Attovac and the Golden Stairs

Attovac and the Golden Stairs



Erma stepped out onto her front porch, with a wicker tray in hand holding two perfectly grilled english muffins topped with butter and a generous portion of homemade blackberry jam, it was accompanied by a large mug of steaming tea, a small pitcher of milk and a bowl of sugar.

She placed the items on her favorite two person glass table and leaned the tray on the front of her light blue painted house.

She inhaled a deep breath of the morning air and took in the scent of the fragrance from her lilac bush; the bush was still glistering with the early morning dew.

Everything was just perfect for her, just the way she imagined it would be.

“Three days off” she whispered to herself “three whole blissful, relaxing days”

On the edge of her porch lay her daily newspaper, she picked it up and tossed it on to the table, adjusted her bathrobe and sat in her cushioned lounge chair.

She started to reach for the newspaper and stopped herself, no; these will be three days without reading a newspaper.

She picked up an english muffin and took a small bite and savored the taste.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement on her road; the movement was low to the ground.

Her neighbor’s dog must have gotten loose again and was roaming the road, exploring and adventuring.

It wasn’t the first time he done that and it won’t be the last time either.

“Frito” she called out to him “come here Frito”

He could wait in the front yard until she was ready to return him or the LaBlanc’s, her neighbor’s, came looking for him, they would check her front yard, to see if Frito was there, hamming it up for some extra treats.

But Frito didn’t come into the yard, a strange tiny man the height of two and a half feet, wearing a blue robe and a purple bowler hat, had entered from around her bush.

His nose was pointy and his skin color was very pale.

She gasped; the sight of him caught her off guard. She had never met a live midget before or if she wanted to be politically correct ‘a small person’ and this one dressed to the extreme of flashy, it wouldn’t be hard to spot him in a crowd even down there.

“Ahhh Erma, at last I’m here” the small man said with a smile “it’s a long walk down your road, but at last I’m here”

Erma cocked her head and just stared at him, this little man knew her name, she was sure that she never met him before; with the way in which he dressed and his size she was positive she would remember him.

“Do I know you” she asks, knowing she sounded as confused as she felt and possibly looked.

“Ahhh dear Erma, we have never been properly introduced, but I assure you I know you very well, you see I’m Attovac” giving a slight bow and tipping his hat to her, she thought that she saw something sitting on his head when he tipped his hat, but dismiss it as a reflection from the light “and I’m a Fanta”

“A what?” she asked.

“May I please sit down; me legs are a bit tired”

Not sure why, but she offered him the chair on the other side of the table.

As soon as he sat down he reached out and picked up the untouched English muffin from her plate “is this your homemade blueberry or blackberry jam on this?”

“It’s blackberry”

“May I” he asked and she nodded “thank you, I am a bit hungry, would you happen to have something to drink, I’m a wee bit thirsty as well from that walk”

She pushed her tea over to him.

“No, no I would not want to impose on your tea, now I know you don’t drink the hard stuff yourself” and he winked at her “you wouldn’t happen to have something a bit stronger?”

“I don’t think so, ohhh wait I think there might be something that was left here by a co-worker” she went into the house and returned with a three quarter filled bottle of bourbon and a glass.

Attovac eyes widened and his smile deepened “now that is perfect to quench a morning’s thirst” he filled the glass to the rim and took a long sniff, his smile broadened even wider, then almost too fast, but not fast enough he darted his tongue in and out of the liquid and slurped up a quarter of it very quickly. Looking up his eyes went crossways “wow” was all he could say.

Erma just gulped totally fixated on what she just witness, her eyes wandered up to his purple hat, which now was trembling on his head.

Finding her voice she asked “you said that you’re a fan?”

Attovac laughed “no you wonderful Erma, I said I’m a Fanta and I’m in real need of your help, you see I have fallen off my plain and I need your help in returning”

Erma closed her eyes and counted to three, she had hoped that when she reopened them, he would have disappeared and she was having some sort of early morning hallucination, upon opening them again he sat there with that smile.

“What is a Fanta and how do you fall out of a plane and still live?”

“No, no, no, you see I didn’t fall out of a plane as in airplane, I said, I fell off my plain, it’s a spot way up there” tilting his pointy nose up “on a cloud” and he smiled at her.

Erma blinked, picked up her tea and was about to take a sip when she stopped and looked at it, swirled it around; she started to wonder if something got into her water supply.

“Me dear, dear Erma you’re not having any hallucinations, I’m real and I’m in a wee bit of trouble, well really I’m in a bit more than that, you see I should not be here, I’m not allowed to come down to earth from my plain, but I was distracted and I fell off and you’re a wee bit to blame for that”

“Are you a leprechaun?” Erma asked in confusion “because I’m not Irish”

Attovac laughed “no, no as I have explained I’m a Fanta, though I do have a couple of cousins that are leprechauns, but you’ll find that they dress so drab, they have no flair when it comes to wearing clothes, it’s always the same dull green clothes with those dull square silver buckles” Attovac darted his tongue into the glass and finished off the rest of the whiskey and his hat rumbled on his head.

Erma was startled by the hat moving by itself on his head, then something that he had said came to the fore front of her mind “blame?, I’m a bit to blame?, how I don’t even know you, I’ve never met you until you showed up here!”

Attovac reached for the bourbon bottle “do you mind if I had myself a wee bit more” Erma wave her hand to motion him that it was find with her, at this point she was thinking of having a shot herself.

“you see dear Erma, I’m a Fanta and what we Fanta’s do is to help you mortals here on earth with your fantasies and this morning when you woke up you were having a very powerful fantasy about a man that had a…”

Erma broke in red faced “I don’t think we need to talk about my fantasies, thank you very much”

“But Erma, that is what a Fanta does, we help you to fulfill your fantasies” Attovac darted his tongue into the glass of bourbon again and drink a quarter of it and again his eyes crossed and his hat trembled on his head.

Erma cringed at the sight of his darting tongue, she was starting to get use to that, but the movement of the hat had her curious, she had to ask “is there something under your hat?”

Attovac smile “just me Erma, would you like to see?” he pulled his hat off and Erma got a good look at the top of his head and the appendage that was protruding from the top of his head, she blinked, looked closer and blinked again.

“You can touch it if you like, just give it a rub”

Erma started slowly to reach up, but stopped herself “is that a...uhmm...a...penis on the top of your head?”

Attovac smiled “yes and if you rub it, I would be very happy”

She sharply pulled her hand away “that’s so disgusting”

“Hey now that’s not very polite, to say about someone else’s appendage, you don’t hear me saying anything about your appendages sticking out from your chest, do you?” replacing his bowler hat back on his head.

Erma thought about it for a moment “I’m sorry, but who puts a penis on someone’s head? That doesn’t seem like the proper place to place it”

“I’m a Fanta, not a mortal, now placing it there on one of your male mortals might not work, but I assure you for us it works just fine”

Erma looked perplexed, thinking on what he just said “so there are female Fanta’s up there as well?”

“Of course there are, who do you think work on the male fantasies, I wouldn’t do that, that would be just too weird”

Erma started thinking of where her own part it might be placed on a female Fanta and just shook with the thought, her three days of relaxation have gotten off on a rocky start “ok we need to get things back on track here, we have strayed off the subject, the subject of how I’m to be part of the blame and what do we need to do to get you back up on your cloud”

“Well I was working on your fantasy, before you woke this morning and my plain floated kind of close to Paluxy’s plain, I transmitted your fantasy to her so she could work on Zack”

“Zack! Not my co-worker Zack?” Erma shouted almost knocking her teacup over, bumping the table when she jumped to her feet.

“He’s the one you have been fantasying about; he’s the one that you have been undressing in your mind; he’s the one that you have…”

“Enough, you don’t have to go any farther, but that’s only a fantasy!” Erma sat back down completely blustered and blushing.

“Erma me darling, I’m a Fanta and it’s my job to make your fantasies come true, besides you are getting frustrated with being twenty four years old and still a virgin, your shyness has kept you from experiencing life’s impulses, to get out there and meet someone, your protective shell is made out of cinder blocks and you need to push some of those blocks away from you; you need to experience a fantasy and to experience life at its fullest, you don’t live life as it’s meant to be lived”

Erma’s reply was quick and not thought out “I do experience life, I have co-workers over and we have a great time together”

“Yes, all women, right here in your house, not somewhere else, it’s always here at your house, you’re so caught up in your shyness that you don’t even go to their places, that is because you feel safe and secure here in your little cinder block protective life, and you don’t spend time fantasying about them do you?”

“No, but…” She fell silent, everything Attovac had said was true, she knew it, she knew it deep down inside, she spent every morning doing the same thing, she wake, make her pot of tea, grill her English muffins, add one of her homemade jelly or jams and sit on her porch, listening to the birds singing their melodies and talking back to each other, watching the sunrise, after that she get dressed and head to work, she come home, brew a new pot of tea, make dinner and sit on her porch, now listening to the crickets chirp and watching the sunset, after that she go to bed and do it all over again, she was like a clock without hands, what were the need of hands when you never did anything or go anywhere different, but she was happy, she was content, this was the reason she bought this house, so she could do these things, there was plenty of time for the other stuff, when she was ready and there be a day that she would be ready, it was just…it was just not right now she told herself. “Again enough stop, this conversation is over, I’m not having this talk with… with someone I don’t even know and… and just met”

“That’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it then let’s start planning for my return to my plain”

“Fine” Erma said more sharply than she meant to “let’s do that, what is it we need to do?”

Attovac thought for a second “we’ll need to build a golden stairway towards the heaven”

“I hope you don’t mean we need gold, because that’s not going to happen, and how far up beyond the clouds is heaven?” Erma asked with total disbelief.

“No, no, you see all we need to do is go see the woodlands Pi-Piper he will supply us with the golden wood planks, we only need to make a five step staircase, not going to be a problem at all, except…”

“Except what?” Erma asked.

“Well getting the golden screws could be a problem, you see it’s the woodlands people’s picnic day and they don’t work on picnic day”

“Then what do we do? Can we use just regular screws?” Erma knew full well that she was grasping at invisible straws, but invisible straws are better than no straws.

“It has to be golden screws and the Pi-Piper does owe me a favor, so we might be able to get him to make them go to work, but then I would end up using a very important favor hmmm…” Attovac sat there thinking and tapping the side of his pointed nose, his purple bowler hat trembled on his head and Erma found that she was getting use to this happening, Attovac took another drink of the bourbon, eyes crossed and hat trembling he said “well what has to be has to be, if I must I’ll sit in the tree and sing”

Erma had no idea what that meant and really didn’t want to know.

Attovac jumped down from the chair and with a flourish of his robe he extended his hand towards Erma “Come we shall head west and seek the smoke in the forest” hand and hand together the two of them headed west and started to walk into the woods, right up and over her porch railing and down to the ground, Erma looked back and just blinked “this WAS going to be a relaxing three days” she thought.

They walked through the woods what seemed to be for hours, the woods were dark and quiet, all that was heard was the breeze of the branches and leaves falling, she then realized that there were no foot falls or rustling leaves of their feet, Erma looked down and noticed that Attovac and her were walking in the air, about a foot off the ground, looking at Attovac she said “we are not walking on the ground” Attovac looked back with a big smile under that pointy nose “Correct me darling Erma, we want to be as quiet as we can, there are nymphs running naked through these woods and I like to get a look at them” with that his bowler hat trembled again, Erma was taken aback by this statement she pulled her hand away from Attovac and suddenly found herself dropped a foot to the ground, Attovac had taken one more step and turned to look at her solemn faced “now Erma don’t be like that, I’m a Fanta and I do have some of my own, please” Attovac begged “don’t make any noise and scare the nymphs away, you might even get to see some male nymphs”

“I thought all Nymphs were female, so the stories I have read say”

Attovac put his hand out for her and she took it in hers and found herself back up a foot off the ground and their walk continued “don’t listen to much of what you read or hear, it gets past down over the years and gets distorted, take us Fanta’s for an example, we use to be talked about all the time, at least thousand years ago and look at us now, are we in any books, no! Are we being talked about now, no! We have been forgotten and we are the ones working hard to help you fulfill your fantasies” Attovac stopped and sighed. Erma squeezed his hand “I’m so sorry Attovac, I didn’t mean to make you sad, maybe I can do something to get you back into the books again after this is over”

Attovac looked over to her winked, smiled and his hat rumbled again.

“No, that is not going to happen” she smiled back at him

“Well it was worth a try” he said “but that is not the reason I sighed, look” and he gestured with his arm at the clearing just a few feet in front of them “we’re here and I didn’t see one naked nymph on the way” and he sighed again.

Erma laughed “you are bad and you are incorrigible” and she laughed again.

Attovac had a twinkle in his eyes and a smile so wide, you could almost miss his pointy nose “do you know that; that is the first time in four months you really laughed, from inside, not one of those fake laughs that you do with your co-workers and it really truly brightens your face”

Before she could reply or make a retort to that comment he pulled her into the clearing and informed her it was time to find the Pi-Piper.

“How will we find him?” she asked.

“Me darling Erma, that’s simple, we listen for him, He’s always playing his pipe” and they walked, this time not holding hands. On the edge of the clearing there were single level houses, all but one and smoke coming out of the top, in front of the two story building laid a long log with a half dozen imps perched on top of it, they were grey, hairless, thin and smaller than Attovac and they were swaying back and forth.

“Now listen” Attovac paused and cocked his head to the side, Erma did the same and faintly in the distance she could hear the sweet melody of the pipes being played and she felt herself swaying to the sound, she was not only swaying to the sound, she was walking towards it at the same time, it was drawing her closer and she noticed that Attovac was as well, but he was not swaying, he was more like waddling and the purple bowler hat was bouncing side to side and Attovac was smiling, then she realized so was she; she was enjoying herself, lost in the moment, lost in the alluring pipes. The pipes stopped playing and Erma felt herself snap out of a trance and in front of her and Attovac what seemed to be a black centaur with a bright white tail swishing behind him.

“Attovac is that you? What are you doing down here on earth? And who is this charming looking lady you brought with you?”

“Yes it’s me and this is Erma and we have come seeking your help”

“Please Attovac introduce me to this lovely lady who graces my land and forest” the centaur gently grasped Erma’s hand, bowed and kiss it.

“Crilbolo, this is Erma; Erma this is Crilbolo the Pi-Piper of the land and forest”

Crilbolo took his eyes from Erma and looked past her, he made a strange tisking sound “I stop for a minute and they just get out of control”

Erma looked around to see the Imps running everywhere, so fast that they were only a blur, knocking down everything, making a mess of anything and everything, Crilbolo played a few fast notes on his pipe and they just stopped where they were, standing totally still, Crilbolo yelled to one of the Imps that was hanging out the second story window “Sooowa get out of there, there is a sign saying ‘stay out’ do you see one that says except you? And the Imp Sooowa retreated back from the window and came moments later slinking out the front door. “So Attovac what can I do for you?”

“I fell from my plain and we need some golden wood planks to build me a staircase so I may get back up”

Crilbolo was laughing so hard, he could barely get the words out of his mouth “You… Fell… Off… You’re… Plain… that should call for a tune to be played”

“It’s not that funny and I’m not the first Fanta to fall off their plain, there have been a couple before me, I think, I’m sure”

“You think? You’re sure?” Crilbolo was still chuckling when Attovac gave him the rest of the news.

“We’ll need enough golden wood planks for five steps and we will also need golden screws, so we can put it together”

“I can get you the golden wood planks” said Crilbolo now starting to catch his breath “not a problem there, but I’m not sure how you’re going to get the golden screws, you do know that it’s picnic day?”

Attovac seemed unperturbed by this “well I was hoping that you could have a talk with the woodland people and have them create them for us”

“Not going to happen, I refuse to interrupt picnic day”

“You will” replied Attovac

“Will not” retorted Crilbolo

“You will” Attovac said again

“Will Not” Crilbolo said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Erma had been watching this exchange and decided to intervene “Attovac, if it only for one day, as much as I would like to get this over with, so I may return back to my porch, I’m sure we could wait until tomorrow and get the golden screws then”

Attovac look over at her with a bit of sympathy “Me darling; darling Erma, you see picnic day last for three weeks here in this world not for just one day like in your world and it’s the start of their second week”

Erma’s head snapped towards Crilbolo “You Will!”

Crilbolo arms dropped to his side “I’m afraid not if I was to disturb picnic day, I would not heard the end of it for weeks, I’m so sorry my lovely lady Erma, you’ll just have to wait until picnic day is over”

Erma open her mouth to say something and Attovac put his hand on her arm “Me Dear Erma, it looks like we are going to have to wait until picnic day is over, but while we wait, we can go visiting, there are many things I could show you and many people for you to meet” Attovac started to lead her away, she started to resist, she didn’t want to stay for two weeks or couldn’t stay that long, she had her job to think about, she said she would help Attovac, but didn’t know that it was going to disrupt her life this way.

“I think we should go visit Grace, Crilbolo wife” Attovac continued to say to her “why I have not seen her in ages, we’ll have lots to catch up on, you’ll enjoy meeting and talking with her, I tend to ramble on when I with her”

There was a clearing of a throat coming from behind them “aauhhhemm, come to think of it, I do feel that it would be unfair for the lovely Erma to have to wait until picnic day is over, I have changed my mind, I will go and talk with the woodland people and have them create those golden screws for you, aaauhhhemmmm, whether they like it or not”

Attovac turned around and looked at Crilbolo “oh, well then I guess we won’t have the time to go and visit anyone, not even your wonderful wife Grace, I hope you will extend my apologies to her for not having the time to visit” Attovac had the look of the cat that just eat ‘New York City’ and was purring contently and getting ready to take a nice long nap.

Crilbolo didn’t respond, he just turned around swished his white tail and headed off into the woods.

“How come I get the feeling that you just blackmailed him?” Erma asked.

“Blackmail is such an ugly term, as you mortals would say; let’s just say I motivated him, he did owe me a favor, he just paid me back, but he doesn’t know it yet”

“Attovac you are… you are… terrible, sneaky, sly, cunning and one hell of a fun… per… no a Fanta to be around”

Attovac smiled and his purple hat did a dance, he winked at her and looked up towards his hat “want to give it a rub now?”

“No, no, no” she laughed “you… never mind, now how are we going to get this stuff put together?”

“We’ll put it together when we get back to your house”

“My house!” Erma said” Why can’t we build it here?”

“Because I need to be near where I fell” Attovac said and then looked over Erma’s shoulder and pointed “here they come, now don’t let their grumbling worry you, their all bark and no bite” and he burst out laughing “and when they get us the golden screws, they’ll just leave, get it” and he burst out laughing again.

Erma could not believe her eyes, they were trees walking out of the forest, there was pine tree, sweet gum tree, oak tree, cedar tree, birch tree, black walnut tree and many other that she could not distinguish their types and they were grumbling, even Erma had to giggle a bit at what Attovac said.

“Here comes Crilbolo” Erma said “and I think he’s even less happy than he was when he left, are you sure that he’ll still get us the golden wood boards?”

“If he don’t want us to stay he will” replied Attovac “come he’s waving us to follow him into the woods, he’s going to play to the golden tree”

Erma and Attovac headed over to where Crilbolo was waiting for them and the three went into the woods, they walked back deep into the forest until they came across a clearing, this one was small and it had a clear blue pond with small fish, each one of a different color, jumping through the top and splashing back into the water, creating ripples that expanded towards the shore and each ripple became a different color, making a ripple rainbow on the pond. The pond was right in the middle of the clearing and Erma could hear a slight musical tone; a melody coming from the each of the ripples.

“They are thoroughly upset with me and it will be days before they calm down, I hope you’re happy because I’m not” Crilbolo said digging his two front hoofs into the ground.

“Well the sooner we get the boards and golden screws the sooner we can depart from here” Replied Attovac.

Erma walked away and headed over to the pond and stood there looking at the ripples and listening to the tune playing “Me darling Erma is there something wrong?” asked Attovac, walking to her side “no…” she hesitantly started to say “it’s just so peaceful, beautiful and wonderful here and we ‘mortals’ as you would call us, don’t even know that this place even exist”

Attovac grasped her hand “Erma darling there are peaceful, beautiful and wonderful things back from where you come from, you have to open your eyes and go see them” Attovac turned Erma around to face him “you need to move some of those cinder blocks away from you”

A tear trickled down Erma’s cheek “I don’t think I can”

“The Melody that you hear coming from the pond” Crilbolo said as he walk over to the two of them “is a melody that reverberates though out your world it’s the melody of events that happen in your world, happiness, love, peace, kindness, and many; many more”

“What of the bad things that happen in my world like war, sickness, murder, and all the other evil things that happen? There seems to be more of them than the good ones”

Crilbolo stepped closer to the pond “the pond is in tuned with all of that as well, the fish jump up every time something bad happens and create a ripple to counter balance the effect, you can’t have good without a bit of bad, but what we try to do here is to make the good be just a small bit more stronger and better than the bad, one of those ripples could be a couple falling in love, a baby being born into your world, a sick person getting better or just a simple beautiful day, where the sun rises and the sunsets and everything went perfect for someone that day”

Erma stare at the pond again “all that from such a small pond”

“Ahh Erma me darling, it’s not the size that counts, it’s how it’s being used” Attovac said giving a wink as his bowler hat trembled quickly.

Erma just gave him an exasperated look.

“What our dear short legged Fanta is really trying to say” interjected Crilbolo “is that each of those small ripples will affect many of your people” suddenly Crilbolo stood very straight and gasped

“What is it?” asked Attovac

“I have been gone for a long time and the imps will surely be free by now, they’ll have everything in a state of disaster”

“Is there anything that we can do to help you” asked Erma.

“Nothing, I will deal with them when I get back, but for now let’s get the golden wood planks and quickly”

The three of them headed back to the trees and there stood one that shined of bright gold, Erma was surprised that she hadn’t noticed before, it just radiated a bright golden light.

Crilbolo raised his pipe to his lips and started to play, the tune started slowly and sweet and the golden tree shook slightly, it started to sway with the tune and as Crilbolo increase the pitch and speed the golden tree shook harder and swayed more, and a golden board split itself away from a branch and it floated down to the ground to lay itself so gently, so lightly in front of Crilbolo, Erma stood there in a trance watching the golden tree and seeing the boards split themselves off and the more he played the more the branches shed golden wood boards until he had a pile of golden wood boards waist high, he lowered the pipe from his lips and the golden tree stopped moving and stood completely still, Erma could not even see where the boards came from on the branches, there were no marks, no missing spots, there was nothing to indicate that the boards came from those branches.

“Oh Crilbolo, that was just beautiful, but how are we going to get those boards back?”

“Well I could have them float with us; we still need to collect the golden screws” said Attovac.

Crilbolo raised his hand “you know Attovac; that would tire you out quite a bit, not that it would not satisfy me for the trouble you have caused me with the Woodland People, but I have a better idea, I think that I’ll have the Imps carry them for you, that will take some of the sting out from the destruction that they have wrecked since I have been gone and I know that they have done destruction” and one of Crilbolo’s hoofs dug a gouge in the ground.

With one last look at the pond and the golden wood tree the three of them headed back into the forest and made their way to the bigger clearing.

Upon entering the clearing they saw the woodland people standing around branches flying in different directions swatting the Imps away, Crilbolo quickly raised his pipe to his mouth and started to play a melody that had the Imps quieting down and heading over to the long log and sitting down on it, all around they could see destruction, holes in the buildings, one of the building had half of the roof hanging off of it, there were windows broken, doors hanging skewed from one hinge, Crilbolo stopped playing and the Imps stayed sitting on the log, Crilbolo just sighed “I’ll have them fix all of this when they get back” he changed his attention to looking over at the woodland people, Crilbolo and Attovac could tell how real angry they were, but Erma could not tell “I guess those Imps really got their leaves up” Attovac said and he chuckled

Crilbolo looked over at him with incredulity “you know Attovac you really need to improve on your humor, don’t push your luck with them or they’ll hold onto the golden screws”

“Now; now I be very polite with them, what do think I was born five hundred years ago?”

“Don’t ask me” Crilbolo said, starting the precession of the three of them towards the woodland people “I’m not the one who fell off his plain and caused all this”

Standing in front of the woodland people Crilbolo bowed to them, or at least as much of a bow he could make and so did Attovac, holding his hand on his bowler so it would not fall, Erma seeing them both bow did likewise, Attovac step up to the first woodland person a birch tree and said “we are honored that you have come to our need” motioning to Erma, who stepped up next to Attovac and saying “yes honored” not very sure if she was to say anything, but thought it sounded right

“We” bellowed the birch tree “this female mortal did not fall off her plain, we think not little Fanta, your interruption of our Picnic Day was most inconvenient and you will owe us a major favor for this or the next time you will wait until Picnic Day is over”

Attovac Bowed again “I agree, I owe you a favor, ask of it when you are in need of it”

“That we will, when we are in need of you, now who will take possession of the golden screws?”

  Crilbolo stepped up “if the woodland people would be so kind and place them in the wooden box right there” pointing to a box sitting close to one of the building that looked like it went through a wind storm “I’ll have the Imps carry it for them, the work will help repay some of the aggravation that they may have caused you”

“They did not cause any real aggravation, we found it enjoyable to slap them around, gave our branches some needed exercise” with that each of the woodland people walked over to the wooden box and spit out a golden screw from their mouths, Crilbolo went over to the Imps and gave them instructions, two of the Imps came over to the box and waited for all the woodland people to deposit their screws, before picking up the box and walking back to the log, the other four Imps went off into the woods to retrieve the golden wood planks.

Once the four imps returned with the golden wood planks Crilbolo play a complicated tune on his pipe and the Imps lined up in a row, two of them holding a side of the box with the golden screws and the other four with the golden wood planks fell in behind them.

“Well I think you’re ready to go” Crilbolo said.

“Wait” said Erma “Are we going to need any special tools to put these steps together?”

“No me dear Erma” said Attovac and tapping the side of his pointy nose. “I can handle that with a wee bit of magic”

“You’re not going to be twitching your nose at the stuff and it’s just comes together?” Erma asked, tilting her head to one side at him.

“Me dear, dear Erma, you really need to spend more time out and socializing and having fun and less time watching shows that portray our witches with such false actions, witches don’t twitch their nose, it doesn’t work that way”

“Forget I even said anything, let’s just go, I think I need a cup of tea or something even stronger” and she sighed.

Attovac brightened from this comment “Yes I think it’s time for us to go, I hope that there is still more of that bourbon left, I’m a bit parched again” and he took Erma’s hand and walked to the front of the line to started the precession.  With a flourish of his cloak he started forward, waving back at Crilbolo “Take care my friend and thanks for the help”

Erma also waved back at Crilbolo and saying thanks, she looked for the Woodland People and saw they were gone; they went back into the forest, Attovac did say they would just leave after they were done giving the golden screws.

Looking down Erma was not surprised at noticing that she was walking on air again, not a foot in the whole precession was touching the ground. The eight of them walked in silence, Erma looking around at the peacefulness of the forest, out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement, squeezing Attovac hand and giving it a light tug, she pointed for him to look in that direction, with a very light audible whisper “I think your Nymphs are over there”

Attovac stopped the precession and took a look “I think your right me dear”

A male Nymph darted out from a tree that was close to them and stopped in front of Attovac “Welcome Attovac, it’s very nice to see you on this fine sunny day, but then again if it was raining it would be a fine rainy day, are you trying to get a look at our females again?”

“I keep trying, but they move faster than my eyes can see”

Just then off in the distant another Nymph sprinted around some trees and what looked like rays of sunshine following behind the Nymph and Erma could not tell if it was a male or female.

“And will you introduce me to this fine lady that is with you Attovac?” turning to face her.

“Ah yes, this is Erma, Erma this is Toklas”

Toklas took Erma’s hand and kissed it, sunshine radiated on her hand from the kiss and warmth ran up her arm. “It’s an honor to meet you Lady Erma, on this fine sunny day, but then again if it was raining it would be a fine rainy day”

Erma giggled and replied “It’s an honor to meet you Toklas on this fine sunny day, but then again if it was raining it would be a fine rainy day” Erma tried to keep her eyes focused on his eyes, but found that she was looking him over covertly of course and he was naked and what a naked body he had.

“Well it was a pleasure to meet you Lady Erma, I hope you’ll visit again, the forest is a place of peace and tranquilly, a place to be naked with nature and to enjoy the outside, bring your friends or that someone special in your life, and Attovac it’s always a pleasure to see you, now I must be going, the forest needs a lot of love and attention” and as fast as he showed up he sprinted away leaving a trial of sunshine falling from behind him.

Erma just stood there, transfixed on the spot where Toklas stood. “You know” she started to say slowly “that he sort... of... looked... like...” and she stopped there shaking her head.

“Zack?” answered Attovac “His face was similar to Zack’s, but for the rest of him, I do not know? What do you think?”

She gave him a sharp look “I’m not answering that” she took Attovac hand again “Let’s get going, I need a cup of tea”

Attovac smiled and started the precession moving.

“Do you really think I hide at my house, I enjoy my time there and my routine and it is comfortable”

“It’s too comfortable” Attovac interrupted “My dear, dear, dear, dear Erma, you spend your time at your house so you don’t have to deal with the outside world, you have your friends all I might add, female over to your house, you never ever go out, you don’t meet new people, your routine is just a way for you to not do anything different or have new experiences, you’re a young, vibrant, beautiful woman with passions and desires, that is letting her shyness and fears, keep her from those wonderful and yes sometimes painful experiences from happening, you use your house as an excuse to keep you from them and your fantasies” Attovac threw up his hand to stall her from interrupting him “the fact is I’m a Fanta and I deal with fantasies and I deal with yours” shaking his hand to keep her quiet “I’m not done yet, your fantasies just prove that you’re a healthy minded woman who wants to have those experiences, but if you don’t and I can’t do it for you, remove those stone cinder blocks from around you, you’ll never have any of those experiences” he waved his hand some more, he wanted to make sure that she allowed him to finish what he wanted to say “Let’s take today, if I had not fell off my plain, you’re day would have been eating a grilled muffin with one of your jellies, sipping tea, then making more jelly, watching TV, going to bed and then doing it all over again for the next two days, before you went back to work, the same safe routine every work day and the same safe dull routine every weekend, am I correct, don’t say anything, just nod or shake your head”

Erma reluctantly nodded her head.

Attovac continued “but today your safe routine was disrupted by me” correct?

Erma just nodded.

“You got to see things that other mortals never ever get to see, was your day boring or interesting?”

Erma just stared at him for a few seconds “can I talk now?”

Attovac laughed and this time he nodded.

“When we started out the only thing really on my mind was to get this over with so I could get back to my porch and to my routine, but now after seeing all the things I have seen today and listening to you, you have made me realize that I have been hiding behind a wall and within my house and I have not been taking chances, whether they are good or bad, but the choices I have made have kept me safe and yes I know, well at least now I know and understand that I need to start removing those cinder blocks as you call them and start taking chances and having experiences, but it will be a slow process for me to do” that’s when she realized that they were not walking anymore, they were standing right next to her porch, she looked over and saw the five golden stairs already made and hovering in her front lawn, looking around some more she noticed the Imps gone. “Where are they, where did the Imps go?”

“They went back to Crilbolo”

Erma looked lost, she even felt somewhat lost, it was over, she could now return back to her routine, back to her safe, dull, boring routine “well I guess this is it, your steps are made and you can get back to your plain”

“I that I can me darling Erma, there are many more peoples fantasies to be worked on” and Attovac turned towards the steps.

“Wait!” yelled Erma “You must be parched from that walk, would you like to have wee bit more of the bourbon?”

“I me Erma, that would be lovely, it make my heart beat faster”

Erma seemed to be caught up in the moment “And would you like to have another grilled english muffin with some of my jelly, it would only take a couple minutes to make?” She took his hand and led him up the stairs of the porch; she darted through her front door and returned with a tray of tea and english muffins with one of her jars of jelly.

Erma sat down and poured the last of the bourbon into his glass, his eyes opened wide and his bowler hat jiggled, she placed on a plate 2 english muffins smeared with jelly on them and placed it in front of him.

Attovac took a drink of the bourbon with his tongue darting in and out of the glass, his eyes crossed, his bowler hat jumped about on his head; Erma had now become use to this sight and gave a giggle.

“Erma me sweet darling, this is a beautiful day and you have lightened my heart”

Erma sat there looking at him as he bit into a muffin. “Ah this is your blueberry jelly, it’s just delicious, and you are a master at the jelly and jam making” Attovac said with sincerity.

“Attovac will I remember this day, or will I go to sleep and think I dreamt it all?”

“No, no me dear, you’ll remember everything, nothing will be taken away from you, but I do caution you, telling other people about this may not be the best thing to do in your own interest” and he smiled at her, took another drink from the glass, crossed his eyes and rattled his hat

She smiled at him, with a bit of devious smile “Attovac would you mind taking off your hat?”

“Me dear Erma, would you like to give him a rub?”

Her response was “just do it, please” and Attovac removed his bowler hat, she reached up and gave it a slow rub, Attovac turn bright red then a dark purple before he returned to his regular color.

“You said I won’t forget anything and I’m sure I will remember that”

Attovac jumped down from the chair “I certainly hope you don’t forget that or me, but Erma my darling, it’s getting late and I do have more work to do, it’s time I be going” Erma met him and held his hand as they walked down the stairs and across the lawn to the golden stairs.

“Now you take care of yourself” Attovac told Erma.

“And you stop falling off your plain” and bent down and gave Attovac a kiss on the cheek at the same time she reached into her pocket and pulled out an unopened jar of blueberry jelly and handed to him. He turned a slight pink and a smile grew across his face.

Attovac turned and started up the stairs, he was on the fourth step when Erma called out to him.

“Attovac, you really didn’t fall off your plain did you?”

Attovac stopped, turned his head to look at her and winked, took the final step and vanished along with the golden stairs.

Erma headed back to her porch and sat down at her table, she poured herself a cup of tea and looked over at the plate that had one last bite of muffin left on it and the glass with a third of bourbon still sitting in it, she reached for the glass and poured a drop of it into her tea, she raised it to her lips and held it there for a minute or two, but didn’t take a drink, she put it down and pick up her outside phone sitting on the table.

“Hi, this is Erma; could you transfer this call to Zack’s phone please, thank you”

“Hello Zack this is Erma, are you working tomorrow? Good would you like to have a picnic with me in the forest....”