Fairy Dust - 10. Clarity

By morning the storm had passed. The sun had returned to warm the world with its bright yellow rays. Sam was the last to get up. When he found his companions, they were in the kitchen. Fred was finishing a piece of toast. Tom was on the phone with his sister. Fred had already called the car rental company. Someone would be coming for the car within the hour. As Sam helped himself to some coffee and a piece of toast he listened to Tom's side of the conversation.

"I'll be there in an hour...Yeah, I'm just gonna drop the guys off at their car...It was ok. We lost power though. How are the babies?...Really? He howled all night!"

Fred raised an eyebrow. Tom gave him a big smile. Putting his hand over the phone he explained, "She breads pugs. She has a new littler."

Sam and Fred shared a laugh. They finished breakfast and piled into Tom's SUV. Fred asked, "So your sister doesn't have any kids, just dogs?"

"Yeah, with the store and the perfume line we really don't have time for much of a social life let alone relationships and kids."

Fred's expression immediately brightened. Sam had to bite his tongue not to laugh.

"So what about that girl?" asked Fred remembering the picture on the table.

"She was a customer. I haven't seen her in a year. It was a bad relationship," he paused for a moment as if considering his choice of words, "I was in denial. I though she could make me straight."

Now it was Sam's turn to smile. He turned to look out the window as his heart skipped a beat. He could see the muddy little compact car waiting for them. Tom wished them luck as they got out. The tow truck had not yet arrived so they sat in their broken down car to wait.

Fred smiled and said, "I like this town."

"Me too," said Sam trying not to sound too excited, "We'll have to come back here some time."

"Yeah. Why not? Nothing wrong with a little fairy dust."