Tenpenny's Teahouse by the Sea

Alice took a long drink from the tea. It tasted sweet, but mild. She put it back down.

"It was a mouse, more or less, with me." She recalled it all. "Y'see, when I was little, I was scared of th'dark. Monsters, I found, love the dark, because it means you'll never see 'em comin'." She wanted to laugh at herself. I remember th'night. I think I was four. I was really scared because my daddy let me watch this movie, Christine, about a car that kills people t'win th'love of its owner. He thought it was funny, so he let me watch it." Alice put some of the cream into her next cup and let it sit.

"That night, I remember staring at one of my mom's old dolls. It was one that was just fabric with button eyes that had broken a little. My night-light was on, but instead of helpin' me out, it made the doll seem like a giant against the wall. I was just scared. I thought that if I laid down, I was a goner. I asked my parents if I could stay with them. The darkness was scared of them, I knew it. My mom made me go back." Alice took a smaller helping of the tea. It reminded her of strawberry milk at that point, but it was still very tasty.

"I was feelin' a little tired, and then I saw my doll move. I threw my pillow at it as fast as I could! When it fell, I knew I beat the monster, ha! And then th'mouse that moved the doll got in front of the light and without my pillow I just panicked. The next thing I knew, my dad was peeking through a hole in th'wall. He looked at me like a ghost, with dust from th'drywall on his face. My mom told me that I hit the wall with a narrow blast of wind."

"It was a long night. My daddy found out that he married into a Mage family and I learned to sleep without a night-light. I thought it was so neat. If any monsters showed up again, I was goin' to send them flyin'!" Alice remembered a few nights up late in the dark, waiting to get the jump on monsters, not long after that night.

"You have'ta know my dad was different. His first comment was 'Awesome!' He started tryin' t'name me whatever silly names he could come up with. He'd call me things like 'Girl Windmill' or 'Mouse Chaser,' even in public. He'd even tell me t'use my powers in public, since nobody would b'able t'tell I was doin' anything. Once, he took me to a golf game. He didn't even want t'go, but my mom wanted him t'play with some of th'men from her office building so he'd 'become more mature.' So, I would make his ball go farther, or miss a tree while causing the other players to mysteriously land theirs in water or just barely miss th'hole at th'end." Alice could not help but smile. He got her a three-scoop ice cream cone for helping him 'have fun with th'old guys and their game,' or cheat, more precisely.

"My mom actually was the one who got mean. She didn't say anythin' t'him because she had no more magic and she could explain our income with her psychologist job. It was like we stopped bein' a family before long. Mage this, tornado that. She wanted me t'be a star in th'family, I guess." Alice shrugged, not wanting to turn the conversation about why a certain parent would make a good lightning pole. Alice leaned back in the chair, wanting to leave tea for Alex.

Alice nodded. She seized her scone when it occurred to her that hunger had finally crept up. "What d'you do for fun? I know that if I were playing a video game, and you were th'main character, I'd probably be abusing your psychic abilities t'mischievous ends." Alice finished with a sharky grin, about to bite into the scone.

Alice swallowed the scone as far as she got with it, having absentmindedly put the whole thing in her mouth. She got a mental picture of Alex in a Darth Vader costume, choking an unsuccessful officer with the Force. She thought about mentioning it and thought the better of it.

"It's for th'best, of course. I bet our school takes a pretty bad notice of those who get over their head." Alice heard the tree's sub-zero waters in her ear. This was a relaxing place. A relaxing evening. "We'll have to have some fun around school. I bet there are plenty of fun things to do on this island." She was beginning to feel her early morning catch up with her. She could see that Alex was having difficult thoughts again. It seemed likely, considering, that Alex had not had much fun since she came to the island. It might have explained how Alice found herself assigned to her room. She felt a pang of sadness for Alex.

Alice shifted in her seat and gave the pleats on her jumper dress a tug to set them straight. She noticed Alex had her arm around Alice's chair, that she was closer than before. Alice tugged out a little yawn that had been waiting patiently, and then she took a hold of Alice's hand, scooted the remaining distance between them, and wrapped Alex's arm around her side as she made to lean against Alex's left shoulder,

"I'm sorry. I think this room is makin' me a bit tired. Too relaxing," she finished with a sleepy sigh.

"I'm ready to go when you are." Alice said more quietly than she meant to. She closed her eyes, listening to the water and to a faint but rapid pulse. She recognized them as two sounds. They filled that place where her mind generated endless impressions and contradictions, and silenced it. She knew sleep would probably not be far off at this point. "Is...there...someplace...you want to go to?"