My way (open)

Grubb found himself, as he so often did, in a lovely, lush, green forest. The tiny pixie had taken to wandering as of late, and so long as there was good dirt under his feet he was apt to wind up almost anywhere. His attention and thoughts would regularly jump around from one thing to the next - a plant he hadn’t seen before, a bird, a squirrel - but at the moment something else was holding his attention; a man.



He watched the man stomp, his heavy feet pummeling the ground as he chanted and flipped up on his hands to do the same with his palms as he pushed himself off of the dirt. At first, Grubb would wonder why the man was so angry at the ground that he would have to stomp holes into it, but as he watched Grubb became less and less convinced the man was angry. The diminutive faery had seen angry humans before, and this one didn’t seem to match the ones he’d seen previously. Perhaps he was putting on a show? It was certainly a great show of acrobatics at any rate.



As the man finished, Grubb began to clap in amazement, his tiny hands making a quick patting noise the man would be able to hear if he listened closely. He had quite enjoyed watching the spectacle. Grubb took off from the ground, beating his brownish bug-like wings to get up to about eye level with the man, just a bit out of his reach.



“That was great!” Grubb said, his tiny hands still clapping, and a big smile on his face.

Grubb was almost beaming as the man took a bow. He continued clapping. The pixie didn’t get to see human performance very often, and if he did it was from far away. Humans, generally, had very little use for the pixie and his proclivity for dirt, and more times than not he found himself unwelcome in a human setting. This was indeed a rare treat for the little pixie; such a show of athleticism and so close.

“What am I doing?” he repeated, for just a moment seeming confused by the question. Perhaps he was even asking himself.

“Oh!” the pixie said, as if the answer had hit him like a shot.

He fluttered the few feet back to the ground where he had begun clapping, where a mostly eaten strawberry laid in the dirt. He picked up the delicious bit of fruit, and holding it in both hands he flapped his wings once more to return to the man’s eye level.

“I was eating!” he exclaimed with a smile, showing the man the berry.

It now had a bit of dirt on it, but seeing as Grubb was already covered in dirt from head to toe, it was hard to tell if the berry had picked up the soil from the ground, or if it had come off of the pixie himself. He bit a hunk of the berry off, chewing happily.

“Would you like some? I have plenty for two. And that was an amazing show!” he said, now talking with his mouth full.

Asking if Grubb was also suffering from madness would not be so easily answered. He’d spent much of his time alone, and never had much of a family. The pixie didn’t know his own mother, and very rarely ran into his own kind. This set of circumstances created an odd little creature, that was sure, but madness? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Grubb hovered just above the man’s upturned palm before landing on it. He bent to place the bit of berry in his hand, and straightened his back. He didn’t look up at the man, simply down at the bit of berry. His hand was big, much bigger than the mostly eaten fruit. Even Grubb knew this wasn’t right.

“Hmm..” Grubb appeared to be contemplating something.

The pixie picked up the lovely morsel once more, and buzzed to the ground with it. He dug a tiny divot into the ground with the heel of his shoe. The pixie picked one of the few remaining pale white seed off of the outside of the strawberry, and dropped it in the hole.

“Uhhmm..” Grubb said as he turned back to look at the man. “C - Can you turn around? I get nervous if someone’s watching me when I do this.”

Without seeing that the man did as he asked, Grubb turned back to the small seed at the bottom of the tiny divot. He bent down, and pushed some dirt over it with his hand. He patted the small mound with his hand, and whispered some encouraging words to the soil.

The pixie stood up straight, beat his wings, and a few bits of dirt fell on to the ground around the seed. Almost instantly, a tiny little sprout broke the surface of the ground, and began to grow.

In only a couple seconds, a large, leafy green bush had grown up right out of the soil, right in the middle of the path. Each branch of the bush hung low with heavy bright red strawberries, perfectly ripe and ready to be picked. The bush was about knee height on the man, but to Grubb it was much larger. He stood back and looked at his creation, once again taking a bite off of his original strawberry, chewing a few times before looking over at his new compatriot.

“There! Plenty for two.” His words were a bit muffled, and his exclamation jettisoned a few bits of strawberry from his mouthful of fruit.

Grubb was entirely unaware of any danger caused by coming in contact with the man’s skin, but luckily was wearing tiny pointed shoes, and was not in his palm for a time sufficient to cause him harm even if he wasn’t.

At the man’s mention of dance, Grubb (on the ground) began to move his feet oddly in a sort of jerky little jig. The pixie didn’t seem to be moving his feet in any type of rhythm that Sebastian 'Bastian' might be able to identify, and overall would appear to be a clumsy and uncoordinated dancer. His unprovoked dancing didn’t last long, however, as the man’s next words about wanting to grow things would shift his mind towards his love of growing things.

Grubb nodded as he swallowed the wad of berry in his mouth.

“The dirt takes care of me.” He said, bending down to pat the earth again. “It’s been here as long as I can remember.”

Grubb reached up to the bush and pulled on one of the fruits. The hearty plant didn’t immediately give way, and Grubb had to give it a hard yank with all his weight before it finally relinquished the strawberry. The force of the berry breaking away from the plant sent the pixie to the ground, landing solidly on his butt with the berry in his lap. He took a bite off of the end of the berry as he now sat on the ground.

“You said you got paid for dancing?” he asked, looking up at the human as he continued his habit of talking with his mouth full.