Revelation

Ella locked the door behind her, then leaned her back against it. There would likely be hell to pay in the morning, but for now all she wanted to do was relax alone in her room for the rest of the night.

Before she could do that, however, there was one more thing she needed to attend to.

The door on her armoire was slightly open. Ella was carefully making her way among the strew apple cores when another one flew out to join the others.

"Alright," she announced, "I don't know what you're doing in my bedroom and I'm starting to not care, but you will explain why my room is full of food scraps."

For a moment nothing happened, then a small head poked out from inside her armoire. "I was hungry," it said in a small voice.

Ella blinked for a moment. "I'm not even going to ask how someone as small as you managed to eat so much. But I still want to know why you're here."

"...I'm lost."

"You got lost in my bedroom?"

"No...I got lost and came here looking for help."

Now Ella was beyond confused. "You come here looking for help, hide in my closet for the better part of a month, and when you get hungry you steal from the kitchen and leave your garbage on my floor. If you wanted something it would have been better to actually ask."

The figure climbed out of her hiding place. "I'm sorry, it's just that...well, my kind is very shy. It was hard for me to even find the courage to allow you to see me."

Ella flopped onto her bed, the feather mattress comforting her weary body, if not her weary head. "This. Is. Utterly. Absurd."

"Maybe, but I still need your help." Ella's visitor climbed onto the bed beside her.

"Fine. What do you need?" Ella glanced at her new--friend wasn't quite the right word--aquaintance. "And please, put some clothes on."