“I think that is enough for now,” I said while looking at the two baskets of peppermint leaves and twice as many baskets of sunflowers. It had taken two days to gather the six bushels of leaves and flowers. Mohe hadn’t been happy about the delay, but he understood it and was pacified when I had told him I would come into the village and let him know when the oil was ready. “Lily, stop eating the sunflower seeds!”

“But they’re so good!”

“And you’re making a mess.”

“Sorry,” Lily replied around a mouthful of sunflower seed looking around at the bits of shell scattered around her. She finished chewing. “I’ll get up my mess.”

A second later and the scraps started flying out an open window that then shut a second later.

“I don’t remember opening that window.”

Lily grinned. “You’ll be able to do the same one day.”

“Maybe,” I replied.

“How do we make the sunflower oil?” Lily asked.

“That’s easy. All we have to do is run the seeds through the oil press. The hard part will be picking the seeds from the flowers,” I answered pointing at the press. “The press is a hand crank, so I’ll get a workout.”

“You could also use telekinesis.”

“Good idea,” I said sitting down and pulling one of the baskets of sunflowers to me. “Want to help?”

“Sure. Let me go get you one of the meals we took from the lab to eat and some help first though.”

“Is the help going to eat all the sunflower seeds?”

“No. We’ll eat some of them though.”

“Thanks Lily.”

“You’re welcome!” Lily replied.

“Oh Lily!”

“Yeah?”

“Can we change the lock codes? I don’t like just pressing the zero four times.”

“Sure. I can change it. What do you want it to be?”

“How about 1 2 3 4 5?”

“1 2 3 4 5! That’s amazing! I have the same combination on my luggage,” Lily exclaimed.

“What?” I asked laughing.

“It’s a joke from an old movie. I’ll make the code something better than that yet still simple.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! We’ll watch the movie tonight too!”

“Oh, we will?”

“You bet!” Lily replied before kissing my cheek and flying off.

*

“All those flowers and seeds only made two gallons of oil?” Lily asked a few hours later.

“Yep,” I answered. “That’s why most people don’t make their own. It’s a lot of work.”

“How do you make the peppermint oil?” Lily asked.

“And the honey drops?” Yam asked causing the pixies to get excited.

“I’ll show you guys how to make the honey drops in a day or two.”

“Oh!” Yam said.

“That’s not fair!” April said.

“We even helped harvest sunflower seeds,” Willow added.

“It’ll be worth the wait,” Lily told the others. “Besides, we ate a lot of sunflower seeds and I saw a bunch of you saving some for later.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I said. “As for the peppermint oil, first I need to clean the oil press and toss the seed fragments.”

“And then?” Lily asked.

“Same as the seeds. Feed the leaves into the press and it’ll squeeze out the oil.”

“And then?” Willow asked.

“Then I mix a little of the sunflower seed oil into the peppermint oil.”

“And then?” Yam asked.

“Then I bottle it all.”

“And then?” May asked.

“Then I store it and go harvest some lemon balm.”

“And then?” April asked.

“I repeat the process,” I answered. I was starting to get annoyed with the questions.

“And then?” Lily asked again. All the pixies were smiling.

“Then I make a mixture of lemon balm and peppermint oil.”

“And then?” Willow asked again.

“Then I let Mohe know the oils and cleaner are ready.”

“And then?” Yam asked again. Their smiles had grown with each answer.

“What is with all the and then questions?” I asked.

“And then?” May asked once more ignoring what I asked.

“Argh! You’re driving me crazy!”

The pixies burst into a giggling fit.

“We’re sorry Jase,” April said for the pixies after they stopped giggling.

“It’s alright,” I replied after Lily flew up and kissed my right cheek. The others kissed my left which made Lily growl at them which turned into a game of tag. I laughed as I watched the pixies play.