Page 194 of Naughty Nelle

CHAPTER 10

Iusually dread my sessions with Shrink, but today I can hardly wait. It’s been an awful twenty-four hours. Elz has totally avoided me. She sat by herself at breakfast and refused to lead a chant with me during morning meditation. She didn’t even wish me sweet dreams last night. It’s as if I don’t exist.

Lying in the chaise, I grow impatient. Shrink is usually late, but not this late. After fifteen minutes or so, I decide to split. I’m furious with Shrink for not showing up. Of all days!

Rising, I notice Shrink’s bug-eyed spectacles peeking out from under the chaise. That’s strange. I bend over and pick them up. The rims are dented. Maybe, she crashed into something. Seriously, with all that fairy dust, it’s easy to be blindsided.

Perhaps, she’s somewhere under the chaise. Stooping down to my knees, I run my hand beneath it. Uh oh! Something warm and fleshy. My heart skips a beat. A dead body? To my relief, it’s only a mouse. It scuttles away.

Taking a deep breath, I stand up. And there she is. Behind the chaise, sprawled out on her back. Her eyes are shut, and her little wings are outstretched. Her blond hair has fallen loose and cradles her shoulders. She looks like a fallen butterfly.

“Shrink, wake up,” I say, crouching over her.

She doesn’t move.

“Shrink, wake up!” I shout. “Wake up!” I fold her wings up and down like an accordion, but she still doesn’t budge.

Oh no! Maybe she’s dead. A fat tear rolls down my cheek onto her teeny weeny body.

“Is it raining in here? How many times do I have to tell them to fix that damn leak in the roof?”

Shrink! She’s alive! Feistier than ever.

“So, Jane, where were we?” she asks as she spirals into the air.

With a sigh of relief, I sink back into the chaise and talk about what happened yesterday with Hook. The words flow out of my mouth like a raging rapid.

“Why are you upset that Elzmerelda is not talking to you?”

“It’s not fair. I didn’t do anything.”

“That’s not really why you’re upset.”

“Okay, I feel rejected.”

“Yes, you feel rejected. But if Hook rejected you, you wouldn’t feel bad, would you?

“Hardly.” I’d do a happy dance.

“Do you understand why you feel bad about Elzmerelda’s behavior?”

I shake my head “no.”

“Jane, you feel bad because Elzmerelda is your friend.”

Silence.

“Have you ever had a friend before?”

Another flashback. This one to a little girl who’s seen me at the window. She’s motioning with her hand for me to come outside and play with her. My mother isn’t home. An opportunity. I toss my dust rag, dash out the front door, and slam into her on the landing. My mother, her lips clamped as tightly as her fists. “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Jane?” Before I can utter a word, she shoves me back into the house, with such force I tumble, scraping my knees on the cold stone floor. A warm river of blood seeps through my torn muslin skirt.

Tears burn my eyes as I shake my head. I never saw that little girl again.

Shrink adjusts her lopsided, dented glasses.

“Jane, let me tell you something about friends. Friends care about each other. You care about Elzmerelda. That’s why you’re upset she’s mad at you.”

I take in what she’s just said. I miss Elz terribly. “Will she ever talk to me again?” I ask tentatively.

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