Stowaway

It was raining hard when I finally escaped work. Small drops viciously stung my face as the wind angrily blew them my way. After taking a few needle-like hits to the eyes I turned my head down and ran the rest of the way to my car.

Once in the safety of the old Focus, I wrung out my ponytail and wiped my face on a spare t-shirt that was in bad need of a wash. I rubbed my eyes, not caring about my makeup, and checked the mirror to assess the damage. It looked like I had been crying...out of my left eye. Great.

I flipped the visor back up and started the engine. I was about to drive off when I realized something; I pulled the visor back down, slid the mirror open again, and gave my eye a closer look.

In the sparse light from the mirror I could just about make out a little speck at the edge of my iris. It was easy to distinguish from the bright blue and I was sure it had never been there before

As I squinted at the little spot like that, trying to figure out what it was, it suddenly started to move. Shocked I got as close to the mirror as my nearsightedness would allow before things got blurry.

It was...waving, I think. The squirming was followed by a faint but definite little, "Hello there! Yoo-hoo!"

I screamed and pushed myself all the way back into my seat.

"Hey, don't be like that. We're just getting to know one another. My name's Pip!" the little voice squeaked.

I drove as fast as I could, ignoring every speed limit, all the while the tiny voice chirruped merrily about all sorts of topics. I pulled up behind my mom's Jeep, not bothering to turn my lights off, and ran into the house. She was just getting up to greet me, confusion written all over her face, but I stormed past her. I stopped off in her office to pick up her magnifying glass and then headed to the bathroom, throwing the door shut behind me.

I flipped on the light on the mirror and bent close to inspect my eye under the magnifying glass. An impossibly tiny and naked woman was lying in the blue of my eye, as if floating in the ocean. She called out to me again, "Hi there! I know we're going to get along just swimmingly!"

I stood very still and tried to make some sense of the situation. “What are you and why are you in my eye?” I asked, trying hard not to scream.

“I am me and me is chilling. You’ve got a great eye for that — all blue and stuff. I can pretend I’m swimming, or ice skating, or walking on a frozen lake that is about to crack open like a crumbly egg. — Hey, hey, stop that! Stop doing that! If you keep blinking like a crazy person I won’t be able to see you...it’s like I’m looking at a strobe light.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I might look like I’m crazy, but at least I’ll be rid of you! Why are you in MY eye?!”

“I go where the wind blows me, baby. And you won’t get rid of me that easily. I’m under that slimy layer that covers your eye-bauble.”

I stopped blinking then....and tried rubbing my eye instead. Sounds of squealing laughter ensued.

“Wheeeeee! This is fun, faster...FASTER! More spinning! Ugh...wait....I’m gonna throw up! STOP!”

I looked at my eye with all the annoyance of a sassy toddler and asked, “How long are you gonna be in there anyway? Since you won’t tell me what you are, could you at least tell me WHO you are?”

“Hmmm....nope! Because you’re mean.” she said, sticking her tongue out at me.

I rolled my eyes and groaned in annoyance.

“Okay, okay! Stop doing that, too. Don’t roll your eye like that or I’ll get stuck in your brain! Trust me, neither of us wants that.” Panic rose in her voice and I stopped, sensing truth behind her words.

“I am someone who has come to terms with her fate. My name is Pippa Lincoln, but you can call me Bugger.” She drew herself up as tall as she could, from what I could tell, and continued, “and I am a spirit.” Pride was written all over her face as she stood there, hands on her hips. I just stared at her in disbelief.