Once Upon a Time

“Chloe,” Mom said, “have you cleaned out the spare bedroom yet? Mr. Davis was coming to visit for a week and I've asked you to get the room ready.” Her mom sounded exasperated.
         “The room is ready Mom, I told you yesterday!” Chloe yelled back.
         “You did the floors? What about the new bed covers? I ordered the dusty ones just like gnomes like, you don't think I overdid it do you? Do you think Mr. Davis will be at ease here? I've never had a member of the G.N.O.K. before, I want to make sure everything is perfect,” Chloe's mom rattled on. “Oh and I'm making cookies, fish legs and newt eyes. I know they are your favorite but please same some for our guest.
         “Yes, yes, no, yes, it will be, and I promise, just take it easy. I'm sure that if Mr. Davis needs something I doubt he'd be bashful about asking.” Chloe answered her mother.
         Chloe plopped down on the hard floor in the living room. The thin floor rug did little to cushion her or to keep her from feeling the chill of the hardwood. Her best friend tottered in, eight legs lightly thumping the floor as he scampered to Chloe's open arms. Ageis was an enormous black and brown spider and he showed his glee chittering excitedly while Chloe scratched his abdomen and combed down his bristly leg hairs.
         “That's my good boy, Ageis, good boy,” she cooed. All eight, glistening eyes fixate on Chloe as she rubbed down her beloved pet; he was hers.  Ageis's mouth parts moved in vibration to her scratches and Chloe giggled when his large mandibles came close to her cheek. The enormous spider danced and jumped at her affection, getting so riled up that his generous back-end pushed right into Chloe's chest, nearly knocking her down.
         “OOF! Okay boy, that's enough, calm down,” Chloe scolded. Ageis, sensing the end of the session, slunk down and prodded over to the wall where he deftly lifted himself to his tunnel web in the ceiling corner.
         Just then a small buzzing came from Ageis's web. Insistent and brash, like a large buzzing fly hovering around your ear that refused to be shooed away. Chloe rose from the floor and went to look a little closer, wondering what could Ageis have brought home now. As she got closer the buzzing got louder.
         “Chloe!” Mom yelled. “I need some help getting Ageis's food for tomorrow, the beetle box is empty again.”
         “Sure Mom, be right there,” Chloe said absently, the buzzing becoming louder, closer. She peered into Ageis's web and saw something flicker.

         Chloe reached over and smacked the alarm clock with the back of her hand. The peculiar dream still on the edges of her consciousness and she could still feel the coarse hairs from her dream counterpart's pet spider on her hands. She shivered inwardly and admitted only briefly that she is terrified of spiders. She laid in bed and closed her eyes, the dream started to fade and reality sunk in; she had a math test today. Her dog Ageis was curled up at the foot of her bed. She grinned when he looked up at her with sad eyes, almost imploring her that it was too early to wake up and she should go back to bed with him. A beautiful golden retriever, Chloe picked him out of a litter nearly four years ago now. He was her favorite; he was hers.
         Grudgingly, Chloe pulled herself from her soft bed and readied herself for the day. She glanced in her door mirror before heading down, a perfect clash of grunge and old-fashioned rock star. She smiled, mussed up her hair some more, and went in search of breakfast.


         Chloe sat in the second to last seat in the row. Her teacher, Ms. Harrison, continued to drone on about how badly the class performed on the polynomials part of the test, but her mind began to wander. The day was almost over even if the week was not and all she wanted was to curl up in bed with her dog Ageis and go back to sleep; it seems the dream world was interrupting her nights more than she'd care to admit.
         The gnome knocked on the door and walked boldly into the class. Everyone sat up to watch him, more due to a welcome interruption than to actually seeing a gnome mind you.
         Chloe watched him intently, he seemed vaguely familiar. Maybe he was from a dream she'd had years ago or maybe some story she'd read back when she admitted to reading fairy tales. The kind that start with 'Once upon a time...' and all have those strange and wondrous creatures in them; gnomes and faeries, unicorns and dragons. A life that seems so much more wonderful than the mundane life of the reader, hence the fantasy. To be whisked away with a prince charming or to journey with a troupe of unexpected partners who find an adventure and a friendship that surprises even them. Chloe briefly wondered if such worlds existed much less to be a traveling participant. She was pulled back to the gnome when he grunted loudly and she wondered what her classmates thought of him.
         Looking around she noticed that no one appeared confused, or even surprised, over the appearance of the intruder as he amicably limped over to Ms. Harrison who leaned in close. Chloe saw his clothes were out of date, as if he'd stepped off a time machine from one hundred years ago, and he wore an even stranger overcoat that was at least two sizes too big and very dusty. His broad face appeared much too large for his short, thin frame and his shoes were so worn she thought she saw his big toe poking out of one. He and Ms. Harrison exchanged a few short words and both looked over to Chloe nodding together.
         “Chloe, gather your things, Mr. Davis would like to talk to you out in the hallway.” Ms. Harrison stated.
         Without hesitation, Chloe gathered her things and started to get up, relieved to be getting out of class regardless of the reason.


         “Chloe, Chloe!” Her teacher's voice was getting louder now as a hand was placed on her arm. “Just what do you think you are doing young lady?”
         Chloe glanced around the room and realized that her backpack was slung over her shoulder and she was about to exit the door.
         “Uh, Mr. Davis wanted to see me? I was just going with him now.” Chloe stammered.
         “Who is Mr. Davis and why wasn't I informed?” Her teacher asked sternly.
         “Didn't you see him? He was just here, the short guy with a limp, he handed you a note, you spoke with him.” Ms. Harrison looked at her blankly, baffled at what Chloe was saying.  “And you told me to gather my things to go talk to him in the hallway. You know... the gnome!” Exasperated she looked down the hall but could not see where Mr. Davis had gone.
         “Not funny Chloe, sit down and I'll give out this evening's homework assignment.” The entire class started to snicker, a muffled laughter at Chloe's expense. Ms. Harrison regarded her with a bit of confusion and what Chloe took as pity.
         Chagrined and slightly confused, Chloe returned slowly to her seat. Her friend next to her leaned over in a whisper, “What's gotten into you? And who is Mr. Davis, I've never heard of him.”
         “That's enough girls, you can talk after school.” Ms. Harrison wasn't mean but both girls knew the tone meant business.
         

         The bell rang signaling the end of school for the day and kids began pouring out of the classrooms into the hallway. Chloe, still in deep thought over the mysterious Mr. Davis, made her way through the crowd to her locker. Little things seemed out of place, or maybe in place, she couldn't determine which one fit best. Things like Mr. Davis for one, and the strange feeling that she should have insisted on going with him but for the life of her couldn't figure out why. On top of that, her mom had put something unusual in her lunch box today; a bowl of toasted grubs. Chloe started eating them and hadn't even thought otherwise until someone next to her started to get sick. They were good, she thought. Still lost in thought she didn't notice that someone was watching her.
         “Chloe, are you feeling OK?” Sam asked. Sam, short for Samantha, was Chloe's very best friend; they'd known each other since pre-school, “You seem totally out of it today.”
         Chloe jumped, startled by the intrusion on her mindful wanderings.
         “I.. I don't know, just... guess I'm not myself today,” Chloe shrugged, “Doesn't matter, I didn't sleep well last night, weird dreams and no I'm not going to tell you. You wouldn't believe me if I did.” She started to hurry with her books, shoving them into her backpack as fast as she could.
         “Hm, you say that often enough, one of these days I'm going to have to get you to tell me!”
         “Okay okay,” Chloe said, “Can you come to my house? This new English assignment sucks and I want to get a head start on it.” Chloe slammed her locker door.
         “No argument from me, I'll call my mom from your place. Think I could stay for dinner?” Sam asked. “I swear teachers must not have any private life with all they expect us to do!”

         “Hello Mr. Davis!” Sam casually addressed the gnome as both girls walked into the house.
         “Hello Miss Samantha!” Mr Davis greeted her enthusiastically with a friendly smile.
         Chloe stopped. Mr. Davis, the gnome, was seated perfectly comfortable on the living room sofa, sipping what seemed to be a hot cup of cider tea and reading the day's newspaper.
         “Uh, did you just say 'Hi' to a gnome? You can see him?” Chloe asked Sam.
         “Well I didn't want to appear rude, you said he'd be visiting town this week.” Sam whispered back  to Chloe harshly. Turning back to the gnome Sam asked, “How was your trip Mr. Davis? I hope no air sickness like before, those cheap carpet rides can be very unreliable.”
         “Good as can be expected, thank you Miss Samantha. I made sure to travel G.N.O.K. Class, I think that helped,” Mr. Davis replied with a friendly grin.
         “I'm confused,” Chloe shook her head as if to clear it. Sam just shrugged, dropped her backpack to the floor, and disappeared around the corner to the kitchen.
         The gnome folded down the top of his paper and addressed Chloe, “I stopped by your math class today, why didn't you come with me when I tried to get you?” His voice was gruff and stern, much like how you'd imagine a gnome to be, but maybe a little angry or perhaps he was somewhat disappointed.
         “I uh..” Chloe stammered. She looked around the living room and everything else appeared to be in its proper place, so she reached down and pinched herself hard. A slight wince from the pain and she saw a small bruise appear although it did little to convince her that this was happening.
         Mr. Davis let out a muffled grunt and went back to his tea and newspaper.
         “Chloe!” Sam yelled from the kitchen, “Didn't your mom make cookies yesterday? You know the ones with the fish legs and newt eyes. I can still smell them, they are my favorites! Did she hide them from us?”
         The room started to spin and Chloe closed her eyes tight, taking a deep breath she heard her mom's voice.
         “Chloe, pull yourself together, I need you to finish dinner tonight and not wander off into some dream world. Are you listening to me? Dad's working late and I have to run out to drop of these papers at the lawyers office.” Chloe's regarded her mother, her face was the same but what was she wearing? A silk dress? Since when did her mom wear dresses, mom was always in her slacks, always. The pleats in the dress appeared to ripple and dance, what was that fabric? Chloe reached out to touch it and felt the incredibly light, cool material as it glided between her fingers.
         “Chloe, I'm serious,” mom said a little hurried, “Can I rely on you to watch this?”
         Chloe looked around, the gnome was gone. Where did he go? Chloe wondered. “Uh, sure Mom, no problem. What's for dinner?” Chloe responded but was only partly aware of what her mother was saying. She felt as if she'd walked into a dream world; her dream world.
         “The lizard leg stew is on the stove. Listen for the timer so it doesn't overcook. You know how your father hates it when the meat gets chewy.” Chloe nodded as her mother whisked out the door, the flowing soft fabric of the dress dancing behind her figure.
         The realization of what her mom had just said sunk in and the room started to get hazy again, lizard stew? Fish leg cookies? Mom in dresses?! What was going on here. Chloe looked at the living room again and realized that even though the gnome wasn't seated on the couch, his tea and newspaper were still there. She noticed other changes too, the windows were thicker, the door looked like solid planks of rough cut wood, and the walls looked more like solid stone, as if river rocks were glued together haphazardly and stacked. Somehow they managed to stay together but she wasn't sure she understood how. The thought briefly occurred to her that this resembled something more like the house of the seven dwarves; or the living room from her dream last night.
          She heard Ageis trot into the room and she reached down to scratch the dog's ears, still taking in the changes of her living room, but instead of receiving a familiar wet nose in approval, a high pitched chittering reached her ears. She glanced down and realized she was scratching the hair on the enormous spider's head. Too shocked to stop, she continued her actions only slowly withdrawing her hand. The spider content with the affection, crawled  through the doorway into the kitchen. Curious, Chloe followed. There upon the floor was a beetle of great immensity, it was already dead or at least dying as she heard the spider crunch through the exoskeleton and begin slurping at the insects innards. Disgusted, Chloe decided she needed to lay down before she falls over.
         
         Chloe flopped over in her bed, eyes closed, convincing herself what she just witnessed was a dream. She peeked her eyes, the room looked normal and she sighed contently. Curtains in the windows, popular boys smiling brightly in posters on the walls. She felt herself drifting off to sleep thinking intently on how smooth the walls looked, not bumpy like rocks, but smooth. Sheetrock, wallpaper trim, paint applied with rollers, and a door frame and knob that locked.

         She awoke with a start, the horrible, sinking feeling hitting her that she forgot about dinner! She ran down the steps to the kitchen, the kettle over the fire held the stew and though it was bubbling rapidly, she breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't burnt, however upon testing the meat she let out a small curse. The meat was going to be chewy. I suppose Dad will just have to deal with it. I'll tell him I wasn't feeling well. She thought. The dining room faeries danced over the table, “Daddy won't like the chewy meat, LazyBones!” they teased. Chloe shooed them away but they came right back to the table, it was there place afterall.
         
         Mr. Davis and Sam walked into the room. “Ah! So glad to see you've joined us! We have been expecting you to wake up anytime. You know how the dragons get irate when their food isn't just perfect, and the unicorns are arguing once again over the mountain borders, I swear they don't know how hard it is for us to move those again. Lucky for me you invited Sam over for dinner, the girl is a terrific help!”
         Sam beamed brightly, her long, bright wings flexing and stretching before she tucked them back, “I'm just happy to help Mr. Davis,” she replied. “How long will it take you to finish your work?”
         “I'm right on track,” the gnome said. “If only I can get my main assistant to be awake to help me and not off daydreaming.
         “I'm sorry you two, I was having the craziest dream. I don't know if you'd believe me if I tell it to you!” Chloe said.
         Mr. Davis just winked, “Maybe you could tell us again of one of those 'Once upon a time' stories you like. I honestly don't know where you come up with such amazing tales of school and those creatures you called dogs!”