Faeries Don'T Have To Work - LAZARUS (most read books .txt) 📗

could use some cash. We are plumb out of it.”
I tell him that if he lets us leave quietly, I’ll give him the card along with the pin number.
He takes my wallet, and while laughing, he tells me to shut up.
I have no choice. I fear for Mel life.
With the knife at Mel’s back they escort us roughly to a huge older car, and proceed to put both of us into its trunk.
Just as Joe is pointing for me to join Mel, I notice a familiar looking hand gun in its holster under his black jacket.
“Are you a cop?”I ask, as I recognize the gun. It’s a standard police revolver. All the Seattle police have them. My uncle Bob is a retired cop, and he showed me his not too long ago.
“Shut the hell up, and mind your business,” he says as he pushes me into the car.
As the car starts to move, I tell Mel that these two are probably dirty cops.
There’s a gap between the two back seats of the car. I can’t see those two through it, but I can plainly hear them.
Their plan is to break into a nearby grocery store and use its ATM machine and take some booze, cigarettes and cash if there is any.
I hear” I have told Sam that he should install an alarm system, but that Chinaman is way too stubborn and cheap. Well, this is gonna be a lesson he won’t forget.”
“Mel, are you ok?” I ask her, fearing that she may be traumatized.
“Yes, I’m alright Cal, and I have a plan. While they’re busy robbing the store, we can make ourselves small, and fit through this crack without any problem. Once we are outside we can simple fly back to your place.”
She goes through first and I follow. Then it’s through the car’s open window and up towards the roof. I land on it, and call her to my side. “I have a better idea. I want my wallet back, and I hate to see them get away with this crime. I’m sure that it’s not their first time committing a crime. Also, I hate to think what they would have done to you and me. We need to stop them. They should be caught red-handed.”
“I agree,” she says as we fly down to that broken back door.
The lights are off, and I see them inside with flashlights.
Without any warning, Mel is inside. I swiftly do the same.
“Hey Joe, did you hear that? Sounds like some big bug.” He turns the beam in my direction, just as I duck behind a shelf.
“You’re losing it Fred. Starting to hear thing now, eh? Just get the cash from that machine, while I get us some Jack Daniels and smokes. Just then Mel pushes over some heavy cans off the top of the shelf just over Fred. The cans hit the guy square on top of his head. He crumples to the floor unconscious. His pal rushes over to see what happened.
While he is occupied trying to revive his partner, I change back to my former self and I go to the back of the counter and I find the button that sends a silence signal to the nearest police station.
Joe is about to flee the scene while carrying his friend on his shoulders. As he is passing me I take the store’s broom that I see propped up near the wall beside me, and without being seen in the dark, I shove it between Joe’s legs. Together with the weight on his shoulders and his momentum he hit the door pretty hard. To make sure that he stays down, I heave a fifty pound bag of rice onto his head. I then grab my wallet and race out of there with Mel in pursuit.
Outside, I hide my wallet behind some bushes and quickly change back to my tiny size. I’ll retrieve it tomorrow when the coast is clear.
Mel says that it’s too bad we have to leave our clothes in the trunk.
“That’s ok, there’s more back in my place, and if you need Mrs. Louwicky can give you more.”
As we soar above the roof tops we see two or three cars with sirens blaring and lights flashing red and blue. Won’t they all be surprised?
Back at my flat Mel is ecstatic. “That was fun! Yes, you and I make a great team. Don’t you think? We should become private eyes. Nothing will stop us. We are the new and improved Dynamic Duo. Mel and Cal.”
I never seen her so excited.

The next morning while we are having our coffee, we are watching the morning news. Guess what’s on. The police chief is relating the mysterious circumstances revolving around the capture of two of their own.
And also the unexplained find of a set of women’s and men’s clothes in the trunk of those two officer’s vehicle. “The two men are not saying a word about where those clothes came from, but it seems they are in shock,” the newscaster went on to say.
Mel is doubled over with laughter.
“Mel, we need to go back and get my wallet. Do you want to grab a bite to eat somewhere later? We can visit the aquarium right after that.”

At the aquarium, Mel is totally amazed at the colors and variety of all the fish and other sea creatures. She wants to jump into the tank and see these up close. I tell her to behave. “I’ll tell you what, maybe one day we can take a trip to one of the Caribbean islands, and there we can both swim with the fish. What do you think about that? Sounds good?”
“Yes, oh yes! That would be so wonderful, Cal! Yes!”
“Well then, we can start saving for it now. Just the airfare is expensive. Although we can drive down to Key West and rent or charter a boat from there.”
“I have a better idea. We can fly to there as a group for the winter…all of us; shouldn’t take too long. What do you say?”
Why can’t I think so logically? “You are a genius, Mel! That is a great plan. I will have to make arrangements here before we can do that,” I tell her. She jumps into my arms and gives a big hug.


Chapter Twelve

The recurring nightmare


It’s a gorgeous day. The sun is shining brightly as birds sing. The leaves are turning from green to yellow and red. A small red squirrel is digging or burying something, making a racket in the dried fallen leaves around a large oak tree nearby.
I can feel that soon this place will be under a blanket of white snow. Soon will be time for warm coats and boots.
“Mel, have I ever told you about the nightmares that’s been haunting me for the last several months?”
“No, tell me about them, maybe since I can enter your dreams, I may be able to get rid of them for you.”
“It’s always the same one. Sometimes it may vary a little, but essentially they always end up with me dead to the world, yet I’m still conscious. I’m helpless with no-one to hear me yelling for help.”
Mel says, “Tonight, whether you have it or not, I will enter your dream world and try to evoke that nightmare. If it works, I’ll look around and see exactly what or who is causing them. You may feel the same uneasy feelings that accompany those previous ones, but be reassured that I’ll be there to ease those fears.”

The time has come. I’m under the sleeping bag, and I’m ready, although very nervous. I try to fall asleep. Mel is in her usual spot, and she’s pretending not to be there or be watching. Sleep comes slowly, and soon I’m off on what proposes to be an interesting night.

I’m back in that dark room. Outside the stars and moon are gone as unusual. I’m getting that heavy panicky feeling from deep within me. I try to turn and run, but everything is in slow motion. I pull on the door handle, and with great effort the door opens. Again I get the urge to step outside, and it feel like a strong hand pulling at me, “saying, ‘Come Calvin, you know that you really want to be out here. It’s perfectly safe.’” I fight the urge with all my might, but the tugging is stronger than I am. Slowly it pulls to the dark and gloomy opening. I resist, but I’m losing the battle. Suddenly behind me a warm friendly hand takes a hold of my shirt and yanks me back into the safety of the room. I try to see who that can be, but I only see a faint light hovering nearby.
Next, that light flies out that door into to gloom, and the door slams shut with a loud deafening bang. “I’m lost!" I cry. “And now, she too is gone.” I panic, trying to still my pounding heart. Slowly, painfully I return to the center of that dreary room, and I sit and wait on that bare, worn wooden floor.
After what seems like an eternity, I feel a pair of soft, tender arms encircle me from behind. I turn to see the most beautiful face in the world looking lovingly back at me. “Melissa! It’s you!” I cry. She holds me and consoles me, saying,”Everything from now on will be alright, my dear Cal. You can wake up now, and I’ll explain it all to you.”

On waking, I thank her by giving her a great big hug. She begins by explaining, “The reason for those dreams is that somewhere in your past you lost a good friend, who overdosed on drugs.” She tells me that although I suppressed that event, it keeps coming back in the form of a bad dream. “In the dream you assimilate the place of that friend, and you try to convince yourself and others that you/he is not really dead. I fixed it by putting the notion into your subconscious that it’s alright to let go. Your friend is gone and there is nothing you can do for him. It’s out of your hands.”
It all makes sense to me the way Mel explained it. I believe that from now on I will not have to worry about that nightmare ever again. Thanks to my little friend.
“By the way, where did you disappear to when you flew out into that darkness?”
“I went out to find the ‘demon’ that has been tormenting you, and to make sure that it never tries to pull you into that ‘darkness of total despair’. Once you go into it, it’s extremely difficult go get out.”
“Demon! What demon?”
“Just an expression, my dear,” she patted my hand. “It's just an expression.”


Chapter Thirteen

Decisions, decisions


As we sit up in a tall majestic pine tree, I hold Mel close to me. I then realize that I’m dreaming again. But this time it’s a pleasant one.
We sit for awhile as the gentle wind blows past. We see a pair of eagle playing with playing in the high airstream way up in the distance. The sun is shimmering off the blue azure lake. A small iridescent colored hummingbird nears, and checks us out, then whirrs away as quickly as it came.
“I didn’t know that these tiny birds flew up so high,” I tell Melissa.
She stays silent, probably worried as to why I want to talk to her.
“Mel, look at me. I’ve