"Turkeys" was just your everyday, run-of-the-mill, 
honky-tonk dive bar in east Texas.  On the outside, it was 
an old shack with a neon light and an oyster-shell parking 
lot full of beat-up pickup trucks.  On the inside, it was a 
dimly lit old shack that featured several worn tables and an 
array of barstools in front of the requisite bar.
	Bub sat there, sipping his beer while the joint's 
dilapidated old jukebox started playing another Hank 
Williams song.  He ignored it, just as he ignored the clicks 
and clacks from the pooltable at the other end of the dark 
smoke-filled room.  The owner tried to keep a fair mixture 
of both country and western music in the thing.  It was a 
pity that the cowboys who kept coming in never bothered to 
try something different like Buck Owens though.
	He was just lifting the bottle up to his lips when he 
saw the sparkle and shimmer of light about 3 inches from the 
brim of his hat, which was laying at arms reach across the 
bar.  When he turned to see what had caught his attention, a 
blur of wings leaped away from the hat and sped directly 
toward his face!
	A small buzzing body about the size of a dragonfly 
began zipping around his booze-besotten head, trailing 
multicolored sparks behind as it went.
	"What the hell?" Bub exclaimed, trying to turn and 
follow the speedy creature.  The bartender looked up from 
the glass he was drying.
	"Something wrong Bub?" he asked, looking down the bar 
at him.
	"Shit, Booger.  You need to spray this place," Bub 
replied.  "You got fireflies in here."  The bartender 
ignored his comment as just so much drunken banter like he'd 
heard a thousand times before, and returned his attention to 
the glass in his hand.
	The tiny light then flashed by Bub's head one last 
time, and alighted soundlessly on the countertop in front of 
him.  Bub sat on his barstoll and stared at the winged being 
sitting - no, standing - next to his bottle of Coors.
	It looked like a horse, only smaller.  Much smaller.  
It couldn't have been more than six inches long.  And it had 
4 tiny wings, like those of a butterfly.  Its hide sparkled 
like light through broken glass, changing color every couple 
of seconds.  The 4 legs ended in little white hooves that 
seemed to glow.  It also had a tiny golden mane, and in the 
center of its head was a diminutive spiral horn.  
	Come to think of it, the thing didn't look like a horse 
at all.
	The creature shook its mane and stared back at him.
	"Are you Bub?" it asked him and a small, feminine 
voice.
	Bub almost fell off his barstool from the shock!  The 
thing spoke to him!
	"Uh, Yeah," he cautiously replied.  "You... you can 
talk?"
	The creature laughed, or at least it sounded like 
laughter.
	"Of course I can talk," it answered him.  "I'm looking 
for Bub Forester.  Are you him?"
	Bub slowly nodded in affirmation and took another long 
pull from his beer.
	"Wonderful!" the tiny being said, prancing closer to 
Bub's arm.  "Permit me to introduce myself.   My name is 
Zephyr, and I'm here on official business from the high 
council of Kirin."
	"Um, right."  He turned to look down the rest of the 
bar and called out to his fellow barflys.  
	"Okay guys!" he called out.  "Jokes over.  Who's 
pulling ol' Bub's leg here?"
	His question was met by curious glances from equally 
half-drunken cowboys who didn't have a clue in the world as 
to what he was going on about.
	On the bar, the fairy (hell, that's close enough) 
stamped her hoof down to get his attention.  At least he 
assumed she was a she.  Truth be told, he didn't have any 
idea one way or the other.  He wasn't about to ask though.
	"Are you sure that you're _the_ Bub Forester?" she 
asked, looking nervously around the bar as if just starting 
to notice her surroundings.  
	"Far as I knows, I am.  Why?  What's the matter?"
	"Well, I'm a bit surprised to find such a wise man in a 
place like this.  I expected to find you in a library."
	"Wise man?"
	"Yes, wise man.  The Council wouldn't have granted you 
absolute power over this world if you weren't."
	"What are you going on about?" Bub asked, idly 
wondering if somebody had spiked his drink with something 
hallucinagenic.  He'd heard about people doing that, though 
he didn't see what the fun in that could be.  The tiny 
creature shook her fiery mane in annoyance.
	"The Great and Powerful High Council of the Kirin, the 
most magical and mystical of beings, has decided to grant 
you, Bub Forester, absolute authority over this planet for a 
period not to exceed 7 global rotations."
	Bub nodded.  
	"In english."
	Zephyr sighed.
	"For the next 7 days," she slowly explained in her tiny 
voice.  "Whatever you say, goes.  Anywhere in the world.  If 
you say you want the mountains flattened, then they shall be 
flattened.  All you have to do is tell me, your aide, what 
you want changed.  And all the combined powers of the Kirin 
will focus on making it happen."
	Bub nodded again and leaned forward, putting his 
excessive weight onto his crossed arms.  He looked closely 
at Zephyr, taking in the details of her golden eyes and 
crimson ears.  
	"Anything at all?"
	"Anything."
	"Can I get them to put Dukes of Hazard back on the 
air?"
	"Certainly," she replied.  "But I'd hope you'd spare 
the rest of the world such pain."
	A massive callused hand slapped the bar just in front 
of him.  Bub looked up, following the arm till he was 
staring into the bartender's stern face.
	"Who you talkin' to Bub?" he asked in that tone that 
you told you it wasn't really a question.
	"This here talking lightning Bug, " Bub answered him.  
"She says she's a Kirin, whatever the hell that is."
	Booger looked down, then to the left, and then to the 
right before slowly turning his gaze back to Bub's again.
	"There ain't no bugs on my bar; talkin' or otherwise," 
he growled.
	Bub sat up straight, insulted, and pointed squarely at 
the tiny glowing figure.
	"What are you talkin' about?  She's right here, lit up 
brighter than Atlantic City."
	Zephyr craned her neck to look at Booger.  The 
barkeeper looked in the direction of Bub's finger, but 
didn't seem to see anything.  He then quickly reached out 
and seized Bub's beer off the countertop.  
	"I think you've had enough tonight Bub.  See you 
tomorrow night."
	"Hey, wait a minute!" Bub protested, reaching forward 
to take the beer back.  "I paid for that!"
	The bartender stepped back and made a show of pouring 
the bottle into the sink.  The other patrons laughed and 
jeered as Booger dumped Bub's beer.  When the last drops of 
the brew finished dripping from the bottle's neck, he 
stepped forward again and handed it back.
	"So you did," he sarcastically answered.  "Hope you 
enjoy it, and you be careful going home now, hear?"
	Bub frowned.  He knew there was no way Booger would 
serve him another drink now, no matter how much he offered 
for it or how much he begged for one.  So with a dejected 
look, Bub climbed down from his barstool and picked up his 
cowboy hat, placing it on his head before walking towards 
the exit.
	Zephyr was buzzing alongside him within seconds.  Bub 
stared straight ahead, acting as if she wasn't there.  He 
waited until they'd gone through the old wooden door before 
turning to confront her.
	"Why the hell couldn't he see you?" he demanded.
	Zephyr hovered a few inches away from his face, her 
hindquarters lower than her front.
	"The powers and magics of the Kirin are far beyond your 
mortal comprehension Bub."
	Bub nodded.
	"You don't know either, do you?"
	"Not a clue."
	"Swell.  Well, what am I supposed to do now?"
	"Anything you want.  You are now the absolute master of 
this planet, remember?  You can stop wars, end famines, or 
even reshape the land itself if you like."
	Bub grunted an acknowledgement and walked to the 
driver's side door of his old Chevy truck.  He lifted the 
handle, pulled the creaking primer-colored door open, and 
hopped in.
	"Guess I'll go home and see what's on T.V. then.  All 
the video places are closed."
	Zephyr zipped into the truck's cab just as he pulled 
the door to again. 

***

	Bub stepped inside the mobile home and threw his hat 
across the room toward the deer antlers that were mounted on 
the far wall.  He missed, again.  He never could throw worth 
shit when he was drunk, he thought silently to himself.  As 
the hat fell and landed next to the pile of beer cans, 
Zephyr flew past him, stood on the rim of the hat, and faced 
him.
	"You live here?" she asked him, revolted in the living 
conditions.  "In this... this pigsty?"
	Bub scowled as he settled himself into the sofa.
	"Hey.  Nobody's making you stay.  You don't like it, 
you know where the door is."  With that he pointed the 
remote control at the television and pressed the power 
button.
	Nothing happened.
	"Hell," he grumbled sourly.  "Batteries must be shot.  
Ain't nothing gone right tonight."	
	Zephyr zoomed about the room and hovered just inches 
from Bub's nose.
	"How can you say that?  You've been given a gift this 
night that others would sell their souls to possess!  The 
Earth is yours, to do whatever you decide is best.  You can 
have anything you want."
	"Right now, I want to watch some T.V." 
	Zephyr turned toward the television.  Her wings glowed 
for an instant, and the television instantly came to life.  
She spun around to face the drunken man once more.
	"There.  Are you satisfied?"
	"Hey!" Bub cried, impressed.  "That's one hell of a 
trick."
	"What, flashing lights in a certain pattern?" Zephyr 
asked.  "That's nothing compared to what I can do for you.  
You just say it, and I'll do it.  Would you like world 
peace?  I can arrange that you know..."
	"Can you switch channels?" Bub said as he tossed the 
remote to the side.  "I hate PBS."
	Zephyr hung motionless in the air for several seconds, 
staring at Bub in disbelief.  Finally, her wings began to 
glow again while the television in the corner began flipping 
through the cable stations.  Bub contentedly leaned back in 
the couch while Zephyr hovered nearby.
	"It's going to be a very long week," she sighed.

***
	Bub drove downtown in his old pickup, heading to the 
grocery store to pick up his weekly supplies and to chat it 
up with his freinds in front of the pharmacy.
	Zephyr rode along with him, sitting on the brim of his 
hat.  She craned her head over the brim.  "So!  What would 
you like me to do for you now, oh wise one?" she 
sarcastically said to him.  "Do you have any peanuts you'd 
like me to shell for you?  Perhaps you'd like me to peel a 
grape while I'm at it?"
	Bub rolled his eyes.  
	"Dang it, girl," he complained.  "Do all Kirin complain 
as much as you do?"
	"Only the ones who have to rotate tires on 30 year-old 
pickup trucks."
	"Hey, you were sent here to help me.  And the service 
station wanted 20 bucks to do it.  So I thought..."
	"You thought you could use my reality shaping powers to 
swap them around."  She stamped down on the brim, making it 
ride lower on his head.  "Did it ever occur to you that you 
could have new tires?  Or a new truck for that matter?"
	Bub shook his head, then tilted the hat back again.  
He'd learned earlier in the week that Zephyr liked to stomp 
on his hat whenever she was irritated.  Course, that was 
most of the time it seemed.  He wondered if he was going ot 
have to have the hat reshaped when the week was out.
	"I can't afford a new truck or tires," he pointed out.
	"Hey!  With my help, you can afford to buy Ford 
itself!"
	"Chevy."
	"What?"
	"I drive a Chevy.  I wouldn't be caught dead inside a 
Ford."
	Zephyr closed her eyes tight shut, and imagined him 
dead inside a Chevy.  It lightened her mood a little bit.
	"Look, Bub," she protested.  "The week is halfway over 
with, and you haven't made any serious changes anywhere.  
All you've had me do is pretend to be a remote control and a 
barbecue starter."
	He nodded. 
	"I make some damned fine sauce, don't you think?"
	"The sauce doesn't enter into it!  The fact remains you 
haven't done anything to improve your world one bit!"
	"Oh, I dunno."  Bub turned into the parking lot of the 
Food Lion and started looking for a parking spot.  "Giving 
Erma Butz her hair back made the community a lot prettier."
	"That was small potatoes Bub, and you know it.  It was 
a generous thing to do, I'll admit..."
	"Nope," he countered.  "It was purely selfish.  I got 
sick of looking at her scruffy looking head is all."
	The brim of his hat got stamped lower once more.
	"You are infuriating!" she shouted at him.  "You could 
be changing the world!  Instead you settle for changing the 
channel on the television!"
	He turned the wheel and parked the truck under the 
awning.
	"Is that a problem?  Am I required to change things or 
sumthin?"
	"With all the things that are wrong, how can you even 
ask me that?" she asked incredulously.
	"Like what?".
	"What do you mean?"
	"Like what, Zephyr?" he asked in his slow southern 
drawl while shutting off the engine.  The truck dieseled for 
a few moments, then stopped with a cab-shaking thunk!  
"What's wrong with the world today?"
	She flew off of his hat and landed on the dashboard, 
staring hard at him.
	"Pollution, murders, earthquakes, plagues, extinction 
of species..." she counted off to him.  "And that's just 
what I can think of this instant.  I'm sure there are lots 
more."
	He nodded again.
	"And you think I should fix all that."  Bub pulled the 
handle and pushed the truck's door open.
	"I think you need to consider fixing something.  
Anything!  Trying to make the world a better place instead 
of sitting at the television and watching it go to pot!"
	He closed the door and leaned against it.  He regarded 
Zephyr's frustrated face through the open window, and spoke 
to her.
	"Tell you what, Zephyr.  I'll think up something you 
can do later on this evening," he told her before turning 
around and walking to the grocery, leaving Zephyr behind in 
the locked truck.

***

	"No!" Zephyr cried out, backing into the farthest 
corner of Bub's living room.  "Forget it!  No way!"
	Bub was on all fours and creeping toward her.
	"I thought you were supposed to help me out, Zephyr," 
he said, pursuing the tiny sprite across the floor.
	Zephyr closed her wings tightly against her body and 
wriggled even further into the tight space.  "You ask too 
much!" she cried.  "Some things are too personal for even me 
to deal with, okay?"
	"No, it's not okay.  You're supposed to help me, right?  
Whatever I want, right?"
	Zephyr sat motionless for the longest time, rolling her 
mission statement through her mind over and over again.  She 
was trying to find a loophole, any loophole, to get her out 
of what he wanted her to do.  But try as she might, she 
could find no way of getting out of it.  She hung her head 
in dispair, then nodded.
	"It's not right," she wept.  "What you want me to do is 
so... dirty.  There are other ways I can take care of your 
little... problem."
	"I'm sure there are," Bub replied with a hint of 
urgency.  "But it wouldn't be as much fun, now would it?"
	"Fun for you, maybe.  But I certainly don't want to do 
this."
	Bub shrugged.  "You'll be fixing a bit of a problem I 
have with my plumbing, Zephyr," he continued.  "It's a 
problem I've had for, oh, about a year now.  And besides, 
I'm curious to see what you look like as a human woman."
	Zephyr stamped on the floor in frustration.  "I should 
never have let you know I could assume human form!" she 
cried.  "I never dreamed that you'd force me to do... to do 
THIS!"
	Bub stood up and fanned himself with his hand.  "It 
won't be so bad.  Who knows, you might actually like it."
	"Fat chance."  Zephyr lethargically stepped away from 
the wall toward the open area of the living room.  She took 
her time, making it clear that her heart wasn't in it and 
that she was only doing what she was because she had to.
	Bub smiled to himself.  "You act like this will be your 
first time or something."  He laughed for a second before 
realizing that Zephyr was glaring angrily at him from the 
middle of the room.  His smile vanished with the sudden 
realization.  "Oh my G... This IS gonna be your first time, 
isn't it?"
	Zephyr stared at the overweight middle-aged man 
standing there in his "Houston Rockets!" t-shirt, and 
shuddered to herself.  "Yes.  This... this will be my first 
time."
	Bub let out a small whistle of suprise.  "I'll try and 
make it as pleasant an experience as possible," he told her.
	"You can make it pleasant by telling me you've changed 
your mind," she asked, her voice pleading.
	"Not a chance, Zephyr," he responded with a shake of 
his head.  "I need this.  You were sent here to do whatever 
I say.  So, come on.  Show me what you look like as a woman.  
I'm dying to see."
	Zephyr looked up to the ceiling and mumbled something 
about lightning and striking him down.  Then she began to 
change.  Slowly, her tiny body began to grow; to change 
shape.  As the air about her shimmered like sapphires, her 
wings shrank and vanished into her back while her front 
hooves split and formed a pair of milky-white skinned hands.  
After a minute or two the transformation was complete, and 
where once stood a small kirin, now crouched a gorgeous 
blonde-haired woman, dressed in a shimmering blue gown.
	She slowly rose to her feet.  Bub tried to maintain 
some sense of dignity as he pulled his tongue back into his 
mouth.
	"Uh," he stammered, not sure what to say or how to say 
it.  "You look fantastic, Zephyr.  Really amazing."
	She nodded sadly in response to his complement.  "It's 
still not too late to change your mind."
	"You won't hold it against me if I don't, will you?"
	Zephyr let out a resigned sigh, and walked out of the 
living room and into the hallway.
	"I thought as much." she whimpered.  "Well, come on 
then.  Let's get this over with."  
	Bub grinned and followed her, staying an armslength 
away and eagerly anticipating the coming half-hour.  He 
noticed Zephyr walked on her toes; the unusual gait made her 
gown sway in time with her shapely hips.
	Finally they came to the door.  Zephyr hesitated, then 
reached out with a trembling hand to open it.  She stepped 
inside the next room with the excited Bub close behind.  She 
then turned and stood close to Bub in the tiny little room.
	"Okay Bub.  Here we are," she whimpered.  "So come on; 
let me have it."
	Bub nodded and reached into his back pocket.  He pulled 
out a pair of pliers and offered them to her.
	"I've been fixin' other people's sinks for the last 20 
years," he explained to her.  "Just once, I want to see 
somebody else fixing mine.  So I want you to take off the 
greasetrap and clean it out while I watch.  I'll tell you 
what to do each step of the way, don't worry."
	Zephyr glanced at the sink, and its standing pool of 
brackish water, then shuddered again.  "This is revolting," 
she complained as she took the pliers from his hand and 
crouched down to open the doors beneath the basin.

***

	"Well Zephyr, old girl, you are almost free of me," Bub 
said as he stepped out of the kitchen and into the living 
room.  Of course, all that seperated the two rooms in the 
trailer was his sofa.  He walked past it and kneeled down in 
front of the coffee table, and smiled at the sour-faced 
Kirin standing there.  "Only one hour to go, so, I got you a 
small going away gift," he told her with a smile.  
	She stared at him, frowning.  "What kind of gift?" she 
grumbled irritably. 
	He then pulled his right hand from behind his back, and 
presented her with a heavily-frosted cupcake.  He set it 
down on the coffee table with much aplomb.  "Ta Da!" he 
announced.  "Hope you like chocolate, Zephyr.  I don't know 
if Kirin can eat cake, so I got you a little one."
	Zephyr's eyes narrowed as she studied the brown pastry.  
"Is that a candle in the middle?" she asked him.
	"Yes, it is.  It's an old tradition among humans."
	"It isn't lit yet."  Zephyr looked up at him again.  
"Would you like me to light the candle for you?"
	Bub shrugged.  "If you want," he replied.
	Zephyr opened her wings wide.  Then her eyes flashed 
brilliantly bright; a blue-white flame that leapt across the 
table to strike the cupcake on the other side of the table.  
At once, the cupcake exploded in a cloud of burned 
chocolate.  Suddenly the air was filled with flying 
particles of cake, icing, and wax.  Bub tried to shield his 
face against the sugary maelstrom, but by the time he'd 
raised his arms high enough, the mess was already all over 
him.
	He stood there unmoving for a moment, his face covered 
with icing, staring at the diminutive and apparently 
unrepentent sprite standing on his now-stained coffee table.
	"Gee," she mocked him.  "Looks like I overdid it."  She 
then turned her back to him in an obvious display of 
contempt.
	Bub made his way into the kitchen again and reached for 
the paper towels.  "Now just what did you do that for?" he 
asked her as he tore a few sheets off the roll.
	Zephyr's tiny voice was unmistakably icy.  "You don't 
give a damn about your world," she fumed.  "Why should you 
care what happens to your home?"
	"That ain't true, Zephyr."  Bub closed his eyes and 
wiped at the chocolate staining his face.  He heard a faint 
flutter of wings for a moment, and when he opened his eyes 
again he found Zephyr standing on his countertop next to the 
toaster, angrily staring at him.  Her eyes sparkled 
dangerously as she spoke to him.
	"Of course it's true!" she cried.  "You were given 
absolute power to fix anything on this planet you wanted to.  
But instead, you played around like it was some kind of 
game.  You pissed away a once-in-a-billion-lifetimes 
oppurtunity, and things down here on Earth are just as 
loused up as before!"
	Bub frowned as he tossed the paper into the garbage 
pail.  "If you want something changed," he warned, "then you 
certainly don't need my help to fix them.  You are Kirin; 
I'm just a human being."
	"Human?!" she shouted at him, louder than he thought 
possible for such a tiny being.  "You?  You're no human; and 
certainly no wise man!  You!  You are nothing but an 
ignorant, no-brained, selfish redneck!"
	Bub glared at his dimunative guest, and held up a 
finger in warning.  "That's enough Zephyr," he growled.
	"Like hell, it is!" she shot back.  "I can't believe 
the high council of the Kirin gave you the powers that they 
did.  They may as well have given a handgrenade to a monkey!  
What could they have been thinking, making a low-brow, 
chicken-fried, dumb-ass like you the master of this planet?"
	Bub slammed his palm angrily onto the countertop.  
"That's enough, I said!" he ordered.  "I still have an hour 
before my time is up, right?"  He glared angrily at Zephyr, 
who was taken aback by his change of mood.  She reluctantly 
nodded, still angry, but reminded once again of her 
subordinate position.  
	"Okay then Zephyr; here's what I want.  I want you to 
stand there and listen to me while I explain why I haven't 
done as much as you think I should have."
	"Done much?   Bub, you haven't done anything!"
	"And what would you have me change first, Zephyr?"
	"You could stop those stupid holy wars in the Middle 
East!"
	Bub took a deep breath, and leaned over the counter, 
staring straight into her fiery eyes.  "And what good would 
that do, Zephyr?" he said.  "What good is it to stop a war, 
without correcting the things that led up to the war in the 
first place?"
	"Well, you can fix that too." she replied.
	"No.  I can't," he said while shaking his head.  "Those 
people are killing each other because of their religous 
beliefs.  They like killing each other; it's their holy 
duty.  There ain't no way to stop `em from doing it without 
forcing one side or the other, and probably both, to change 
what they think and believe.  And I got no right to do 
that."
	"Of course you do.  Or did..."
	"Are you saying I should brainwash everyone on the face 
of the planet to think the way I want them to think?"  Bub 
stood up straight again, and shook his head.  "Lady, I don't 
know much about your kind.  But if all Kirin think the same 
way you do, then it's a very scary world indeed."
	Zephyr shook her mane in annoyance.  "Okay, fine.  
Forget about the wars then.  What about extinct species, hm?  
Why don't you bring back all the animals that mankind has 
wiped out over the years?"
	Bub sighed and shook his head once more.  "And where 
will they all live, Zephyr?" he asked her.  "Again, what's 
the point of fixing something if you can't do anything about 
the underlying problem in the first place?  Who's gonna 
bring them all back next time they die out?  They will, you 
know."
	"Not if your kind take better care of them this time, 
they won't!"
	"Zephyr, the only way my species learns is by putting 
up with the consequences of their actions.  Now if suddenly, 
someone like you comes along and fixes every little mistake 
they make, how will they learn?  How will they grow and take 
better care of the planet?  
	"Growth and change have to come from within..." he told 
her as he pointed to his own heart.  "It can't be forced, 
Zephyr.  Sure, I could wish away all the pollution, crime, 
war, and other problems.  But if I did so, then the people 
responsible for it would continue in their ways and change 
nothing.  The wars won't ever stop until the people fighting 
finally get tired of it and find another way.  The death of 
species on the planet won't stop until people realize the 
harm it does; to themselves, and to the world as a whole."
	Zephyr stared blankly at him as she mulled his words 
over and over in her mind.  "So what you are saying is..." 
she hesitantly said.  "You can change the world, but you 
can't change people.  They have to change themselves."
	Bub nodded in agreement.  "Yes, Zephyr, you've got it 
at last."
	Zephyr's wings started buzzing, and she flitted off the 
cabinet and into the air once more.  She flew around Bub's 
head, and hovered just inches from his nose.
	"And that's the reason you haven't done anything with 
your gift?" she incredulously asked him.
	"Yes," he told her.  "I thank you and the others for 
your offer, but nothing I can do would make things any 
better.  In fact, I could make things worse by mucking about 
with them.  For all the problems the world has now, I don't 
want to fix today just to make the future even worse.  And 
if there are no consequences for people's actions, then 
they'll never learn."
	Zephyr hovered there before him, wide-eyed and amazed 
at his reasoning.  She slowly eased backwards, hovering at 
face-height while she contined to stare at him.
	"I think the others were right after all," she finally 
said in a quiet voice.  "You are far wiser than you let on."  
With that, Zephyr's wings glowed bright blue and the very 
air around her crackled with energy.  There was a short but 
intense lightning storm in his kitchen, with her at its 
center.  Then, as quickly as it started, it ended.  Bub's 
eyes took a moment to readjust after the fierce lightshow.  
But light or dark, it was clear that Zephyr wasn't there 
anymore.
	Bub stood motionless for a couple of minutes, staring 
at the empty space she had occupied until just recently.  He 
wondered for a bit if maybe he was wrong.  It would be so 
easy to force everything to be the way he wanted, he thought 
for what seemed like the millionth time.  But the easy way 
isn't always the right way, he reminded himself.  After all, 
who was he to say that what someone else thought to be right 
was actually wrong?  Would he himself like someone else 
dictating to him?  Probably not.  
	So what else could he do, except wipe up the chocolate 
splattered all over the living room, and pray that he was, 
in fact, doing the right thing?	

***

	Bub was back at "Turkeys" again, sitting at the exact 
same spot he always sat.  More than a week had past, and 
Zephyr had never returned.  Bub glumly sat at the bar in his 
checkered shirt and wondered if he would ever see her again, 
when he became vaguely aware that something didn't seem 
right in the room.
	He turned around to check on his surroundings.  The 
jukebox was quiet, and the foursome gathered around the 
pooltable were as motionless as statues.  In fact, everyone 
in the bar was as still as stone.  Everyone.  Even Booger, 
who was forever wiping a table if he wasn't cleaning or 
filling somebody's glass, stood unmoving behind the bar, a 
glass in one frozen hand, and a rag in the other.
	For several seconds, he glanced around and tried to 
figure out what was happening.  It wasn't until he saw the 
two roughnecks' game of darts, with one freshly thrown dart 
suspended in midair with nothing supporting it, that he 
figured out what was happening and who was likely 
responsible.
	"Zephyr?" he called out loud in a voice that filled the 
place.  "I know it's you."
	A tiny chuckle erupted on the bar to his right, and 
with a shimmering, sparkle of watery light, Zephyr appeared 
out of thin air, walking towards him on top of the counter.
	"Didn't take you long to figure it out, did it Bub?" 
she laughed, which was surprising, considering how they had 
parted company.
	"Are they okay?" he asked her concernedly.
	"Of course they are," she replied with a nod.  "They 
are just semi-frozen in time."
	"Semi-frozen?"
	"I slowed time down by a million times throughout the 
universe," she explained, stopping in front of him.  "The 
last time I talked with you here, it got you into trouble.  
I thought this would be easier."
	Bub looked at her apologetically.  "Zephyr," he began.  
"Zephyr, I'm sorry.  I shoulda told you what I was thinking 
lots earlier than I did.  That was wrong of me, and I'm 
sorry."
	Zephyr's smile faded slowly as she listened to him.  
"That's okay," she finally replied.  "I can understand why 
you didn't change anything.  I've already spoken with the 
council about it, and they agree with your reasoning.  I am 
puzzled though; why did you have me doing all those silly 
little chores for you?"
	Bub smiled sheepishly, and reached forward for his beer 
once more.  "Well, you seemed so eager to do something; 
anything at all.  I figured, what the hell, a few little 
things wouldn't hurt none.  Felt rude to snub you 
completely."
	"So you made me clean out your sink?"
	"Yep.  Bet you learned a lot though."
	"Actually, I cheated.  I transported the water 
elsewhere while you weren't looking."
	Bub smiled broadly.  "Yeah, I know."
	"Now, how did you figure out that I used my magic?" she 
asked while cocking her head.  "I was very careful not to 
let you find out."
	"Zephyr, in all the years I've been doing plumbing, I 
ain't never, never seen nobody finish a job without getting 
so much as a drop of water on `em!"
	Zephyr snorted, then started to laugh.  Bub laughed 
along with her, adding his baritone voice to her string-like 
voice.  Several seconds passed, and the laughter finally 
ceased, leaving behind an uncomfortable silence.  He looked 
at her, and she at him.  Neither one wanted to be the first 
to speak, lest they shatter the magic of the moment.  
	"So," Bub said, steeling up his nerve.  "What brings 
you back here, Zephyr?"
	"I didn't want to leave forever without at least saying 
`goodbye'," she answered him, a hint of sadness showing in 
her voice.
	Bub paused, then lowered his head a bit.  "God's own 
truth, Zephyr, I thought you'd gone and took off back in my 
trailer.  Didn't expect to ever see you again.  But I'm glad 
you came back, even if it's just to say goodbye."
	"And," she added.  "And to give you a present."
	Bub shook his head and took another swig of his beer.  
"You don't have to do that," he told her.  "I done been 
given too much the past couple of weeks as it is."
	"Oh, the powers were granted to you by the council; 
this is something from me, personally.  Just a little 
souvenoir to remind you of our short time together."
	"Aw.  That's sweet Zephyr.  But you don't have to."
	"No, but I want to."  She then smiled wryly at him.  
"Don't worry; it's nothing elaborate.  But I wanted you to 
have one nice, simple little memento of your experience.  
Call it a consolation prize, since you turned down the 
chance to have much more."
	"I don't need lots to be happy, Zephyr," Bub said.   
	"And if everyone thought that way, the world would be a 
much happier place."
	"Give them time.  They'll learn."
	"I know.  It'll be the hard way, but yes, they will 
learn."
	Bub automatically reached out his hand to shake, then 
noticed how silly he looked, offering to shake with a 6-inch 
kirin.  He started to blush, but Zephyr flew up from the bar 
and saved him any further embarrasment by placing her front-
right hoof in his hand in a gesture of farewell.
	"Will you ever be back?" he asked her.
	She buzzed backwards away from him and past the bar.  
"Who knows what the future may bring?" she said in a 
theatrical voice.
	"You don't know either, do you?"
	"Still, not a clue."
	Both of them chuckled for a few seconds more.  Then 
Zephyr began to shimmer and glow again; this time, bright 
yellow.  
	"You take care of yourself, Bub Forester," she said in 
a rapidly fading voice.  "And enjoy your gift."
	"What gift Zephyr?" he asked her.  But she was already 
gone.  The light had faded away before the words even left 
his lips.  
	Suddenly he heard the click-clack of poolballs across 
the room, and the cursing of a roughneck as his dart landed 
far from where he was aiming.  
	"Hey, Bub?"  Booger called out while walking toward 
him, wiping his glass.  "When did you get up and change your 
shirt?  I didn't see you leave."
	Bub looked down at his chest, and smiled.  His 
checkered red and black button-front shirt was missing, and 
in its place, was a plain, white T-shirt with lettering on 
the front.  "I changed in the bathroom a few minutes ago, 
Booger," Bub lied, making up the story on the spot.
	Booger studied Bub's shirt for a couple of seconds 
before shrugging his shoulders.  "Yeah, fine, whatever.  But 
what does the saying on your shirt mean?  `I ruled the Earth 
for 7 days, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!' ?"
	Bub held his laughter as best he could, then reached 
into his back pocket for his wallet.  "It means, Booger, 
that you need to get me another Coors," he managed to choke 
out.