If there aren't any fairies, what about the quarters?

If there aren't any fairies, what about the quarters?

The little girl wasn't trying to just to start a conversation. Her question had been on her mind for several weeks. Ever since the day after she got money for a tooth that came out while eating an apple. At recess a boy that wasn't in her class that she didn't even like told her there was no such thing as the tooth fairy or any kind of fairies for that matter. Fairies are made up like God and Jesus. The boy's parents were librarians. Lot's of what the boy said was pure foolishness, but the fairy question vexed her.

When the constant interior debate concerning fairies became too much for her she decided to check with her ultimate source of all knowledge both good(Guess who's coming to visit?) and bad.(Your puppy probably didn't even feel it.), her father. His oracle-ness looked down at the little girl and said, "Princess what are you talking about? I can promise you that in fact not only do fairies exist, I even know at least one."

Her father worked for the government. He had explained to his daughter that his job was to, "think up stuff." When she asked what kind of stuff he pretended to zip then lock his lips and throw away the key. Top secret government stuff is what she figured. The little girl hoped it had to do with rockets or new inventions or maybe fairies. Anything would be okay with her as long as it wasn't government war stuff. Even at her young age she hated war stuff. Maybe her dad was working with fairies to see if there was a way to stop all the wars. Fairies could use their dust and their wands as anti-weapons and stop the wars. Her dad and his friends at work would get medals from President Kennedy for stopping all the wars. She'd never been to Washington, D.C. It would be a fun trip.

One night as the little girl's father was smoking his last cigarette before going to bed his wife asked him, "Honey, why would you tell Myra that silly stuff about fairies? I mean, I can't disagree with telling her they exist, but to say you know one, honestly."

He inhaled deeply, the tip of the cigarette glowing, and exhaled, playing with the smoke, inhaling it back through his nose and ending with a smoke ring blown through a smoke ring. "What would you say if I told you that I do know a fairy, that I work with one?"

She looked at her husband not quite comprehending his meaning. She thought she understood, but wasn't sure if she believed.

"Yeah, he's one of the guys in our pod. That's what they are calling our task groups now, pods. What a crock! Where do they get this junk? I think they must have another pod that is assigned to constantly create terms and acronyms just to keep us on our toes. When he transferred in because I'm his pod master... I'm kidding. It was a joke... Anyway I had to read his folder. It didn't say anything outright but at the same time it was pretty clear. I don't think anybody else knows and it doesn't matter to me. You'd never guess it. He seems just like a normal person. He's not swishy or anything. He's very good at his job."

"Who is it?"

"I'm not gonna say. It doesn't matter." He smashed the remains of his cigarette in the ashtray and got into bed. "See, I wasn't lying to her."

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