Now’s the part where I shake myself and realize the Owl’s for certain not going to eat me. I tell myself she really wants to talk to me and give me the duties. I make myself stand still but I wish I had my mop to lean on. I take a deep breath.

“Go,” I says. “I’m ready. As long as I can get it off work.”

The fumes are powerful, then. They seem to come from somewheres behind where she’s perched. When I first opened my eyes and saw her, I thought maybe it was some kind of crown, but now. Now I feel smarter, like I’m really ready to listen. I was sort of looking around for the big cats or for Samus to bust in and yell at me but none of that matters now.

“Listen, now, Friend. The Fairies need you to fetch something. We need you to cross the Great Meadow and to travel up into the hills yonder. If you go the right way it will take you several days and you will need to overcome many dangers.”

“Okay,” I say. I feel sleepy and wide awake and pretty good. I feel bigger than my size, like my skin is growing and stretching. The Owl doesn’t look so big now. I can look in her yellow eyes and I can see myself in them.

“First,” she says, “you will cross the Meadow until you encounter a grove of trees in the middle. In the trees there is a young Owl, the Laundress. She will give you something that will help you on the next leg of your journey.”

“Then, you will need to meet the Cat who lives at the bottom of the hills yonder. If you do not meet with him, you will never be able to finish the final part of your mission.”

“A Cat?” I say. This is getting worse and worse every minute. An Owl, then another Owl, who’s younger and maybe not so nice as this one with the fumes coming out of her head. And then there’s a cat. This is very bad. Probably worse than the time some of the little fairies broke away from the Bower and shook me over the rocky part of the stream until I pooed myself. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you about that.

“Yes,” the Owl says. “And he is a serious Motherfucker, so move slowly.”

I think maybe I will poo myself again before this is over.

“Don’t worry about the details. Just walk towards the stony ridge that looks like a pig’s back and he’ll find you. Although I should warn you: he’s on notice not to eat any non-descript mice without finding out if they’re you first, so his blood sugar might be a little low.”

My head was spinning. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be fetching. The Owl knew I was about to interrupt her and raised one of her wings to make me stop.

“I need to finish. You need to hear,” she said. “This is the last part. After you leave the Cat, you will start your final leg up the Hills. There you will find a stone burrow. Inside the burrow you will find the Oldest Lizard. He will supply what you seek and you will return to the Bower.”

The Owl leans towards me and hands me what looks like the old rag I use to wash the Fairies’ cups and plates with. “This is a special sack for carrying your items back in. You may use it for things you acquire along the way as well. It gets very small so you may tie it to your arm or around your neck.”

I tie the bag around my arm like the Owl said and make to leave, but I realize there’s no door. The great Owl gets fuzzy in front of me, like when it’s pouring down rain, and I think I might be waking up. Before she disappears I say to her, “I’ll make the Fairies proud! You’ll see!” because I know I am small and not as smart as some mice, so I want to make her feel better.

I don’t quite hear her when she says, “Ah, little Mouse. The Fairies won’t even notice you’re missing.”