AN: Thanks again to everyone who reads, favorites, follows, and reviews. I can't describe how nice it is to hear from y'all. This chapter doesn't exactly bring the funny, but it should at least answer some questions.

Also, I still don't own Sookie, Pam, or Eric. Charlaine Harris does. If I did own them, they'd all be a lot happier and the only mention of Oklahoma would be when they discuss the musical review they're hosting at Fangtasia.

Sookie P.O.V

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream.

It isn't working. I need to think it louder. I just want the voices to go away!

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, LIFE IS BUT A DREAM!

I can tell Mr. Eric is saying something to me, but I'm thinking too loud to pay attention. I shut my eyes and cover my ears so I can concentrate more on the song.

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY… I feel a hand on my shoulder and, just like that, the voices get quiet.

"Oh my gosh! Its you! I can't hear you!" I look at Mr. Eric, who is crouched down in front of me, and give him my biggest smile.

"I asked if you are all right, Sookie." He says really, really slowly. He's giving me that look people give me when they think I'm a few Fruit Loops short of a bowl of cereal. I'm used to it, but it still hurts my feelings a little. I'm about to explain it to him when he moves to take his hand off of my shoulder.

"Don't move!" I say. Or, ok, maybe I screamed it.

Mr. Eric and the Barbie vampire are both staring at me now. Mr. Eric looks concerned, but Barbie looks just like Jason did when my daddy gave him a go-kart last Christmas. Her smile is so big that I'm pretty sure I could count all her teeth if I wanted. I giggle a little to myself when I imagine her dressed up like the Count on Sesame Street. I can just see her now, "One, two, shiny vampire teeth. Three, four, shiny vampire teeth…" I start to giggle again, but then I notice that the vampires have raised their eyebrows and realize that they probably think I'm nuttier than peanut butter.

"Ummm, sorry Mr. Eric. I'm sorry 'bout yelling at you. Its just that I can't hear your head voice at all and, uhhhh, when you touch me, everyone else is so much quieter," I take a deep breath because even I think I sound a little crazy now. "That's why I need you to keep touching me, please." I finish and wait for him to kick me out.

Mr. Eric shakes his head a little, but he doesn't move his hand. "You can call me Eric, Sookie, you don't have to say mister. Now, why don't you explain what you are doing here, and then we can call your mommy and you can go home."

I try not to let his words bother me. I'm not gonna think about momma or daddy right now. Instead, it reminds me of my plan and I remember the taxi man who is waiting in the parking lot.

"I'll tell you, Mr – I mean – Eric," I blush because I'm not used to calling grown-ups by their first names. "But first, I need you to mind magic the taxi man."

"Mind magic?" Eric tilts his head to the side like a curious puppy.

"You know, where you tell someone what to do and then they do it. I know you can, I've seen you do it before."

"Sookie, I know that we have never met before. How do you know about glamour?" Eric is looking a lot less curious and a lot more mad.

"You did it once in one of my special dreams. You can use mind magic, and fly, and run really fast, and all kinds of super hero stuff. I've seen you a bunch of times. That's why I know you'll help me. You always do." I don't mention that every time he helps me in the dreams, I'm a grown-up. I figure he'll help me anyway. Probably.

"You have 'special dreams' and you read minds." He's looking excited again. "What else can you do?"

"Isn't that enough?" I ask. Geez Louise, there's no pleasing some people. "Now are you gonna mind magic him for me or not?" I know I'm being rude, but I'm sleepy and I had a real bad day.

"What do you want me to do to him?"

"Nothing bad, just make sure that he doesn't remember me at all."

Eric gives me a weird look that I can't figure out and then nods to himself. "Pam"

Barbie, who I now know is Pam, looks annoyed. "Why can't you do it master? Age is supposed to go before beauty, so you should go. I want to stay with the little morsel."

Eric doesn't even answer; he just looks at her again.

"Fine! But don't say anything else until I get back snack pack, you hear me?" She's points at me and then walks very slowly to the door, scraping her feet along the ground like I do when I don't wanna go to school.

"Wait, I owe him money!" I call out. I almost forgot that I didn't pay. I don't care if he doesn't remember giving me a ride; he still gave it. If I didn't pay, then that be like stealing and stealing is bad. Gran says that hot hands lead to a cold heart and, even though I don't really know what it means, I know she'd be real mad if I stole something.

I lift up my pajama shirt and unzip the fanny pack that I belted on underneath it. It's just as wet as the rest of me, but that doesn't matter. Inside is a zip lock bag with the money from the bottom of the flour jar and everything I could fit from my house. I brought the lucky penny daddy gave me when I started Kindergarten, my momma's gold angel necklace that she wears every Sunday, a pocket-sized cross-stitch picture of a fairy that gran made me, my friendship bracelet from Tara, one of Jason's micro-machines, and a picture of everybody together at the church picnic.

Seeing all my stuff makes me sad, but I ignore it and get out some of the money to give to Pam. When I look up, I see that the vampires are staring at me again.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Pam says as she takes my money. Then, before I even get a chance to blink, she's out the door.

"Sookie," Eric says, and his tone is overly calm, like the way you talk to a spooked kitty when you're trying to get it to come out from under the bed. "Did you put your stuff in that plastic bag because you didn't want it to get wet?"

"Yes."

"So you are wet on purpose?"

"No."

"But you knew that you'd be getting wet?"

"Yes." I'd known all right, but nobody would listen. I prayed about it too, but not even God listened. At least I'd talked Jason into spending the night at Hoyt's. At least I did that.

"Why are you wet little one, what has happened?" I must look sad again, because Eric starts running his hand up and down my arm.

"What time is it?" I ask. I look around and spot a TV hanging on some sort of metal frame in the corner of the room.

"Almost 11, and you didn't answer my question. Sookie…" I don't know what else he was going to say because Pam walks back in the room and starts talking.

"What's this? You've been talking without me? After I specifically asked you not to! I'm so mad I could spit nails!" She gives Eric a pleased look after the part about the nails, but I don't understand why. Whatever the reason, Eric doesn't return the look.

"We are on a time out Pam." Pam huffs but doesn't say anything else. "Sookie…" Eric starts again, but I don't let him finish. I know a way to answer some of his questions, but I'm afraid.

"Turn on the TV, please. To channel 12 I think." I know channel 12 is the news channel, because when I spend the night at gran's she lets me stay up and watch it with her. We share a snack, watch the news, brush our teeth, and then she lets me sleep in her big bed with her. She even cuddles me until I fall asleep and, since she only ever thinks nice things about me, it doesn't even bother me one bit.

Eric doesn't look happy about it, but he goes over to his desk and picks up the remote. The voices get loud for a second but then, he's back, holding my arm again.

"This hardly seems to be the time for watching television." Pam says, but she turns to look at the screen as soon as Eric clicks it on.

I force myself to look, even though everything inside is telling me to hide. I bet they don't even know about it yet, I tell myself. But as soon as I see the reporter standing in front of the Crestcock Bridge, I know that I'm wrong.

My eyes are blurry from tears, but I can still hear just fine as the reporter says, "Tragedy struck in Bon Temps today, when an apparent flash flood caused a local family to lose control of their car on the Crestcock Bridge. Damage to the bridge indicates that they hit the guardrail and plummeted into the water below. The bodies of Corbett and Michelle Stackhouse, both 31, were recovered from the car a few moments ago. Their daughter, a special needs 7-year-old who went by the name of Sookie, is also presumed dead, though no body has been recovered at this time…"