamus give me this? she thought, I'll ask him next time I see him.

For the rest of the day, Alexis stayed up in her room, picking away honey flakes and poking and prodding the dainty little bowl, until her parents called her down for dinner. She hurried downstairs, hoping that both her parents had forgotten about her “fables” and sat down in her chair.

“Hello, dear,” her father said, “Why we haven't seen much of you today. Is everything alright, you know, besides the obvious.”

“Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to stay in my room for a while.”

Alexis reached across the table to grab the spoon for the vegetables. Then she got up and got a ripe, squeaky nectarine from the fruit bowl on the counter.

“Is that all you're eating, Alexis?” her father asked her.

“Yes. I'm not very hungry these days. Just fruits and vegetables do the trick for me.” It was true that she wasn't very hungry, she was anticipating what she would get to see next time she fell asleep.

“Hmm.” her mother said, looking slightly concerned.

Alexis left the table later than her parents, poking around at her food and eating it very slowly in small bites. Multiple times, her parents asked her if she was okay, and she insisted that she was fine. She felt better, if not the same as usual days.

After dinner, she went right up to her bedroom and slipped on her pajamas to get ready for bed. But then, right as she was about to turn on the light, she thought she saw something slip past the windowsill.

She looked out the window, and to her surprise and astonishment, she saw little colored lights on the grass. Fairies, she thought. Some were also on the roof, about ten yards away from her. None were near her bowl of milk. Maybe if I do this, she thought, as she took the little leprechaun bowl and dipped it in the large bowl. She then put it down right next to the bowl.

In an instant, the little lights started moving towards the bowl. Alexis stepped back and gasped, as the little fairies swarmed around the small bowl. Many of them were of colors she'd seen before, like pink, yellow, and green. Others were entirely new to her and impossible to describe.

After a few seconds, the bowl was licked clean by the fairies. Alexis shyly took a step towards them.

“Um, there's more milk, if you want.”

Alexis heard them, half in her ears, and half in her head.

“Yes.” one hissed.

“Thank you.” said another.

The majority of them had raspy voices like dried leaves, or jingly voices like bells and wind chimes.

Alexis got a little closer and reached out to the bowl. The fairies were still gathered around, and in the the bowl. She touched one accidentally, and a feeling of warmth rippled through her body, while a distant breeze flowed through her hair.

She dipped the bowl in the milk and put it back where it was before. Some of the fairies left, thanking her and claiming they were full, but a lot of them stayed for seconds.

“There's a lot more in that bowl,” she said, pointing, “I can't stay here all night serving you milk and honey.”

“We don't want to drink from a human bowl.” one said, “Fay bowls are the only things we drink from.” She was tiny and pink, and looked respectively into Alexis' eyes.

“Oh, I'm sorry I don't have more. I have to go to bed, though.” Alexis said.

The fairy had a little look of annoyance on her face, but then smiled.

“All's fine then.” she said, and gathered up the others.

They left all together in a loose clump. Their colors mixed together into one grand rainbow.

Alexis got in her bed, but then heard a loud mew. She looked under her bed.

“Polly!” she said. She had almost totally forgot about her tiny tabby kitten over the past few days. Polly had gone missing a few weeks ago, and Alexis had cried for hours, thinking she was dead.

She picked Polly up, put her on the bed next to her, and stroked her. She began to purr, and Alexis began to cry tears of happiness. Now, she knew what Seamus had meant when her said that fairies could help her. They had helped her find her kitten.