Penelope had stayed quiet during their hike to the next fairy house they were inspecting. In truth, she wanted her friend Ferry to ask what was wrong. For the last ten minutes, he had simply flown beside her, weaving in between the leaves of the trees they passed.
The path they were on was at least a little bit less overgrown than the last trail. It meant Penelope, in her much larger human form, could still keep up with him. Finally, after minutes of silence, Ferry zipped backwards and hovered next to her ear.
“What’s wrong?”
“You made me look silly saying I had been accidentally looking for a flyer’s advocate instead of a buyer’s advocate near Melbourne.” Her voice came out more childish than she had intended. In truth, she didn’t understand why his lying to the last property agent they had spoken to bothered her. It could have been a strategy to look better on the rental application or to potentially advocate for the lowest price possible, but it still hurt her.
“What? Should I have said you were trying to find the best buyer’s agent near Elsternwick when you somehow stumbled into a fairy circle and wound up there?” he asked, as though Penelope didn’t understand why he had decided to lie.
Silence stretched out between them once more. Finally, she saw Ferry’s thoughts click. “You wanted me to just admit we were friends,” he said, but it wasn’t a question. Penelope kept quiet, quickening her pace and leaving Ferry behind.
He was annoyingly fast at catching back up to her.
“I don’t want to talk about it, I know we’re not friends,” she said before he could speak. As she did, the path took a sharp left. Rounding the corner, she was greeted with a sight she had never expected. A fairy house carved into the trunk of a tree – the size of a normal apartment.
She turned to Ferry who smirked. “Shame, I was just going to ask if you needed a roommate.”