River: Ok, tomorrow get it a cage? For now search for what they eat and feed it something and give it some water?
Jacob: I’m always up for shopping, call me tomorrow.
Me: Ok, I can do that. Thanks.
River: You’re welcome. Give him a good name, haha.
Jacob: Name him coffee.
I roll my eyes at Jacob’s suggestion, but then realize River’s right. How can I leave him in a plastic container all night with nothing? Thankfully I put quite a few holes for airflow, so he will survive the one night he has to spend in there. After some quick research, I figure out the only safe food I have right now is an apple. I cut it up and give him some smaller slices. He seems so calm, but I’m so scared that he’ll jump out. I slide them carefully under the lid, not letting it open enough for him to leap out and make me scream like a wimp again. His little squeaks and crunches let me know he’s content, so I set it on the countertop where he won’t knock himself down.
Just as I start to make myself coffee, I finally remember the cabinet flying across the room. How the hell did it manage to fly so far? After the lightbulb and now this, I’m actually starting to think that something is wrong with me. Cabinets sometimes fall, but their doors don’t fly clear across the room. Is my apartment haunted?
Do I somehow have Fae blood?
Is that even possible, to be half and half?
No matter what possibilities I conjure up, I just make myself more and more crazy. Instead I handle it like a true adult, pushing the pointless thoughts aside and returning my focus to my work, skipping the coffee altogether. I definitely don’t need to add caffeine to my already muddled thoughts tonight.
After another few hours I finish the final touches on my library sketch and roll it up, storing it safely in a cardboard tube.
Now that my work is finished, exhaustion slams into me like a ton of bricks and I barely make it to the bathroom to shower, brush my teeth, and change.
Once I get comfortable I figured I’d drift off pretty quickly, but I can’t seem to fall asleep. The exploding light bulb and flying cabinet incidents are too fresh in my mind, and I can’t let them go.
Needing something less intense to focus on, I try to find a good name for my new friend. I keep referring to the mouse as a him, so I decide to just go with boy names. As I drift off to sleep, I think of cute and off the wall names for the tiny creature who crashed into my life.
“How big of a cage does it need?” Jacob asks, but still looks slightly appalled that I’m keeping the mouse. He had to be bribed to even come shopping for supplies, since this wasn’t his brand of shopping. River at least came willingly, mostly just to laugh at me and my predicament.
“It’s a pretty small mouse. So a hamster cage? Do they need wheels and tunnels like hamsters?” I ask as I look at the ridiculous wall of options. Does one pet store really need ten brands of hamster wheels and toys?
“The Internet says yes,” River says, not even looking up from her phone.
“This one has tunnels and a wheel included. Girl, you know this means you have to clean up his poop, right?” Jacob’s face holds exaggerated horror at the mere thought of it.
“I think I can handle it. He’s small, how bad can it be?” I say as I browse the little homes, purposefully ignoring Jacob’s whispers of just wait.
We finish picking out the little guy’s new mouse condominium and supplies, and I pay for it before we make our way back to my apartment.
“Did you name him yet?” River asks curiously. I did pick out a few, but I’m nowhere near close to deciding.
“No. But I’ve got a few ideas,” I say cautiously. Jacob and River both laugh, knowing me enough to realize it’s about to get ridiculous.
“Okay, the top names are sir squeaks-a-lot, Dormouse, Mocha because he was hiding behind my coffee when I found him, or Gizmo,” I mumble the names, waiting for their judgement.
“Isn’t he white? Mocha would be weird then,” River points out. I’d thought of that, but I still like the name, so I kept it on the list.
“Dormouse, as in Alice in Wonderland?” Jacob asks with a smile. He knows it’s one of my favorite stories, as well as the retellings. I nod, waiting for his reaction. “Okay, that’s my vote.”
“Dormouse it is. Time to build him the best mouse house ever, to celebrate not being eaten alive by a stupid snake,” I cheer, but Jacob scoffs at my words.
“Snakes aren’t stupid, you just didn’t want to contribute to the mouse’s death,” Jacob corrects knowingly. I shrug and stalk off. He isn’t wrong.
“Wait!” someone yells, and stops us in our tracks. My hands are full so I’m fairly annoyed, but try to hide it. Please don’t be the assholes hunting down fae. I glance over and notice a group of people standing on the side of the road. They’re all wearing winter hats that are pulled down to cover their ears, which I immediately find odd. It’s still a bit chilly, but it’s spring. If that doesn’t scream fae in disguise, I don’t know what does.
Most of their faces are masks of hope, but a few apparently harbor a clear anger against humans, and openly glare over at us. They did a shit job of hiding that they’re fae.
I glance at Jacob nervously and he takes a step in front of me. River however, steps forward, shocking us both. “Hello, brothers and sisters. What brings you to Silver Forest?” Her tone is curt and formal, which is odd to hear from her, she generally has such a beautiful, soft voice.