“This is going to be great.”

“Shhh!”

“You’re going to wake him.”

“Isn’t that what we want?”

“Yes, but we want him to rub his face before coming fully awake.”

“I know. Let’s use a feather to rub his face.”

“Why should we do that?”

“It’ll cause an itch.”

“Oh! Good idea. I’ll go get one.”

“We could just tickle his face with our hands.”

“No. That’ll put whoever does it at risk.”

“April is back, and she has a feather.”

“Lily, you tickle him with the feather.”

“Why?” Lily asked.

“This was your idea,” April replied.

“Fine. Give me the feather,” Lily replied. April handed it to her and moved to join the other pixies. Lily flew just above the sleeping human and started to gently rub the feather around his nose and cheeks.

*

I started to wake as my nose started to itch. I raised my right hand to scratch the itch.

“Here goes!” a small feminine voice said. A wet, creamy, foam splattered across my face just before I was able to touch my nose.

“What the?” I asked bolting up in bed to laughter. I opened my eyes and looked at my hand. It was covered in a white foam. “What is this?”

“Shaving cream!” came the answer from a chorus of pixies before they started laughing again.

“Lily!”

“Yes?” my familiar asked sweetly. The feather she was holding behind her back dispelled the sweetness.

“Pranking me again?”

“Uh huh,” she replied barely containing her laughter.

“Could someone get me something so I can wipe this off my hand and face?”

“Sure!” Willow answered before flying off. She was giggling the whole time.

“I suppose you lasted as long as you could,” I said to Lily.

“Uh huh. You have no idea how hard it was not to prank you while we traveled and then remodeled the house,” the pixie said wide eyed innocently. “I couldn’t hold back anymore.”

“Here Jase!” Willow said dropping a rag onto my head.

“Thanks Willow.”

“You’re welcome!” the pixie replied. I wiped my face and hands off on the rag.

“Where did this shaving cream come from?” I asked. “And don’t say the getting place either.”

“The storage device,” Lily answered. “There’s quite a few cans in it.”

“Ah. I guess you want to use it to prank the village?” I asked. All the pixies nodded yes. “Just don’t get caught.”

“You’re not mad nor want to stop us?” May asked.

“No and no. You’re pixies. Pranking is what you do.”

“Jase.”

“Yes Yam?”

“Untie your shoelaces.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome!”

“Are the rest of you joining us for breakfast?” I asked the pixies.

“Yes.”

“Sure.”

“What do you want?”

“Candy!”

“Cupcakes!”

“Cookies!”

“Cake!”

“Ice cream!”

“No, no, and no. We can’t have that stuff for breakfast,” I replied.

“Well, you asked what we wanted,” Lily said as the others nodded.

“You know I meant cereal, grits, rice, toast, and the like,” I said. “And what is ice cream?”

“I did, but the others didn’t,” Lily replied to more nods.

“Wait. He doesn’t know what ice cream is! The horror!” Yam said.

“You poor, deprived human,” April said.

“Humanity has fallen so far,” Lily added.

“Ice cream is a frozen food,” May said. “People ate it as a treat.”

“Ah. And why would I have that?” I asked.

“Because you have a freezer,” Willow said. “We could teach you to make some!”

The other pixies all agreed with that statement. I admit I was intrigued by the idea too.

“We can’t get vanilla extract though, Lily said.

“Can’t something else be used? Willow asked.

“Can’t get cocoa beans for chocolate either,” April pointed out.

“There’s got to be something we can use!” Yam said.

“Let’s check the network,” May suggested.

“You guys really want this ice cream, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

“Uh huh.”

“You’ll want it after you try it too!”

“Have any of you ever tried it?” I asked.

“No,” the pixies chorused. I laughed.

“Elder Trillium has though!” May stated.

“Just how old is the elder?” I wondered aloud.

Lily flew up and stared me in the eyes. “Jase, never ask a lady how old she is or someone else how old she is.”

“That’s right!”

“You should know better.”

“Men!”

“Hey! My mom didn’t care if I knew her age or not.”

“Sure. Blame it on your mother.”

“We’re getting off the subject. What about this vanilla?”

“Oh!”

“Right. Checking the network,” Lily said.

“Joe Pye weed is a good substitute and has a strong vanilla smell. It also has a long history of medicinal use,” Yam said.

“Did all of you check the network?” I asked.

“Yes,” the pixies chorused.

“Does any Joe Pye weed grow around here?” I asked.

“Hmmm.”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s ask the elder!” Willow suggested.

“Good idea!”

“Would the elder know?” I asked. The pixies’ excitement was growing on me.

“It does! She says there is a large clump growing by the cow pasture. The rest is scattered throughout the mountains including a few spots on your claimed land,” Yam said.

“Jase can make some cream from milk,” Lily said.

“Lily, we don’t have any milk.”

“There are cows in the pasture and goats in the village,” April pointed out. “You can trade for or buy the goat milk.”

“Or milk the cows,” May added.

“Elder Trillium says she would trade some honey or honeycombs for some ice cream too,” Yam said.

“Why would I want honeycombs?” I asked.

“You can use them to make beeswax.”

“Why would I want beeswax?” I asked.

“Because it can be used to make a bunch of stuff including candles,” Lily replied. “Use it with some of the Joe Pye weed and other flowers to make scented candles.”

“I’ve never done something like that.”

“I know. Still, it’s something you can do to make more money. The caravans make a lot off their candles,” Lily replied.

“Too true,” I agreed. “Alright. Let’s get breakfast and we’ll go harvest this Joe Pye weed and see about getting some milk or cream from the village so we can make this ice cream.”

“Hooray!” the pixies shouted.