~Damn, I love potatoes! Small one’s baked, big one's au-gratin, cut up and sautéed and fried! Even when you are sick, a baked potato will do! All except for mashed, that's just pre-chewed and I will not have it. ~ The words ran through my head like a song. Like something I’d been chanting long enough to forget why I started.
I'm sitting at a long table with several people, or rather creatures too? Sitting on a wonderfully soft chair and swinging my legs without a care in the world. When was the last time I felt this good? My stomach was full and my brain was quiet for the first time in forever.
"STOP! Don't eat those!" A concerned young man ripped a fork out of my hand. Freaking rude. "Why did you let her eat those?? She passed, didn't she? Come on!” He has jumped up and started shaking a man sitting across from us. Hehe, that's funny...
"She didn't pass; she CHEATED!" The other man roared, the whole table shook. He has an unusually large smile, like a crescent moon. The table started shaking again like it had bounced off the other end and came back. That's funny too. How is a table this long after all? I keep taking bites of potatoes but somehow it just keeps refilling in the same spot on my plate. This is just nonsense.
"I can so eat all their potatoes, they won't even know!" I go to grab a big baked potato this time and the young man with haunted eyes came rushing over to take it out of my hand again. "Get your own!" I yelled at him and tried to push him away. Who the hell is this guy to stop me from my delicious golden goodness? He had gotten behind my chair and was holding me down.
How does he know exactly how much force to use and not hurt me?
"Come on, she would have figured it out if you had let me explain beforehand! You came in so freaking fast she didn't know the deal! She got played, it's too late!" He hissed at the other man, that's weird- it looks like he has tail....and ears? I blink heavily a few times, a man-like cat? Catman? Wait... am I drunk? The air tensed for just a moment, and you could smell something foul and almost sweet, like rotten honey. It disappeared and was replaced by the smell of freshly baked bread- oh that's soda bread! I started to wiggle around.
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"You two are the REAL pookas- hmpf, here!" This small creature (that looked like a real-life fairy from my favorite cartoon movie as a kid) flew up and hit me on the head. It looked like a wand with a purple gemstone at the end of it where she held it that lit up with what looked like a galaxy inside. A hot flash ran throughout my body; a tingling sensation started at the top of my head and went down my body like it was splashed with ice water. "I always bring the potatoes because they usually always fail, this is NOT my fault." Looking around, all their faces became clearer, like the fog had been lifted. A sound like a harp string made of glass was plucked once — bright, cruel, perfect — and the world came back into focus.
The problem was, who the hell are these people??
"Now we talk about what you cost," Evander’s smile grew into the biggest I had seen yet. The little fae who had been excited by her fresh lemon tart, was now flying at Evander with white powder sugar flying off her as she went. She hit him hard on the top of his left hand and he dropped his turkey leg. "She did pass," Evander yelled towards the fae, but as he went to say her name, a teapot blew its whistle. "-, you know what I say is true." The fae hit him again but this time on the head, his smile reverting again to its unusual size. She flew back to her plate of lemon; she sat down and pulled out her own small fork; though the pastry was nearly the same size. I shifted in my seat and Hatter let go softly, like he was trying to calm a scared baby deer. I remember their nicknames at least, but only the bunnies are who I know; I really wish I could have an actual conversation with them. Frankie at least seems to be someone important to Hatter, but that's NOT enough to say I know him.
"I am sorry about the potatoes Katrina, they are to make the sting of losing seem small in comparison," she smiled at me with sad eyes. She waved her wand and all the potato options near me disappeared. A few plates of fish and vegetables popped up in their place. "This is all safe now, truly. Eat up little one, or you'll regret it later even more." She took a whopping portion of lemon tart to bite and dusted herself with more powdered sugar in the process. I have a feeling that one isn't her first.
The Seer had been missing— now she was there. Her eyes were glossed over; her body was here, but it seems like her mind hasn't caught up. Each person seems concerned with a food item in front of them, like they haven't eaten in ages. That's it- if I don't get an answer in the next minute, I'm going to take the buns and run. I look over and they are now chewing a big carrot together, a tender yet bizarre moment. My stomach rumbles loudly, and the Seer snaps back to herself and covers her smile with her hand. She leans over and lifts the lid from a giant stew container where there was a roast inside. The Seer takes some of the meat and starts eating; she is the picture of grace.
My stomach rumbled loudly again- traitor. I took a cup of stew where I can see carrots and broccoli and decided that's my safest option here. If the potatoes can do that to you, what the hell could the meat do?!
