Fairy Dust - 7. Return to Green Hollow

It was a Thursday in late October and Sam was checking his email by his desk. There were a few work related items that he took careful note of. There was also a letter from his niece announcing that she would be a fairy for Halloween. Sam smiled thinking about the inevitable mad dash to put together a costume. Just as he was logging out of the account his supervisor rushed in. The company with the pornographic library was having another problem. He and Fred were invited for another road trip. Sam almost laughed thinking about their last experience but he agreed to go.

Early Friday morning they were packing equipment into a suspiciously familiar little rental car. "I think this is the same car I had last time," remarked Sam.

"I wonder if they have the same problem they had last time," joked Fred.

They both started laughing at the memory.

"I won't forget the look on your face," said Fred still laughing.

"Dude, that was the last thing I expected to see," Sam answered shaking his head.

As Sam got into the car he wondered how he would react to the video now. He hoped that he would not have to find out with Fred watching. Sam was not sure how Fred felt about gay people. He was known to make gay jokes but Fred joked about everyone and everything.

Fred was talkative as usual and that helped Sam not dwell on all the new uncertainties in his life. The miles passed quickly and traffic flowed smoothly. They were soon at their client's door trying not to giggle like children.

The problem was not as easily diagnosed as the last one. They spent hours with the new IT expert before they found the corrupted file that was at the root of the problem. Grabbing snacks from the vending machine they worked through lunch hoping to finish early. They wanted to miss at least part of the heavy traffic on the way home. Unfortunately they were not so lucky. By the time they were finished it was five o'clock. As they walked out of the building a cold gust of wind blew leaves and dust in their faces. Heavy clouds hung over them and the temperature had dropped noticeably since morning.

They drove around town and soon found a restaurant where they could have a big dinner at their company's expense. As they enjoyed large helpings of fresh pasta they talked about everything except computers.

"So how did your trip to Sleepy Hollow turn out? You never told me about that," asked Fred.

"Well enough," answered Sam not bothering to correct Fred on the name, "It's a quiet little place, you know. Roads are crap. They have a nice diner though."

"What did you go there for anyway?"

"My niece Susie wanted this perfume. She was talking my sister's ear off about it. She's on this fairy kick," Sam shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling me it was called fairy lust or something,"

"That's fairy dust, you perv."

They both started laughing as they finished their pasta. Then, not wanting to pass up a good opportunity, they ordered desert. Sam had a large slice of apple pie. Fred ordered a sloppy looking chocolate desert. As they ate Sam could not help laughing.

"What?" asked Fred.

"That thing looks like a giant mud pie my nephew made," answered Sam.

"I didn't bake it. I just ordered it," replied Fred and then added, "Chocolate's good for PMS."

That started Sam laughing again.

"Well then I'm glad you ordered chocolate. You need it," he said, and then added without thinking, " You are so gay."

"What if I am?" asked Fred dramatically running his fingers through his hair.

"I doubt that. What gay man would rub chocolate in his hair?" teased Sam.

"Oh shit! Did I really?" asked Fred examining his hands.

By the time they finished desert it was dark and foggy outside. As they approached the car Sam handed Fred the keys. "We had a deal. I drive out. You drive back," he reminded his friend.

After the big dinner Sam was happy to sleep in the passenger's seat. It took the car a few minutes to warm up. Sam wrapped his coat tighter around his body and wondered about Fred's comments over dinner. What if he really was gay? Sam fell asleep before he could analyze the idea. His dreams were full of computers, error messages, and irritating file names like CowKrap007_01.dat. He was quite annoyed when he awoke to the sound of car tiers on gravel and windshield wipers.

"Where the hell are we?" asked Sam.

"A detour," answered Fred in a suspiciously confident voice.

"We're lost?" asked Sam.

"No, just made a wrong turn off the main road," answered Fred with a poorly faked smile.

Outside only the headlights illuminated the narrow road. There was not enough room to turn around so Fred continued forward. They reached a patch of asphalt that was mostly washed out thanks to the two hours of rain. It had potholes big enough to drown cats. The car lurched along until one of the tiers caught on the jagged edge of a cavernous hole. There was a loud pop and then silence.

"What a night for a flat," grumbled Fred.

The two looked at each other and reluctantly got out. They searched the trunk but could not find a spare tire. The compartment where it should have been was empty.

"Now what?" asked Sam.

They wanted to call for help but no matter how much they ran around in the rain they could not get a signal. Fred mentioned that he thought he saw a light in the distance. Turning off the headlights confirmed this. The road was unusually wide in the spot where they were stuck. They managed to move the car out of the way enough so that some other lost soul would not collide with it. Then they began a long soggy walk towards the light. After a few minutes of walking they could see buildings. The sight gave Sam a strong sense of dejavu. When they were close enough to read the signs Sam realized why.

"Some detoured!" he exclaimed, " Do you know where we are? This is Green Hollow! Do me a favor. Next time when you get lost fucking admit it!"

"Sorry man," answered Fred.