A chill wind pierced through Everett’s jacket, reminding him that winter hadn’t quite let up yet. He exhaled a sharp breath, pulled his arms close, and hastened his pace toward his house.  That next day at school had been absolute agony, and the anticipation had nearly killed him. He’d have to grab Algebra notes from Kevin tomorrow, because for sure he didn’t take any that morning.

Not only that, but those weird feelings he’d felt last night didn’t go away at all, and had worsened, even. Every mention of his masculinity suddenly felt like a knife in his kidney, using the bathroom felt wrong now, and for some reason gym class that day had felt like he was a rabbit thrown into a den of hungry wolves. Whatever was causing this, he needed to know what it was.

He fished through his pocket and pulled out the vial Meredith had given him last night. He stared intently at it, something he’d done more than a few times that day, when he was sure no one was looking. The blue liquid was slightly viscous and coated the inside like cream, and suspended in it was some sort of lighter particulates that swirled and frothed about. Every few seconds, a sparkle of light danced through the liquid, illuminating it from within.  Clearly it was a potion of some sort, he’d been learning about those in school recently. Last night, when he frantically asked Meredith what it was as he was being pushed out the door, she simply said it was “something that sped up the process of discovery, albeit in a somewhat brutal way”.

Feeling nervous about that last statement, he thumbed the vial’s cork. Should he just drink it now? He could barely stand the suspense anymore, and it would probably be best to drink it away from his family, since he had no absolutely clue what would happen.

But what about Sybil? She had still been fast asleep that morning, and as such he’d left her at home again. Above all things, he felt that it was important to include her in this, whatever it was.

His eyes lit up as he remembered a good place to go to drink the potion.

“Ooh that’ll be good,” he said, and took off running towards his house.

Bursting through the front door, he ignored the prog rock blasting from the kitchen and Julianne’s mostly in-tune voice accompanying it, and barreled up the stairs to his room. He could feel himself nearing Sybil’s presence with every step, until he reached his bedroom door and threw it wide open.

A high-pitched shriek rung in his ears as Sybil fell off her shelf. She caught herself mid-air and whipped around to face him.

“Ev, what the hell?” she shouted. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! Could it hurt you to walk in like a normal person for once?”

Everett thought about commenting on how pixies didn’t have hearts, and therefore couldn’t have heart attacks, but decided against it, knowing that it would only exacerbate her mood further. At least it was good to know she’d regained some energy and was back to her usual moody self.

“Sorry Sybs, I didn’t mean to startle you, I’ve just been so excited to--”

“And what’s more, you left me at home, again!” She buzzed up and down around his head, looking like a mad wasp. “Are you trying to abandon me? You know I don’t remember the way to school! I had to sit here for hours and hours, doing absolutely nothing, while you went off and had probably just a lovely time without me. I mean, let’s face the facts here, you hate me, don’t you? Don’t pretend you don’t!”

“Syb, seriously, nothing could be further from the truth. I think for the first time I might even know what you’re going through, and--”

“Well then act like it!” she yelled, “What, you thought I didn’t notice you going out of your way to avoid me all the time? I can feel where you are, twenty-four seven! You thought you could just dink around outside for hours at a time and I wouldn’t notice? It isn’t just mean, it’s stupid as shit!” She plopped down on her bed, crossing her arms.

Everett felt indignation stirring inside him from the accusation, but rather than indulge in it this time, he took a breath and tried to calm down. He stifled a sigh, then found himself smiling. He crawled up to face her.

“Hey Sybs, I really am sorry,” he said softly, “and I promise I’ll make it up to you. Here, I wanted to show you this, check it out.”

He pulled out the vial in his pocket, swirled the blue liquid around, and showed it to her. Surprise and awe spread across her face.

“That’s a potion, where did you get that?” she exclaimed, sitting up.

“Last night, at that old lady’s shop, remember?”

She scrunched up her face, scratching her head.

“ . . . not really . . .”

“Well anyways, she told me it was supposed to help me ‘connect with my mind’, or something. How weird’s that though? Betcha it’ll turn me green or something, wanna watch me drink it?”

Her eyes flickered.

He felt somewhat guilty. It was a little mean to be taking advantage of her insatiable curiosity like this.  But he figured it was the best way to get her to come along.

“And guess what,” he said, “you wanna go up to our old spot up in the tree to try it?”

Her eyes widened and the faintest of a smile flashed across her lips.

“You mean--”

He nodded slowly.

“Just like we used to?”

“Just like we used to.”

Everett wriggled his way through his bedroom window, noting to himself that this sort of thing used to be a whole lot easier when he was younger and smaller. Sybil flitted to and fro, the excitement evident in her erratic movements. He managed to work his way out and lightly stepped onto the roof below him. He tiptoed across the roof, remembering that one of the reasons he’d stopped doing this was because he got in trouble for walking around up here, and didn’t want to alert anyone else to what he was doing. He made his way over to the back of the house where the giant fir tree overshadowed the roof, tested a branch for sturdiness, and hoisted himself up.

Branch by branch, he climbed up the tree, doing his best to avoid scratching himself on the way up. With each foot gained, he felt himself remembering more and more memories from his childhood, each one taking him back to a simpler time. Eventually, he approached his destination, and upon arrival was greeted by a whole new host of memories attached to it.

Nestled high up in the tree, out of sight from the outside world, was the remains of an old treehouse, built long before Everett was born, and likely originally at a much safer height. The tree since then had grown quite a bit, and the treehouse had decayed and lost most of its wood paneling. All that remained were the remnants of a floor and a wall that had gotten jammed into the crook of the tree, long after the nails had rusted out.

This place had been a safe haven for him and Sybil as children, a way to escape from the whirlwind of excitement that always pervaded his house. He’d gone on many adventures up here with her, pretending to be pirates, or a distressed damsel to be saved by an adventurer, or piloting a spaceship and exploring the stars, and so on. He’d gone up here when he needed space to think, or to get away from his siblings, or to cry for no reason in particular. When he was at his saddest, he was up here. When it hurt just to exist, he was up here.

When his dad left, he had spent a lot of time up here.

He brushed the pine needles off the carpet of moss covering the floorboards, and crammed his way up into the nook until he was reasonably settled in, albeit cramped. He sure fit in here a whole lot better when he was smaller.

“Alrighty well--” he started.

“Wait wait wait!” exclaimed Sybil. “I want to get a good view! Haha!” She buzzed about, before selecting a small branch to sit on that was directly opposite him. She situated herself so she was facing him, then nodded excitedly.

Everett fished out the vial, pulled out the cork with a pop, and downed its contents in one gulp.

Surprisingly, it tasted pleasant and slightly citrus-y. The potion coated his mouth and tingled where it made contact. It tasted kind of spicy, but more like if spice was powered by electricity instead of heat.

They sat in anticipation, yet nothing happened. He looked at Sybil and shrugged.  Sybil shrugged back, then suddenly passed out. Her body went limp and she slid off the branch.

“Whoa--” he yelped, and caught her just before she fell out of reach. He gently settled her in the crook of his arm.

From what he knew, drugs didn’t affect pixies, so this was definitely something weirder.

Suddenly, the mossy floorboards he was sitting on fell away from him. He tumbled down, each branch of the fir tree warping and bending around him every time he should have slammed into one. The world inverted upon itself and he fell into darkness, screaming voicelessly.