#anywhere

The next day frank gets a call while driving

He punches the hands-free option and answers. "Hello?"

The noise of the rig and road in the background.

"Hi, dad..." It's Siv, but something must be off on his phone. The tenor seems turned up

"Siv? What's wrong?" A faint frown as he negotiates a curve.

"Well da, first, we're fine." She says getting the important part oout of the way "Second, did you know it's Highsummer?"

"Yes. Why?" Wary.

"Well, turns out the pooka call this pranksgiving. NOw normally the pranking starts at night, and normal I hear it's on mortals...buut, well, everyone wilder and up who was at the lodge woke up pranked. Rather specificly... none of us are 4 foot tall, we're 3 , 3 and a half..."

"WHAT??" A thunderclap, and the sound of road speed slowing.

"Yeah, the phone is really tricky to handle at this size, tiny hands. it's why I called not texted., We're fine. Mom's unflappable as ever...she's using Oak as a mount on her patrols"

She can hear the air brakes, and the sounds grow quiet. "She's doing what???"

"Patroling on Oak's back. I'm sure she knows to avoid humans, da. I know it sounds like I'm joking, but tis true. Vali checcked with Tiffany, hard to tell with pooka, but she indicates it weren't here, and she's coming up here to see this"

"You're HOW tall?" Checking.

"I'm about 3 foot tall, maybe three foot and an inch. Ma's closer to 3'5? I didn't get a great look on her"

A long silence on the phone.

"And you're otherwise ok?"

"Afraid to be seen by COOL people, but yes I'm fine. We're all fine. Conner's having the time of his life being the big guy"

"And Gerd won't stop gigging every time she sees her uncle"

"Gerd can't possibly be proportionally shorter, can she?" Some alarm.

"Your mother went on -PATROL- like that???"

"Okay, no, It didn't seem to affect childlings. I...oh, Da? Vali's done an omen. SIgns say this might somehow be your doing? Or linked to you?"

"Me?!?!?!" Stunned.

"What... -HOW-???"

"I don't know da, and don't yell, it hurts me delicate little ears. YOu want me to put Vali o nthe phone?"

"Sorry, Fishie, sorry.... " Quieter. "Yes, please. I'll talk to Vali."

Vali picks it up "Okay, Frank? Vali, I was mad at you at first... but damn, this is genius."

"Vali, I didn't do this." In the background, the sound of ratcheting and hissing.

"You didn't? Frank...I cast an omen ...just a general one.. and I saw an image of you wearing a crown of glitter and were opening your hand and releasing a light"

"I'm sure you did, but I'm not wearing a crown of any sort, and my hands are dark." He uses the rig mirrors to check, just in case.

They're fine "It's metaphorical, frank"

"Vali, what do you want me to say? I haven't done any of that -even- metaphorically."

"Well, It's possible I misread it, but it seems like you're somehow linked if not downright responsible for part of this. Okay, if not you, who? Trust me, I already have been asked If I was. And TIffany is too busy giggling even over the phone for me to think this isn't a surprise to her."

"We -do- have pooka in Rivervale, Vali! Aside from Tiffany, who is a visitor." A bit of a grumble.

"Pooka wise? Uhm. That beaver girl in construction but she's been really busy with the balcony."

"Actually, she didn't even visit here. Whose the last pooka you remember visiting the lodge?"

"The last... I don't know, Vali! I've been gone a week!"

A huff as he thinks.

"Kely hasn't been here in a while. Bancroft isn't a pooka." Vali muses

A long silence.

"There was.... "

"was?"

".... this kind of... psychedelic, sparkly girl. A pooka. But she just knocked on the door, we talked, and she went away."

"What..what did you say, to this sparkly girl poooka and..do you remember what she said to you?"

Another long silence, and Vali can see, even over the phone, the older troll's memory search.

Vali mutters something about the older generation being on analog

"She .... I thought she said she didn't have anywhere to spend. The holiday."

"SPEND the hol..oh god. Frank. do you..think it's possible she was I don't know, saying she didn't have anywhere to PRANK this holiday, or maybe, since this was before Connor, she noticed a dearth of pooka IN the actual lodge and wanted to...and I use this term dubiously, help?"

"How would I know what she was -trying- to say????"

"You don't think it could be Connor, do you?"

"No. Connor pulled his prank. I now know what snausages taste like"