Scary Little People

Erika looked out the window for any sign of THEM. The little boy on the corner looked suspicious so she waited until he left. At least it was a dark overcast day so she should be safe. If she were lucky it would even rain.

Once she was sure the suspicious kid had left for good Erika went outside and then walked quickly to the bus stop. She caught it without seeing anyone she was certain to be one of THEM, and saw only three suspicious people before she got to the copy centre. As usual, she made three copies of her recent journal entries. One for the government, one for her lawyer, and one for the newspaper she’d chosen to put her faith in. She then added three copies of her standard cover letter, which explained that they could publish at any time, as well as asking them to do so in the event of her death.

After that there were no more overcast days and no hint of rain for many weeks. Cloudy days and rain were getting less and less common as the country moved into a drought. Was that THEIR influence? Could they control the weather too?Finally after four clear sunny days it was cloudy again so she decided to risk going to the copy centre. There was a new employee there so she stayed across the street for half an hour all the while trying to see signs if he was one of THEM. Unsure but worried that the clouds seemed to be clearing she went inside and asked Tom to copy her recent journal chapters, same as usual. Waiting, she studied the new employee. He was shorter than she’d realized since he was perfectly proportioned. Not short, but small. Small people were probably one of THEM.

He came close, making her feel even more uncomfortable. Then he whispered, “So, you want to share those journals with everyone? Can I suggest something?”“Go ahead, puck.”

He didn’t react to the slanderous insult. “My boss will fire me if he knows I said this.” Acting like he was looking out the window he continued in a whisper. “If you want to tell your secrets, there is a better way than trying to convince the newspaper to publish them. You can type up your journals on the computer and post them on a website for everyone to read.”

“The government controls the Internet, and I fear THEY control the government.”

“Not all of it. They try, but it is too big and too defocused. No one, not even those you fear can stop the Internet. The person who owns the website can stop you, but you can own your own website for about five dollars a month.”

When she learned his name was Albrecht, Erika again worried he was one of THEM. Since he wouldn’t eat anything, it was hard to test. However, he did seem helpful, and even touched her iron pen without trouble. So with Albrecht’s help, together they set up a website of her journals, and facts about THEM.

Every time she went to the library and used a computer to check, her website was there. Was it there the days she didn’t get the chance to check?Agent Melody Starshine of the FBI read through the website with growing horror. The first page outlined the idea that faerie creatures skulked around cities, even in this day and age. It inferred that they used their foul sorcery to look like people, animals, trees, or even benches. The next page had a section on how to tell them apart from real humans and animals. There wasn’t anything about what to do when they were trees or benches. The website went on to claim that they killed people who knew the truth, or who stood between an elf and some useful position. She moved quickly through the list of known and suspected faeries to read about how they’d infiltrated society for their own means. They were among the servants of the British and European royal families, and part of staff at leading health clubs and hotels. They might also be in the government and major corporations. According to the website, they could whisper in people’s ears while they slept. The rise of plastics had nothing to do with cost, flexibility, durability, or declining oil reserves. Plastics were created by faerie magic to replace iron and steel throughout the world. Another page was dedicated to the frightening success of the recent ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies, a powerful piece of pro-faerie propaganda and clearly a crucial step in the faerie plan for world domination. The next section linked to on the site went to the author’s private journals, detailing her personal persecution by faeries. It spoke of attempts to recruit her throughout her childhood, to serve faeries in their plans. Then there was their subtle coercion to get her fired, declared insane, and disowned by her parents. Her anti-faerie protection measures had clearly stopped them replacing her parents, but somehow they’d gotten agents into her house. During this period faeries had twice imitated her boyfriends and cruelly broken up with her, then somehow stopped the real boyfriends from taking her calls. Agent Melody Starshine turned away from the computer. “This woman has so much information on us in amongst her paranoid ravings.”

She stretched her arms, and then pushed her bright red hair back behind one pointed ear. “Now, thanks to the Internet, it’s available to humans around the world.”

Elegant Agent Piccolo Foxtail nodded. “Even though she’s interrogated pigeons and tried to get trees arrested, she’s done some pretty good research…” The dour elf smiled. “Plus made some connections no one else has.”

Melody nodded. “There are some things even I think may have been the Faerie Bureau of Insinuation, Foxtail. This is worse than that television series about us.”

“That was not about us. The resemblance was purely coincidental.”

Foxtail frowned. “I hoped you’d see that she might be onto something. I want to investigate some of her claims in case there is a secret faerie conspiracy to take over the world.”

“Now I know why they call you Looney Foxtail. We of the FBI are in charge of hiding faeries from the humans just as she claims.”

“True, but who is hiding from us?”