I swiped a superior

[hcobb]

So I can't name her...

As soon as I fell asleep I found myself in a vast forest of tall pine
trees. My body felt different so I looked down at it. I had been
regressed. I looked a little more than a third my age and I was wearing a
simple garment of coarse fabric with a belt of unbleached rope around my
waist. My hair was gathered at the back of my head and held by a knot of
smaller rope. My hair was red so I assumed that this was my body and not
the dream of a human, who all seemed to have black or brown hair. The
setting and the changes to myself felt imposed. It must have been by one
of my kin. Even though my feet were bare I did not feel cold so I assumed
that I was being treated benignly.

I heard singing in the distance. It was not Mother's song, but a human
singing. I followed the sound through the forest and came to a clearing.
There was a garden in the clearing and with just one look I knew whose it
was. I smiled for a moment then stopped. I knew why she had summoned me.

I bowed my head and followed the path through the garden towards the
song. As I approached I could make out the words to it.

"I built this garden for us," It was a man's voice that wasn't in Japanese,
but here in this special dream I could understand it clearly.

I turned the corner and saw an old woman digging into the soil with her
bare hands to plant seeds. She wore a blue garment of tough fabric that
ran from straps over her shoulders down to her ankles. This was over a
thin cotton shirt with short sleeves that had been dyed with many bands and
streaks of different colors. She wore sandals and a wide brimmed hat of
straw. Though her hair was white her blue eyes had the sparkle of youth
to them.

I stood and waited for her to complete planting the row she was on.

She wiped her hands clean on a cloth that hung from one of her pockets then
pressed a button on a metal box to end the singing and turned to me, "Hello
Princess."

I knelt down and pressed my face to the ground, "Forgive me Auntie."

"Get up or you'll get your dress dirty."

I looked down at myself and saw that I now wore a pink dress of much finer
fabric. I stood and saw that the straps to my sandals were of the same
material, "Thank you Auntie."

"Come, have a seat," She indicated a table that hadn't been there a minute
earlier. It was of wicker that had been glazed white, with two chairs of
the same material. A long wooden stick extended through the center of the
table to hold up an umbrella of fabric dyed in a similar fashion to her
shirt. On the table were items of porcelain.

I went to mu chair but was uncertain of how I was to get into it without
knocking it over in my reduced size. She reached down and lifted me up
into it, with my legs dangling over the edge.

Then she placed her hat over her metal box and took the other seat, "I'm
not the one you transgressed against," She poured tea from a pot into my
cup and slid a saucer of cookies over to where my shortened arms could
reach.

"Dreams must hate me," I looked at the cookies, then down to the table.

"We angels cannot allow ourselves the luxury of such personal emotions.
But I sense a certain disappointment. Did she assign you something?"

"She placed a human soul in my charge and I sent it to Hell."

"Oh Dear, there's no taking that back. It was a very wicked soul I trust?"

"She was a child whose life was lost just before she could become an
adult. She was selfish and greedy, but shocked when her actions lead to
the death of another human."

"And what did you do at that moment of her realization?"

"I took her to Hell. I judged that she was too dangerous to be left
wandering the Earth where she could bring more harm to others."

"Judgment, as my brother would say, is somewhat above our pay grade. Are
there any other responsibilities of The Father that you'd care to take on?"

"No Auntie. I'm sorry Auntie."

"Let me consider this for a moment and in the meanwhile do try the cookies.
I baked them myself."

I picked up and bit into one. It was sweet and chewy. I took a sip of the
tea and then another bite of the cookie. I looked up and saw that my Aunt
was frowning. I put the cookie down.

"What's the matter dear, don't you like my cookie?"

"It's very good, but you're upset."

"Not with you. Apparently I'm not allowed to do anything for you."

"I will return home as soon as I awake."

"You're not allowed to return either. I'm to send you back to Earth
immediately without assistance. So here's my recipe for the oatmeal
cookies," She touched her thumb to my forehead and I closed my eyes as I
saw in a flash all the steps needed to make the cookies, "Now Princess,
what is the definition of a demon?"

"A demon is a fallen angel," I opened my eyes and saw I was lying in my bed
again. I sat up and looked in the mirror and saw that I was still my
correct age, the dream had changed nothing. Well there was one change.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and searched through the cabinets until I
found all the tools and ingredients I needed.