Perdita has a minion!

Anita the Teadae

At the dolls' tea party, we fritter away
the long afternoon of a warm summer day

---

All you want is to go for a quiet hike on the woods. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and a light breeze flutters through the trees. The sounds of birds singing and trees whispering surrounds you.

You are deep in the woods when you realize the bird song has faded. The light whisper of the trees suddenly seems to become more menacing, as if they don't want you to be there.

Suddenly, a small feli wearing a fancy hat and gloves pops out from behind a tree.

“What are you doing here?” She asks. “No one is supposed to come this far into the woods. Oh, this is a pickle.”

You ask why no one is supposed to be here, but she ignores you, as she looks around at the trees nervously.

“You ought to come join me for a cup of tea,” she says suddenly. “They’ll like that. Come with me.”

Trying to inquire as to who will like it and where she is planning to get tea all the way out here, she continues to ignore your protests as she grabs your hand and pulls you deeper into the woods.

“Please hurry,” she says, ”they don't like it when I'm late.”

Suddenly, the woods opens up into a clearing. In the clearing is a huge table clearly set for a tea party, with multiple pots steaming away and all sorts of pastries and finger foods. You and the feli are the only two there.

“Now, sit down dear,” she continues. “Pour yourself a cuppa and relax while I help our guests.”

She bustles about, filling teacups and placing pastries very particularly on delicate plates. The whole time she is talking politely to what seem to be imaginary guests.

Realizing your host has probably lost a few of her marbles, you uncomfortably shift in your chair, unsure of whether you should be drinking the tea. Your shifting draws the attention of the feli and a quick glare. You quickly pour yourself a cup from the nearest pot, but don't drink it quite yet.

The feli finally sits down in the spot across from you. She delicately takes a pastry from the tray in front of her and begins to eat. She speaks to you a little, mostly encouragement to drink your tea or eat a pastry. The majority of her time is spent exclaiming as to how delicious her tea is.

You take a few sips and nod encouragingly at your bizarre host. She relaxes a bit but continues to chatter away to noone in particular.

Eventually your strange tea party appears to be winding down. The feli begins to tidy up and to your shock, you notice all of the plates and cups she had filled were now empty. Where did everything go?

You try to ask but she just shakes her head and glares at you some more. And then you notice- the birdsong has come back.

The feli sighs and immediately unwinds. Again, you ask what this was all about.

“There are monsters in the woods, monsters so terrible you can't even imagine,” she says hastily. “I’ve been having tea parties with them since I was a child and they were just my invisible friends. And now, tea parties are the only thing that will appease them and stop them from leaving the woods. But they hate intruders. I thought they might kill you on the spot.”

She continues, “I think it might be best if you leave now and don't come back.”

You're still in disbelief and you're still not sure that the feli is entirely sane, but you decide that it's best not to risk it. Within moments you’re running full tilt in an attempt to leave this place as quickly as possible.


overlay: Savie profile: beer story: Trithie
song lyrics: the dolls tea party//the magnetic fields
background vector created by kjpargeter - freepik.com