Dust Town

I.

She never quite understood the mystique tea leaves held. Tarot? Definitely. Crystal dousing? No question. She'd dabbled in other obscure arcane magics on occasion, like the time she gave gyromancy a quite literal spin, up until vertigo cut that idea short. But to divine portents from the way herbal leaves dipped inside a boiling pot seemed a tad absurd even to her. Amy gave the kettle a small, encouraging jostle when a knock came at her door.

Who could that be? She'd firmly turned her shop's sign to 'closed' for a reason. Untying her apron, she took a moment to assemble herself, then opened the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm not doing any—" The automatic words halted as she registered the familiar face standing on her hot-pink welcome mat. "Tails?"

He gave her a shy smile, wringing one of his tails. "Hi." He tried peeking around her shoulder. "Can I come in?"

Despite his nosiness, she felt relieved for the appearance of company. Today she'd prefer not to be left alone with her thoughts. "Sure." She pushed the door wide open, revealing the smoke-wreathed room in all of its gaudy glory. A plastic bead curtain rustled as she strode through it. "Was just taking a little break, actually. You want some tea?"

"Do you still have that candy-cane peppermint?"

"There should be a box of it around here somewhere. Coming right up!"

Of course, the box was crammed so far back into the cabinet that she had to stand tip-toe on a stool to reach it, but her jump-and-snatch method produced it well enough. She retrieved them two miniscule china cups as her guest settled himself on an antique velvet couch. He peered quizzically into the crystal ball sitting before it.

"What do you see?" she asked.

He furrowed his brow, pondered her through the glass. "Concave surfaces reflect things backwards." A fresh thought hit him, and he perked up. "Did you know that if our brains didn't correct them, our eyes would make us see things upside-down?"

Yep, leave it to the whiz kid to turn a crystal ball into a science lesson. A light sigh escaped her while she poured the hot water.

Eager for that tea, Tails snatched the cup right away, prompting her to reprimand him.

"Uh-uh. Coaster, mister." Heart-shaped coasters clinked on the stand as she sat beside Tails. The crystal ball gained a foggy matte coating from the steam in her cup. "So I'm guessing you didn't come all the way here for a palm reading?"

Tails had this particular look whenever he got caught: a slight hitch of the shoulders coupled with drooping ears. He cradled his tea closer to his chest. "Not that it's any of my business, but how come you haven't been answering your phone?"

"Oh, y'know. Spring cleaning. Hard to pick it up when you're being buried alive under all this mess."

"D'you need help with it?"

She smiled, probably a little too briefly. "No, it's okay. Arranging all this stuff would probably bore you, anyway."

"Okay… " He quickly switched topics. "Well, I wanted to let you know that Cream's throwing a surprise party for her mom this weekend—and for some of the kids at her school and their moms, too. You wanna come?"

She was? Probably would have been a good idea to pick up that phone at least once, then. Sheepish, she rubbed her elbow. "Actually, Tails, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it."

"How come?"

"Well, on Mother's Day I—usually go on vacation."

"To see your mom?"

Amy continued to stare at the plush carpet. "Yeah."

It took him a moment, but eventually Tails lowered his tea cup. "You don't have to be alone."

Her head snapped up. "I'm not alone," she insisted. "It's just… "

"Where do you usually go?"

"Nowhere. It's stupid."

Tails peered into the crystal ball again. Lifting it to his face, he winked in an effort to cheer her up. A small smile escaped her despite herself. "Can I go with you?"

In that place?

Well… It might be nice to have a friend tag along.

"Okay," she said. "But there's one rule: Don't laugh."