We arrived at the house, late, but there.
Jared kept very quiet, despite the fact that Elsa made us wash lunch AND dinner dishes, not to mention the fact of a week of laundry.
She hates it when we don't live up to her expectations. For once, chores were welcome. I embraced the silence, finding a reason for it. Here was something simple I could concentrate on.
Jared continued to make no attempt at conversation, so I focused on what Helen had said while I scrubbed peanut butter stains off a blue plastic plate.
She had mentioned the prophecy, Naga, her world, and even cried. How could she not be telling the truth? It would be cruel to refuse her. After all, she was a girl.
That had cried.
One thing that bugs me is crying. And girls. Two extremely complex things.
For one, crying can be sad, happy, angry. Or extremely frustrated. Helen probably didn't cry happy. After all, she ran away. Why would she run away from something happy.
Most likely said, IF she was telling the truth, IF she really came from...what was it? Otherworld. I handed a dish to Jared to rinse and dry.
So. An if.
Maybe she was angry. If she was lying, because we didn't believe her. Or frustrated.
Then the girl thing. One, girls are like thin, plastic bags full of water. Stress one corner, the other corner bursts. Big problem. Second, girls feel obligated to cry. Girls just cry. They cry when they're happy, when they're laughing, when someone trips them and makes them fall on their face.
I scrubbed a jelly stain.
So, why would Helen be telling the truth? She could easily be lying. If she were the type.
That's another thing. Look at a boy, and say, oh! That guy's funny. Five minutes later, you say, hey! That guy's annoying. It's different with girls.
Look at a girl and say, oh! That girl is truthful. Look at a different girl and say, hey! That girl is NOT.
I look at Helen and say she's the truthful type. Well, one, she's the delicate-gets-her-feelings-hurt kind of girl, and the kind that is persistent. Eventually, the persistent part kind of crumbles, but the truth still stands.
Maybe she kids, maybe she jokes, maybe she sounds sarcastic. But not lies. No, no, no.
I handed another dish to Jared, the last one.
Besides, I don't think a girl could spin a yarn as wild as this one and still cry. I swear(sorry, Elsa), I'd be in an asylum by the time I created a story like that AND tell it to two people I didn't know, one of which has feathers protruding out of his arms.
Must be pretty creepy for her.
And the Jared thing.(By now we were folding laundry)How could someone lying possibly make up something else that fit along with the story AND Jared, someone she didn't know? Sure, she looked surprised, but she didn't stutter, didn't tremble, didn't pause to think too long.
Amazing for a liar.
I shook a wrinkly shirt and folded swiftly in two quick motions.
Yes. She probably wasn't lying.
She's probably SUPER po'd, though. Ouch.
We'd have to apologize. For sure. Though Jared would get mad. I'd bring Fallie. That usually makes him feel better, petting Fallie. Like a stress ball, but less squishy.
Shake, fold, fold.
Yes, I'll tell him. For sure. Once I take a mental break. . . . my mind feels like it is about ready to implode.
I mean, nothing out-of-the ordinary-type thing really happened around the house. Especially with Elsa around.
Shake, fold, fold.
And about the guardian thing....I sighed.
"Jared?"
Shake, fold, fold.
"Uh?" Jared sniffed. Uh-oh! This threw everything into chaos. Whoa! Boys don't cry. Whoa! Jared is a super-boy. Like the most boyish a boy will get. And, Whoa! Boys most certainly like Jared most certainly don't cry.
Especially boys with feathers.
Do birds cry?
"We've got to apologize."
"I know." The answer surprised me. If he wanted to apologize, then, why, WHY, WHY is he crying? I couldn't think.
"Let's do it, then."
"Tomorrow." So soon?
"I'll bring Fallie." Duh.
"We'll have to sneak out," he said.
"Elsa will kill us!" I hissed.
"We have no other way. She won't let us go anyways." I sighed. He was right.
"When?"
"Early. Really early. Six o'clock." His answer surprised me. Jared wasn't much of an "early bird." Ha ha, get it, get it? Oh, never mind . . .
"Okay." It was settled.