by Edward Aubry
"You proved most resourceful," said Oberon. "It worked. The world is fixed now. It is as it has been for the last year, now and for all time. With one difference. The population is much, much greater."
Harrison sat on the floor beside his sister's bed, still holding her hand. "Did I really bring them all back?" he whispered.
"No," said the king. "Not all. Not even most. Many. But a great many."
Harrison hung his head. It was not perfect. Nothing ever was. But he got his sister back. Titania got her love back. It would do. It would do nicely.
"Milord!" said Sparky. She was hovering in the doorway and bowed in midair. Harrison could see moving lights behind her and stood up to see them.
The front room was filled with pixies.
"Did I do that too?" he asked. The King shook his head, without explanation.
Harrison walked out to see them. There were dozens. They were sitting on surfaces, flitting at random, getting into things, playing tag. Each one was unique. They all had insect wings, but they were all different shapes, different colors, different styles. Their faces were different, their builds were different, and Harrison had no trouble telling them all apart.
None of them was Glimmer.
"Milord!" said Sparky again.
"Yes, Little Light?" said the Faerie King. Harrison started. The queen had used that form of address to Glimmer.
"I'm so pleased to see you!" she said. "We've been comparing notes." She pointed back to the room full of pixies. "We feared the worst. The world has been scrambled! Did you know?"
He smiled. "Yes, dear," he said.
"What of the Queen?" Sparky asked plaintively.
"The Queen is well," said the king.
Harrison walked further into the room. Something outside drew his attention. He went to the window and looked out. There were flitting lights everywhere. Up close, they looked like more pixies, but there were many, many more that he could only make out as glowing points. They were all over the island.
"How many pixies are out there?" he asked the pixie closest to him. She was a skinny little thing, with deep green dragonfly wings.
She shrugged. "A few million. Not including me, of course." As she said this, she pointed to herself, and Harrison saw it again. She was missing her right index finger.
They all were.
"Captain," said Oberon. Harrison looked up at the king. "I've dispatched a squadron of my pixies to your ship. They'll certainly want to return for you once they know you're alive."
Harrison nodded. He was numb with joy. Overwhelmed. He collapsed at the wooden table and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and blew out an entire year's worth of superhuman stress.
"It's field mouse, by the way."
Harrison opened his eyes. Oberon was sitting across from him again.
"I'm sorry?" said Harrison.
"You were wondering about the leather earlier. It's field mouse. Natural causes, every one of them."
Harrison shook his head in awe.
Sparky flew over and landed on the table. She sat down, and began biting a fingernail. Her mannerisms were partly familiar, but mostly brand new. He studied her, until she looked up at him. She turned her head to look behind her, making a show of trying to find whatever he was staring at, knowing full well it was her. Finally, she shrugged. "What?"
"You don't remember me," he asked. "Do you?"
She scratched her head. "Harrison, right? We met this morning? Crater lip? We shared a nice walk?" Her tone was flip, but the content was honest. She really had no idea what he was talking about. She went back to work on her nail.
He stalled, then worked up the gumption to ask her what he absolutely needed to know.
"Sparky? Are you Glimmer?"
She looked at him as if the question totally confused her, then took her finger out of her mouth and scratched her head. He sensed that she was genuinely considering the question. He found this captivating. When she answered, it was with a tone that implied he should already know what she was going to say. Which, indeed, he did.
"We're all Glimmer."
THE END
Edward Aubry lives in Rural Pennsylvania with his wife and three daughters, where he has taught high school math for the past twelve years. He is currently working on his second novel, Caprice.
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