A drabble and a half....150 words;)

VIII. Gratitude

"And...and...I got big, and helped him pull the goat from the pit," Butternut sputtered, "and what do you think he said? 'Thank you!' 'Thank you' indeed! Of all the...Why are you laughing?"

For his sister Bittersweet was falling over giggling, and Petal laughed also, albeit gently.

"'Tis considered polite amongst Mortals," she explained, "to thank one for a favor. To Fairies, to thank one means one is forgetting the good deed, and wanting something to guarantee remembrance. But 'tis different with Mortals. They think it rude not to thank one."

Butternut thought this over.

"Well," he sniffed, "I'm glad one of us has lived amongst them, and knows their ways. However, you certainly won't catch ME doing so. I'm minded to tie a knot in his hair while he sleeps."

"You would do better to paint a gold streak in it," Petal suggested.

~O~O~

A/N:  Tangles in the hair, or "elf-locks" were once thought to be the result of fairy mischief.