The Little Fairy

Sarah was still asleep when I woke up, the sun had started to peek over the top of the trees. I snuck out from under her, a small snort escaping her when the bed creaked.

Don was obviously awake when I made my way downstairs. "Good morning." I planted myself on the seat furthest from the stove.

"Good morning Kreya. Did you or Sarah have a nightmare last? I noticed you were in her room." Vegetables sizzled as he added them to the hot pan.

"I couldn't sleep, I thought some conversation might help." I looked over at the coffee pot, its sputtering and gurgling let me know Don didn't get up too long ago.

He took a break from browning the vegetables to grab me a cup and fill it with the life-saving black beverage. "Well, I'm glad you two have gotten so close." He slid the mug to me and resumed his cooking.

"She told me about your wife." I looked down at my mug, white swirls popping up every once in a while from the creamer that hadn't mixed yet.

His back stiffened, but he continued cooking. "She was affected the most about her mother's death." He cracked some eggs into the pan.

I nodded, unsure how to respond to that. I decided to change the subject. "What are we doing today?"

He signed dramatically, "The apples look like they're finally ripe enough for picking. You any good at climbing?" He placed the eggs on a large platter and replaced them in the pan with small sausages that smelled like syrup.

"Yeah. I guess I would say I'm pretty good at climbing." I used my finger to stir the cream into the coffee, flinching at the burn I knew was coming.

"Good, there's always some some apples I can't get to with the cherry picker and could use the help." He plated the sausages and set them on the table. "Would you mind getting Sarah for me?"

"I'm already up." Sarah loudly clomped down the stairs, her legs still not awake enough to carry her body.

"Are you going to help with the apples today?" Don set a plate down in front of her chair as she plopped herself down.

"No, I need to go researching places to have the rally. I really want us to get at least 2 or 3 before the year is over."

The coffee I had started to drink found its way to my windpipe, causing me to cough relentlessly. "You want to start that soon?"

She looked at me, her eyebrows furrowing. "Well, yeah. We need to get at least a decent crowd going before Earth Day in April."

"That's still 6 months away!" and it's going to take time and patience to build people up if you're not going to use your powers." She took a slow bite, her eyes never leaving mine.

"You have powers?" Don got up to get himself another cup of coffee.

"Supposedly, it was never confirmed." I leaned back in my chair and took another sip of my coffee, letting the warmth soothe my now-sore throat.

"Well if you have them, why don't you use them?" He sat back down next to me, eyeing my movement.

"Because," I started, leaning my elbows on the table. "It's manipulation and I refuse to manipulate people and make them believe or do things against their will." I pushed my food around with my fork, trying to find the will to eat it.

"And when did you find out you could..." Don paused, taking a deep breath. "Manipulate people." There was sadness in his voice, and I knew he thought I manipulated him.

"When we went to the mall. Sarah asked me to convince her a leaf was an accessory and she believed me so much it turned into an argument." I pushed the plate away from me, I felt too nauseous and worried to even eat.

"So that's what you two were arguing about." Don finished his meal and put the empty plate in the sink. "I never thought you'd manipulate me, Kreya. I promise I was just curious." It's like he could read my mind, although I'm sure my body language told him that's what was going through my mind.

I nodded, unsure of what to say next, but Sarah spoke up for me. "I need to get ready, I have to go around to rental spaces." She stretched as she got up. "You coming with, K?" Her begging eyes peirced into me.

"I actually told Don I would help with the apples."

She snorted. "Of course. Well, have fun climbing, he'll make sure you have plenty to do." She winked at her dad and left the room.

"What was that about?"

"Her and Axel used to climb the trees for me. She mentioned before that they hated farm work, but I know they secretly loved it." He dried his hands and left for his bedroom. "Make sure to wear long sleeves and jeans; wouldn't want you getting cut up. Some of those branches get pretty tight toward the top."

The cherry picker was this large machine with wheels and a bucket big enough for a man to stand in it attached to a boom. Inside the bucket was a stick with a hooked basket attached to the end.

"Alright, so what I need you to do, is climb up from the bottom with this here bag," Don pulled out a plain medium-sized cream-colored cotton bag and handed it to me, "And pick as many apples from the very tops as you can. You're pretty light so the branches can hold your weight."

"And what if they can't?" I tied the drawstring of the bag around one of my belt loops.

"Don't worry about it." Don let himself into the bucket of the cherry picker and started using the apple picker to start pulling the apple from the lowest branches.

I could feel a sweat starting to bead on my forehead, but grabbed a low branch and swung myself over it, swinging my leg over so I could straddle the branch and get a good view of where I could climb next.

After a few minutes of maneuvering around thin branches and knotted ones, I finally made it to where I could grab the highest apples, the wind swaying the limbs I was trying to keep my grip on as I started stuffing bright red apples into the bag. I was able to get about 98% of the apples from the very top before my bag got full so I decided to head down.

Sarah's car pulled into the driveway when I finally reached the ground. I set the bag down in the large tub that Don had set aside to put the apples in and ran over to greet her. "So, did you find a place?"

"I did, the community hall on the 18th." She nodded, proud of her work.

"That's only 2 weeks away!" I sputtered.

"Well, then we better finish up and start those posters."

"Is it alright if I go back to the house for a while?" I yelled to Don, who was making his way back down.

He nodded and shoo'd us away. "I still need your help with the other 5 trees though, just remember that!"

I waved at him and ran back to the house to finish my speech.