Be my guest: Beyond the water cooler by Theresa Snyder

One minute we were pouring tea, the next minute a magic bomb went off in Diana’s office and almost instantly the office was warped and twisted into a magical maze. As we thought of the newly poured and gloriously waiting hot cup of tea, I did what first came to mind… I called the fairies.

You see I am very partial to cinnamon flavored breath mints and fairies, as you know, love cinnamon as well, so I always have at least one fairy in my handbag rummaging around for the sweets.

It just so happened that on this day, there were three, Tweak, Tally, and Tilly. Tally is a very resourceful young male fairy with a head for adventure and delights in games of all types, so it was good he was along. I sent him up to scout out the route, for as you know from doing maze puzzles in books, it is much easier if you are above looking down than within the maze itself.

I was extremely disappointed when Tally did not return, thinking he ran across the misplaced vending machines in the hall or perhaps the box of chocolates, which had been on my desk at the time of the explosion. Sweets are a terrible distraction to a fairy. But, then JD reminded me of the ‘dangers’ of the maze and I felt very badly about accusing Tally of slacking off when he might actually be in trouble.

Even though the way might have been filled with hazards, Tweak offered to follow his friend and see if he could spy a way out for us as well as locate Tally. JD offered his cell phone to use if he got in trouble, but it was just too heavy for the little bit of a fairy to lift.

We sat down to make ourselves comfortable until Tweak returned. We shared my mints and bemoaned the tea that was sitting somewhere getting cold. Such a sad thing, a lonesome tea losing its verve.

When Tweak did not return we truly started to worry. We couldn’t spend the whole day here. We had stories to write and tea to consume, and if truth be known, we both were a bit hungry for a few savories as well. So with Tilly flying just overhead, we struck out to try and find our own way through the maze.

Eventually, Tilly was able to lead us to the middle of the maze. It was a large open, grassy area with a stone birdbath in the middle, however the birdbath was not filled with water as it might be, it was overflowing with jellybeans. One look and JD was completely aware of the temptation we had encountered. He reached up to try to stop Tilly, but it was too late. The allure of the sugar was too much for her. She flew straight at the bowl and within moments had consumed not one, but a handful of the jellybeans. This of course meant that she immediately began to grow, and grow, and grow.

As we watched with mouths dropped open in shock, she shot up higher than the maze. Funny we had not thought to look up before, because standing on either side of her were Tally and Tweak, both equally enormous. Their boots must have been spread out between the park across the street from the office and the mass-transit station two blocks away. They waved and grinned with jellybean colored teeth.

Well, we both looked at each other and we knew we had a decision to make. If we ate the magical jellybeans we could easily remove ourselves from the maze, but in the process we would be removing ourselves further from that tea which was still calling our names. And in addition, we would be doing nothing about restoring the office to its proper order.

JD suggested breaking the jellybeans in half in order to allow the sugar to escape, then planting them below the hedgerows. I should have thought of this being a gardener, but I was way too fixated on how I was going to get the fairies back in my handbag for the trip home. Of course, JD knew that plants are not fond of sugar and the intake from the jellybeans would stunt their magical growth. Well, it went even further. The hedge began to shrink and as it did, the office morphed back into its original self.

JD ran to the counter, where our tea had long ago turned cold, grabbed a salt shaker and brought it back to me. I immediately knew what he was thinking and shared one of those cosmic dual moments in our minds’ eyes. I motioned for each of the fairies to lean down and hold out their hand. I placed a third of the jar of salt into each and directed them to eat it.

The consumption of the salt counteracted the sugar and the fairies returned to their original size. I opened my handbag and they fell on the last of the cinnamon mints with gusto.

JD then put on the kettle again and brewed another pot of tea, which we consumed in the quiet of the office awaiting the arrival of the morning staff. In terms of a morning adventure, it had been enlightening and would have been fun had we not been separated from our tea. I suggested purchasing a thermos for our next outing. JD expressed a desire for a plaid one with a red cup. I shall see what I can do.

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This guest spot was Theresa's wonderful take on the prompt shared on her Writer Wednesday interview thus bringing forth a new series on this blog, Be my guest. Stay tuned for more details and if you want to see her brilliant interview, click here. 

Peace, love, and maki rolls